Kubo and the Two Strings/Nightmare Fuel

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Kubo. What happen to your eye?

Since these are the same guys that made the family friendly films, like Coraline and ParaNorman. It's no surprise that Kubo has it's own horrors.

  • The Sisters, pictured here, are this in everything that they say and do, including their visual designs and their creepy monotone way of speaking.

Sisters:"Kubo...Kubo...Little boy..."

    • The Sisters reveal themselves not just by their creepy cooing, but also by coming out of this ominous dark mist. First there's only one...Then the second one comes behind the first.

The Sisters:"Come to your aunties..."

  • Though Beetle turns out to be benign, it was scary from Monkey's POV when it looks like he abducts Kubo. Once her back's turn for a minute, the next thing, he's gone, and Kubo calling out for her.Since Monkey is Sariatus reincarnated, this is every parent/guardian's worst nightmare!
  • It's very rare for Western animation, where the film posits that sometimes your own family are your own foes.
  • It's scary that Monkey almost stabbed Beetle. When you know their real identities, that makes the thing ironic. Because Sariatus almost killed Hanzo all those supposed years ago, if it hadn't been for her son intervening. Plus, it'll be tragic for Kubo's Mom to kill her husband and not know the truth then.
  • The whole Garden of Eyes underwater scene. The yokai hypnotizes victims while luring them into its' mouth, which is a swirling maw of teeth! Beetle rescues Kubo from the beast: by shooting its' eyes with arrows. Even worst how it screams in PAIN!
    • The kid was almost swallowed by that giant mouth!
    • Since Kubo was being hypnotized, his leaf boat was disassembling at an alarming rate, shows how little time he has before he drowns, especially for Monkey (who was fighting the Sisters).
  • During Kubo's little Power Incontinence scene. He lies to Monkey that it's probably mosquitos that bit her rear, he then notices that three origami birds changing into paper mosquitos and head straight for Monkey. His uneasy look on his face indicates that he didn't mean this to happen. Why this is here? It's because the origami mosquitoes' uncanny size, ever bordering onto Jumanji bug size!
  • The Gashadokuro. It's a gigantic skeleton with fiery eyes that roars, even almost eating both Monkey and Beetle! The credit sequence even shows just how massive the puppet was animated, with it lunging at one of the animators!
    • It's introduction counts: Beetle pulls a sword from the skeletal hand shape pedestal, the latter rises up into the utter darkness. What follows next are numerous giant bones that are littered all over the area, also rising up into the abyss. Following by two giant glowing eyes lighting up, and revealing Gashadokuro's nightmare face.
    • It's a Fridge Horror when you know a thing about Japanese Mythology, because it's Skeletons in the Coat Closet that's made out of human-sized bones and the fact that Gashadokuro was made from humans, who died from war and starvation. If it catches someone, it bites their head off, and the only warning of this yokai's arrival is the annoying ringing in one's ears. The only defense is to run away.
    • This makes it more terrifying since at first, the film seems to prepare a Jump Scare, complete with the hand possibly holding onto Beetle after he pulls out the sword. But it does a Bait and Switch, the skeletal hand descends into darkness, and something much worse comes back.
  • The Hanzo's fortress fight, when the lower part of Washi's mask broke. Revealing that her skin was equally white as her mask and just as her mouth contorts in such fury. This even drives into Uncanny Valley.
  • How Beetle became Beetle, although it never appeared onscreen. We just see just as he was being crushed and refolded by Washi, Little Hanzo was convulsing. Something similar had happen to Hanzo as he was being transform into Beetle!
  • Raiden's Moon Beast form, which is a floating, glowing, monster and a cross between an innocent koi fish, a dunkleosteus, and a centipede. Added in with human teeth. The fact that Raiden has human elements in his disguise makes it more of an eldrich abomination.
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