Xie Lian and Hua Cheng who left the audiences in awe with their amazing chemistry in 2020, are all set to resume their journey in S2 of Heaven’s Official Blessing. S2 gives us more to explore about them including the heavenly realm and other gods which was kind of not much explored in S1. As we move forward with everything lets’ get to know about a little bit of background about Heaven’s Official Blessings.
Background
Heaven Official’s Blessing or Tian Guan Cì Fu (TGCF) is based on the web novel series written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, who goes by the name MXTX among fans. MXTX is a famous Chinese author well-known for her danmei (the Chinese equivalent of the Yaoi genre) novels like Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, etc.
Given the popularity of her second web novel (TGCF), it has been officially translated and published in English with a total of eight print volumes with the westernized name Heaven Official’s Blessing. It was adapted into a donghua (Chinese animation) under the Bilibili production in 2020.
Wuxia and Xianxia
Wuxia and Xianxia dramas have been favorites of fans around the world for many years now — easy crowd pullers. They are genres of Chinese fiction which highlight skilled and powerful warriors who use martial arts as a form of expression and protection, as well as immortal beings who wield magic.
Season 1
Heaven Official’s Blessing follows Xie Lian, crown prince of Xian-Le Kingdom, who was popular among his subjects and gained enough merits through cultivation to ascend to the heavens at the age of 17. Unfortunately, luck was never fond of him, which led to a series of events that got him banished almost three times from the Heavenly Realms. Upon his third ascension to heaven, his arrival causes huge havoc that leads him into heavenly debt that can only be paid by merits — and by the accounts of his bad luck, he doesn’t have enough merits to cover it.
To gain enough merits, he has to resolve the ghostly cases in mortal realms that are haunting mortal people, causing them to lose faith in Heavenly gods. He was entrusted with the task of restoring their faith in heavenly officials that would absolve him of any debt.
Upon reaching the mortal realm, he was assisted by two heavenly assistants, and during his journey, he encounters his one and only devoted believer San Lang — who is none other than the Ghost King of Ghost City, Hua Cheng, in disguise. S1 follows the journey of these four major characters as their fates become intertwined in heavenly conspiracies of other gods.
Season 2 :
S2 picks up from the Ghost City arc from the novel, and Xie Lian, upon request, heads to the Ghost Realm — the territory of the dead — to rescue a Heavenly Official. Accompanied by his companions Shi Qingxuan and Lang Qianqiu, he ends up again in a mishap caused by his companion. Now, his companion’s life depends on a dice game against the Ghost King himself. In the end, he rescues the Heavenly Official with the help of Hua Cheng from an underground dungeon.
Upon reaching the Heavenly Realm after rescuing the official, Xie Lian is put under house arrest because of his past position as the State Preceptor. From there, Hua Cheng somehow kidnaps him (chuckles!), and the heavenly officials try to bring him back from captivity. S2 focuses more on Xie Lian’s past and his connection with what happened in Yong An just before his favorite disciple Lang Qianqiu’s 17th birthday. The mystery unfolds and Xie Lian reflects on his actions, thanks to Hua Cheng, which leads him to confront his past. He then visits Xian Le, only to find another mystery waiting for him to unfold.
And for all of us – a long wait for season 3! Although there is speculation of S3 and s4 coming out but no official announcement yet so we have to wait for these blessings!
In the end :
Season 1 is more interesting in terms of plot and animation. S2 may have a stronghold of past plot revelation, but the story seems weak along with its animation. S1 peaks in almost every aspect, and S2 just feels like a filler story to bridge the gap. Season 3 may bring more to the story and somehow make S2 start to make sense. But S2 has our respect for giving time to show our Ghost King’s aura!
Animexon 