2026 May Day Chinese Animation Market Review: iQiyi/Tencent/Youku/Bilibili Hit New Viewership Highs, New Releases Flood Screens

Written by:CGGE

During the 2026 May Day holiday (May 1–May 5), China’s domestic animation market ushered in one of its strongest seasonal booms. Major platforms including iQiyi, Youku, Tencent Video and Bilibili reported a collective surge in Chinese animation play volume. New titles alongside hit ongoing series ignited a nationwide animation-watching craze. Industry data shows the total viewership of Chinese animations across the four platforms rose by over 35% year-on-year. Xianxia fantasy, sci-fi mecha and classic IP sequels dominated audience preferences, further highlighting the blockbuster concentration and high-quality development trend of the domestic animation industry.

I. Wave of New Premieres Expands Platform Exclusive Content Lineup

Over the May Day break, major platforms launched a dense lineup of brand-new original Chinese animations, sequel series and feature-length specials, forming a rich schedule of new releases, theatrical episodes and year-round weekly updates. Exclusive original content has become a core driver for user growth on each platform.

Tencent Video focused on flagship IP sequels and feature films. It premiered Swallowed Star new feature film Decisive Battle on the Primitive Star on May 1, produced by Xuantian Technology. Centering on Luo Feng’s cosmic pinnacle battle, the film exceeded 50 million views on its premiere day and topped the May Day animation rankings. The final seventh season of Legend of the Starry Sky is scheduled for May 7, with pre-registrations surpassing 2 million, set to become another major hit in the latter half of the holiday. Meanwhile, long-running hits such as Perfect World and Cover the Sky aired extra episodes during the holiday, maintaining steady platform traffic.

Bilibili targeted young audiences and classic IPs. It premiered Aotu World: New Genesis on May 1 with 15 episodes released in batches. Boasting high-energy battles and youth growth themes, it quickly claimed a top spot in Bilibili’s original creation rankings. The second half of Fei Ren Zai Season 3 launched on May 5. With its relaxing mythological daily comedy style, it perfectly fitted users’ fragmented viewing habits, with bullet screen interaction volume rising by 40% year-on-year. Classic library titles including Spirit Cage and A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality also saw viewership jump over 25% month-on-month, boosted by fan creation and secondary content.

iQiyi and Youku adopted differentiated content strategies to fill gaps in xianxia and sci-fi categories. iQiyi released a special episode of Reverse Immortality. Adapted from the hit novel by Er Gen, it accumulated over 30 million holiday views thanks to polished visual effects and tight storytelling. Youku launched an extra chapter of Cang Yuan Tu, retaining the series’ signature high-energy action and gaining over 780,000 pre-registrations to become a dark horse in platform traffic. Both platforms also released a number of mid-and low-budget original animations covering ancient-style healing, suspense adventure and other niche genres to cater to segmented audience demands.

II. Clear Audience Preferences: Xianxia & Sci-fi Lead the Trend, Driven by Quality and IP Sentiment

Based on viewership statistics and user feedback, audience tastes during the 2026 May Day holiday showed distinct characteristics, with high-quality themed productions maintaining overwhelming advantages.

1. Genre Preference: Xianxia Fantasy Dominates, Sci-Fi Mecha Soars in Popularity

Xianxia and fantasy remained the absolute mainstream, accounting for more than 55% of total animation viewership. Titles such as Legend of the Starry Sky, Perfect World and Reverse Immortality captivated audiences with mature worldbuilding, spectacular fight scenes and underdog growth narratives, perfectly matching viewers’ demand for leisure and escapism. Perfect World averaged over 80 million views per episode, leading all year-long animation series.

Sci-fi mecha emerged as the biggest breakout category, with popularity doubling year-on-year. The Swallowed Star feature film, featuring cosmic adventures and mecha combat with hardcore sci-fi settings and top-tier visual effects, broke the stereotype of weak sci-fi production in domestic animation. It attracted large numbers of male viewers and sci-fi enthusiasts, with related topics exceeding 300 million reads across social media. The ongoing sequel of Galaxy Ranger also saw viewership rise by 30% during the holiday, proving strong commercial potential for the domestic sci-fi track.

Classic IP adaptations and relaxing comedy titles followed, taking 20% and 15% of market share respectively. Works including Aotu World: New Genesis and Fei Ren Zai leveraged established fan bases and lighthearted storylines to become top choices among young viewers aged 12–25. Healing-style productions such as Legend of Luo Xiaohei special episodes and White Cat Legend spin-offs appealed to female audiences and family-friendly viewers with delicate art and warm narratives.

2. Content Preference: Quality First + IP Sentiment, Audiences Reject Low-Quality Filler Content

Viewers now hold increasingly high standards for domestic animation production quality. Polished visuals, compact plots and well-crafted characters have become the benchmark for blockbuster success. Major feature and special episodes such as Swallowed Star and Cang Yuan Tu delivered cinematic-level action and artwork, winning widespread praise. In contrast, low-budget works with dragging plots and rough animation faced sluggish viewership and poor audience ratings, showing that viewers are actively choosing high-quality content and pushing the industry toward refined production.

IP nostalgia remains a critical traffic driver. Well-received sequels naturally draw loyal fan bases. As the final installment, Legend of the Starry Sky Season 7 gained massive pre-orders as audiences look forward to the story conclusion. Classic follow-up works continue to prove the long-term commercial value of mature IPs.

3. Viewing Habits Dominated by Young Users: Fragmented Binge-Watching and Immersive Viewing Coexist

Demographically, viewers aged 12–25 account for over 70% of domestic animation consumption. Bilibili’s user base is mainly students, favoring youth and comedy-themed titles with active bullet screen discussions and fan creations. Tencent Video and iQiyi attract broader age groups; office viewers aged 25–35 prefer high-energy epic animations and tend to watch in short fragmented sessions. Youku audiences lean toward ancient fantasy titles and are more inclined to marathon full episodes in immersive viewing mode.

III. Industry Significance: Holiday Schedule Effect Matures, Domestic Animation Enters Industrial Upgrading Phase

The outstanding performance of Chinese animation during the 2026 May Day holiday represents not only short-term traffic gains but also profound structural upgrades across the industry.

1. Mature Holiday Scheduling Makes Holiday Viewing a New Growth Engine

For the first time, major platforms aligned new premieres for the May Day window, forming a unified “domestic animation holiday season”. Viewership, social discussions and fan creations all hit record highs, proving holiday scheduling as a powerful growth driver. Upcoming festivals including Dragon Boat Festival, National Day and Spring Festival will become key release windows, making seasonal scheduling a standard industry practice.

2. Blockbuster Effect Intensifies, High-Quality Production Becomes the Only Sustainable Path

The top 10 animation productions captured over 70% of total holiday viewership, showing a stable dominant pattern for flagship IPs. Mid-and small-budget productions face squeezed market space, pushing industry resources toward high-end polished works. The sector is shifting from quantity expansion to quality upgrading, continuously elevating storytelling, animation craftsmanship and overall production standards.

3. Platform Collaboration Improves Domestic Animation Industrial Ecosystem

Through exclusive distribution, original investment and full-scale promotion, the four major platforms participate deeply in animation production, providing capital, traffic and channel support. Each platform follows a differentiated layout: Tencent strengthens xianxia and sci-fi; Bilibili nurtures original youth content; iQiyi and Youku enrich niche genres. Healthy platform competition diversifies creative styles. Meanwhile, big data insights guide scriptwriting and character design, advancing industrial standardization and laying a solid foundation for global distribution and IP derivative development including games and live-action adaptations.

4. Rising Audience Recognition Boosts Cultural Confidence

Public praise and social media discussions reflect growing viewer recognition of domestic animation. Top productions now rival international animation in visual effects, narrative depth and character creation, strengthening cultural pride and motivating fan sharing and creative works. Chinese animation is steadily expanding from niche subculture toward mainstream pop culture.

IV. Future Outlook

The strong market performance during the 2026 May Day holiday has injected strong confidence into the industry. With the continuous application of 5G and AI technology, production efficiency will rise while costs decrease. Genre innovation and stylistic diversification will become mainstream trends. Platforms will continue increasing investment in original animation, incubating more valuable IPs and accelerating global outreach. Audience demand will evolve from simple plot-watching toward higher standards of production quality, thematic depth and cultural connotation, driving sustained industrial upgrading.

This May Day season serves as both a comprehensive showcase and a new starting point for China’s animation industry. With improving industrial chains, rising creative capabilities and expanding audience bases, domestic animation is poised for greater breakthroughs and will grow into an important cultural calling card for Chinese cultural export worldwide.