4 posts tagged with "iQIYI"

Author / Liuliu

Edited by < The Reliable Editorial Desk >

Time to update your summer anime watchlist!

June has been a lively month for Chinese animation, with every platform frantically locking in release dates and one great show after another. Over on iQIYI Animation, the recently concluded What a Joke Season 2 has been hot since Chinese New Year — a 9.4 in-app rating, and its popularity never dipped in half a year of airing. Even after the finale, the danmaku hasn't stopped, fan works are flooding feeds, and new viewers are still jumping into the fandom. Before the buzz around What a Joke Season 2 fades, the summer lineup goodies are already on the way.

The Yudan couple's story has come to a pause for now, but iQIYI Animation's summer season is only just getting started. Ongoing year-long series include The Great Ruler Year 2 and Against the Gods Year, seasonal series like Ze Tian Ji, Sou Shen Ji, and Above Ten Thousand People are updating back to back, and three new titles — Feathering on a Chosen Day, Li Panda, and God of Wealth Dou Zhanlong — are queued up for release... Xuanhuan, wuxia, folklore, fantasy, suspense — everything a Chinese anime fan could want is here.

If you want great shows this summer, you really need to keep an eye on iQIYI Animation.

Airing continuously for six months, What a Joke Season 2 can easily be called one of iQIYI Animation's strongest titles of 2026.

Over 1.57 million pre-release reservations, an in-app popularity score that shot up to 5264 at launch, a 9.4 in-app rating — What a Joke Season 2 kept breaking iQIYI original animation records, swept the No. 1 spot across seven major platform charts, hit 42+ trending topics across the internet during its run, and sparked discussions across Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and other social platforms, hooking fans at home and abroad.

Data is cold, but audience discussion is the most direct proof. Open Douyin, Xiaohongshu, or Bilibili and scroll a bit — from "How are you" to "the Yudan couple," from "my wife Wanyin" to "little hot pot," memes and fan creations are everywhere. Just one glance at the comment sections tells you how much fans love this show.

Fans express their love very directly: fueled by passion, producing fan content nonstop. Across platforms, high-quality fan works of What a Joke Season 2 keep going viral: highlight reels of the Yudan couple's romance and career arcs, viral comedy modern-AU edits featuring ping pong / hot pot / English conversations, deep dives into the "chosen one" foreshadowing around Xie Yong'er... Cosplay, edits, illustrations, comics — every format you can think of.

According to official data, the #WhatAJoke hashtag has surpassed 7.03 billion views on Douyin and 160 million reads on Xiaohongshu, with over 50 videos racking up 100k+ likes. Many viewers joke: "The show got me hooked, and the fan works keep me captivated for hours."

The official team also gave a heartfelt send-off, repaying fans' long devotion. At the end of this story of laughter and tears, the Yudan couple returns to the modern world, and Wang Cuihua and Zhang San reunite across two lifetimes. The series has ended, but the story hasn't — a closure that makes viewers all the more willing to believe that every character is not a paper cutout, but a flesh-and-blood living being who will live happily ever after in a parallel world.

The Yudan couple's story has wrapped up, but the Chinese anime summer season is just beginning. iQIYI Animation has several new titles in hand, spanning different genres, each with its own reason to watch. Let's start with the three most anticipated.

A great novel by Zhai Zhu, author of Tales of Herding Gods, finally getting its anime adaptation.

If you're sick of the "work hard at cultivation and you'll ascend" formula, this one might be a refreshing change. The protagonist Xu Ying is a lowly snake-catching teenager, living an honest life until he witnesses a village god casually taking human lives — and in a fit of rage, he kills the god. From that one strike, he discovers that the entire cultivation system above his head isn't some path to heaven at all, but a game rigged by the upper realm, a scheme to harvest the people below. Those at the bottom grind themselves to death while those on top reap the profits.

This "anti-involution" core hits especially hard right now. The novel's alternate titles alone are 996 Cultivation, 007 Cultivation Too, Grind Till You Drop, and Nobody's Ascending, Damn It — the names alone are catnip for young audiences.

The visuals are bold too. Produced by China Film Niannian, the show blends folk elements like Nuo opera masks and incense-fire deity worship with Cthulhu-style dark aesthetics. Shots of awakened god statues and Nuo masters casting spells are eerie yet gripping — when the PV dropped, netizens praised it for "capturing the soul of Chinese horror." The suona blares, the chanting begins, and your scalp tingles just listening. If you're into this Chinese dark aesthetic, lock this one in now.

Domestic 2D animation is getting rarer and rarer, and true gems are scarcer still — Li Panda looks set to serve the core audience that loves premium 2D Chinese animation.

Put the production team on the table and any veteran anime fan will nod. Produced by Luoshui Flower Original and directed by Wang Xin, with experience on titles like Love Between Fairy and Devil, Dragon Raja, and Fox Spirit Matchmaker; action sequences supervised by Terumi Nishii, chief animation director of Jujutsu Kaisen — essentially the best of Chinese and Japanese 2D craft combined.

The protagonist Li Panda, a white-haired boy raised by the demon tribe, is sent down the mountain by his master to kill three enemies who destroyed the demon clan. The character design leans into guofeng wuxia, while the story weaves in interstellar sci-fi settings — two art styles colliding head-on. The battle shots in the PV are genuinely hype, with serious visual tension. If you want to see hand-drawn 2D donghua max out its action scenes, follow this one.

An animated adaptation of a Tianxia Bachang work — you can already picture it in your head.

Unlike Ghost Blows Out the Light's tomb-raiding treasure hunts, God of Wealth Dou Zhanlong goes for Republic-era treasure hunting with Chinese thriller vibes. The protagonist Dou Zhanlong is the reincarnation of the Treasure-Gathering Golden Toad, with piercing blue eyes and a blood feud from his massacred family — a seriously compelling setup. Escaping death and setting out on a treasure hunt, braving danger far from home, getting rich through nine near-death experiences — this kind of dramatic conflict delivers natural satisfaction for anime watchers.

The PV's bold dark aesthetics and Chinese horror elements have earned widespread praise — it's on a completely different wavelength from donghua currently on the market, and could leverage its first-mover advantage to own this niche.

"Release it now!" "I'm crying from impatience!"... The PV danmaku and official account comment sections of these titles have been overrun by fans begging for updates. Which one becomes this summer's Chinese anime dark horse? Once the episodes hit the table, it's up to the audience to savor and judge.

The upcoming summer releases are worth watching, and iQIYI Animation's ongoing year-long series can carry your weekly anime fix just fine.

​First, the shows currently airing:

The classic xuanhuan 3D epic The Great Ruler Year 2 has leveled up in both production and storytelling. The powerhouse couple Mu Chen and Luo Li get both a growth arc and sweet pure-love moments, and the show has entered the mainstream of the platform's year-long series competition. Meanwhile, The Great Ruler Year 2 ties into its predecessors Battle Through the Heavens and Wu Dong Qian Kun, with cameos from beloved characters like the Flame Emperor, Xiao Xiao, and Lin Dong — earning fan approval and becoming essential viewing for fans of the "Tianshan Tudou universe."

Against the Gods Year, which premiered in April, delivers pure "satisfaction": the defiant Yun Che defies the heavens, slaps faces, and builds a harem, all to live this life without regrets. With all the classic male-lead donghua tropes assembled, plus the continuous upgrades in art design and visual presentation that year-long series enjoy, this anime is high-octane from start to finish.

Seasonal series have goodies too. Ze Tian Ji is currently playing out the classic Zhou Garden arc, where leads Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong are about to finally meet — from childhood sweethearts to mutual protectors, those who know, know. Produced by Shenman Culture, with full-throttle 3D visuals and exquisite character art, it's a treat for the eyes.

The adventure of Sou Shen Ji keeps escalating: the Tanggu barrier's seal has broken, and the suspense over who stays and who goes is at its peak. The just-premiered Above Ten Thousand People opens with a sect war, and its underdog little martial arts school story defies formulas — no small feat.

​More new titles ahead — bookmark now and wait for updates:

Tony Wong's classic Hong Kong manhua Emperor's Legend series is getting its first OVA anime adaptation. The Hongwu Emperor arc and the Ji Fa arc focus on Zhu Yuanzhang's underdog rise and King Wu's conquest of Zhou respectively, offering fresh interpretations of classic historical figures within a traditional wuxia framework — great news for Hong Kong manhua fans.

Bei Xue, adapted from the novel of the same name by Xiao Duan, master of mainland New Wuxia, maintains quality while delving deep into themes of history, nation, and loyalty, chronicling heroes in a chaotic age.

The popular manhua Cheng Ye Xiao He has been officially greenlit for animation, featuring both heated esports battles and sweet campus romance — this much-anticipated esports title could be the next dark horse.

From year-long series to seasonal shows, from xuanhuan to fantasy, from female-lead hits to Chinese suspense, iQIYI Animation has great shows lined up nonstop. Your watchlist seat is ready — let's get hooked together.

Author / Huiye

Edited by < Reliable Editorial Desk >

Spring Festival is just around the corner, and the entertainment world is buzzing with excitement! Movies, TV dramas, and variety shows are all going all out to bring everyone good fortune for the new year. This year, Chinese animation has entered the fray in a high-profile way, delivering surprise after surprise right out of the gate and becoming an eye-catching force that cannot be ignored in the Spring Festival season.

iQIYI's animation lineup is fully "armed to the teeth": three new titles—The Great Ruler Season 2, How Dare You? Season 2, and Ze Tian Ji—have launched one after another with impressive results, and together with hit series like Nine Yang Martial God, Love Between Fairy and Devil Season 2, and Peerless Pill God, they have completely filled the watchlist of Chinese animation fans for the entire Spring Festival.

Just press the remote, turn on the screen, and the "Manchu-Han Imperial Feast"-level animation banquet prepared by iQIYI Animation is guaranteed to satisfy! This Spring Festival, if you love anime, you're in luck!

Right after New Year's Day, iQIYI Animation's Spring Festival slate began rolling out. On January 9, The Great Ruler Season 2 returned at max level. As a classic IP from Tian Can Tu Dou's universe, its premiere delivered the first全网 hotspot for Chinese animation in 2026 (the first full-web buzz moment for Chinese animation in 2026). The playful and lively Xiao Xiao made her entrance, calling Xiao Yan "daddy" and Cai Lin "mommy," then adding "Xun'er mommy"—directly pushing The Great Ruler Season 2's on-platform heat index past 5,000 and sparking flood-level discussions across Weibo, Douyin, Bilibili, and other platforms. With its faithful recreation of the original characters and emotions, The Great Ruler Season 2 quickly captured the hearts of core viewers and successfully joined the mainstream ranks of platform-level annual series competition.

Many netizens spontaneously created fan works, hailing Xiao Xiao as "the strongest star kid" and teasing Xiao Yan as a certified "daughter's slave" in The Great Ruler. Some creators even watched the show together with their 60-year-old fathers, and had the "Flame Emperor" Xiao Yan turn "commentator," breaking down The Great Ruler Season 2's iconic return scenes. Reportedly, Lin Dong, the Martial Ancestor and another major male lead of the Tu Dou universe, will also appear in episode 59 of The Great Ruler Season 2, joining this "max-level reunion." Fans across the web are already gearing up, waiting for every Friday to open iQIYI and dive into immersive binge-watching mode.

Speaking of fan creations sparking a site-wide binge-watching wave, How Dare You? certainly has plenty to say. Whether it's "How are you?", "SOS," or hotpot dipping, everything takes you back to that summer of 2024 when the first season premiered. Now How Dare You? Season 2 has made a surprise return—before its premiere, on-platform reservations exceeded 1.5 million, and within just 5 hours of its debut it broke iQIYI's original animation surge record, with a heat index as high as 5,264, sweeping TOP1 on the platform's overall chart, animation chart, and multiple other rankings, while also storming the trending lists of Weibo, Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, and more, with tremendous momentum.

To express their love and support for the "Yu-Dan CP," every episode's bullet comments are filled with fans' passionate confessions. Messages like "Yu-Dan 99," "Sister Yu, Boss Dan, your soldier has arrived," and "Ahhh so sweet!" paired with pink heart-effect bullet comments push the sweetness to the max. Social platforms are full of enthusiastic unpaid recommendations—high-sweetness iconic moments like "She is my driftwood" and "I am Zhang San, your wife Wan Yin" have been widely circulated after fan edits, with people recommending: "The world is in chaos, but Yu-Dan's heart never changes" and "Greatness needs no words." Some netizens even made "Boss Dan's life" mashup videos set to Zhou Shen's songs, showing just how beloved this show is. With this level of buzz, not watching it would truly be "how dare you" indeed.

After watching a hot-blooded youth's growth story and a transmigration-into-a-book romance, it's time to try a new flavor. Ze Tian Ji, which premiered on January 31, offers viewers a kind of "emotionally stable" satisfaction. Upon its premiere it topped iQIYI's fantasy Chinese animation heat chart at TOP1. With a single line—"Only by following your heart can you defy fate"—Chen Changsheng brought book fans carrying 12 years of nostalgia back to their youth. The young boys and girls who once followed the novel's serial updates can now open iQIYI and see all their imaginings of the book's story finally come to life as dazzling visuals.

The two-way connection between the work and its audience is vividly embodied in Ze Tian Ji. Netizens have been reminiscing on social platforms about their history with this IP: "2016 to 2026, ten years together" and "I love Ze Tian Ji, because I too am living by following my heart." After watching the animation, fans have been generous with praise, saying the production team "truly understands Mao Ni" and "truly understands nostalgia." As the "white moonlight" of a novel with over 10 billion clicks, the reboot of Ze Tian Ji as a 3D animation has also won countless accolades: "Congrats on winning the resurrection match, the 3D remake is amazing" and "Finally here—catching the 3D era is a blessing." Riding on this word-of-mouth, Ze Tian Ji scored 12 hot searches across the web during its premiere week, with short-video topic views exceeding 1.5 billion, comment sections bustling non-stop as the buzz kept fermenting.

Every good Chinese animation has its own strengths, but for seasoned anime viewers facing the question of "which one to watch," the answer is inevitably "I want them all." All three flagship Chinese animations are iQIYI Animation originals, and their staggered premieres have kept fans happily busy—liking, commenting, and playing with memes everywhere, with messages like "Support them all!" and "Hurry up and add more episodes!" carrying the lively vibe of Spring Festival house calls, making this Chinese animation Spring Festival season all the more festive.

The current development of the Chinese animation market still relies heavily on word-of-mouth fermentation and spread. The reason these three iQIYI Animation titles have won so many fans lies in the production teams' meticulous craft and full sincerity—it is precisely this reverence for content that has earned the audience's enthusiastic response.

The Great Ruler Season 2 builds on its predecessor's strengths with a dual upgrade in both production and storytelling. From character modeling and fabric textures to action details and micro-expressions, the new season feels even more realistic. In terms of special effects, The Great Ruler Season 2 breaks away from the traditional line-and-light combat style of xuanhuan animation, using richer and more varied pattern designs to recreate classic skills from the original work such as the Luoshen Sword Art and spirit arrays, creating an immersive viewing experience.

Beyond visuals on par with top annual series, The Great Ruler Season 2 has precisely grasped what viewers love to watch. The protagonist's revenge never drags, his appearances never stall the plot, the pacing is brisk and clean, with dense yet natural payoff moments. The powerhouse pairing of Mu Chen and Luo Li sweetens things up constantly—their pure-love interactions strike the perfect sweetness level, making viewers screech "sharp explosions" in the bullet comments, crying that they're "shipping it like crazy." The youth's hot-blooded growth is interwoven with the flutter of young romance, delivering both hype and tears, so fans of every age group can find resonance in it.

iQIYI Animation has not only maintained the quality of its annual series—the standard of its seasonal sequels is just as high. How Dare You? Season 2 carries on the brilliance of the first season: the "Yu-Dan couple" takes the stage in style, step by step escaping Beishan and locking horns with Prince Duan. The nested transmigration plot takes a brand-new turn—after the Empress Dowager's passing, the classic imperial intrigue storyline grows ever more thrilling. At the same time, the "Yu-Dan CP" daily interactions are full of highlights; the intimate scenes no longer just brush the surface, with both sweetness and tension upgraded.

As one of the rare animations using 3D-rendered-into-2D technology on the market, How Dare You? Season 2 has a distinctive visual style combining the strengths of both 2D and 3D. Scene art leverages Unreal Engine technology to optimize lighting, rich in detail without feeling cluttered. Character design blends 3D performance with 2D linework to create especially expressive facial acting, ensuring the tyrant and the demon consort are never mere descriptions but vivid, three-dimensional drama kings and queens.

Reportedly, How Dare You? Season 2 will reach its finale this season, with Wan Yin's big-heroine aura beginning to emerge. Where will Yu-Dan end up amid the mix of sweetness and heartbreak? What awaits supporting characters like Prince Duan, Xie Yong'er, Aunt Bei, and A'Bai? All the answers viewers crave are about to be revealed. As one of the rare female-oriented Chinese animation works on the market, How Dare You? Season 2's strong start and continued rise is refreshing multiple records for shoujo-oriented Chinese animation.

Beyond sequels with accumulated buzz, Ze Tian Ji—the first all-new IP animation iQIYI launched this year—equally showcases the platform's production quality and dedication. The moment protagonist Chen Changsheng appears, he shatters the usual stereotype of xuanhuan protagonists: unlike the "conquer the world with brute force" formula of most fantasy animations on the market, Chen Changsheng breaks through with wisdom, resolving crises with his knowledge and clear-minded outlook, brimming with personal charm. His life philosophy of "following your heart, defying fate" reflects a portrait of our times—young people's self-awakening, staying true to themselves, and pursuing personal growth. No matter the predicament, he always relies on his own knowledge to find solutions, and this clear-headed approach to life perfectly aligns with the internet's current core topic of "personal growth," making it easy for viewers to resonate with.

From a green-robed young Taoist entering the Divine Capital, to growing into the youthful dean of the National Academy, Ze Tian Ji naturally weaves Confucian-Daoist traditional Chinese cultural concepts into its plot progression. Knowledge and philosophy are often abstract and hard to grasp; integrating them into animation especially tests a production team's imagination and creativity. In episode two, the scene where Chen Changsheng enters the sea of stars to light up his fate star can be called a new iconic moment in the realm of Chinese-aesthetic animation. Using elegant guofeng aesthetic elements like ink-wash gradients and gold-and-blue landscape painting, combined with experimental music design, the production team sketched out a richly layered audiovisual spectacle.

Three hit animations launching one after another, each a masterpiece—iQIYI Animation is really going big to start the year.

Whether you're a fantasy fan who loves hot-blooded growth stories or a female viewer drawn to unconventional narratives, iQIYI Animation's Spring Festival programming strategy covers virtually every core audience segment of the Chinese animation market. The popular Chinese animation genres currently on the market are all assembled on iQIYI; this content matrix of diverse genres both meets different users' individual tastes and offers viewers accustomed to a single genre a seamless way to try something new.

Beyond the three flagship titles premiering in succession—The Great Ruler Season 2, How Dare You? Season 2, and Ze Tian Ji—iQIYI Animation has multiple fresh, hot series airing simultaneously, enough to fill viewers' entire Spring Festival holiday with binge-watching and completely banish any content drought. Nine Yang Martial God updates steadily every week, as protagonist Ye Yunfei is reborn with cheat-level powers and descends the mountain like a returning king, letting you enjoy the invincible satisfaction of a new-generation "face-slapping Heavenly Emperor." For a taste of "calling in the troops" lighthearted comedy, check out Love Between Fairy and Devil Season 2, where Little Orchid and the Devil Lord Dongfang Qingcang set off once more to unveil the mysteries of the three realms' reincarnation. And if you prefer a double track of pill refining and monster slaying, don't miss the classic fantasy Peerless Pill God, which just wrapped up this week—herb gathering and pill refining alongside thrilling monster battles, plus delicate emotional entanglements, satisfying every kind of viewer's watching preferences.

At the start of 2026, iQIYI Animation has kept up the momentum with move after move, showcasing a fresh new-year energy. Launching three hit titles at once while keeping multiple works on air reflects both the foresight of the platform's past strategic planning and years of solid accumulation. Notably, after the How Dare You? animation blew up, the IP has already achieved multi-format development: the short drama version set a Maoyan short-drama category heat record on its release day, and the long drama version starring Wang Churan and Cheng Lei premiered today, becoming another benchmark for iQIYI's "animation-drama synergy."

At this key Spring Festival juncture, the bold and aggressive iQIYI Animation has won users' favor with abundant content supply and earned positive market feedback from this wave of buzz. After this campaign, it may well usher the platform's Chinese animation business competition into a new stage. At least for now, with the strength to command the Chinese animation audience's entire Spring Festival, iQIYI Animation's 2026 is off to a beautiful start.

Author / Huiye

Edited by < The Reliable Editorial Desk >

Following "annual series" has become a collective demand among Chinese animation fans over the past two years. Whether it's critically acclaimed works with rising Douban scores or traffic hits with impressive view counts, as long as a show looks great and has a complete worldview, the comment sections never stop calling for "make it an annual series" and "please don't stop weekly updates." This is not only fans' desire for long-term companionship with quality content, but also reflects a strategic shift in the entire Chinese animation industry — upgrading from seasonal series to annual series is no longer an optional path, but the inevitable choice for cultivating quality content, achieving systematic long-term IP operations, and unlocking commercial value.

On January 9, The Great Ruler Annual Season 2 officially returned, sparking trending buzz across the internet the moment it premiered. iQIYI's in-platform heat quickly broke 5000, and it broke out across Weibo, Douyin, Bilibili and other platforms, triggering screen-sweeping discussions and a wave of fan creations. Related topics repeatedly made the trending lists, with fans exclaiming "found my love of following updates again" and "iQIYI, with a prestigious anime like this, you're guaranteed to win."

Douyin users even posted self-made videos calling Xiao Xiao the "strongest second-generation star," proving that Xiao Yan truly is a "daughter's slave" in The Great Ruler. Some creators even watched the show with their 60-year-old dads, with the Flame Emperor becoming an "explainer" interpreting the return of The Great Ruler Annual Season 2 — the lively interactions between creators and audiences felt like celebrating the New Year early.

This impressive scorecard not only showcases the strong appeal of The Great Ruler IP, but also confirms that, at a time when homogeneous competition in the annual-series race is intensifying and audience tastes keep rising, iQIYI Anime's annual-series strategy has already proven itself. From early planning to gradual momentum, from single hits to a full slate, iQIYI avoided falling into the trap of a "numbers race," instead insisting on a quality-focused route and systematic operations, ultimately overtaking on the curve and proving the correctness and feasibility of its annual-series strategy with solid, tangible works.

Investing more in Chinese animation means building an annual-series slate — this has become a hard requirement in the new round of competition among platforms, and iQIYI is no exception. Since launching its first annual series, The Great Ruler, in June 2023, iQIYI Anime has witnessed the development of the Chinese animation industry across production capacity, market, and IP commercial development in the context of the annual-series strategy.

The technological progress of animation studios and the maturing of industrialized pipelines are the industrial foundation that makes Chinese annual series possible. The widespread adoption of the UE engine has accelerated mid-to-late production workflows, and asset reuse in long-term project planning means more stable schedules and continuously decreasing marginal costs.

Audiences have already developed the habit of consuming annual series. In viewers' minds, the term "annual series" is automatically associated with keywords like "big IP, big production, premium quality." Homogeneous Chinese animation content has caused aesthetic fatigue, while the word-of-mouth spread of annual series that steadily hit their stride has become the mainstream way for Chinese animation to break out today.

IP commercialization has been a hot topic in the consumer market in recent years. Traditional seasonal series have short broadcast windows that make cross-promotion difficult, and negotiating partnerships in advance involves many uncertainties. Only annually broadcast series with long runs can truly build an IP, amplify its value, and achieve multi-faceted collaborative development.

Everything is in place — from content to commerce, the long-termism of making annual series is becoming increasingly important. Platform strategies like iQIYI's annual-series layout align with industry development and are both necessary and forward-looking. And whoever has more premium annual series has become the deciding factor in the next stage of platforms' Chinese animation business competition.

Making annual series is the industry trend, but that doesn't mean it's simple. There are already more than a dozen annual series competing simultaneously in the market, and successfully building a new annual-series IP that enters the view of Chinese animation's core audience requires steady progress on multiple fronts. The Great Ruler Annual Season 2, which returned at max level on January 9, offers valuable insights.

The opening of The Great Ruler Annual Season 2 turns its lens to the Endless Fire Realm, where Heavenly Silkworm Potato universe IP characters return as max-level accounts, delivering Chinese animation's first out-of-the-park iconic scene of 2026 in its premiere. Thanks to differentiated handling from the Battle Through the Heavens anime, the interactions between Xiao Xiao, the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao spread widely on short-video platforms. In particular, the "mute Xiao Xiao" opening her mouth to call Xiao Yan "Daddy" and Cai Lin "Mama," plus the "Xun'er's mom" plot point, were genuinely delightful surprises.

The lively and spirited little princess of the Endless Fire Realm pierced a long-held wish of the broader fanbase of Heavenly Silkworm Potato's works with just a few simple lines, making up for the regret of the tens of millions of Battle Through the Heavens anime viewers. Audiences showered it with praise on social media: "So heartwarming and touching," "Whose whole life is this," "This is exactly the scene everyone wanted to see."

The Great Ruler Annual Season 2's bold faithfulness to the novel's setting caused its viral clips across all platforms to directly blow up iQIYI Anime's heat, with positive word of mouth at launch triggering a site-wide binge-watching wave. According to official data, The Great Ruler Annual Season 2 hit #1 on iQIYI Anime's trending chart upon premiere, with in-platform heat breaking 5000, setting a new all-time record for male-oriented Chinese animation on iQIYI.

Worth noting is that the appearance of Xiao Yan and his daughter alongside Yao Lao doesn't stop at a simple Easter egg — the crossover is deeply woven into the main storyline. The crisis facing the Luoshen Clan both leaves ample clues for Xiao Xiao's later appearance and foreshadows the growth arcs of The Great Ruler's protagonists Mu Chen and Luo Li, giving new and old viewers plenty to look forward to.

If the "IP universe crossover" strategy of The Great Ruler Annual Season 2 was the catalyst for this return's smooth explosion, then production quality is the hard currency ensuring annual-series audience retention.

Building on the strengths of the first season, The Great Ruler Annual Season 2 achieves a double upgrade in production and storytelling. The long-term development model of an annual series is perfect for the production team to pursue technical improvement and optimize production quality through continuous creation, while also understanding the content more deeply and mining its depth.

In terms of production, the team has clearly put great care into optimizing the main cast's models — from clothing material textures to hair simulation, from body movement details to micro-expressions, the new season is far more realistic. The visual effects are maxed out, with budget burning in every episode, breaking past Chinese animation's clichéd line-based fight effects. The spirit arrays and Luoshen Sword Art in episode two are richly varied, and episode three visualizes sound-based attacks in a vivid, immersive way.

Judging from the three episodes released so far, The Great Ruler Annual Season 2 sits firmly at the top tier of the industry in production, and its main storyline is equally max-level. Overall, this season's pacing is faster and full of satisfying moments — revenge is never postponed, and the protagonist never stalls. The powerful duo CP of Mu Chen and Luo Li constantly delivers sweet moments, with their pure-love interactions winning audience approval. Especially when Mu Chen buys the stone for Luo Li and confesses with a straight shot: "Because you wanted it" — the everyday emotional delivery had the danmaku screaming that they "ship it."

Annual-series audiences are devoted — they lack nothing in patience, only in quality. They witnessed Xiao Yan's growth from youth to Flame Emperor in Battle Through the Heavens, and accompanied Lin Dong's maturation into the Martial Ancestor in Martial Universe. As long as the production team puts their heart into it, audiences surely have the patience and enthusiasm to watch The Great Ruler's Northern Cang crew head toward a bigger world — the new generation of protagonists in the Potato universe is bound to shine just as brightly.

After this battle, The Great Ruler Annual Series has won over its core audience through respect for its characters and emotions, entering the mainstream view of platform annual-series competition. Its status as a new industry benchmark for annual series is preliminarily established, and its future long-term operations are worth anticipating.

Annual series are always slow burns — most first-tier annual series in the market only hit their stride after a hundred episodes. The Great Ruler Annual Series got off to a great start in only its second year on air, thanks to the foresight of iQIYI Anime's annual-series strategy and its solid production and broadcast capabilities. It is reported that iQIYI Anime's second annual-series project, Against the Gods Annual Series, is already on the way and will premiere in the first half of this year.

Looking back at the 7-title annual-series slate announced at the 2025 iQIYI World Conference: amid white-hot platform competition in annual series, iQIYI may not have been the earliest, but the industry wisdom accumulated through years of深耕 its animation business helped it catch up quickly and ultimately overtake on the curve.

First is the choice of production partners. iQIYI Anime's annual-series partners are mostly studios with proven experience producing successful annual series. For example, Motion Magic, the studio behind the two annual series The Great Ruler and Yuan Zun, also produced the Battle Through the Heavens annual series, another adaptation of a Heavenly Silkworm Potato web novel IP. Foch Films, the studio behind Against the Gods Annual Series, and WonderCat Animation, the studio behind Night Without End, previously led the production of the Perfect World and A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality annual series respectively.

By partnering with experienced studios, iQIYI effectively reduces trial-and-error costs, quickly connecting with and integrating into the industry's first tier of technical and creative capability.

In IP selection, the explosive premiere of The Great Ruler Annual Season 2 has confirmed the high feasibility of deep crossover across a web novelist's universe. This model delights production teams, web novelists, and audiences alike. Secondary spreading driven by emotional resonance not only lowers a work's marketing reach costs, but also objectively enhances the extensibility and discussion volume of topics related to the work.

According to public information, in iQIYI Anime's new-project roadmap, beyond the vast world showcased by the "Heavenly Silkworm Potato universe," there is also the "I Have a Sword universe" from web novel great Qingluan Fengshang, with four works including I Have a Sword Annual Series in development, to be linked together through the shared destiny of "bloodline," presenting the theme of the protagonist's understanding of "responsibility."

Judging from the slate, the remaining 33 seasonal series, backed by promising IPs and quality production capacity across fantasy, wuxia, romance, adventure and other popular genres, can serve as a reserve force to be upgraded into annual series after market validation, effectively supplementing the annual-series matrix. iQIYI already has a precedent for this path from seasonal to annual series based on market feedback. The soon-to-premiere Against the Gods Annual Series is exactly this: after its 2023 debut delivered both strong data and word of mouth, it was upgraded to an annual series. Comprehensively assessing IP value and flexibly adjusting is also a reflection of iQIYI's production and broadcast capabilities.

From The Great Ruler Annual Series to the upcoming Against the Gods Annual Series, and then to the five annual-series works currently in production, iQIYI Anime has completed its full annual-series strategic layout in three years. It is clear that iQIYI Anime is serious about annual series, and its animation content boasts solid quality on par with iQIYI's film, TV, and variety content.

Now that iQIYI Anime's annual-series strategy is in place, it will run even faster going forward. Competition in the annual-series race has never lacked players, and homogeneous Chinese animation content has raised audiences' expectations for annual series. Only platforms that keep improving content quality, make the works audiences want, and optimize the user experience can build their own differentiated advantage. Through its forward-looking annual-series layout and solid production and broadcast capabilities, iQIYI has not only consolidated its influence among core animation users, but also provided a successful model for the industrialized, long-term development of the Chinese animation industry.

In this annual-series contest that tests content reserves and long-term operational capability, iQIYI has drawn first blood in 2026.