Speaking as a Japanese person, I can¡¯t help but feel a short burst of national pride when Hollywood gives my country any kind of attention, like with the animated film ¡°Kubo and the Two Strings.¡±
Directed by Travis Knight of Oregon-based Laika Entertainment (¡°Coraline,¡± ¡°The Boxtrolls¡°), ¡°Kubo¡± is set in 16th-century Japan and draws from the feudal culture of that time. It¡¯s tinged with samurai violence and grapples with some heavy-duty family dysfunction, but more importantly it tones down the exoticism and concentrates on adventure.
The titular protagonist is a 10-year-old shamisen-playing boy with one eye who¡¯s been dealt a bum hand in life, but it doesn¡¯t leave him wallowing in hopelessness or prevent him from trying to fulfill his destiny.
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