In the year 2021 that has just passed, a topic that is often brought up is just how many Wuxia and Xianxia cdramas will be aired next year.
It is not difficult to understand such a question. According to statistics from public sources, including various projects to be broadcast, wrapped, started filming, and in preparation, there are at least 40+ Wuxia and Xianxia cdramas exposed so far, which can be considered the most crowded track in the film and television industry in 2022.
On January 14, the new-style martial arts drama “Sword Snow Stride ” ushered in the first season finale. on January 16, “Mirror: Twin Cities” will first kick off the prologue of this year's fantasy cdrama.
Xianxia Cdramas: Adaptation Determines the Winner
The most obvious phenomenon of Xianxia cdramas is that although the quantity is large, the hits are not easy to come by.
- On the one hand, although Xianxia cdramas have a fixed audience, there is a quota for scheduling, and only the real top dramas have the chance to be syndicated on multiple platforms.
- On the other hand, historical drama is a big part of cdrama, long creation period and large cost investment are its characteristics, and Xianxia cdramas is especially so.
The 2022 Xianxia cdramas, in particular, is a collection of many heavyweight works.
2022 Xianxia Cdramas List
| Drama | Main Role | Original | Author | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immortal Samsara | Yang Zi/Cheng Yi | Chen Xiang Ru Xie | Su Mo | |
| The Blue Whisper | Dilraba Dilmurat/Ren Jia Lun | Yu Jiao Ji | Jiu Lu Fei Xiang | |
| Eternal Love | Yu Shu Xin/Dylan Wang | Cang Lan Jue | Jiu Lu Fei Xiang | |
| Back From the Brink | Hou Ming Hao/Zhou Ye | Hu Xin | Jiu Lu Fei Xiang | |
| Love When the Stars Fall | Chen Xing Xu/Li Lan Di | Xing Luo Ning Cheng Tang | Yi Du Jun Hua | |
| Chong Zi | Yang Chao Yue/Jeremy Tsui | Chong Zi | Shu Ke | |
| Love Never Fails | Crystal Yuan/Liu Xue Yi | Luo Hua Shi Jie You Feng Jun | Shu Ke | |
| Song of the Moon | Zhang Binbin/Xu Lu | Ben Yue | Shu Ke | |
| Chen Yuan | Angelababy/Ma Tian Yu | Chen Yuan | Yan Yu Jiang Nan | |
| Hua Rong | Ju Jing Yi/Guo Jun Chen | Wu Chang Sheng | Lin Jia Cheng | |
| A Forbidden Marriage | Mao Zi Jun/Zhou Jie Qiong | Master, you can easily lose me like this | Yi Ren Sui | |
| Qian Qiu Ling | Zhang Yu Xi/Tong Meng Shi | / | / | |
| Dear Mr. Heavenly Fox | Wang You Shuo/ Rain Lu | / | / |
For example, “Love When the Stars Fall” and “Immortal Samsara”. The former is the finale of the “Honey Trilogy series”, the first two parts of the “Ashes of Love” and “Skate Into Love” high popularity, so this sequel to become one of the most anticipated Xianxia dramas this year.
Immortal Samsara
“Immortal Samsara” has been rumored to be prepared since 2019, and finally determined to be led by Yang Zi and Cheng Yi, a work that many Xianxia fans have been eagerly awaiting.
In addition to familiar works, many fiction writers are also recurring in next year's list of films, such as Jiu Lu Fei Xiang (九鹭非香).
Eternal Love
“The Blue Whisper” and “Eternal Love” are both adapted from Jiu Lu Fei Xiang's novels. In addition to these two works, “Back From the Brink” appears in Youku's 2022 slate, while “Si Ming (司命)” and “Yu Feng Xing (与凤行)” are still in preparation. “The Seventh Generation”, on the other hand, started earlier this year, starring Yang Yang and Ding Yuxi, but the did not appear on the list of major platforms, and it is more likely that it will meet with the audience in 2023.
Back From the Brink
Jiu Lu Fei Xiang is also one of the authors whose Xianxia novel works have been adapted the most as of now. She is also the screenwriter of “Back From the Brink”. This may be a trend in order to adapt to the high demand of Xianxia fans for the original restoration of the script.
Compared to Jiu Lu Fei Xiang, Shu Ke (蜀客)‘s works have been adapted in no lesser quantity. “Song of the Moon”, “Love Never Fails”, and “Chong Zi (重紫)” are all highly anticipated works.
Although there is a very obvious increase in the number of Xianxia cdramas and an upgrade in production standards, the content space of this genre has narrowed if imagination is the measure. Especially in terms of story background, story structure, and character settings, they all show more similar characteristics.
To a certain extent, this is also related to the creation of the original novel followers.
In the novel platform, a large number of net literary works created by following the trend are more efficiently transformed, more adapted to the algorithmic rules of the platform system, and more likely to be on the relevant list.
However, for film and dramas, this convergence makes it extremely difficult to adapt.
Dear Mr. Heavenly Fox
Among the fourteen immortal dramas that are likely to meet with the audience in 2022, only “Qian Qiu Ling (千秋令)” and “Dear Mr. Heavenly Fox” are original scripts, while the remaining twelve are all adaptations. There is even a shortage of classic themes among them.
Classic themes need more drastic adaptations. The ability to incorporate innovative elements in the adaptation may be the key to standing out in this year's Xianxia drama.
Wuxia Cdramas: New Ideas for Comic Book Adaptations
In recent years, martial arts dramas have placed more and more emphasis on the renovation of elements.
The traditional martial arts gradually retired, the new style of martial arts take over, which has become the creative trend of martial arts drama.
“Legend of Fei”, “Word of Honor”, and “Sword Snow Stride” are all representative of this new style. They are all adapted from well-known new martial arts novels, and their contents focus on teenage growth and mutual redemption respectively.
Word of Honor
2022 Wuxia Cdramas List
| Drama | Main Role | Original | Author | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immortal Samsara | Yang Zi/Cheng Yi | Chen Xiang Ru Xie | Su Mo | |
| The Blue Whisper | Dilraba Dilmurat/Ren Jia Lun | Yu Jiao Ji | Jiu Lu Fei Xiang | |
| Eternal Love | Yu Shu Xin/Dylan Wang | Cang Lan Jue | Jiu Lu Fei Xiang | |
| Back From the Brink | Hou Ming Hao/Zhou Ye | Hu Xin | Jiu Lu Fei Xiang | |
| Love When the Stars Fall | Chen Xing Xu/Li Lan Di | Xing Luo Ning Cheng Tang | Yi Du Jun Hua | |
| Chong Zi | Yang Chao Yue/Jeremy Tsui | Chong Zi | Shu Ke | |
| Love Never Fails | Crystal Yuan/Liu Xue Yi | Luo Hua Shi Jie You Feng Jun | Shu Ke | |
| Song of the Moon | Zhang Binbin/Xu Lu | Ben Yue | Shu Ke | |
| Chen Yuan | Angelababy/Ma Tian Yu | Chen Yuan | Yan Yu Jiang Nan | |
| Hua Rong | Ju Jing Yi/Guo Jun Chen | Wu Chang Sheng | Lin Jia Cheng | |
| A Forbidden Marriage | Mao Zi Jun/Zhou Jie Qiong | Master, you can easily lose me like this | Yi Ren Sui | |
| Qian Qiu Ling | Zhang Yu Xi/Tong Meng Shi | / | / | |
| Dear Mr. Heavenly Fox | Wang You Shuo/ Rain Lu | / | / |
The creative thinking of new-style martial arts is also undergoing a new change.
Martial arts + debut
Martial arts cdrama has always covered a wide range of subjects, in addition to the traditional sense of fighting and killing, suspense, horror, power, and strategy can be integrated with it. Now, in order to adapt to the changing aesthetic tastes of the audience, martial arts dramas have also started a new round of fusion experiments.
“The Ingenious One” is positioned as a Jianghu strategy drama, which combines elements of business war, suspense, and strange cases, presenting a new martial arts world with not only swords, but also treacherous and intellectual wrestling.
The Ingenious One
“Brotherhood of Blades: Shadow of the Mountain and River” continues the suspenseful style of the original movie, focusing on combining martial arts with crime-solving.
Brotherhood of Blades: Shadow of the Mountain and River
“Who Rules The World” is a martial arts romance drama. This drama tells a dreamy love story based on the standard of martial arts and the battle between good and evil.
The handsome and elegant Feng Lan Xi (Yang Yang) and the gorgeous Bai Feng Xi (Zhao Lu Si) met in the Jianghu, and gradually understood each other's feelings during the ten years they spent together, and finally decided to join hands to venture into the world.
Comic adaptation of martial arts has become a new trend
There is no shortage of excellent martial arts works in Chinese animation. In the past, there were also classics adapted from comics, such as “The Legend of Qin” and “Bu Liang Ren”, which were adapted from anime of the same name.
From the 2022 Wuxia drama list, there is a resurgence of comic book adaptations of martial arts dramas.
“Shao Nian Ge Xing (少年歌行)” and “Shao Nian Bai Ma Zui Chun Feng (少年白马醉春风)” are from the works of new martial arts writer Zhou Munan, but previously most viewers learned about the series through the anime of the same name.
Of course, compared to novel adaptations, it is often more difficult to adapt anime to drama. Anime often has stylized characters and scenes, and the audience also has a corresponding judgment scale in mind.
This kind of work from the selection of actors to costumes and makeup, all need to be as close to the original anime. For example, the role of Wuxin played by Liu Xueyi in the “Shao Nian Ge Xing” has been well received by both the original and the comic fans for its high degree of restoration.
This type of work is almost devoid of the traditional martial arts formula. The common story drivers of martial arts dramas like revenge and treasure hunting are put on hold, and between chivalry and tenderness, they place more emphasis on growth and companionship.
Who Rules The World
In addition, there are also some dramas that want to revive the traditional martial arts scenery and appear in the list of major platforms in 2022, such as “Heroes (说英雄谁是英雄)”, which is about a teenager growing up, “The Lotus Casebook”, which is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Teng Ping, and “Da Zong Shi (大宗师)”, which focuses on the heritage of the famous Guangdong martial arts Choy Li Fut (蔡李佛拳).
These works are closer to traditional martial arts in terms of narrative style and the core of the episodes. However, in addition to “Heroes” has been filmed, the other two plays are in the pre-production stage, and the audience may have to wait until 2023.
Xuanhuan Cdramas: Become Popular Again?
At the time of the well of Xianxia cdramas and historical cdramas evens last year, there were very few Xuanhuan cdramas.
But judging from the list of major platforms in 2022, this genre seems to have a trend of making a comeback.
2022 Xuanhuan Cdramas List
| Drama | Main Role | Original | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirror: Twin Cities | Li Yi Feng/Yukee Chen | Jing Shuang Cheng | Cang Yue |
| The Longest Promise | Xiao Zhan/Ren Min | Zhu Yan | Cang Yue |
| Snow Eagle Lord | Xu Kai/Gulnezer Bextiyar | Xue Ying Ling Zhu | Wo Chi Xihongshi |
| The King of Light in Zichuan | Yang Xu Wen/Liu Yu Ning | Zi Chuan | Lao Zhu |
| Blocking The Sky | / | Zhe Tian | Chen Dong |
The first to kick off is “Mirror: Twin Cities”. Adapted from Cang Yue's novel of the same name, the drama focuses on the love story between merman Su Mimic (Li Yifeng), sea emperor, and Bai Ying (Chen Yuqi), the princess of the Bai family.
Mirror: Twin Cities
Cang Yue has always been fond of combining martial arts and fantasy, placing demons, immortals, mortals, and mermen in the same time and space in order to create a huge worldview. But unlike male writers who often use love as an illustration and accompaniment to the chivalrous male protagonist, the love narrative occupies an important place in Cang Yue's novels.
The same work is also “The Longest Promise” starring Xiao Zhan and Ren Min. The original novel of the drama, “Zhu Yan (朱颜)”, also comes from Cang Yue's novel. This drama is a prequel to the “Mirror” series, and perhaps will link up with “Mirror: Twin Cities” in terms of plot.
The Longest Promise
The emergence of these two dramas has to a certain extent also alleviated the sense of misalignment that used to be difficult to circumvent in Xuanhuan cdramas. Previously, Xuanhuan novels were mainly for male readers, but Xuanhuan dramas used often popular male stars, opposite female viewers.
In Cang Yue's work, these problems are solved, which further raises the expectations of this two Xuanhuan cdramas.
The Longest Promise
Of course, such works are still in the minority. there are still many Xuanhuan cdramas that will meet the audience in 2022, with themes of protagonist growth and rebellion, such as “Snow Eagle Lord (雪鹰领主)”, “The King of Light in Zichuan (紫川)” and “Blocking The Sky (遮天)”. These works originated from excellent Xuanhuan novels, which have accumulated a certain number of fans themselves
In general, 2022 will have its own characteristics of Xianxia, Wuxia, and Xuanhuan cdramas. Xianxia cdramas has the fiercest competition, Wuxia is on the road to innovation after repeated experiences, and Xuanhuan seems to be silent but showing signs of recovery.
In 2022, there are so many wonderful Chinese dramas that are worthy of our attention. Feel free to write down in the comment section which one you are most looking forward to.
