Heaven Official’s Blessing Drops Retro Opening Theme Song Ahead of S2 Premiere

Heaven Official’s Blessing has unveiled the opening theme song for Season 2.

Uploaded on the official Tian Guan Ci Fu social media account, Heaven Official’s Blessing revealed the opening theme song “怜城辞,” performed by Luhan ahead of the Season 2 premiere. The donghua had previously teased Luhan’s participation in the series as early as January 2021.

The opening theme uses a very different animation style compared to the opening theme song in Season 1 “無別,” which was performed by Jeff Chang. It utilizes a more rustic hand-drawn, hand-painted style. The opening theme song highlights Ghost City as well as Xie Lian’s fall from being the Crown Prince to a disgraced god.

Heaven Official’s Blessing, written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, inspired a donghua adaptation which aired in October 2020 with 11 episodes, including a special episode which released on Feb. 14, 2021. The story follows a twice-banished scrap-collecting god named Xie Lian who ascends for a third time, much to the dismay of the other gods in the heavenly realm. Xie Lian soon descends back into the human realm to investigate a case involving ghost brides. When he does so, he unexpectedly finds a crimson-robed man, who seems to have been waiting for him for a long time.

Season 2 will follow Xie Lian as he travels deep into the Ghost City, the dangerous realm ruled by one of the Four Great Calamities, Hua Cheng who has people quaking in their boots when they hear his moniker Crimson Rain Sought Flower. The youth who stayed with him for a night had long disappeared, leaving behind only a silver ring on a necklace chain, but Xie Lian may reunite with him sooner than he may think.

Jiang Guangtao voiced Xie Lian in Season 1 with Ma Zhengyang voicing Hua Cheng, but Heaven Official’s Blessing has since revealed Jiang would not return for Season 2 due to “personal reasons.” Jiang was arrested for misappropriating approximately $2 million of public funds in late 2022, resulting in his studio Houlang Studio terminating their contract with him. Ding Youxi will voice Xie Lian in Season 2.

Heaven Official’s Blessing Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix and Crunchyroll. Season 2 premieres on Crunchyroll on Oct. 18.

Source: X, formerly known as Twitter