Q1 2026 Guoman Review: Sequels Lead, Genres Break Barriers, Platform Divergence Intensifies

In the first quarter of 2026, the domestic animation market delivered a mixed report card against a backdrop of “shrinking volume, rising quality.” Tencent Video maintained its commanding lead through its annual series matrix and megaIP sequels, Youku achieved a breakthrough in popularity with differentiated new titles, and iQiyi held its ground by leveraging its library of existing IPs. Meanwhile, accelerating genre diversification, continuous technological upgrades in production, and the unexpected rise of AIpowered manhua dramas are reshaping the competitive landscape of Guoman.

I. Overall Viewership: Old IPs Dominate, Breakout New Seasons Lead by a Wide Margin

As of early 2026, the top tier of cumulative Guoman viewership remained firmly occupied by longrunning annual series. Douluo Dalu exceeded 58 billion total views across all platforms, becoming the first Guoman title to achieve this milestone and leading by a wide margin. Perfect World followed with over 25.2 billion views, Swallowed Star surpassed 11.5 billion, Scissor Seven series exceeded 15 billion, and The Legend of Hei (Season 6 alone) reached 13 billion. These annual series form the “foundation” of Guoman traffic, unlikely to be challenged by new titles in the short term.

In terms of quarterly breakouts, Jian Lai Season 2 was the most outstanding: by the end of Q1, it amassed 344 million views, with a platform rating of 9.9 and a Douban score of 9.8. Prelaunch reservations reached nearly 9 million, a Guoman record, and its weekly average viewership was as high as 85.27 million, making it a clear leader in both popularity and critical reception. Xian Ni (Annual Series) followed with 280 million views, platform score 9.8, Douban 8.9, establishing itself as a new benchmark for the “mortal cultivation” subgenre. A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Overseas Storm Arc) reached 198 million views, with a platform score of 9.7 and Douban 8.7, maintaining strong performance in both metrics.

By genre share, the most popular animation types in Q1 were: Xuanhuan/Xianxia (approx. 45% of total viewership), action/adventure (approx. 25%), and scifi/postapocalyptic (approx. 15%), with comedy/sliceof-life and suspense/political intrigue each accounting for around 78%. Compared to previous years, the share of Xuanhuan/Xianxia declined slightly, while scifi/postapocalyptic saw a notable rise driven by new works such as Beyond the Light and The Soul of the Sky (Ling Cage) Season 3, indicating accelerating genre diversification.

II. Platform Strategies Diverge: Tencent Defends, Youku Breaks Through, iQiyi Deepens

Tencent Video: Annual Series as Foundation, Sequels Create Peaks

Tencent Video continued its strategy of “annual series for stability, sequels for momentum, and multitrack parallelism.” Eight annual series – including Perfect World, Doupo Cangqiong, Throne of Seal, and Xian Ni – formed a stable daily traffic backbone. Perfect World alone generated 13.7 million views in a single month, while the Doupo Cangqiong annual series reached a cumulative 21.04 billion views. This “annualization” approach strongly reinforces viewer habits and reduces volatility from any single project.

The Q1 launches of Jian Lai Season 2 and Under One Person Season 6 served as peaktraffic drivers. Under One Person 6 achieved 81.4 million views and an 8.9 rating on Bilibili, blending Daoist culture with political intrigue – a critical and popular success. Meanwhile, titles such as Guwei Nanting and Sanlun Huihui expanded genre boundaries. Tencent Video Animation maintained its status as the “No. 1 Guoman platform,” often placing 8 of the top 10 spots on the Yuhu Animation Chart.

Youku: Differentiated Breakthrough, “New Guofeng” Dark Horse Impresses

Youku Animation adopted a differentiation strategy in Q1, using “New Guofeng” as its entry point. Its biggest highlight, Beyond the Light, reached an inplatform popularity score of 8,653 on its premiere day – the highest ever for a new anime series on the platform – and topped Youku’s 7day bestseller list for weeks. The title pioneered a “wasteland + cultivation” setting and boldly used Shaanxi Qin opera as a key musical element, with related topics accumulating over 200 million views on social media.

Among sequels, The Legend of Cang Yuan Prequel: Summer of Dongning Mansion achieved an in-platform popularity score of 9,012 on its premiere day – a new Youku animation record – and topped 16 national charts. It was Youku’s only recent title to make the Yuhu Animation Chart. Xianwu Legend, Hundred Refinements to God 3, Brother, I’m Sorry, and Tomb of the Gods continued stable updates, forming daily coverage. However, Youku’s titles have faced criticism for “flashy special effects but assembly-line character modeling,” with some users reporting aesthetic fatigue.

iQiyi: Library Management, “One Fish, Multiple Eats” Development

iQiyi Animation’s Q1 lineup was relatively restrained, focusing on “making the most of existing content” and prioritizing certainty and resource efficiency given its limited head IP inventory. Cheng He Titong 2 – one of the platform’s bestperforming femaleoriented IPs in the past two years – has already been extended into liveaction dramas and short series, a classic case of “one fish, multiple eats.” Preregistrations for Season 2 exceeded 800,000. Annual series such as The Great Ruler (Season 2) and Proud Immortal maintained platform performance and user reach, while new titles like Tang Dynasty Wind supplemented the IP matrix. Overall, iQiyi played a “stabilizer” role in the Q1 Guoman race, producing no major blockbusters but keeping its base stable through library IP operations.

III. Content Trends: Genre Diversification, Production Divergence, Storytelling Reigns

Genre Innovation: From “Xuanhuan Dominance” to “A Hundred Flowers Bloom”

Q1 saw significant shifts in Guoman’s genre structure. Xuanhuan/Xianxia remained the largest but declined to about 45% of viewership, still driven by classic IPs. Scifi/postapocalyptic titles warmed notably – Ling Cage Season 3 had a production budget of 325 million RMB and opened a new intergalactic storyline; Beyond the Light pioneered the “wasteland + cultivation” fusion. Chinese fantasy and folkloreinspired titles also emerged, with YaoChinese Folktales Season 2 continuing its anthology format, blending traditional aesthetics with modern imagination. Fire Lord subverted conventional cultivation with “Chinese Cthulhu” elements. Overall, fantasythemed content exceeded 40% of new releases, becoming a key breakthrough against Xuanhuan homogeneity.

Production Quality: 3D Homogeneity Concerns, 2D Premium Titles Revive

3D animation still dominates but faces growing homogeneity concerns. Tencent’s annual series (Perfect World, Doupo Cangqiong, Xian Ni) continued upgrading special effects and modeling – Xian Ni’s “meridian spiritual energy flow” particle effects, built on a ninefigure budget, are widely regarded as an industry benchmark. However, multiple Youku titles have been criticized for character models that “look like they came off the same assembly line.”

Premium 2D animation performed strongly. Under One Person 6, with a 26episode halfyear run, integrated Chinese chivalry and national sentiment into its narrative, earning praise for its hardcore martial arts choreography. Spirit Guardian (produced by Zhixingheyi Animation in Changchun, Jilin) took three years and mobilized over 500 animators; its smooth 2D action sequences were hailed as a “Guoman light.”

AIGC (AIgenerated content) has become routine. The industry has shifted from fear and avoidance to active application, and social media discussion has moved from “whether to use AI” to “how to use it well.” At the same time, AIpowered manhua dramas exploded in Q1, with titles such as Start Evolution from the Lazy Snake surpassing 200 million total views in its first week, and Journey to the West: Mistaking the Jade Emperor for My Father reaching 100 million views in just 35 hours, igniting the Chinese New Year season for the manhua format.

Storytelling Quality: Excellence and Controversy Coexist

The consensus that “story is king” has deepened. A widely circulated “blind-follow” Guoman list for the first half of 2026 emphasizes “six moats of quality”: faithful adaptation of source material, stable production by major studios, distinctive aesthetic style, profound emotional core, tight pacing without filler, and deep roots in Eastern culture. Titles such as Lord of the Mysteries, A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality, and Blades of the Guardians were recommended.

However, sequel reception has diverged. Under One Person 6 drew complaints that “the art style is getting sloppier, many characters’ faces are broken.” YaoChinese Folktales Season 2 was less stunning and less viral than its first season, with some viewers criticizing that “the uniquely Chinese use of negative space was overdone.”

Web novel adaptations still suffer from “jarring plot leaps.” Viewers noted about Beyond the Light: “The visuals and effects are topnotch, but the story feels abrupt and disconnected, lacking logic” – reflecting an imbalance between high production values and narrative polish.

IV. Bilibili and Emerging Formats: 2D Deep Dive and AI Manhua Explosion

Bilibili’s Guochuang (domestic animation) slate in Q1 included YaoChinese Folktales Season 2, Eternal Life, Gate of Mystery, and Return of the Immortal Emperor, while its annual series The Shepherd surpassed 1.6 billion views. Compared to other platforms, Bilibili has significantly more 2D animation projects, such as All Beings 5, Lele Convenience Store, and Spirit Guardian, which to some extent relieve viewers suffering from “identikit 3D modeling fatigue.”

AIpowered manhua dramas exploded during the 2026 Chinese New Year season, with the top titles capturing over 90% of the format’s traffic. Their core formula – “classic IP + AI empowerment + creative twist” – and their lowcost, fastpaced nature are forming both a supplement to and competition for traditional Guoman.

V. Summary: Q1 Landscape under Platform Divergence and Future Outlook

Overall, the core logic of the Q1 2026 Guoman market is: Head IP sequels maintain the ceiling of popularity, genre and artistic style differentiation are reshaping the competitive landscape, and the gap in “content thickness” among platforms (Tencent > Youku > iQiyi) is determining the industry’s direction for the coming year. During this industry transition – marked by the first decline in the number of new productions – finding the right balance between genre diversification (from Xuanhuan to scifi/fantasy/folklore), production refinement (technological upgrades vs. differentiation), and storytelling excellence (avoiding “good visuals, weak plot”) will be the key to leading the 2026 Guoman race.