The Web series The Story of Yanxi Palace has been a hit recently. It tells the story of the growth of Wei Yingluo from a lady-in-waiting to a royal concubine and mother of the future emperor during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1711-99) in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

According to the entertainment consultancy Entgroup, the series had been viewed more than 13.3 billion times as of August 26, 38 days after its premiere.

However, drama commentator Xue Jing said that although the phenomenal drama has given the audience a sense of satisfaction by having the woman protagonist win almost every imperial harem conflict, it does not inspire a profound thought process.

The success of The Story of Yanxi Palace shows the great potential of the genre but also draws attention to the genre's mediocre ratings. According to Guduomedia.com, an Internet media data website, of the 145 newly released Web dramas in the first half of the year, 68 were rated on review website Douban.com and only four received a rating of over eight points out of a full score of 10. The Story of Yanxi Palace's rating stands at 7.2.

In particular, costume dramas featuring popular stars attracted a large number of viewers but were not highly rated by the audience.

Moreover, the Web drama industry is plagued with the problem of homogeneous competition, while dramas on emotional themes such as patriotism are lacking.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Oriental Outlook on September 6)