Ushio & Tora

Episode 19

Consider this episode the money shot of Ushio & Tora. After hearing about it for a good ten episodes, we finally see the Hakumen no Mono in action. The legendary nine-tailed monster certainly lives up to the hype. Better yet, the time-traveling logistics of this episode remove everyone's favorite deus ex machina, the Beast Spear, and add true terror into the equation. This episode switched up the pace without once straying from the comedy/drama combo that makes this show great.

Despite the dramatic, tearful events of last week, this episode starts on a lighter note. Don't Ushio and Tora remind you the slightest bit of Scooby and Shaggy while they're investigating that clearly haunted house? It turns out to be a setup for introducing yet another yokai with a super-convenient power—Tokisaka, an old lady demon who can turn back time. (Already, Ushio has a yokai friend who can transport him through mirrors. Now he can time travel. Think about how easy life will be for him in a few dozen episodes!) Ushio has a couple meta questions that the audience might also be wondering, like “why didn't anyone finish off the Hakumen no Mono back when they had the chance?” It's great when a story recognizes its potential weak points. Ushio's question turned out to be this whole episode's premise, as Tokisaka nonchalantly deposits the pair 2,200 years in the past, in ancient China, on the week the Beast Spear was forged—minus the modern Beast Spear of course. See ya! Hope there aren't any monsters!

Ushio manages to make a good impression with the ladies no matter where he goes—even in the past. He immediately bumps into Jie Mie, the woman he saw while he was possessed by the spear. She's the spitting image of MAYUKO, something the story has been observing for a dozen episodes or more. I get the feeling that, since so many other things paid off this episode, this is about to pay off too. It's funny how Ushio can magically speak and understand Chinese, but makes the mistake of writing his name in kanji for Jie Mie to understand. Since she naturally assumes the Chinese pronunciation of the letters, Aotsuki becomes Tsung Yue. Jie Mie takes him home to thank him for beating up some yokai (with a rock, lacking the spear). Ushio learns that she's related to the forger of the Beast Spear, and history is about to seriously go down. Ushio gets a front seat to a historical moment that begins with the addition of dark arts to the spear's forging, and ends with a truly chilling staredown with the Hakumen no Mono's shattered eye.

As a female viewer, I am continually impressed by the important roles women play in Ushio & Tora. The most important heroes and villains of this episode spoke with female voices. Jie Mie's mother took an active role in the forging of the spear, while Tokisaka was the one to make time travel possible. Meanwhile, the king of China realizes the Hakumen no Mono is a woman, killing 80 of his concubines as a result. He misses the Hakumen no Mono herself, who undergoes a terrifying transformation in front of half the kingdom. The Hakumen no Mono undergoes many evolutions, each one more unsettling than the last. From a thin, doll-like woman with nervous eyes, to a sleek, sharp beast with a voice like pure energy, this is an enemy design that's going to stick with me. This is the horrific foe that Ushio & Tora plans to deliver its ultimate showdown against, and I have no doubt that we're going to see some fireworks.

Rating: A

Ushio & Tora is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.