10 Exciting Costume C-Drama To Put in Your Drama Watch List for 2025

These costume Chinese series have just started filming this year and considering the length of time the production will spend editing costume dramas due to special effects, fight scenes, and action sequences, including dubbing (compared to modern dramas), these series will be most likely to air in 2025.

Among tons of costume C-dramas filmed, and to be launched, this year, we picked 10 based on the script, story themes, and main leads. We believe these are the highly anticipated series to be broadcast in 2025:

1. Fu Shan Hai or Divine Heroes (iQIYI and Tencent)

Cheng Yi has just been announced as the main lead star of this upcoming wuxia drama. Fu Shan Hai (literal translation: Go To Mountains and Seas) also known as Divine Heroes, is adapted from the wuxia novel, Shen Zhou Qi Xia (The Wonderful Heroes of China) by Wen Ruian.

We're excited for this drama because this is the first time that Cheng Yi will star in a solid wuxia drama. He has been acting in the costume drama genre for years but he has not yet in a pure martial arts series. Mysterious Lotus Casebook and Hero Legends cannot be categorized as pure wuxia because they are more on the investigative side of martial arts drama.

Shenzhou Qixia or The Wonderful Heroes of China is a martial arts novel written by Wen Ruian, who is known as a master storyteller of wuxia. The story follows Xiao Qiushui and his Huan Huajian sect which was destroyed by the two martial arts factions: the Power Gang and Zhu Datianwang. 

2. Legend of the Dark River (Youku)

This is another hardcore wuxia drama and we love this kind of theme! The fact that this will be directed by Yin Tao, who is known as one of the best directors in the costume genre, made this one even more exciting.

The last time we heard, this was rumored to Gong Jun and Chang Huasen, but they are not confirmed yet and a lot of names are now tied up to the project. 

Legend of the Dark River has an arc in The Blood of Youth. It is an assassin group and the most mysterious assassin organization in the martial arts world. It consists of the Su, Xie, and Mu families. The leaders of the three families are collectively referred to as the Grand Elders. 

The Grand Elders are currently in critical condition due to a strange poison, putting their lives at risk. Upon hearing this news, the forces of the three families within the Dark River seize the opportunity to launch a rebellion. 

Su Muyu, the leader of the Grand Elder's guard unit, Spider Shadow, seeks the help of the divine healer Bai Hehuai from the Medicine King Valley to treat the Grand Elders while also fending off attacks from assassins sent by the other families to protect the Grand Elders.

3. Kill My Sins (Youku)

Main Leads: Liu Shishi and Shawn Dou. We feel the level of seriousness of this drama because the two main leads are not idol stars. They are both post-1985 generation stars so the script without a doubt is a serious story.

Shawn Dou and Liu Shishi 

This is not based on an existing work or novel so it's a bit exciting since the story is an original work. It follows the wandering physician Ye Ping An (Liu Shishi) who is entangled in an old and secretive case. 

When she arrives in Chang'an, she is accused of doing mystical medical interventions. She later manipulates minds and evokes fear. The low-born magistrate Yuan Shao Cheng (Shawn Dou), who craves power, seizes the opportunity to rise by indicting Ye Ping An on a murder case.

4. A Female Assassin of the Song Dynasty (Youku)

We just love everything about assassin dramas, spy-themed series, suspense, and everything in between, so this upcoming assassin-themed drama of Wang Churan and Li Hongyi is one of our highly-anticipated series next year. 

5. Kill Me Love Me (Youku)

This is another suspense/thriller/action/historical costume drama. The main leads look at odds with each other, and the main female lead is tasked to assassinate the main male lead, so we're thrilled to see how they are going to become lovers in the story haha! Starring Wu Jinyan and Liu Xueyi.

6. Cardamom (Mango TV/Hunan TV)

The fresh team-up of Song Weilong and Bao Shang En brings excitement to this drama and we're looking forward to their first drama collaboration.

Song Weilong and Bao Shang En 

It follows Chengkang, King Jiang Xu of Dingbei (Song Weilong), who guarded the border for eight years. He returned to the Daxian Dynasty to investigate the case of embezzlement of military pay for the Dingbei army. 

Unexpectedly, there were many connections behind the corruption case. To find out the real culprit, Jiang Xu volunteered to marry Ming Tan (Bao Shang En), who was also a general, so that the Ming family would not be exploited.

As the conspiracy was gradually revealed, Jiang Xu discovered that the murderer's corruption was related to the economic lifeline of the entire Daxian Dynasty, and he had to pull out all the stops and uproot all those related to him in the Dynasty. 

7. Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Sword and Beloved (iQIYI)

This is based on the Wang Quan chapter of the Fox Spirit Matchmaker Manhua and is a xianxia-themed series. We love costume fantasy drama and since Cheng Yi is the main male lead here and there are several interesting supporting characters, we are in this together.

8. Legend of the Hidden Sea (Youku)

This is some sort of revenge drama as Xiao Zhan's character became an orphan after her parents were murdered when he was still young. 

So he will enter a palace service to take revenge. This is a suspense/action/adventure drama so it's a bit exciting. Xiao Zhan is partnered with Zhang Jingyi.

9. Fight for Love (Tencent)

Some netizens are not in favor of the pairing of Victoria Song and Ding Yuxi due to the obvious age difference but we don't mind the age gap, the source material of this drama sounds interesting.

Ding Yuxi and Victoria Song 

This is a rebirth/revenge drama but we don't know yet how they will handle the reborn aspect since this is no longer encouraged as a theme in a costume Chinese drama.

Victoria plays Chu Yu, who escaped a marriage granted by an imperial edict for the sake of Gu Chu Sheng, and traveled thousands of miles, but still ended up dying of illness in a foreign country.

Ding Yuxi will play Wei Yun, the seventh son of the Zhenguo Marquis. He accidentally rescued the dying Chu Yu. Facing the emperor's pressure, and to protect Chu Yu's reputation, Wei Jun, the eldest son of Wei, came forward to marry Chu Yu and resolve the crisis. On the night of the wedding, Wei Jun presented the letter of separation and Chu Yu regained her freedom. 

10. Xiao Yao (Youku)

This is a fantasy drama starring Tan Songyun and Neo Hou, and the story sounds similar to Neo and Zhou Ye's drama in 2023, Back From The Brink. 

Tan Songyun and Neo Hou 

Hong Ye (Neo Hou), a Spirit Demon King, is respected by all demon spirits and feared by the human race. He is born again to protect the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons. By accident, the human carefree girl, Xiao Yao, steps into the Demon Valley and awakens Hong Ye. 

As they get along with each other, he gradually realizes the value of Xiao Yao's pure heart, which is not dominated by desires. The two walked hand in hand, were caught up in strange cases one after another, and encountered a mysterious opponent that was difficult to deal with.

Runners-Up: Below are the costume series to be filmed this year. Some in the list remain rumors, others are just waiting to be launched, but some already started filming.

• Chao Xuelu: Li Landi and Ao Ruipeng
• A Dream Within A Dream: Li Yitong, Liu Yuning, Bambi Zhu, and Riley Wang
• There's a Fox in Hengmen: Joseph Zeng and Bai Lu
• Flourished Peony: Yang Zi and Li Xian
• Storm Surge: Wang Xingyue and Xiang Hanzhi
• Phoenix Stage: Ren Jialun and Peng Xiaoran