To meet viewing demand during the new year, iQIYI presents a curated January lineup spanning urban romance, Eastern suspense, fantasy adventure, and hardcore crime investigation. This selection offers audiences a balanced viewing experience that combines emotional companionship with immersive storytelling across multiple genres.
Behind the Script: Romance and Career Growth Through Role-Playing Games
Led by Chen Xingxu and Lu Yuxiao, Behind the Script is a contemporary romance that opens the new year with fresh and engaging content.
The series innovatively blends role-playing game scenarios with real-world workplace settings, following architect Xiao Zhiyu as he develops an emotional connection with Hu Xiu in a Republican-era spy game, only to unexpectedly reunite in reality.
Navigating the tension between "loving the character or the real soul," their relationship evolves through workplace collaboration.
Beyond sweet moments like protective scenes in the rain, the series portrays the journey of "career-growth couples" who support each other professionally, embodying the philosophy that "evenly matched love means growing together," making it a comfortable and engaging new year watch.
Glory: A Web of Secrets Centered on Tea
Starring Hou Minghao and Gulnezer, Glory explores a relationship built around truth and trust through a more layered suspense narrative.
Blending mystery, emotional drama, and tea-culture imagery, the series follows Lu Jianglai as he attempts to reopen a buried case but loses his memory and is rescued by tea-estate heir Rong Shanbao, drawing him into family secrets and psychological maneuvering.
When his memory returns, he discovers the truth he seeks is deeply connected to the secret she protects. As truth and emotion converge, the story moves beyond romance toward a deeper examination of human nature, offering viewers who seek emotional depth and mystery a compelling viewing option.
The Unclouded Soul: A Journey Side by Side Between Humans and Demons
Starring Tan Songyun and Hou Minghao, the fantasy romance The Unclouded Soul adds a more imaginative dimension to the January lineup. Centered on the conflict between human and demon realms, the series explores themes of desire, choice, and redemption.
Tan Songyun takes on a dual role as the resolute princess Ning An and the spirited wanderer Xiao Yao, while Hou Minghao transforms into the silver-haired demon king Hong Ye.
Through a narrative structure of temporal dislocation, the protagonists meet and separate repeatedly across different identities.
Xiao Yao's unwavering purity becomes crucial to resolving ancient conflicts. With distinctive Eastern fantasy aesthetics featuring glowing forests and floating waterfalls, the series delivers an immersive visual experience for viewers seeking lighter fantasy with emotional release during the new year.
The Punishment 2: The Ultimate Battle Between Justice and Conviction
Also featured prominently in January is the hardcore crime thriller The Punishment 2, offering heightened immersion and genre depth for suspense enthusiasts.
Starring Huang Jingyu, Wang Chuanjun, and Liang Jie, with special appearance by Li Youbin, the series maintains the high production standards of its predecessor.
Beginning with a police officer's fall, the investigation gradually uncovers hidden forces behind criminal networks.
Former sworn siblings Qin Feng, Liu Tianye, and Wen Jiangyan find their fates intertwined once more, forced to make difficult choices between kinship and law, trust and truth.
Beyond intense confrontations between justice and crime, the series deeply portrays the moral choices and steadfast beliefs of police officers, embedding the spirit of "those who are guilty must be punished, the law is above all" throughout, providing a compelling January viewing option for audiences who appreciate hardcore crime investigation and realistic storytelling.
Sharp Blade in the Snow: A Dual Game of Power and Sincerity
As a flagship offering from iQIYI's short drama collection, the period political intrigue series Sharp Blade in the Snow adds a high-energy, fast-paced dimension to the January lineup.
Starring Huang Junjie and Wu Jiayi, the series follows Princess Feng Li, who returns as the "Demon Lord" after being exiled for seven years on false charges of patricide. During a slave-selection ceremony, she unexpectedly chooses Yun Zhan, a disguised fallen prince.
The two turn out to be childhood companions who once survived together in the wilderness, now caught between false pretenses and genuine feelings amid power struggles and assassination plots.
With its tight pacing and frequent plot twists, the series seamlessly blends political scheming with emotional complexity, offering a compact and engaging viewing experience for audiences who enjoy fast-paced dramas and period power struggles.
Through this combination of romance, suspense, fantasy, and crime investigation, iQIYI aims to offer a flexible and emotionally layered viewing experience for January.
Whether audiences are drawn to sweet romance, the immersive pull of mystery-driven narratives, or hardcore crime investigation with realistic depth, this January lineup provides diverse stories worth following throughout the new year.
