Release Date in China:
August 10th, 2024
Light Chaser Animation Studios continues to delight fans of the White Snake series with their latest entry, White Snake 3: Afloat (白蛇：浮生). While the literal translation of the title is “Floating Life,” “Afloat” or even “Rebirth” better captures the intended themes of renewal and emotional drift.
Whatever name you prefer, I can’t wait to see this next chapter! For those unfamiliar with the series, the first film is available online and on Amazon USA, while the second is streaming on Netflix. You can also check out my reviews of Part One and Part Two.
As for why these films feel disconnected, I suspect the North American distributor wasn’t aware this story was always intended as a trilogy.
This fantasy romance raises two big questions: Will the sisters reunite? And will Bianca (Xiao Bai, voiced by Zhe Zhang) see Xian (Tianxiang Yang) again? There’s a third thread too—according to the source material, the couple has a child! The ending of the first film teases this possibility, but in the sequel, Xian is sidelined when time travel complicates everything. During a climactic battle, Verta (Xiao Qing, played by Xiaoxi Tang) is hurled into a future that’s anything but welcoming.
In that timeline, the Baoqing Fox takes on a larger role in the chaos. While the trailers don’t reveal much about her involvement, what little we see is intriguing—and I’m eager to learn more.
The recently released trailers only show glimpses of what’s to come. I sincerely hope GKIDS—or whichever distributor secures the North American rights—brings this movie to theatres first, instead of quietly dropping it on a streaming service.
When it comes to home video, a box set release of all three films would be ideal. Hopefully, Netflix is open to licensing their sequel for such a collection. After all, splitting them across platforms does a disservice to the overarching narrative of Legend of the White Snake.
White Snake 3 1st Trailer
White Snake 3 2nd Trailer
White Snake 3 Final Trailer (with subtitles)
Discover more from Otaku no Culture
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
