Heaven Official’s Blessing donghua (Chinese animation) series is celebrating its second anniversary!
To commemorate the occasion, Bilibili unveiled a Tian Guan Ci Fu 2nd anniversary special video on October 31, 2022.
The video clip combines new art with parts of the upcoming Heaven Official’s Blessing Season 2, which we’ve already seen in the Tian Guan Ci Fu S2 trailer PV (see below).
As customary for Chinese works of art, the video clip blends multiple traditional art styles, including Chinese calligraphy (Shu Fa), stunning landscape painting (Shan Shui), and shadow puppet shows (Pi Ying Xi), to name a few.
Only Guzheng (Chinese zither) is missing, but that’s been made up for in the background music.
True to its heavenly title, the Tian Guan Ci Fu special video is a treat to all senses, so enjoy it while it’s still out there:
Speaking of zithers, a reminder:
The manhua (Chinese comics) adaptation of another Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s stellar danmei (BL) title, namely The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi) is coming to the USA and beyond in December 2022.
Fans of the book can’t wait to see how the manhua will depict Lan Wangji — one of the Twin Jades of Lan — and his famous guqin (half-tube zither).
Fans are still awaiting Heaven Official’s Blessing Season 2
Meanwhile, the Heaven Official’s Blessing 2nd-anniversary video came mere two days after the Made by Bilibili 2022-2023 panel had ended without providing any updates about the long-expected Heaven Official’s Blessing Season 2.
Tian Guan Ci Fu Season 2 was advertised following the credits of the last episode of Heaven Official’s Blessing Season 1 in 2020.
The 2022-2023 Bilibili season will see some of the highly-anticipated donghua released, including Link Click Season 2, The Daily Life of the Immortal King Season 4, and The Three-Body Problem.
Heaven Official’s Blessing (天官赐福, Tian Guan Ci Fu) is a danmei donghua series, based on the eponymous novel by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (often abbreviated to MXTX). Season 1 debuted on Bilibili and Funimation in October 2020 and ran for 12 episodes (11 regular ones and one special episode).
Haoliners Animation League animated the series, with Bilibili producing.
Netflix began streaming Heaven Official’s Blessing in April 2021. Funimation’s English dub debuted on November 12, 2021. The donghua series has also got a Japanese dub.
READ: Top 10 donghua that will hook you on the wondrous world of Chinese legends
The plot follows two picturesque characters — Crown Prince Xie Lian and ghost king Hua Cheng — and the development of their unlikely romantic affair… which materializes over time nevertheless.
The donghua adaptation of the Heaven Official’s Blessing novel is true to its source, beautifully animated, and heartwarming. In short, it’s thoroughly enjoyable, with but an occasional subtle hint of the developing BL romance.
This is an ironclad rule when it comes to danmei titles as China has its own take on censorship. Even the novel depicts skinship shyly, unlike The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, which has a couple of rather explicit extra chapters.
The Tian Guan Ci Fu Season 2 will follow up with Xie Lian’s adventures in the Ghost City. These chapters are easily the most enjoyable ones in the entire novel, so it’s no wonder that expectations are high and that fans are rather impatient.
Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the Heaven Official’s Blessing novel for an English-language release under its danmei label as part of The MXTX Collection, which also includes The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation and The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong).
Seven Seas’ Heaven Official’s Blessing is up to Volume 4 (out of 8). Tian Guan Ci Fu Volume 5 will be out on December 20, 2022.
All three MXTX’s novels have received a donghua adaptation. The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation proved the most popular of the three; it has three seasons and a chibi series, all of which are available on Tencent Video. Unlike the remaining two, The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System donghua series features 3D animation.
All MXTX’s novels have their respective manhua (Chinese comics) adaptations.
Hopefully, Heaven Official’s Blessing Season 2 will get an update soon. In the meantime, let’s enjoy what is already here!