Ushio & Tora

Episode 12

While the rest of the season is winding down, Ushio & Tora is just getting started. This week, the long-signaled showdown with the Hakumen no Mono begins coming to a head. With about 20 more weeks to go and an episode with “Part 1” in the title, there won't be a resolution any time soon, but it's rewarding to watch an oft-foreshadowed storyline finally take off.

It's amazing how well Ushio & Tora can tell a story with a single color. Even if I didn't have subtitles, I think I'd get the gist of what's going on by the way color sets the tone. The curtain opens on creepy purples while yokai vow to destroy Ushio. It's all blue and orange when Tora gleefully begs to ride the bus, making him look like a Studio Ghibli character. The palette darkens when danger strikes and levels to mystical green or lavender as Ushio and Tora make their separate revelations about just how much trouble they're in. Flashbacks of the past are reliably grey. It's a very simple yet ingenious way to convey a mood, and it's been fantastic to watch the animators continue to master their art as the series progresses.

Content-wise, this episode is a veritable bestiary of yokai, including some I recognize, like tengu, and many pairs of eyes and sets of teeth that I don't. One of the most important incidental characters is a cowardly kappa who explains to Ushio that the yokai's hatred of his mom is SO intense that he can only express it in song. Despite the song's traditional tone and the setting's painterly watercolor art, it's sort of hilarious that Ushio's journey of discovery about his mom has turned into one big Yo Momma joke.

The watercolor art and old-fashioned music also brings across the concept of Ancient China, looming large over this entire episode. We learn that everything that's troubling Japan today seems to have come from the West—from the Hakumen no Mono to Tora himself. My historical understanding of Chinese-Japanese relations doesn't go far beyond “they fought a lot,” but I'm betting somebody with more context could have something very interesting to say about this. It's possible that Ushio & Tora is making a political statement. If not, it still significantly employs an outsider narrative, indicating strange things arriving from the West to wreak havoc.

It's interesting that one of these Chinese yokai transplants is Tora himself. This is a successful episode for Tora, who makes his triumphant return as a main character instead of a vehicle/sidekick combination. It's fitting that Tora also occupies a contrasting, chaotic role in comparison to the other yokai of the episode. To these other monsters, Tora is dangerous—he doesn't have any loyalty to yokai, but will take down whoever “picks a fight.” The question is, how long will Tora insist that he's keeping Ushio around to kill and eat him eventually? As the other yokai point out, that excuse is wearing thin. Now things are coming to a crossroads: will Ushio survive, or will Tora get to preserve his pride? It's a shounen friendship anime, so I guess the answer is pretty obvious.

Of course an episode with “Part One” in the title leaves us with a cliffhanger. While I have no doubt that Ushio will get out of this pickle, I'm more excited about who is going to help him. In recent episodes, we've seen the return of plenty of old friends, and many are in a position to rush to Ushio's aid. Now that the plot has been laid out for us (even in song), I'm expecting a lot of hack-and-slash action. If your summer anime season is ending around now, I recommend checking out Ushio & Tora because it's only just begun to rev up the engine.

Rating: A-

Ushio & Tora is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.