History WesternAnimation / KuboAndTheTwoStrings

* AnAesop: As long as you hold those you love within your memories, their stories will never fade, even after they're gone.

* ImmortalityThroughMemory: More or less the [[AnAesop takeaway]] of the story, as its main theme is "Memories are a powerful thing". [[spoiler: Beetle tells this to Monkey when she brings up the subject of her "story" ending, assuring her she'll live on through Kubo and those he shares her memory with. Likewise, in the climax, Kubo tells the Moon King that although mortals experience loss, their loved ones will always live on through their memories.]]

''Kubo and the Two Strings'' is a StopMotion animated {{Fantasy}} {{Adventure}} movie produced by {{Creator/Laika}} and directed by Travis Knight.

* JustifiedTitle: One might assume the title refers to Kubo and his shamisen, but it's actually a ''three'' string instrument. There is only a brief moment where Kubo is in possession of two strings; [[spoiler:near the climax, he takes off his two bracelets--one made from a strand of his mother's hair, the other made from Beetle's bowstring--and uses them to re-string his shamisen. He then adds a third-string made from his own hair.]] It's still thematically significant: [[spoiler:The two strings representing the memories of his two parents, and he makes the third string out of his own hair. His instrument's strings are Kubo and the Two Strings he acquired over the story, as made very obvious in the credits sequence, where the three strings morph into Kubo and his two parents.]]

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler:The magical set of armor is genuinely powerful and allows Kubo to stand up to the Moon King for a while, but he ultimately loses. The Moon King was right to fear the armaments - in the hands of someone like Hanzo or Sariatu, they could legitimately have spelled his doom. But no matter how powerful the artifacts in his possession, Kubo is ultimately a child with zero formal weapon training and cannot stand up to a powerful immortal with eons of experience under his belt.]]

The movie premiered on August 19, 2016. The first trailer is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vex0gPFnBvM here]]. The second trailer is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfApAsZKKcg here.]] Third trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWMyKZyIFnA here.]] The fourth trailer is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oAxrNEt5I4 here.]]

** Creator/RalphFiennes plays a [[Franchise/HarryPotter pale-skinned magical immortal villain]] with a callous attitude towards mortal non-magical folk that [[spoiler: turns into a giant serpent]] for the film's climactic battle.
*** Also, Fiennes once again [[spoiler: [[Literature/RedDragon turns into a dragon]]]]. This time literally, though.
*** Let's not forget, it's not the first time [[spoiler: he was a [[WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt King]] of sorts.]]
*** Or [[spoiler: a [[WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit villain in a stop-motion animation]].]]

* BadassFamily: Kubo's mother and father both were very powerful badasses, and their badassery has definitely been inherited by him. [[spoiler: And they're just as powerful after they've been turned into Monkey and Beetle.]]
* BigScrewedUpFamily: Kubo has a very dysfunctional family, to say the least. [[spoiler: His grandfather is the wicked [[BigBad Moon King]] who desires to steal Kubo’s eyes so he can destroy his humanity. Kubo’s two aunts serve their father and are murderous sadists who won’t hesitate to attack their nephew or sister. Kubo’s mother used to be like them, but was saved by Hanzo’s love. Kubo’s mom later becomes mentally disabled from her injuries, then she becomes reborn as a monkey who reverts to her colder personality, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold though thankfully still loves Kubo.]] Hanzo is in the end the only truly sane person in the family, but that gets sabotaged by him being turned into an [[LaserGuidedAmnesia amnesiac beetle.]] The only [[{{Reconstruction}} silver lining]] Kubo has in this crazy, dysfunctional family is that [[GoodParents Monkey and Beetle]] are on his side.]]

* BodyMotifs: Eyes figure prominently throughout the film. Kubo had his eye taken from him by his grandfather, his mother gains a long scar across her left eye [[spoiler: that is duplicated on Monkey's right as a clue to her identity]], one of the armor pieces is kept in the sea among eye yokai, and [[spoiler: the Moon King becomes a human with one working eye after the climax of the film, having been blind (both literally and figuratively) beforehand.]]
* BookEnds: [[spoiler: Sariatu's first time on screen shows her injured and crawling to her crying infant son to comfort him. One of her final moments on screen (as Monkey) shows her injured and crawling to her son. Only this time, it's Kubo's turn to comfort her.]]
** At the start of the story, we see Kubo move hair out of his catatonic mother's face. [[spoiler: The final scene has Sariatu's spirit move Kubo's bangs out of his face.]]
** On the night he must flee his home town, Kubo is flown away on wings summoned by his mother's magic. [[spoiler: Before he find the final piece of the armor and concludes his quest with the confrontation of his grandfather, Kubo returns home in the very same fashion: flying away on wings summoned by magic.]]
** The movie's very first shot is of the full moon. [[spoiler: One of the last shots is of the crescent moon, showing how the Moon King's powers have been diminished and he can't hurt Kubo anymore.]]

* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler: The Moon King]] is turned into a normal person at the end of the movie.

** At one point while exercising the extent of his growing [[MusicMagic powers]], Kubo uses a flock of origami birds to temporarily hover himself off the ground. Later, Kubo uses his powers to their full extent and forms himself wings out of [[spoiler: Beetle Clan banners to fly home]].

** Done in 2D animation, with a bonus showing how the Gashadokuro, the largest stop-motion animated puppet ever, is set up [[spoiler: right before it attacks a crew-member]].

* DiedHappilyEverAfter: At the end, Kubo sees the ghosts of [[spoiler: his deceased parents]] [[TogetherInDeath happily united in death]].

** Kubo's mother desperately warns him that if he stays out after dark, [[spoiler: the Moon King and the Sisters]] will take Kubo away from her. Not only does this resemble a parent exaggerating stranger danger, but also [[spoiler: a single parent trying so hard not to lose custody of their child to their [[AbusiveParents abusive relatives]].]]

* DoomedHometown: Kubo's hometown is destroyed when the Sisters come to get him there, thus precipitating the beginning of his adventure. [[spoiler: Ultimately {{Subverted}}, as when he comes back it turns out that the town actually survived and was still inhabited, although many structures were severely damaged.]]

* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: So, the Moon King stole Kubo's eye as a baby, had him and his mother separated from his father, stole Hanzo's memories and [[ForcedTransformation cursed]] him, sent his remaining daughters to assassinate Sariatu, destroyed Kubo's village along the way, and nearly killed his own grandson. So how do Kubo and the villagers react when the Moon King has been stripped of his powers and reduced to a helpless amnesiac old man at their mercy? ...They tell him he's a kind, upstanding person and welcome him as one of their own. Kubo goes as far as to accept his grandfather as family. [[TropesAreNotBad This is not a bad thing]] however, as this moment demonstrates Kubo's newfound maturity and his willingness to put a stop to the violence his family has become embroiled in.]]

* EurekaMoment: [[spoiler: Kubo was about to resume what was becoming a losing battle against the Moon King when he noticed his bracelets. Those bracelets were [[TragicKeepsake mementos]] that held the memories of his parents, inspiring him to try ThePowerOfLove instead of fighting his enemy head-on. If it weren't for those bracelets, there's no telling how the battle would've ended.]]

** When Kubo later gets to meet his aunts and then his grandfather, it is shown that [[spoiler: she was right, they honestly want him in their family and believe he will be happy in the Heavens.]]

** It happened to Kubo before the main story thanks to his grandfather, [[spoiler: and he returns the favor in the final battle, albeit in reverse by restoring an eye (and thus by the significance explained in the story, giving him humanity and mortality).]]
* FailedASpotCheck: Kubo, during his vision of the location of the Helmet Invulnerable. [[spoiler: He instantly notes that the man with him in the vision is blind, but does not recall that blindness is the one trait he's had emphasized to him about the Moon King. The Moon King then tricks Kubo into going to his father's castle in search of the Helmet Invulnerable; there, he finds not a helmet, but a [[LuredIntoATrap very deadly ambush]].]]

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Right before [[spoiler: revealing his identity]], we get this line from Washi:
-->'''Washi:''' (Turning towards Beetle's general direction) And then there's ''you'': the thieving insect who [[spoiler: stole my sister's soul]].

** What actually ended up happening to [[spoiler: Hanzo]], as a result of his relationship with [[spoiler: Kubo's mother making her turn against her family.]] As we can see from the paper recreation, it looked ''very'' painful.

** Kubo tells the villagers the story of Hanzo, leading up to his battle with the Moon King. [[spoiler: It mirrors his entire quest, right down to the detail of the final act, where he's "filled with rage, his soul tormented with the grief of a family stolen from him".]] What's more, Kubo's story of Hanzo abruptly ends right before Hanzo engages the Moon King in battle, as though framing how [[spoiler: Kubo doesn't know what ''[[ForcedTransformation really]]'' [[ForcedTransformation happened]] to his father.]]

** Kubo gets angry that his father didn't answer his prayer and crumples up the lantern in rage before he cools down a bit and apologizes to his father. [[spoiler: This not only establishes that [[NiceGuy Kubo]] is in fact [[BewareTheNiceOnes capable]] of anger, but also sets up how he'll [[PrepareToDie lash out]] at his grandfather before he ultimately chooses [[ThePowerOfLove the path of kindness and forgiveness]].]]

** When she tells Kubo "I encourage you not to die", Monkey styles his bangs using her saliva as gel to move it out of his face. While not to the same [[MyInstinctsAreShowing animalistic]] degree, this motherly act [[spoiler: mirrors how Kubo would often brush his mother's bangs out of her face.]]
** Beetle seems to have collected several items from Hanzo's men. [[spoiler: Not because he was there at the final battle as one of Hanzo's men, but because ''he's Hanzo''.]]

** Beetle's facial markings heavily resemble [[spoiler: a moustache and beard, not something that beetles are known for possessing.]]
** During their first meeting, Beetle assures Kubo that he [[DeclarationOfProtection will defend the boy]] [[spoiler: by laying down his own life if necessary. Sadly, he does indeed die at the hands of Washi trying to defend Kubo and Monkey from her.]]
** Tying into the above, [[spoiler: Beetle casually mentions that in quests like the one Kubo is on, "people die all the time; they drop like flies." Sure enough, he and Monkey die subsequently in the later part of the story.]]
** At one point during the battle on the ship, Beetle gets a hold of the Sword Unbreakable and instinctively defends himself with it against Karasu. [[spoiler: As it turns out, he's just as good with a sword as he is with bow and arrow. Thinking back, who else is "skilled with sword and bow"? Hanzo.]]
** The Hanzo doll acts as a compass to the sword, armor, and helmet. When they go to retrieve the helmet [[spoiler: the doll is pointing in the opposite direction Kubo is walking. It is revealed here that Kubo was LuredIntoATrap by his grandfather]].

*** In the Junior novel, Kubo can't help but notice how [[spoiler: Monkey and Beetle are prone to bicker, "just like the village fishmonger ''and his wife''".]]
** At [[spoiler: Hanzo's fortress]], there is a portrait of Kubo's family, with his parents sitting next to each other while baby Kubo is held out in front of his mother. [[spoiler: The picture is painted across sliding doors, which open between Kubo and his mother and father, separating his image from theirs, and both Monkey and Beetle, his parents in new forms, soon die there, leaving Kubo alone.]]

* GiantWallOfWateryDoom: Kubo's mother calms one in the prologue with her magic. [[spoiler: Unfortunately there was another one right behind her which causes her head injury and almost kills her and baby Kubo]].

* HairMemento: When Kubo's village gets attacked by his two aunts, his mother uses her magic to send him away. As he flies off, he grabs a strand of her hair. [[spoiler: During his battle with his grandfather, Kubo uses the hair and the string from his father's bow as replacement guitar strings. He then strums them to cast a powerful spell that renders the Moon King mortal and amnesiac.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: Kubo's father and his army died so Kubo's mother could escape with him before the Moon King took his other eye. Kubo's mother dies to save him from her sisters. [[spoiler: Monkey and Beetle also die protecting him.]]

* HourglassPlot: The beginning of the story has Kubo tell the villagers stories and help them remember Hanzo. [[spoiler: The ending has the villagers be the "storytellers" and help Kubo give a new, kinder identity to the amnesiac Moon King.]]

* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: [[spoiler:With the deaths of Monkey and Beetle]] near the end of the movie, Kubo is left alone to find the last piece of armor he needs and face the Moon King. [[spoiler: Subverted in that he summons the ghosts from his village to stand beside him in the climax, and the living villagers do so as well.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Played with. [[spoiler: On the one hand, the Moon King is turned into a human, something he would hate. On the other he has LaserGuidedAmnesia and doesn't even recall being the person who would hate it, and it's implied the villagers and Kubo will treat him well. He also gets to live with Kubo, which was [[TheBadGuyWins what he wanted]] but not on the terms he would have wanted it... not that he remembers those terms even existed anymore.]]

** Beetle was cursed so that he couldn't remember anything about himself [[spoiler: prior to his transformation.]]

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the end, Kubo [[spoiler: prays to the spirits of his parents]] to be with him at the end of the story. That's what literally happens as the last scene of the film.

* LoveAtFirstSight: Kubo's parents fell in love [[spoiler: during their battle when the Moon King sent his mother to kill his father. Replicated in how easily Monkey and Beetle start to take to each other.]]

* LyingToProtectYourFeelings: [[spoiler: Monkey doesn't reveal that she's actually Kubo's mother inhabiting a different form because the magic that's keeping her alive is slowly fading, and she doesn't want Kubo to experience the tragedy of losing his mother twice.]]
* MacGuffin: The set of armor that Kubo is questing for. [[spoiler: It's also not what he needs to win his fight with his grandfather: his shamisen and magic are what defeat the Moon King in the end, the armor just helping him to hold out until he can use it.]]

* MeaningfulEcho: [[spoiler: Beetle/Hanzo repeats his line "You are my quest" when Monkey/Sariatu is dying, to let her know that despite his curse and amnesia, his feelings for her haven't changed.]]
* MetaphoricallyTrue: In a vision Kubo has, an old man who is really [[spoiler: The Moon King]] tells Kubo that he can find the Helmet Invulnerable if he will "look to the setting sun," then shows Kubo a vision of his father Hanzo's fortress. [[spoiler: The Moon King]] is leading Kubo into a trap, but if Kubo were in his home village, the advice would be correct: each evening Kubo turns at the sound of the bell ringing to indicate that the sun is setting, and [[spoiler: the "bell" in Kubo's village is really the Helmet Invulnerable.]]

** During an intense battle with a Sister on the boat, the suspense is broken when Beetle climbs on board [[spoiler: with the fish and arrow he shot [[BrickJoke earlier]].]]
** [[spoiler: A harsher example comes when Kubo, Monkey/Sariatu and Beetle/Hanzo all share a tender moment together, and Kubo's father [[HopeSpot promises to keep his son safe no matter what]]. ...Only for Beetle/Hanzo to be suddenly stabbed in the back and instantly die.]]

* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: The Sword Unbreakable is found [[spoiler: embedded in the Gashadokuro's skull, along with dozens of regular swords.]]

* PowerIncontinence: Kubo's mother unconsciously uses her PaperMaster powers in her sleep. Later on Kubo does the same thing [[spoiler: to create the paper Hanzo that guides him.]]

** Kubo's shamisen, a traditional Japanese instrument with three strings. [[spoiler: During his final confrontation with the Moon King, Kubo re-strings his shamisen with the strand of his mother's hair he carried with him, his father's discarded bowstring, and a strand of his own hair.]]

* SamusIsAGirl: The charm that Kubo always called ''Mr.'' Monkey? When the charm comes to life, it reveals that it's actually a ''Miss''. [[spoiler: Though it does have to do with the fact that Kubo's mother has what's left of her soul inside of it.]]

** The Sisters' attack on Kubo's village in the beginning is similar to the dead forest spirit engulfing Iron Town at the climax of ''Anime/PrincessMononoke''. [[spoiler: Thankfully, the Sisters' smoky tendrils aren't instantly fatal]].

** The crest on the Moon King's breastplate -- a tarnished, off-center (or overlapping) [[http://garian.sitemix.jp/cafepress/cafepress_janome.html "snake eye"]] symbol -- resembles the unfinished [[TheCorrupter "rotten-looking"]] second Death Star in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' [[spoiler: another movie that ends with the good guy mastering his powers to fight the bad guy, who he learned in the previous movie was his older male relative who wanted him to join the Dark Side, not with his sword but with words and redeems him in the end]].
*** Multiple layers of meaning/irony: The Moon King's crest is an eye; he's blind and wants to physically and symbolically blind his family. It's called a "snake eye" and in the end he transforms into a giant serpentine monster. The "eye" is a stylized piece of archery equipment (a bowstring spool), a weapon associated with Beetle [[spoiler: and Hanzo]], the Moon King's enemy.

*** Literature/{{Momotaro}}: Our hero has superpowers (Momotaro had super-strength) and goes on a quest with three (mostly) non-human companions: an intelligent monkey, a flying scout (a pheasant/the paper doll), and one who's strong and loyal (a dog/Beetle); he's also aided by items provided by his parents. In the end both heroes [[spoiler: spare the enemy leader after depowering him]].
*** ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter'': Kubo's mother's background [[spoiler: being a cold-hearted princess from the moon who falls in love with a man from the earth. In the folklore Princess Kaguya deliberately asks her suitors to find her impossible things so they'll give up on her, seeing as she'll soon return to the moon and her heavenly family/species and forget her time as a human]].

** The Sisters wear Noh-like masks and [[spoiler: when part of the second Sister's mask breaks she has white skin with blue "highlights"; in Kabuki theater white skin with blue highlights is shorthand for "this character is evil" (or dead, which is what happens to the Sister shortly thereafter)]].
** [[spoiler: When one of the Sisters uses little Hanzo to explain what happened to the real Hanzo, paper Hanzo's transformation literally [[Film/{{Alien}} bursts through his chest]]. Travis Knight credits that this element of Hanzo's transformation was inspired by the movie.]]

* SignificantDoubleCasting: [[spoiler: The fact that Charlize Theron voices both Monkey and Kubo's mother is an early sign that they're actually the same person. Not immediately obvious in the film, as Theron is only publicly credited as Monkey, and she says relatively little and in a different tone of voice as Kubo's mother.]]

* SplittingTheArrow: Beetle shows off his skills by splitting an arrow, then splitting the splitting arrow, then splitting the splitter splitting arrow, then splitting the splitter-splitting splitting arrow in rapid succession. [[spoiler: This is foreshadowing that he is Hanzo, who Kubo's mother noted was an incredible archer.]]

* TheStinger: As per Laika tradition. [[spoiler: After the animated credits, a small sequence plays where the Gashadokuro is being built for the cave scene, letting the viewer see just how large the puppet is in comparison to its creators (this being pretty gosh darn big). Just as this sequence cuts away and the second credits sequence starts to play, the Gashadokuro turns to attack the crew member nearest to it]].

** [[spoiler: Beetle/Hanzo getting stabbed by the second Sister is a result of him speaking with Kubo and Monkey on the presumption that they have borrowed time, rather than keeping his guard up.]]

* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: [[spoiler: After pulling off a BigDamnHeroes moment and spending a tender moment with the boy he now knows is his son, Beetle gets stabbed in the back and dies without a word and the movie doesn't spend time dwelling on this as Kubo's aunt is still trying to kill them.]]

* TalkingToTheDead: Kubo tries to talk to his dead father at his grave but gets no answer, [[spoiler: [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated for obvious reasons]]]].

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: You know that sliding slash Kubo does in a couple of previews? [[spoiler: That's part of the FinalBattle]].

** Monkey's line when battling the First Sister, "[Love has] made me stronger!" qualifies as a Wham Line since [[spoiler: this is how Monkey reveals to her sisters (and to the audience) that she is in fact Kubo's mother, taking on Monkey's form to protect her son]].

** At the climax, there's a White Out that cuts from [[spoiler: the Moon Beast roaring ...to a mortal Raiden opening his eyes.]]

** He's also the one to sagely point out to Monkey that [[spoiler: even in death, her "story" will live on through her son.]]
* WiseOldFolkFacade: Kubo sees a kindly old man in his dreams who tells Kubo to go to his father's old fortress to find the last MacGuffin. This old man is later revealed to be [[spoiler: Kubo's evil grandfather, [[BigBad the Moon King]]]], luring Kubo into a trap set by one of [[TheHeavy the Sisters]].