Anime Review | Ushio and Tora (Lights, Camera, Action!)

Ushio to Tora

The series follows the titular Ushio, a high school boy and ancestor of a Samurai who once defeated a great tiger demon and built a temple over where he kept the demon sealed. Here the demon stayed through multiple generations, pinned in place by a magical weapon known as the "Beast Spear." Ushio's family has kept watch over this temple and the secret sealed within. Ushio believed none of it. That is until one day he accidently breaches the seal and is forced to forge somewhat of a fragile alliance with the demon, whom he dubs Tora - the Japanese word for tiger - based on his beastly appearance, along with his orange and stripy hide.

Ushio and Tora feels very much like most classic Shonen of its time, with 'Monster of the Week' style stories, filled with comedy and battle as Ushio travels around, fighting classic Japanese Yokai monsters, with Tora helping when he feels like it or is bullied into it. Ushio now wields the spear that trapped Tora for so long and, by doing so, he is given spiritual powers and the ability to see the supernatural.

The duo has a hate/hate relationship; Tora seems intent on wanting to return to his old habits of rampaging and eating humans, with Ushio being at the top of his list. Meanwhile, Ushio seems to just want to return to his regular life but now feels responsible for taking on any supernatural threats. As the events develop, Tora does, too, going from trying to kill and eat Ushio at any opportunity that presents itself, to beginning to actually help in protecting civilians from others of his kind.

Unlike some of the other resurgences of older series that have been in vogue recently, this does not redesign its characters or style, nor does it change the setting to be closer to present day. Studio MAPPA has instead done a superb job in perfectly capturing the art and style of the original manga, resulting in a retro look that still manages to look great thanks to the impressive and smooth quality of the animation.

7/10

Very Good - Bronze Award

Fans of classic '90s anime will love this throwback to the traditional Shonen series. There is a full season of 26 episodes here, with plenty more source material to pull from - the full story ran for 33 manga volumes - and while the quality dips towards the end of the season, it's setting up some fantastic developments and plot lines for the second, which hits later in 2016.