☆❀☆

I watched Kubo and the Two Strings last night. It was pretty good; a super pretty movie, very engaging. Laika's stop motion works are always really damn impressive.

Since I'm a sucker for music + magic, I guess it's no surprise that I enjoyed this one. The visuals of Kubo's magic working are just so cool, the way the paper slips out and folds itself...! And that bit at the end, ah.

The movie's not perfect - I saw one review that said something like, "Much like Kubo, Laika tells a great story, but isn't very good at ending it." Thing kind of got wobbly in the last third, I think. Still good, though, and like - I think the general idea of the ending was cool; it was probably just that the pacing wasn't quite right or something like that.

(And then there's the issue I have with fights going on slightly too long and humour falling slightly flat - but that's a perpetual issue with me and at this point I'm just nitpicking.)

Normally I return films to the library as soon after watching as possible, but I think I'll hang on to this one a bit. I think I saw some making-of extra listed on it; that would be cool. And I kind of want to rewatch the film with the director's commentary. For me, part of the fun of stop motion animation is looking through after and seeing all of the craft that goes into making such an amazing work of art.

This isn't the kind of movie that would get a sequel (especially since it didn't make a big splash when it came out) but I really like Kubo as a character and wish I could spend more time with him. There's a lot of potential for exploration of his world and story; postcanon stuff, immediate or far into the future; things set before his quest; canon-divergent "bad ending" scenarios where he ends up going with the Moon King (willingly or not). I wonder what direction his life would take when he's older. Travelling storyteller, maybe? One thing that I noticed about Kubo's life during canon is that he doesn't really seem to have any friends. Or at least, not any his own age. Which makes sense, since his life (until the story gets going) revolves around taking care of his mom, being the village storyteller (as a job??), and making damn sure he isn't out after dark. ...So that's my postcanon desire for him, broad though that is. Kubo's a sweet kid and should make some friends.

I poked around looking for fandom, and there isn't a whole lot, which doesn't surprise me, but eh. There are a few fics that look like they could be interesting, so I might take a look when I have a moment.

The fandom seems to be really interested in crossing over various other Laika films together. Not my thing at all, but good on them. In terms of non-Laika crossovers, I kind of like the idea of Kat2S x Disney's Coco. Kubo and Miguel hanging out would be fun! String instrument buddies! Shamisen and mariachi guitar jam session! I did see a few fics with them while I was scrolling (will need to investigate later). Plus some shipfic. I guess, since their universes aren't very compatible, people figured they might as well AU it entirely, and while they're at it, write them as adults too. Eh, well, why not.

Anyway. I'm definitely going to need to take a look at those disc extras. I bet it'll be quite a treat.