Do not be tricked. As much as Kubo and the Two String is based on Japanese background, it does not have much anime feel to it. I decided to watched it for the impressive stop motion animation rather than anything else.
Kubo's story begin with introducing Kubo, a story teller who lives with his mother, who in turn feed him with amazing stories about his legendary samurai father, Hanzo who had passed away protecting them. In a sequence of event, malicious deities came hunting for him, which set him on an adventure to look for the legendary sword, armor and helmet in order to protect himself from the Moon King. Assisting him on his journey are monkey and beetle, who proved to be tangible help in time of need. Without spoiling the story, the "twist" can be seen very early on.
The animation is top notched. It is impressive to see stop motion technology coupled with computer capabilities. There are moments where the stop motion are obvious, you would see certain "lapse" but they can be totally neglected without affecting the show. The characters are likable, and the 3 leads are a joy to watch. Now, the down side. Strip away the Japanese background, and this will end up like any other American cartoon. Movie with a family moral story. It did not have the shonen anime feel to it, neither did it has much depth to it while dealing with serious subject (Spirited Away anyone?). I must applaud the team for dealing with heavy subject such as loss in a movie for younger audience, but it is done in a simpler superficial form, fit for the children. The humor while present, is very much American, and nothing feel Asian to it.It is still an enjoyable film. But kindly do not expect to watch an anime (still most anime based movie/ OVA is not impressive either when compare to their original series) because this film is made with a western audience in mind.
ratings: 3 poink~!
comments: good details, but I still prefer Big Hero 6, which deals with similar theme.
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