Japan’s top cultural export remains anime and manga, and for good reason. On their best days, they exemplify the quality of animation and artistry’s potential, although even with its massive breadth of content, demand continues to mount up for more. As a result, while Japan remains dominant, other countries begin to claim their share, like Korean aeni or Chinese donghua.
China’s anime, or donghua (meaning animation, much like anime) has been making headlines recently with even rumblings of shows like To Be Hero X contending for Crunchyroll’s next Anime of the Year honor. But even these gorgeous projects pale in comparison to one criminally underrated Chinese gem, Fog Hill of Five Elements, poised to leave Japanese anime in the dust.
China’s Best Donghua Is a Massive Feat of Animation
Fog Hill of Five Elements originally dropped in July of 2020, releasing three episodes in Mandarin on China’s bilibili streaming service for a concise first season. It quickly made waves thanks to platforms like YouTube and TikTok, with viewers latching onto its fluid combat animation. Since then, fans have tried in vain to find shows quite as fulfilling to watch.
Depicting the adventure of Wenren Yixuan, or simply Xuan, the series follows a world plagued by demons, a group of elemental Envoys wishing to contain this threat, and ordinary humans caught in the balance. However, things grow more complicated as they each vie for the diminutive demonic Qilin, whose scales are coveted for their empowering qualities.
The result is a lush world encapsulating this clash of mythological elements, fusing Chinese Wuxing philosophical concepts with breathtaking martial arts action. Everything is fiercely stylized with distinctive linework, wild scenic color palettes, and a world that comes alive despite being elegant enough to stand alone as a still image.
It’s genuinely no exaggeration to call it a masterpiece for its fight scenes alone.
But when Fog Hill of Five Elements comes to life is easily during its fights. It’s genuinely no exaggeration to call it a masterpiece for its fight scenes alone. By season 2, released in 2023, its battles included moments like episode #2’s debut of Xuan’s brother, Jingxuan’s Flame Ring Blast is about as Dragon Ball Z-coded as it gets.
Yet, to see this as derivative of its influences is to undermine its genuine achievements. Not only are the fights fluid – they stay consistently strong without compromise usually seen in other excellent animation using Kagenashi styles, with shadows and reflective lighting, and practically no odd freeze frames. But there are some caveats to Fog Hill of Five Elements’ excellence.
Fog Hill of Five Elements Is Created by a Small Studio
While anime of the present consistently struggle with the bureaucratic woes of studios and their production committees, most infamously the recent One-Punch Man season 3, this donghua has a different, more desirable problem. Fog Hill of Five Elements is produced by Samsara Animation Studio, with their limited personnel only capable of releasing 3-4 episodes a season so far.
The result is an intense labor of love for every episode, where even the moments in between the action include immense world-building, comedic interludes, and gathering of groups like the Envoys. The Metal Envoy in particular, traversing a staircase of telekinetically-controlled swords, is about as cool as it gets.
But this mark of quality also means that, if viewers expect the same results, they’ll likely have to wait years at a time. Season 1 was released in 2020, while season 2 released in 2023, a full three years later. With the plot still unresolved, one can reasonably hope for a 2026 release date.
However, even season 2 was a notable improvement. More locales were used in each respective episode, more time was given to a broken-up ensemble of key characters like Su Xiao’an and the hilarious human-turned-duck sage mascot, Shuiguan. It’s reasonable to hope for more next year, but expecting any further improvements should likely result in longer wait times.
Chinese Anime Is Giving Japan a Run for Its Money
While movies like Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle ruled the box office in 2025, setting a new record of Japanese anime, Ne Zha 2, China’s 3D-animated movie released in the same year, shattered all records and became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. In 2D animation, China has also released the impressive Lord of Mysteries with eye-popping visual fidelity.
But another series that has appealed to Western audiences as a breakout hit on Crunchyroll was To Be Hero X, providing a unique blend of fully separate 2D and 3D scenes thanks to its central gimmicks, while scratching a My Hero Academia itch. But while Lord of Mysteries and To Be Hero X make waves, they are still somewhat lacking.
To Be Hero X’s depth leaves much to be desired, while Lord of Mysteries threatens to drown viewers in the density of its story and aggressive early pacing. Fog Hill of Five Elements, however, maximizes its runtime to feel accessible, introduces characters overtly, trickles in its lore, and softens its harsher moments with surprisingly excellent comedy.
Solo Leveling, despite having similar length to each episode of Fog Hill of Five Elements, is practically a punchline for how quickly an episode passes by.
Fog Hill of Five Elements represents the best of what one can expect from shonen anime, but with fewer frustrating pacing issues. Solo Leveling, despite having similar length to each episode of Fog Hill of Five Elements, is practically a punchline for how quickly an episode passes by. The latter even ups the ante with longer episodes in season 2.
What fans get out of this series is essentially the Chinese successor to anime gems like Naruto: Shippuden or Dragon Ball Z with its particular blend of martial arts, energy attacks, wild transformations, and gags. Xuan’s Yin-Yang form in the season 2 finale is stunning, but it’s worth rewatching season 2, episode #3 for Xiao’an and Shuiguan’s medicine-making mishaps.
Chinese Animation Is Only Beginning to Be Broadly Appraised
While there are contemporary hits like Link Click and Dragon Raja, and BL series like Mo Dao Zu Shi have their fair share of fans, Chinese anime, or donghua, still has yet to fully achieve its mainstream potential. It shows remarkable promise with the best Chinese series often being weighed against Japanese anime, and it’ll only go up from here.
Shows like Fog Hill of Five Elements represent the impressive results of a careful production in even a small studio. Its success is well-recognized by anime and donghua connoisseurs. But with season 3 likely to raise the stakes further, with blood being spilled over the Qilin, Yixuan separated from Jingxuan, and more, there’s still plenty to see.
So, to look forward to Fog Hill of Five Elements, is to look forward to more of the best Chinese animation has to offer. While it lacks the dedicated, massive teams found on shows like One Piece, it also has lacked any notable drops in quality despite early acclaimed seasons, like The Promised Neverland. Whether its streak continues is an exciting prospect for everyone who has been following.
