Oct 2026 Chinese Drama Update – Against the Current, Spring of the Blade, A Prophet and More!

兰香如故 47 ep 9月11日 央视八套(21:30) 刘学义、谭松韵 古装

Against the Current

The juggernaut hit of right now is Liu Xue Yi and Tan Song Yun’s Ming dynasty inspired historical romance drama, Against the Current or 兰香如故. This 47 episode drama started airing on September 11 on Tencent and CCTV 8. 

Shen Jia Lan ft Tan Song Yun, the eldest grandaughter of the Grand Secretary Shen, is betrothed to Lin Jin Qi ft Liu Xue Yi, eldest grandson of the Lin family. However, upheaval at court results in the Shen family being convicted of treason and condemned to death. To preserve the Lin family, the Lin family patriarch breaks off the engagement with the Shen family and instead arranges a marriage with the newly favored Zhao family. 

Meanwhile, Xu Wan Quan and his wife, servants of the Lin family, once received kindness and help from Shen Jia Lan and her mother. They come to rescue Shen Jia Lan. They exchange Jia Lan for their daughter who unfortunately died of illness.

From then on, Jia Lan is now known as Xu Lan Xiang. She becomes a third rank maid in the Lin family. Through hardships, she doesn’t submit to fate and strives to live a happy, fulfilling life. In the end, her kindness and intelligence helps her break free of class and social status. She earns the affections of Lin Jin Qi as well as the respect and the entire Lin family and ultimately becomes the head of the household. 

I don’t think there were very high expectations for this drama when it first came out but it is putting up monster numbers. The drama breached 33,000 on Tencent’s popularity index and is the drama with THE highest numbers on the platform this year. Now, note, Against the Current only airs on the Tencent platform while Pursuit of Jade aired on both Tencent and iQiYi so it’s unclear if Pursuit of Jade only aired on a singular platform, what that would look like.

Daily viewership numbers for the show reached a peak of over 70million views per day in late September and now it’s wrapping up in the 50million per day range and had over 40% market share at one point which is MASSIVE. 

This is definitely a massive hit numbers wise for Tencent and a welcome win for Liu Xue Yi and Tan Song Yun. Tan Song Yun has had a number of hits under her belt over the years with Under the Power (锦衣之下) for example  the fact that she WAS in Empresses in the Palace all those years ago. But she is never really talked about in the top tier flowers given that she doesn’t really go down the idol route. Her output can be rather uneven with some bombs interspersed with some big hits but at least her repertoire and subject matter is also varied.

As for Liu Xue Ye – I’m actually quite pleased to see this for him. I always thought he was handsome and thought he fit the 古装 historical costume archetype quite well. But he never had a solo hit with most of his historical romance or fantasy dramas always rather mediciocre in performance. At least now, he has a win and I’m happy for him. 

As for the quality of the drama? Douban gave it a 7.5/10. I’m writing my review now and you’ll be able to see it on our website soon and I’ll also be posting a full video review of this drama next week. I will unequivocally say this is one of my favorites of the year. But the quality, the acting, the cast, the themes of this drama are really great. There’s a lot of depth and nuance to the story and the characters that really blow all recent costume romance dramas out of the water. If there is ANY warning though for this show? It is that. You WILL cry. Particularly after the first episode. So. Uh yea. Be prepared for that. But overall, this is a drama where I’m actually NOT surprised it’s doing well and quite happy with its overall performance. 

一瓯春 30 2025 9月17日 爱奇艺/优酷 许凯、周也 古装

SPRING OF THE BLADE

Next up is another period romance drama SPRING OF THE BLADE or 一瓯春. This 30 episode drama began airing on September 17 on iQiYI and Youku. It stars Xu Kai and Zhou Ye as the leads.

Here’s the summary. 陈云芽 Chen Yun Ya starring 周也 Zhou Ye vows to get revenge on the person who murdered her mother. She returns to the family of her birth, the renowned Xie family, and regains her name as 谢清圆. She uses her new position to take down her enemies. She encounters the haughty yet handsome young official 严瑞 starring 许凯 who has been tasked with unearthing the corruption plaguing the city. The two come together to plot and scheme against their enemies and ultimately discover their true feelings about each other.

This is another revenge plot drama that unfortunately falters significantly. I chased the drama and while the cast and setting are beautiful, the plot is rather nonsensical. The drama tries to strive for some semblance of authenticity resembling the Song Dynasty period but all decorum is thrown out for the sake of the plot. 

This is Xu Kai’s first period romance to air since last year’s Moonlit reunion where a scandal erupted around him. This is also his first period romance where he’s using his own voice and let’s just say that he could definitely work on his enunciation and diction. Zhou Ye has unfortunately also been criticized for her poor acting, especially in some of her crying scenes. There’s one particular scene in episode 10 that has been thoroughly dissected online. I thought she was rather uneven in her scenes. In a nutshell, both the leads were outacted by the veteran actors featured in the drama.

This drama failed to compete against Against the Current. It hasn’t breached 7500 on iQiYi’s popularity index and barely breached 8000 on YouKu’s popularity index. This also only has a 5.4 rating on Douban 

我不是大师 24 2025 9月24日 腾讯视频/爱奇艺 李现、李一桐 民初

A Prophet

A 24 episode Republic of China era drama starring Li Xian and Li Yi Tong.

After the family of wealthy Jiangnan heir Shang Guan Cheng Ming 上官诚明 (ft Li Xian) is destroyed in a scheme orchestrated by the Tianxiang Sect 天相派 , he assumes a false identity and goes undercover, becoming the disciple of Jin Bu Huan 金不换, a man who has lost the use of both legs. He then enters into a battle of wits with his wife, Jiang Feiyan (Li Yitong), the source of his pain and suffering. Using a series of elaborate cons, Cheng Ming ultimately exposes supernatural frauds such as the so-called “Descent of the Immortal Children” and brings down the shadowy organization behind the Tian Xiang Sect.

This drama right now is currently number 2 behind Against the Current but it’s a HUGE drop off. Only averaging around 10-13million views per day compared to the 50-70 million views of Against the Current. Right now it captures approximately 10% market share vs 40% for the other show. 

From a popularity index perspective, it breached only 7000 on iQiyi and 22,000 on Tencents popularity index soooo uhhh yea… not too great. It’s rather funny because I’m researching this on WeiBo and even the search AI summary shows that this drama is actually doing well because it has tons of advertising which a lot of times is a mark of how popular a show is. But i haven’t seen a lot of trending topics on this show. 

It’s a shame because I do like Li Xian and Li Yi Tong as actors. I feel like the premise of the plot seems rather interesting now that I looked it up. I watched the first 15 minutes of this show and it was really quite gruesome as in Li Xian immediately just tossed someone out of a train and there were thriller/scary scenes with dead bodies. So I was like uhhhh let me come back to this when I’m better prepared. ANYWAYS – it’s only 24 episodes so I will check it out now that I’m done with Against the Current and will write up a review for it on our website. 

无可替代*20 ep9月28日 央视八套(22:20)赵今麦、魏大勋都市

Irreplaceable

Next is 无可替代 or Irreplaceable. This is a 20 episode modern day drama starring Zhao Jin Mai and Wei Da Xun that began airing on CCTV 8 and on Youku on September 28

After witnessing her mother take her own life after a divorce, Xu Chi 徐迟 (Zhao Jinmai) vows never to become a weakling that is replaceable. Despite graduating from an ordinary university, her extraordinary determination and quick thinking propel her forward, and she eventually becomes a highly accomplished professional consultant.

Ye Xinzhi 叶信之 (Wei Daxun), an elite partner in the consulting industry, was once set up by his superior early in his career. After devising a plan for revenge, he personally recruits Xu Chi, whose potential he had recognized long before, to become his assistant. Acting as both mentor and friend, he continues to guide her as she advances in her career.

As the two navigate mutual attraction and test the boundaries of their relationship, they gradually grow closer just as each is on the verge of achieving their respective goals. But Ye Xinzhi suddenly finds his career in crisis, while Xu Chi unexpectedly receives an opportunity to rise directly into senior management. Faced with this new test, what will they choose?

Ok – Cathy – I’m going to tell you to NOT watch this drama. Because you know what? We’re in the consulting business and this just DOES NOT happen. Ok? I feel like she’ll be a table flip emoji if she watches this drama and be angry at everything that happens. 

I’ll just make a comment. Why are they pairing up Wei Da Xun and Zhao Jin Mai! Their real age   difference is like 13 years but she just looks SO young. Wei Da Xun is able to do a very good smolder and can generate chemistry with just about anyone but uh…she just looks wayy too young for him. 

Anyways – this drama is currently in third place in the video rankings. Viewership numbers are in the 10 million views per day or so and it has breached 9000 on Youku’s popularity index which overall isn’t saying much. This drama is just quietly chugging along.

魅影神捕 30 10月2日 爱奇艺罗云熙古装

Shadow Punisher

Lastly, we have the drama Shadow Punisher or 魅影神捕. This 30 episode drama stars Luo Yun Xi, Fang Yi Lun and Shen Yu Jie. It began airing on Oct 2 on iQiYi.

In the fictional Shi Dynasty 大世王朝, Li Si黎斯  (Luo Yunxi), known as the “Young Master of Qingyang,” plots his way into the Divine Constabulary to uncover the truth behind the death of the Fourth Prince.

There, he meets Bai Zhenzhu (Shen Yujie), the realm’s foremost female coroner, known as the “Frost Constable”; Meng Rui (Fang Yilun), a formidable martial artist known as the “Ghost Constable” ; and Xuanyuan Shan (He Hongshan) , the powerful female head of the bureau.

Working together and undaunted by the dangers they face, the group investigates and solves a series of bizarre and mysterious cases, including the “Demon of the Otherworld,” the “Phantom Prison of the Demon Box,” and the “Immortal Corpse of the Jade Tower.”

This is another detective costume drama that is comprised of a bunch of different cases that connect the overarching plot. But man, NO one is watching this show. It’s currently sitting in 6th place for overall marketshare and daily views are just in the 7 million range which is abysmal. This is Luo Yun Xi’s first period drama to air since last year’s Whispers of Fate. Sadly, Luo Yun Xi has just been dud after dud over the last 2-3 years and audiences really seemed to have moved on from him. This is a small production for sure so at least he’s getting work but I don’t know where the market is for guys like him moving forward.