Bilibili announced on Twitter/X that they’ll be bringing along quite the feast for Heaven Official’s Blessing fans to Anime Expo 2025: A brand-new Heaven Official’s Blessing short film will have a world premiere during Bilibili’s panel on Friday, July 4!
The first Heaven Official’s Blessing short film was released to the world online in February 2025, and showcased two short scenes from Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s past in the fallen Kingdom of Xianle. The second short film set to premiere on July 4 is described as a “Lantern Riddle” short, which series fans will recognize as a potential adaptation of the “Lantern Riddle” chapter that takes place after the series’ conclusion. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng have confessed their mutual romantic feelings at this point in the storyline and are living the life of happy newlyweds, so the resulting flirting will surely bring down the house at AX. Thankfully, Bilibili has also stated they will be uploading the “Lantern Riddle” short online after the live premiere for those who are unable to attend the convention.
In addition to the second short film’s premiere, Bilibili will also be hosting a live interview with director Li Haolin, head of Haoliners Animation League—the Chinese animation studio who was behind Season One of the Heaven Official’s Blessing donghua. This is not the first time Bilibili or Director Li have visited AX, but it is the first time they have been able to hold such a Heaven Official’s Blessing-centric event during their time at the convention.
This visit to Los Angeles is part of the Heaven Official’s Blessing World Tour that Bilibili announced in early 2025, and is part of a special two-month-long event that commemorates Hua Cheng’s and Xie Lian’s back-to-back birthday months. The TGCF Official Twitter/X account posted the following infographic, which shows the various activities planned for the tour in June/July 2025. The bottom right, marked 7/05, shows the planned Anime Expo event and short film world premiere.
Bilibili also announced another special treat for those attending Friday’s evening panel: they’ll be handing out special merch for those who come in cosplay! To qualify, you will need to be wearing a costume from one of three Bilibili series: Heaven Official’s Blessing, Link Click, or To Be Hero X. Supplies are limited, so they can only guarantee you’ll get a prize if you show up early. (Best make sure you don’t trip on your hanfu while rushing there.)
DanmeiNews plans to provide a post-event writeup, as well as a relevant review of the short film as it becomes available online worldwide. Tickets to AnimeExpo are still available via the event’s website, but note that the badge shipping period has ended and all badge purchases made until the event’s date will need to be picked up at the door.
Heaven Official’s Blessing from the first volume cover, illustrated by tai 3_3Heaven Official’s Blessing (天官赐福, also known as Tian Guan Ci Fu or TGCF) is a danmei series written by best-selling author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, also known as MXTX. The series began serialization on jjwxc in 2017 and ran for 244 chapters (plus 8 extra chapters).
The original novel has spawned numerous adaptations, including a donghua, an unreleased live-action, an ongoing audio drama, and a manhua. The manhua adaptation is available to read in English online through Lezhin Comics, and will see physical release in English from publisher Inklore starting in December 2025.
DanmeiNews provides the below summary from its catalogue:
Xie Lian is an impoverished god tasked by the heavens to investigate supernatural occurrences in the mortal world. During his missions, he makes the acquaintance of the powerful Ghost King Hua Cheng. He finds himself drawn to the dangerously charming man, who seems to know Xie Lian very, very well indeed.
The original Chinese webnovel for Heaven Official’s Blessing was picked up for English release in 2021 by Seven Seas Entertainment, and saw staggering success on sales charts; netting multiple New York Times Best Seller placements across its eight-volume run. In light of this achievement, Seven Seas announced in early 2024 that they would be re-releasing the series in deluxe hardcover format.
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu has also written two other hit danmei series that are available in English: The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (人渣反派自救系统) and Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (魔道祖师).
Source: Made By Bilibili Twitter/X [1, 2], Heaven Official’s Blessing Official Twitter/X [1]
