Against the Gods Donghua: Seasons, Episodes, Where to Watch

The Against the Gods donghua is two seasons in. Season 1, 30 episodes, finished in March 2024 and is free on iQIYI's own YouTube channel. Season 2 started on April 16, 2026, airs weekly on iQIYI, and has some viewers unhappy that it trims the novel's harem. If you just want to know whether the show is for you, watch season 1 free first.

The book behind it is Mars Gravity's novel, and our Against the Gods review judges that on its opening chapters. This page is for people coming from the show: how many episodes exist, where to watch legally, and what the novel gives you that the donghua doesn't.

Against the Gods Donghua at a Glance

Both seasons are produced by iQIYI and animated by Foch Film, according to MyAnimeList, which credits Mars Gravity as original creator and Peng Fei as director. Baidu Baike adds that the season 2 script is by 俞敬浩 (Yu Jinghao) and that the show is adapted from the Zongheng novel of the same name.

How Many Episodes the Against the Gods Donghua Has

Season 1 is 30 episodes. Season 2 is the part nobody agrees on. MyAnimeList lists the 年番 (year-long season) at 52 episodes; Baidu Baike says "共82集，每集25分钟", 82 episodes at 25 minutes each. We'd plan for a long run either way and check again when iQIYI posts a finale date.

What is certain is how far it has got. Baidu Baike says season 2 updates on iQIYI every Thursday at 9:00 and opened with three episodes at once. As of October 29, 2026, iQIYI's YouTube channel had put season 2 episode 29 on its free playlist (uploaded that day, after a preview on October 22), and its members-first playlist held episode 31.

The numbering trips people up. iQIYI counts both ways: episode 29 is "EP29" in the English playlist and "EP59" in its Chinese title, and season 2's first episode went up as "EP31：天池秘境". If a site lists episode 59, it means season 2's 29th.

Screenshot: iQ.com, 逆天邪神 年番 album page, October 24, 2026

Where to Watch the Against the Gods Donghua in English

Watch it on iQIYI; nobody else holds it. MyAnimeList shows no licensor, and iQ.com tags season 2 独播, exclusive.

Season 1 is free. The iQIYI Anime Asia channel has a playlist titled "【FREE | COLLECTION】💥Against the Gods", with episodes uploaded one by one plus a single EP1-30 video that runs just over nine hours. The titles and description are in English, but the compilation has no separate subtitle track, so we can't confirm its subtitle language without watching. Episode 1 is titled "The God of Death Reborn as Trash?", which is a fair summary of the setup.

Image: iQIYI Anime Asia (YouTube), Against the Gods EP1-30 compilation thumbnail

Season 2 is free later, sooner if you pay. The iQIYI Animation channel splits it in two: a "【LIMITED FREE | Every Thur.】" playlist and a "【👑PLATIN MEMBER FIRST | Every Thur.】" one. As of October 29, 2026 the free side had reached episode 29, while members had episode 31; on October 24 it was 28 and 30. The two uploads we checked from that free playlist carry subtitle tracks in English and several other languages, and the channel also posts multi-sub compilations, such as "【MULTI SUB】Against the Gods Ⅱ | EP01-10". iQ.com carries the season too, with subtitles, but its player told us "本视频无法在你当前地区播放" (not available in your region), so check it from where you live.

Here is iQIYI's own trailer for season 2, the PV that announced the April 16 start date:

Another long xuanhuan donghua, from Tencent this time, where the book is finished.

Battle Through the Heavens: Novel vs Donghua →

What Season 2 Changed, According to Viewers

The viewers we read say season 2 softened the harem. We haven't watched the episodes, so this section reports what r/Donghua said in the season 2 episode 1 discussion, not our own comparison.

• u/Suitable_Vehicle8089, the top comment: "actually changing/removing harem elements in a donghua that completely relies on harem, what are they thinking"
• u/Hanoooooob: "totally dissapointed with the censorship, felt betrayed after waiting from s1"
• u/Fearless-Lettuce-156 disagreed: "Season 2 is pretty good actually compared to season 1 in which characters movements were too stiff."

We'd read that as a trade: smoother animation than season 1, a tamer romance than the book. Ratings back the mixed mood a little: season 2 sits at 7.44 on MyAnimeList against season 1's 7.80, though from far fewer votes. iQ.com rates season 2 T13, and MyAnimeList rates both seasons PG-13, so a toned-down show is what the rating would lead you to expect.

The Novel Behind the Show

The novel is the full version, and it isn't finished. As of October 29, 2026, Wuxiaworld lists Against the Gods as Ongoing at 2,205 chapters, translated by alyschu and licensed from Zongheng, with a 76 score from 583 reviews. Its tag row includes Harem, which is exactly the material viewers say season 2 trims, and Mature.

We read chapter 1 on Wuxiaworld on October 24, 2026 to see how close the show's opening sits to the book. The chapter is titled "Yun Che, Xiao Che". Yun Che wakes in "a comfortably soft bed, with a red banner hanging above him", having jumped off Cloud's End Cliff, and slowly works out that he is Xiao Che, "the only grandson of the fifth elder of the Xiao Clan", sixteen, in Floating Cloud City; "Today was his and Xia Clan's big wedding day." iQIYI's own synopsis tells the same story: Yun Che swallows the pearl, jumps, and wakes as 萧澈 (Xiao Che). Episode 1's title, a god of death "Reborn as Trash", is the same hook.

Screenshot: Wuxiaworld, Against the Gods novel page, October 24, 2026

Neither iQIYI nor any page we opened maps episodes to chapters, so we can't tell you which chapter season 2 has reached. Wuxiaworld gives "2 Free Chapters Every 23 Hrs", which is enough to sample the book's voice before you commit.

Another donghua guide for a long ongoing novel.

Renegade Immortal Donghua Guide →

Our Take

Watch season 1 first. It's 30 free, official episodes, and it tells you whether Yun Che's petty, revenge-first energy works for you. Carry on into season 2 if you liked the action; it's weekly, and paying for PLATIN only buys you a little time. If the harem is why you came to Against the Gods, the show isn't where you'll find it: go to the novel, and budget for more than 2,200 chapters with no ending yet.

How We Checked This

On October 24, 2026 we opened the MyAnimeList entries for both seasons and season 2's episode list, the Baidu Baike page for 逆天邪神年番, iQ.com's album and episode pages, and the iQIYI YouTube playlists for both seasons, logging titles and upload dates. We read chapter 1 of the novel on Wuxiaworld and its novel page, and the r/Donghua season 2 episode 1 discussion. On October 29 we rechecked both season 2 playlists and the Wuxiaworld page for the current counts. We did not watch any episodes, so nothing here about the show's content is our own viewing.

Related Reading

• Against the Gods Review
• Battle Through the Heavens Novel vs Donghua
• Renegade Immortal Donghua Guide
• A Will Eternal Donghua vs Novel
• Best Xuanhuan Novels in English
• What Is Xuanhuan?
• Radiant Blade of the Wilderness Power System Explained

References

• Wuxiaworld: Against the Gods
• Wuxiaworld: Chapter 1, Yun Che, Xiao Che
• MyAnimeList: Nitian Xie Shen
• MyAnimeList: Nitian Xie Shen: Nian Fan
• MyAnimeList: Nitian Xie Shen: Nian Fan episodes
• Baidu Baike: 逆天邪神年番
• iQ.com: 逆天邪神 年番
• iQ.com: 逆天邪神 年番 episode 31
• iQIYI Anime Asia (YouTube): Against the Gods free collection
• iQIYI Animation (YouTube): 逆天邪神年番 limited free playlist
• iQIYI Animation (YouTube): 逆天邪神年番 PLATIN member playlist
• iQIYI Animation (YouTube): Against the Gods season 2 PV
• r/Donghua: Against The Gods Season 2: Episode 1 Discussion