Wu Dong Qian Kun

Spiritual beasts are magical animals or other humanoid things that have affinity with the cultivator. Typically, they form a contract and the beast could then be summoned. It's not unlike the mechanism in Shin Megami Tensei or Persona games. These beasts are usually intended to be fierce, to be used as a last resort weapon, such that contracting a strong beast brings prestige, even, to the family.

Sometimes however, the beasts "lose all their power" and revert to a cute form that the protagonist keeps as a pet, sometimes not knowing their power at all.

Personally, I find this plot mechanic annoying, but some might find it endearing.

Like in Naruto or My Hero Academia, hereditary blood lines are a thing in the cultivation world. Some recessive blood lines are so rare that they only occur once in centuries, such that everyone might have forgotten about them in that generation. Sometimes, only the transmigrated isekai protagonist or his martial spirit companion knows what they are and how to deal with them, giving them the ideal opportunity to save a damsel in distress. Whether it's the protagonist's little sister, fiance or classmate, this trope always shows up on a female character, and it's almost always a cold curse, freezing their life away, until the protagonist reverses its course and turns it into a great power.

I speculate that this trope might have originated from some kind of folk perspective of the common cold. People might have thought that these ailments originated from the 5 elements before the existence of viruses became known.

Here are all the works of Tian Can Tu Dou which share the same universe and characters.

Im new to this making an interest stack or writing reviews thing. But recently watched a boat load of Donghua (Chinese anime) in a very short time period. The CGI takes a little getting used to, but just like watching SUB, you barely remember what it was like before.

This stack is based on Action/Adventure/Fun Cultivation type Donghua. Its not something you really see in anime a lot so it came across as new for me and I deep dove into all the top ones I could find.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND! This is not for everyone. This is not a list where you'll find something you may like, no matter who you are. This is more like "if you love one or two of these, you'll very likely love the rest in the list" kind of thing.

Lastly. I don't actually remember if one is better than another (especially after so many countless episodes and seasons). I have a small list in my head that pops up when I think "cultivation Donghua I wish I could rewatch like I had never seen it before." Some start off slow but get interesting and some the opposite.

I can't tell you what to watch and I don't care if you didn't like it. I did. Don't judge me.

These are all Chinese animations that I’ve watched and loved, am currently watching, or am planning to watch. I hope you all find some shows you’ll like with this list. Some of these are my favorite series ever while others are just things I have an interest in. Enjoy!

Xianxia, directly translated to 'immortal heroes' comprises a number of popular genres including 'Cultivation', is a genre of Chinese fantasy heavily inspired by Taoism and influenced by Chinese mythology, Chan Buddhism, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese folk religion, Chinese alchemy and other traditional Chinese elements.

Protagonists are usually "cultivators" who seek to become immortal beings called xian. Along the way, they attain eternal life, supernatural powers, and incredible levels of strength. The fictional cultivation practiced in xianxia is heavily based on the real-life meditation practice qigong.

The stories usually include elements such as gods, immortals, yaoguai, ghosts, monsters, magical treasures, immortal items, medicinal pills, and the like. They often take place in a "cultivation world" where cultivators engage in fierce and usually deadly struggles to acquire the resources they need to grow stronger. Oftentimes, the initial setting is reminiscent of ancient China, but the stories usually become cosmic in nature, with the protagonists attaining godlike abilities, sometimes creating their own planets, galaxies or universes. While the primary focus is action and adventure, there are also romance-heavy stories.

Description taken from the wikipedia page about Xianxia subgenre.

Donghua, literally meaning "moving pictures," refers to animation produced in China

This is a stack comprised of Chinese animation mainly in the Xinxia / Wuxia genres

List of donghua I watched/follow, mostly CGI, that have gotten a rating of 7-9 from me.

I have watched all of them and even re-watched some several times, I vouch for these if you're interested in cultivation, fantasy, adventure, reincarnation.
There are 49 CGI donghua in this stack, and 48 are good quality CGI of decent length per episode, while Yao Shen Ji isn't exactly good quality, it's a decent story and in my opinion fun to watch. Da Wang Rao Ming is the only 2d animation in this list, I love the story and characters, it's also very fun to watch.

I've seen a few interest stacks about this genre but I wasn't satisfied with their list so I wanted to do my own.

Donghua refers to Chinese animated content, which can include TV series, films, and shorts. It's a term used to describe animation produced in China or by Chinese creators.Donghua is often compared to anime, which is Japanese animated content, but there are differences in style and storytelling. Donghua tends to have a realistic (3D) art style and often incorporates Chinese historical/cultural elements.

Some of the more popular Donghua titles include "Battle through the heavens," "Mo Dao Zu Shi," "Soul Land," etc.

bio credits: chat gpt

This list is not exhaustive but offers the titles I thought were relevant to include (and that I enjoyed the most). hope this helps ! enjoy :)

Contains only one entry per show, multiple seasons exist for most of them but only first season is entered.
Ordered by my personal rating.

Collection of all Cultivation Donghua (only the first season entry)

Cultivation is a reoccuring theme which can be found in Xianxia/Xuanhuan, the extent varies

Donghua is the term used to refer to animation produced in China, encompassing all animated works but specifically referring to Chinese animation. Donghua adapts manhua comics and is often associated with 3D CG animation, although it can also use more standard anime-style animation.

All entries are based on popularity, views (audience), rating, quality, and my opinion.

All donghua in this interest stack are considered above-average or top-tier, animation and/or story-wise.

Some donghua on this list have not been watched by me but are generally well received.

I have generally excluded donghua with low-quality graphics (budget), but I would like to mention that they are by no means bad. 

Check out my other list ([SSS] 2D donghua) for more recommendations. Visit my profile for more.


Highly recommend checking some of these donghuas' novels and dramas.



Anticipated upcoming donghua:
1. Absolute Resonance
2. Cyber Sword Immortal Tieyu
3. Half Star (Ban Xing)
4. The Galaxy of Seven Kingdom
5. The Proud Alchemy God
7. Sou Shen Ji (2024)
8. The Age of Spiritual Flow
9. San Xia Wu Y

Additional donghua recommendations:
1. The Rich God
2. God of ten thousand realms
3. Wushen Zhuhai
4. Ling Jian Zun
5. Wu Shang Shen Di
6. My Heroic Husband
7. Wo Shi Da Shenxian

Movie recommendations:
1. Bai She: Yuan Qi
2. Nezha Zhi Mo Tong Jiang Shi
3. New Gods: Nezha Reborn

Anime where the premise is leveling up or cultivating in a martial arts system.