Heaven’s official blessing is originally a BL novel written by Chinese Author MXTX, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, who is also the writer of Mo Dao Zu Shi, a famous BL anime in ‘Wuxia’ World. It also had a popular live-action adaptation called The Untamed. It has received 8 billion views and stands as one of the most famous dramas. Heaven’s official blessing also received lots of viewers because of its engaging plot. It was Funimation’s first BL donghua (Chinese anime), and fans are now waiting for Heaven’s Official Blessing Season 2
The first season of Heaven’s Official Blessing had 11 episodes and one special episode. Xie Lian is a fallen god who used to be a human 800 years ago and rose to the position of God for his amazing deeds for humanity. He used to be pretty famous, till he saw the cruelty of war and decided to ascend to Earth again. He is a preacher of non-violence, but despite his appearance, none of the wars stopped, and hence he’s a fallen god with almost no spiritual power. The plot gets interesting when he ascends for the third time as a God of trash and misfortune and meets a man in red clothes, who introduces himself as San Lang. This mysterious guy is the key to Xie Lian’s past. Both of them, along with two more heavenly officers, start the journey to investigate and hunt ghosts.
Also Read: Eien no 831 Anime Film Premiere Date Announced
Heaven’s Official Blessing/Tian Gu Ci Fu: Season 2 Trailer & Spoilers
Season 2 has recently received a trailer as well as a preview, in which the viewers are excited to see Hua Cheng as the King of the Ghost Town, where Xie Lian slips in with the Wind God to investigate a case. Before this, San Lang and Xie Lian received a special episode, which is the 12th episode. Their relationship dynamics and mysterious past was discovered in this episode. However, Emperor Pei is suspicious of San Lang’s behavior, and he and the Crown Prince suspect him of being one of the Ghost King, known as Crimson Rain Sought Flower, Hua Cheng. It comes off as a complete surprise that why would a Ghost King help Xie Lian build his temple? Meanwhile, the Crown Prince, Xie Lian, gets orders to investigate this case, and he goes to the Ghost City along with the Wind God, who can easily bend his gender. Xie Lian meets with various ghosts and weirdos in the town, leading him to a mysterious man under the Veil, which he later realizes is Hua Cheng.
Hua Cheng used to be a young boy whose life was saved by Xie Lian 800 years ago. Hua Cheng was abused in childhood and faced lots of misfortune due to one of the calamities, White No Face. When he was ten years old, he climbed on one of the banisters during the God-pleasing Festival’s Parade in Xian Le kingdom. He initially planned to jump and kill himself, which would stop the parade and draw attention to the disaster in the kingdom and drag down the Xianle Kingdom with him as a final act of revenge.
However, this plan was not successful because when he saw Xie Lian, the Crown Prince of Xian Le, who was doing a sword dance along with Mu Qing in the procession. He was so amazed by the prince’s beauty that he forgot about the suicide and leaned forward to see more of him, causing him to suddenly fall off the banister. Xie Lian gracefully caught him and saved the young boy.
Three years after Xie Lian’s first ascension, Hua Cheng regularly took care of and lived in the Crown Prince’s shrine. God’s statue was supposed to hold a white clay flower, but it broke off, so he would tuck in a fresh white flower every day. Sadly, he was often thrown out of his home, so he would stay in the Crown Prince’s shrine without anything to eat. Xie Lian often came under a spell of invisibility and tried to make the young boy eat the offering fruit. However, Hua Cheng would rather starve than eat Xie Lian’s offering.
Once, Xie Lian then left a red umbrella for him. Hua Cheng realized that Xie Lian was there and hopelessly told Xie Lianhow he was living in pain, thinking every day about how he could kill everyone and then himself. He asked the Crown Prince about what he should live for. Xie Lian suddenly broke Heaven’s rule to answer the young boy. He asked Hua Cheng to live for him. Inspired by his words, Hua Cheng ate the offering fruits and took the crimson umbrella, which he carries to date, even after 800 years. When Hua Cheng turned into a Ghost King, he challenged the 33 gods who had chased away Xie Lian from the spiritual mountain, defeating 31 of them and causing them to lose their spiritual powers. The other two gods didn’t take on the challenge and ended up as Heavenly Officials who later worked for Xie Lian.
Even though Hua Cheng is one of the most handsome men in the novel as well as the manhua, he sees himself as someone who is scarred for life. His past trauma has led him to believe that he doesn’t deserve Xie Lian. MXTX, the author confirmed this by saying in an interview that during his childhood, Hua Cheng was regularly called an ugly beast due to his heterochromia. Heterochromia is a condition where both the eye’s iris colors are different. As he grew powerful, he began to believe that he was not that ugly, but his inferiority stayed, and he would still feel lacking in front of his crush, Xie Lian.
Heaven’s Official Blessing/Tian Gu Ci Fu: Release Date
Heaven Official’s Blessing ended in early January 2021 in China, and many fans were delighted to hear that the series has been officially renewed for a second season. In fact, even before the season 1 finale had even aired on Bilibili, production had already declared that they had started on the Second Season. Side characters, such as the Wind Master, who can turn into a man or a woman whenever they want, will get more screen time in Season 2, according to the manhua. The special episode told the fans about Xie Lian’s and San Lang’s relationship, and San Lang’s real identity will be revealed in Season 2. Thankfully, the second season of Heaven Official’s Blessing will air sometime in late 2022. The theme song of Season 2 was released as well.
Also Read: Remake Our Life Ending Explained: Why Does Kyōya End Up Returning To The Past?
Heaven’s Official Blessing: Season 1 Recap & Spoilers from Manhua
Heaven Official’s Blessing Season 1 was released in 2021 on Funimation and on Netflix on April 9th for International Viewers. Heaven’s Official Blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu has a manhua, and Season 1 covered 61 chapters from the manhua in the 12 episodes. Its manhua has gorgeous artwork, and Season 1 was amazing too! Even though due to censorship in the anime, some romantic scenes were skipped, the chemistry was preserved and it shined through!
The plot covered Xie Lian, who featured the Crown Prince of the Xian Le kingdom. Eight hundred years ago, he was loved by his citizens, and everyone adored him. He ascended to being a Heaven at a very young age; however, due to unfortunate circumstances like the war, he was banished back to the mortal realm after four years of a lavish life. Years later, he manages to ascend again and gets banished again a few minutes after his ascension. Now, centuries later, he is made to be the “Trash God,” and his spiritual energy has highly weakened because people had forgotten about the glorious Crown Prince.
Xie Lian has to descend to the mortal world to exorcise ghosts and demons, which may help him sustain his divinity. During this adventure, Xie Lian encounters two heavenly officials whom he already knows and a pretty mysterious young man in red. These four, as a team, experience lots of bizarre events during their investigations and journey. They also gradually come to know about the dark past of the seemingly glamorous Heaven. Yet, on a positive outlook, Xie Lian later discovers that the man in red waited for him for 800 years to meet him again. The young boy wanted to commit suicide because his face was scarred from a disease, and he had no money for food or treatment. He jumped off during Xie Lian’s parade, which happened 800 years ago, and surprisingly he was saved by the Crown Prince, Xie Lian. This man in red, San Lang, transcended to be a ghost to wait for his savior and the love of his life. The fans later find out that Hua Cheng is the young man whom Xie Lian saved.
Where to watch Heaven’s Official Blessing?
Heaven’s Official Blessing Season 1 is available on Netflix, Bilibili Youtube Channel (Only for members who have clicked ‘Join’ and paid some fees), and Funimation.
Also Read: Dance Dance Danseur: New Anime from MAPPA Release Date & Teaser
