White Snake was a film that I think I saw 5 times by now. For some reason, I’m getting sent a ton of anime and it’s usually the newer stuff that is lighting up Eastern cinemas. Not being that caught up on Chinese mythology, I don’t have a cultural tie to the story. Still, it’s neat seeing how playing with ancient Serpents leads to this weird take on dragon like things.
While watching the subtitled version of the film, I noticed something. In a way, this movie plays almost like an answer to films like Frozen. Except it’s far more mature and less cutesy than it could be for kids. Again, I chalk that up to cultural differences and 6 year olds in China being able to handle mythology prequels.
The Blu-ray comes with an interview, storyboard clips, music video, trailers and a Director’s Q&A as the special features. GKids always brings the goods, so I don’t know what else I was expecting. The Warner Brothers logo at the start was surprising, but that’s the nature of the business. Why should White Snake be any different?
I applaud Shout Factory for releasing these movies in North America. While they aren’t for everyone, anime deserves more attention from us all.
White Snake is available FEBRUARY 4TH, 2020
