August 3 Short Drama Watch: Wanyao Leads the August 1 Hongguo Manhua Chart (2026)

The latest complete new evidence available by the August 3, 8:00 a.m. China-time cutoff is an August 1 Hongguo manhua/AI category Top 10, not a new merged Hongguo board. It puts 《万妖图录传》 at 8919 万, preserves an AI/manhua-heavy field, and shows why franchise depth matters more than a single launch spike. 1

I could not verify a complete August 2 or August 3 merged ranking across live-action, manhua, and AI drama. This article therefore keeps the category source's order and raw heat displays intact. The entries below are all from that August 1 manhua chart unless a separate source is named; they should not be read as a cross-platform composite score or as the day's official all-format Top 10.

The August 1 manhua category Top 10

The source groups the chart into four broad bands: a single 8900 万-plus leader, a 5800 万-7000 万 head group, a 4000 万-4800 万 middle group, and a lower potential-breakout band. The heat figures are reproduced exactly as displayed. In particular, No. 6 remains above No. 7 even though the displayed figure for No. 7 is numerically higher; I do not silently reorder a published ranking. 1

Rank	Drama, Chinese title and transliteration	Format / genre	Platform	Episodes	Raw heat
1	《万妖图录传》 (Wanyao Tulu Zhuan, source row: S8)	AI/manhua, xianxia fantasy	Hongguo	Not disclosed in the source	8919 万
2	《咱家剑宗团宠小师妹》 (Zanjia Jianzong Tuanchong Xiaoshimei, source notes S2)	AI/manhua, cute-child xianxia	Hongguo	62	6981 万
3	《聚宝仙盆之杂灵根才是真 BOSS》第七季 (Jubao Xianpen zhi Zalinggen cai shi zhen BOSS, S7)	AI/manhua, cultivation fantasy	Hongguo	Not disclosed	6356 万
4	《都重生了，谁还装富二代呀》 (Du chongsheng le, shui hai zhuang fudai ya; metadata uses 「啊」, S2)	AI/manhua, urban rebirth	Hongguo	69	5959 万
5	《发配边关，罪妻开荒养出战神》第九季 (Fapei Bianguan, Zuiqi Kaihuang Yangchu Zhanshen, S9)	AI/manhua, borderland farming and romance	Hongguo	Not disclosed	5837 万
6	《三千庇护》 (Sanqian Bihu)	AI/manhua, post-apocalyptic cultivation / urban fantasy	Hongguo	109 for the listed work; wider series reported at 26 seasons	4789 万
7	《我有座小荒山，靠文旅火变全世界》 (Wo You Zuo Xiao Huangshan, Kao Wenlü Huo Bian Quan Shijie)	AI/manhua, tourism, rural development and cultivation	Hongguo	Not disclosed	4795 万
8	《凡人百世书》 (Fanren Baishi Shu)	AI/manhua, fantasy, rebirth and system	Hongguo	81	4620 万
9	《天下护镖人》 (Tianxia Hubiaoren)	AI/manhua, looping adventure and escort action	Hongguo	Not disclosed	4410 万
10	《归墟》 (Guixu)	AI live-action-style short drama, science-fiction thriller	Hongguo; also released on Douyin	10 released by late July; not a declared total	1117 万

What is driving each title

1. 《万妖图录传》: the serial machine at the top

The chart labels the row as Season 8 and describes it as a franchise that has reached the tenth season; I keep both statements visible rather than resolving the source's season wording. At 8919 万, the gap to No. 2 is large enough to make the main signal structural: this is a mature xianxia/manhua library with a returning audience, not a one-off launch. 1

2. 《咱家剑宗团宠小师妹》: cultivation softened by family

The public metadata page calls the work 《剑宗团宠小师妹！第二季》 and lists 62 episodes. Its premise pairs a rejected five-element talent with five protective senior brothers and a struggling sect, turning a cultivation climb into a found-family loop that is easy to continue from episode to episode. 2

The chart source shortens the title to 「咱家剑宗团宠小师妹」 and identifies it as Season 2. That title difference is left as a note, not silently normalized, because the rank belongs to the chart's displayed label. 1

3. 《聚宝仙盆之杂灵根才是真 BOSS》第七季: escalation is the product

Baidu metadata confirms that Season 7 is a manhua released on Hongguo on July 28, but does not publish an episode count. The source synopsis moves from a low-status disciple toward a larger conflict involving the spirit world, the fall of the phoenix clan, and a punishing ascension test, giving the returning audience a familiar escalation ladder with a fresh checkpoint. 3

Its 6356 万 places it in the chart's head group, but below both the franchise leader and Jianzong. That is a useful distinction: the title is strong as a continuing serial without being mistaken for the category's runaway leader. 1

4. 《都重生了，谁还装富二代呀》: a familiar reset with a new status game

The chart uses 「呀」 and does not show a season number; the available metadata page uses 「啊第二季」, lists 69 episodes, and identifies Hongguo as the network platform. Its hook is a protagonist who returns to university determined to build quietly, only to be surrounded by luxury signals and other people's assumptions about his hidden status. 4

That combination gives the series two retention levers: the reset fantasy promises correction of past mistakes, while the mistaken-identity wealth game supplies a new reveal in nearly every short episode. The chart's 5959 万 shows that urban rebirth is still competitive inside an otherwise cultivation-heavy category. 1

5. 《发配边关，罪妻开荒养出战神》第九季: comfort through repeatable work

Baidu metadata confirms a Season 9 manhua on Hongguo, released July 25, but does not state its episode count. The recurring promise is unusually concrete: a displaced couple turns drought-struck borderland into a functioning household through farming, thrift, and mutual reliance while each new season adds another disturbance. 5

At 5837 万, the title sits just inside the chart's head group. Its staying power is less about novelty than about a proven comfort rhythm: viewers know the household will face a crisis, work through it, and make the setting more livable. 1

6. 《三千庇护》: a long tail built from IP and world scale

Public metadata lists 109 episodes and describes a longer-running series that had reached 26 seasons, adapted from the web novel 《我在永夜打造庇护所》. It also reports a February 2026 peak across DataEye, Hongguo, and Douyin, followed by more than 300 million total plays by March; those older cross-platform figures explain the title's durable recognition, but they are not the August 1 heat value. 6

The raw chart places it at No. 6 with 4789 万. The source puts it ahead of No. 7 even though No. 7 displays 4795 万, so the correct reading is that this edition preserves a source order with an unresolved data-display inconsistency. 1

7. 《我有座小荒山，靠文旅火变全世界》: a genre collision below the top tier

The chart describes this title as a crossover between tourism development and cultivation, a premise that puts local-place transformation beside the usual power-progression loop. The available public chart source does not disclose a season or episode count, so neither is supplied here. 1

Its displayed 4795 万 is slightly higher than the 4789 万 shown for No. 6, yet the source keeps it at No. 7. That makes it a useful example of why a daily digest should preserve the published rank and show the raw number rather than recalculate a hidden score. 1

8. 《凡人百世书》: the restart fantasy with a finite ladder

Public metadata lists 81 episodes and classifies the work as fantasy, rebirth, system, reversal, and alternate-world drama. Its protagonist retains consciousness across multiple lives, so each setback is also accumulated capital for the next attempt; that is a clean short-drama engine because every ending can promise a stronger return. 7

The title reaches 4620 万 at No. 8, in the category's middle band. It is not relying on a new-season label in the chart, so its presence reads as the strength of a recognizable premise rather than a documented franchise spike. 1

9. 《天下护镖人》: an adventure hook, with title matching left open

The chart describes the entry through an 「infinite loop plus escort adventure」 setup, which supplies a built-in sequence of missions and reversals. No reliable public metadata page for the exact displayed title was verified in this pass, so the episode count stays undisclosed and the title is not equated with the separately listed 《天下第一镖人》. 1

At 4410 万, it is the lowest of the middle-band entries before the sharp drop to No. 10. The data supports a watch signal for the adventure format, not a claim about a larger franchise or a confirmed cross-platform hit. 1

10. 《归墟》: the quality signal that heat alone misses

The chart gives 《归墟》 only 1117 万, but separately calls it an unusually high-quality AI short drama in an alien-beast exploration lane. A late-July report says it launched on Douyin and Hongguo, updates weekly on Tuesdays, had reached 10 episodes at roughly 10 minutes each, and had accumulated nearly 60 million Douyin plays; the play count is a platform-specific signal and is not interchangeable with the chart's Hongguo heat. 8

That mismatch is the editorial reason to keep the title in the list rather than dismiss it. The row shows a low category heat value alongside a stronger craft and word-of-mouth signal, a reminder that a slow weekly release can be disadvantaged by a heat metric while still building a distinct audience. 1

Fresh cross-platform and industry signals

These points provide context for the category chart. They do not replace its ranking or turn it into a merged all-format board.

The category split remains visible. An August 1 industry report says that the three previous Hongguo weekly No. 1 titles were manhua, and that on August 1 only one of the day's top five was live action. The report also records nine new Hongguo live-action titles above 1 billion views in July, but no July live-action title reached 2 billion; the comparison is a volume and scale signal, not a same-day ranking input. 9
Supply is exploding faster than breakout capacity. A First Financial report citing DataEye says that more than 221,900 AI short dramas launched in the first half of 2026, while only 1,055 passed 100 million plays, a 0.47% rate. That makes the ten titles above more informative as a concentration snapshot than as evidence that the average AI drama is succeeding. 10
Kuaishou remains unfilled for this edition. I could not verify a current title-level Kuaishou heat or play-count snapshot comparable to the Hongguo category values, so no Kuaishou number is used to manufacture a cross-platform rank.

Three structural patterns

Franchise depth is doing the heavy lifting. At least four of the ten displayed rows carry explicit season signals, and 《三千庇护》 comes with a reported 26-season series history. The top of this category is being occupied by repeatable release systems: a known world, a familiar promise, and another installment ready when the previous one ends. 1 6
Manhua is not one genre. The ten rows move from xianxia and rebirth to borderland farming, tourism development, escort adventure, and a science-fiction thriller. The common advantage is not a single story formula; it is the ability to package serialized worlds and repeatable hooks at high volume. 1
Heat and conversion are different signals. 《归墟》 is the clearest case: 1117 万 on this Hongguo category snapshot sits beside nearly 60 million reported Douyin plays and a slower weekly release. Meanwhile, industry data shows a huge AI supply pool but a very small break-through rate, so the next question is not whether AI dramas can occupy charts, but which titles can convert a repeatable format into durable audience demand. 8 10

At the August 3, 8:00 a.m. China-time cutoff, the defensible conclusion is narrower than 「today's Top 10」: the latest verifiable new category chart shows a highly concentrated AI/manhua field led by 《万妖图录传》, while the missing merged board and missing Kuaishou snapshot remain unresolved. The raw ranks, heat displays, title variants, and episode-count gaps are left visible so the next complete all-format board can be compared without rewriting this one.