An Underrated Classic - Ushio to Tora

 Welcome to another anime recommendation blog, this time I’m doing Ushio to Tora (2015) which is an anime I found some under-appreciated in the community and no one hardly talks about which is a shame to be honest. There will be little spoilers in this blog, and doesn’t really talk about the plot, just about the overall evaluation.

Ushio to Tora is a very unique anime, as you can see when you first get into it is the art-style straight off the bat. As the anime is animated by the notable MAPPA studio back in 2015, the art is very interesting and found it very original to other stuff I have seen; which is what MAPPA has always done to me. Many people, including me, have said that it is reminiscent of 80s anime but modernised; this style couldn’t be better for this anime as the source material is from the 90s. It gives me massive respect to MAPPA, because they were clearly thinking about the fans of the series as they were remaking it to a newer generation, and it’s what I love to see from the makers.

ART EXAMPLE:

Ushio and Tora being one of the first manga’s about Yokai, honestly in my experience it is one of the best Yokai anime I have seen. While other Yokai anime are about hunting them and being like a Pokémon clone or slice of life settings befriending them. This anime breaks the mold, making amazing stories that humanise and relatable about Yokai which is entertaining a lot for me. This show actually has weight on it which is actually about something and not an arbitrary adventure or waste of time. On top of that, it’s true entertainment for any shounen genre enjoyer with episodic stories about Yokai’s life with humans and then has an antagonist with a main plot as well.

It’s not just an 80s style, but it also has a gritty element to the style, which goes well with the whole tone of the anime. I like that it’s a more darker shounen with the main character who turns into a long-haired beast with his murder tiger friend. The style alone is very much up my alley, as from the first episode I knew I would enjoy it. If you never told anyone the date of the anime, you’d assume it was some niche show from around the 90s, which is amazing for anyone who loves older anime but doesn’t like newer anime; should try this anime out.

My favourite character in the anime has to be Tora, Ushio’s tiger yokai who is forced to be with Ushio when he ran into him. His character design for a tiger is very original with a lion mane but spiky, which at first I called him a lion, so I guess he is actually a liger??!? He has the markings on his arms and face with his sharp teeth; he comes across as terrifying which is at the start and comes across as a bad guy. As we get to know him, he actually has a heart that we couldn’t tell beforehand and starts to help Ushio. I love his character because he has a lot of dignity which he shows a lot but also is willing to help when things get serious as he starts to like the boy. I would want a liger spirit sitting on my shoulder like Ushio, it’s an exceptional dynamic and Ushio matches well with Tora.

An episode that stood out to me a lot is the one with skinwalker type weasel Yokai that kept losing their home during construction, as a good shounen, I believe that there should be lessons it teaches the youth. This is one of them. The episode is about the siblings, and one is going on a murder rampage and can't be stopped. When they finally confront him, they have compassion for the situation and show the effect on land clearing which countries like Australia and South America face with wildlife. I love that this small episode taught people about this issue in a creative and interesting way. As shounen is based towards a younger demographic of boys, it’s amazing that the writers can show an informative subject that they may be too young to understand easily.

Ushio Aotsuki is another fascinating character considering he is the main character, he fits the bill for a shounen protagonist. A good shounen protagonist has the go-getter attitude like Ushio where they are headstrong or overconfident to do whatever they do. He is a great protagonist for this reason as he fits the genre perfectly, he even has a character that reminds me of Ippo; that I think they took inspiration from. Ushio has a big heart for the Yokai he tries to help, he wants to help them because he is self-less and is a superb person. Tora being around Ushio made him learn about compassion for humans and others, by being forced to stay with him, he changed his mindset from eating humans to helping them.

This anime is really underrated and hasn't really seen a huge fan base since its remake aired. I think it’s one of the better shounen I have seen because I haven't really seen Yokai being portrayed like this. In the world they are unknown to humans and face many problems which humans go through; so they have lots of human problems being told in this way, which is clever to do. Even though it is a shounen, it’s very mature for the genre with its heavy topic, dark 80s style with blood in which I find intriguing because a lot of shounen is bright and does violence without being dark; which this anime isn’t scared to do.

I also find it very fun that it’s a supernatural themed shounen action anime, the supernatural part sparks interest to me because to find this combination to give is very rare. I love the supernatural part because of anime about spirits, which remind me of parts of bleach but if it was a dark themed old style anime. There's addition of supernatural devices like mirrors in one episode too, so it’s not just ghosts which is exceptional. The anime is also a comedy as well, which works amazing because you can be excited and have action, but also you get funny parts which make the anime incredible. I’d highly recommend it, if it’s your thing.

Thanks for Reading