Fandoms React to "Kubo & The Two Strings"

The Reaction Begins

ME: Alright everyone, eyes on the screen upfront! The reaction is about to begin!

(Everyone looks at the screen, and a video begins to play. Then, Kubo's voice is heard.)

KUBO: (Spoken) If you must blink, do it now.

(The scene opens to a dark sky with a full moon. A young woman with long dark hair, wearing a yellow kimono, sits in a boat out at sea, holding a shamisen (three-stringed traditional Japanese instrument). From the dark clouds and harsh waves, it is clear that a storm is on the rise.)

KUBO: (Spoken) Pay careful attention to everything you see and hear, no matter how unusual it may seem.

(The scene then cuts to something the woman is carrying on her back–a dark red bundle with a strange, black beetle sigil on it. Everyone watching immediately takes notice.)

RUMI: Wait, what is that she's carrying on her back? She seems... troubled.

TANJIRO: Could it be a baby?

JINU: (To Tanjiro) What makes you think that?

TANJIRO: (To Jinu) I don't know. Just a hunch.

(The scene cuts to the woman taking notice of a large wave overhead. Immediately, the woman raises her hand, a bachi (plectrum) in hand. She slams it down against the shamisen, and a bright golden light immediately slices the wave in half, to everyone's astonishment.)

RUMI: (Shocked) How... how did she do that?!

RUBY ROSE: (Amazed) That... that was amazing! Was that... magic?

JINU: Whatever it was, it's not something just anyone can do.

(Meanwhile, Kubo is simply staring at the screen, witnessing his mother's feat. The scene then switches to a misty clouds parting way to reveal a dark, looming mountain. The woman smiles in relief.)

RUMI: (Staring intently at the screen) She seems to be looking for refuge. I wonder why.

KUBO: (Spoken) And please be warned, if you fidget, if you look away, if you forget any part of what I tell you, even for an instant, then our hero will surely perish.

TANJIRO: Perish? What does he mean by that?

(The scene cuts to the woman looking behind her as another large wave emerges. This time, however, the woman is unable to use the shamisen to cut down the wave, and is plunged underwater.)

RUBY ROSE: (Worried) Oh no! Is she okay?

(The following scene shows the woman slam her head against a sharp rock as she sinks underwater, blood visibly escaping her wound.)

RUMI: (Even more worried) Oh no, she hit her head! That must hurt.

(The scene switches to the woman washed ashore. The faint sound of a baby crying is heard in the distance, and the woman is immediately alerted to the sound. Not too far away is the bundle, with visible movement underneath. Weakly, she crawls over to it, reaching out a hand to try and lay a hand on the bundle.)

TANJIRO: So I was right.

KUBO: (Spoken) His name is Kubo. His grandfather stole something from him. 

RUMI: (Confused) ...Stole something from him?

(The scene switches to the woman gently caressing the bundle. She lifts a part of the bundle, revealing a crying baby boy, a visible bandage covering his left eye. Blood is lightly steeping through the bandage.)

RUMI: (Horrified) His eye... did his grandfather gouge out his eye?!

JINU: (A grim look on his face) It seems so.

(The scene switches to the woman lying on her side, embracing the child.)

KUBO: (Spoken) And that really is the least of it.

(The video ends, and everyone sits in silence for a few seconds, trying to process what they've just seen.)

EVERYONE: (In disbelief) What... what does this all mean?!

[TO BE CONTINUED]