MeinMMO editor Marie Friske fell in love with the Chinese anime Heaven Official’s Blessing, which completely convinced her with a mystical fantasy world, charming main characters and a gripping story.
What is Heaven’s Official Blessing about? The Donghua (Chinese anime) is set in ancient China.
Xie Lian is the crown prince of the Xianle Kingdom. After being demoted several times, he ascends to heaven for the third time. He accidentally destroys a gold palace.
However, since the god does not have any temples on earth and is therefore not worshiped, he must earn divinity elsewhere to make up for the damage.
So Xien Lian descends into the human world to exorcise ghosts and make up his debts to heaven. He meets the mysterious Ghost King Hua Cheng, who shows great interest in the crown prince…
Heaven Official’s Blessing is the anime film adaptation of the boys’ love story by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, which was first published as a novel and later as a Manuha (Chinese comic).
The author also wrote The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, which also has an anime and a live-action adaptation called The Untamed (one of my absolute favorite series!).
Both stories belong to the Xianxia genre. This is the name for fantasy, which incorporates stories from Taoism and Buddhism as well as Chinese mythology.
A note: You can only watch the first season of Heaven Official’s Blessing on Crunchyroll in Chinese Mandarin or English. If you watch in the original language, English or Arabic subtitles are available.
The second season, however, also has German subtitles. Here you also have the Japanese dubbing as an audio option.
Here you can see a trailer for the second season of Heaven Official’s Blessing:
Official trailer for the second season of the Chinese anime “Heaven Official’s Blessing”
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Exciting fantasy world full of spooks and legends
Heaven Official’s Blessing throws you into a mystical ancient China where gods, ghosts and demons walk among mortals. I really like this legendary world and it creates the perfect setting for lots of puzzles, surprises and magical moments in the anime.
So the story begins directly with the mystery of the ghost groom who kidnaps women shortly before their wedding. Xien Lian then came up with the great idea of dressing up as a bride to get to the bottom of the ghost.
But once you arrive in the dark forest, the atmosphere changes quickly. While the characters are joking one moment, in the next a spooky atmosphere arises, which is usually the case when listening to ghost stories around the campfire:
Suddenly a woman’s cryptic song sounds and shadowy figures scurry through the bushes, too quickly to recognize what is lurking in the forest – in moments like these I sit spellbound in front of the screen and completely immerse myself in the story.
In addition to the gripping mystical situations, I also particularly like the spectacular fight and action animations in which the gods and spirits show off their supernatural powers and create cool moments.
For example, they can conjure up a hurricane, throw fireballs around themselves or use tons of silver butterflies as a diversionary tactic.
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng as a lovable pair of characters
Xie Lian, with his huge heart, is simply too good for this world
The main character, Xie Lian, has grown very close to my heart with his clumsy but kind-hearted nature and I feel the need to just hug him several times when he looks like a puppy at the chaos (to which he often unintentionally contributed). ) considered.
The god is not worshiped on earth and therefore always has to scrounge up a bit of strength from his heavenly companions. On top of that, he is a huge unlucky person, so he is also quite unpopular in heaven due to his unwanted potential for destruction.
He actually just tries to bring peace among people, throws himself selflessly into the fight and has a special gift for taking care of lost souls.
Hua Cheng is by far the coolest character in the anime
In addition, the character Hua Cheng is just great. He is a cunning spirit king who has the ability to change his shape and thus reach his enemies unnoticed.
He is extremely powerful and gives me a few goosebumps when he demonstrates his full power in epic moments.
Hua Cheng has no scruples and appears reserved and cold to the other characters. Only at Xie Lian’s side does the stoic Ghost King suddenly become a gentle and emotional protector who wants to delight his companion with small gifts and favors.
This duo of characters, who are so different and so understanding and supportive when dealing with each other, moves me to tears more than once and is one of the sweetest series couples that I have ever rooted for.
Gripping fantasy story that won’t let me go
The anime not only has a beautiful romance with the character duo Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, which is told in small gestures and indirect declarations of love, but also a gripping fantasy story that immerses you in a legendary ancient China.
On top of that, the episodes usually end with such an exciting cliffhanger that Heaven Official’s Blessing almost begs to be binged through in far too long anime evenings, even though you should actually be sitting wide awake in the editorial office the next day.
However, I can conclude by saying that watching Hua Cheng and Xie Lian uncovering secrets of heaven and spirits together was worth any sleep deprivation.
If you’re looking for more anime with a heartwarming romance and fantasy elements, then check out this recommendation: An anime on Netflix initially sounded like pure kitsch – After episode 1, I understand why it’s so popular