Entries
Navigating Conference Seasons
If there's one thing that keeps the donghua fandom on its toes every year, it's the antecipation that comes with each donghua lineup conference.
Chinese animation announcements are scattered across independent showcases held by Tencent, Bilibili, Youku, and iQiyi, so keeping track of them can feel like a second hobby lol.
BUT, once you know the rhythm, it becomes a lot easier to keep track of new and ongoing shows. On that regard, I've assorted a list of which news gatherings we get for the top streaming platforms.
It is important to notice though, that keeping track of famous studios is also a good idea. But that's a full-course meal for another time.
| Platform | Event Name | (Typical) Timeframe |
|---|---|---|
| Tencent Video | Tencent Video Animation Conference (or Animation Day) | June to August (Mid-Summer) |
| Youku | Youku Animation Annual Press Conference / Cloud Conference | May (Spring Showcase) & September/October (Autumn Event) |
| iQiyi | iQiyi World Conference & iJOY Autumn Showcase | April (Spring Showcase) & September/October (Autumn Showcase) |
| Bilibili | "Made by Bilibili" Anime Timeline Presentation | September to November (Late Autumn) |
So as you can see, these events are held at independent annual conferences hosted by each streaming platform, and the dates move around from year to year. More about it below.
Details:
- Tencent Video: Usually summer events, Tencent traditionally leans heavily into mid-summer for its standalone Animation Day or Animation Conference. They drop massive lists of 3D cultivation and fantasy donghua trailers during this window. They also hold a broader multi-content event called the V Vision Conference around October, which covers live-action dramas but occasionally updates secondary animation IPs.
- Youku: Youku splits its massive content updates across two seasons: around May/June, whith additional major announcements often appearing around September–October. They first host a major Cloud Conference where massive upcoming animated adaptations and high-profile sequels are revealed. They follow up with a secondary Animation Annual Press Conference around September or October to lock in late-fall and winter releases.
- iQiyi: iQiyi rarely hosts an animation-only conference. Instead, they group their donghua reveals into massive multi-media showcases. The iQIYI World Conference is commonly held in spring (often April or May), whereas the iJOY Conference is a separate major event that commonly occurs in September/October and serves as the autumn content showcase. There was also an April 2026 iJOY-related conference event. These events unveil roughly 400+ titles spanning dramas, variety, and animation collectively.
- Bilibili: Bilibili's signature ANIME MADE BY BILIBILI event is the cornerstone for 2D/3D and stylized Chinese animation. This is typically held in late autumn, ranging from late September through November. For example, the 2019 showcase was held in November. They routinely drop up to 60+ new titles and international IP collaborations.
Revised on June 21, 2026
The Quest for Good Subs
One of the greatest challenges for anyone wanting to get into donghua is definitely the lack of proper subs. It was certainly worse a couple years ago, but the problem still persists both on lesser known titles and because the usual fan-subbers can only translate so much. It can be really frustrating for someone used to well subbed series - anime popularity :') - to try to understand either machine-translated subtitles or translations that completely miss cultural nuances. So they might not even want to give a try after the first episode - unfortunately it tends to be the case, when language bias is not an issue.
Conversely, there are fewer fan subbing groups, probably due to the increasing availability of official translations which, in many cases, hire these groups (most of the times for novels). While I appreciate official efforts to broaden their audience, these networks sometimes lack the passion and attention to detail that fan translators have. Translation notes are a must-have for more complex plots, as in the case of Jian Lai. So far, only Bilibili has shown a special care for overseas viewers.
Speaking of Jian Lai (it won't be the last time you read me writing it XD), it is densely packed with traditional motifs and high-level literary references. If not for the caring dedication of its "official" fan translator, one could only rely on very crappy mtl subs and not understand nearly 1% of the dialogues. Plus, some of these more elaborate shows don't even make an appearance on the international versions of the chinese networks simply because there would be no point - if subs have no quality, it's a waste of time for everyone; a shame, because many of these would attract new viewers for sure.
Same happens with humor, although it's a more sensitive subject since some contextual jokes are intimately related with the daily culture; t/n would only hint at a joke for international viewers to be aware of.
Either way, the more fan subbers out there, the greater will be donghua visibility and enjoyment. Just as it happened with anime, donghua is in its early international stages, and it's up for the small community which comes accross it to make it easier for newcomers! Maybe a collaboration with some language students or enthusiasts? Who knows! If anyone reading this is interested, feel free to reach out!
divider ©uzmacchiato (tumblr)
Getting Started
There are many resources out there to know more about donghua but, truth be told, not necessarily from the most... reliable sources. Some that I came across and find extremely helpful are definitely these: Donghua Reviewer, Oriloot, Yualexius, & Catsuka - for something more generalist. Quick mention to Daisy's articles, they're great insights into donghua culture and many details which may have been missed regarding all sorts of shows. Last but not least, everythingmoe for your the ever so fleeting public platforms.
For something more personal, I highly recommend Yuki Yua's donghua list as well as Donghua World discord community. This latter is a growing group sharing wallpapers & news.
Other than that there's reddit (r/donghua) with plenty of useful info there too and tumblr's donghua community, @@haotian-donghua.
On youtube, your best bet is definitely DonghuaGameCG3D, there are others but as crappy as the algorithm may be, it'll be easy to find them afterwards.
That's all for now. Have fun!
divider ©uzmacchiato (tumblr)