What They Say:
Long ago, a ferocious monster terrorized the land, until a samurai, wielding the legendary “Beast Spear”, sealed him away. 500 years later, a middle school student named Ushio Aotsuki accidentally uncovers the monster in a hidden cellar under his family’s temple. The unsealed monster and the spear attract many other supernatural creatures to the temple and Ushio is forced to release the monster in order to defeat them. Ushio names the monster “Tora” and unwillingly work together to battle other spirits and demons.
The Review:
Content (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers):
As the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end” and after 39 episodes it’s finally time for Ushio & Tora to draw to a close. It’s a bit of a bittersweet feeling for me, and that more or less matches the mood of the finale here, as the long battle with Hakumen finally draws to its conclusion. With all the show’s managed to accomplish over the course of it’s run, there wasn’t much room to doubt that it could deliver on a satisfying finale, but that certainly doesn’t make what happens here any less compelling.
Having finally been called out on his hypocrisy, Hakumen admits to his envy of Ushio and his friends, despising them for living happy lives while he had to live in the darkness alone. Tora links this to Nagare’s situation and finally tells Ushio the truth about his death, but Tora now understands that nothing is accomplished by giving into that sense of envy, and the same can be said for the departed souls of both Hyou and Nagare himself who decide to lend the duo a hand. But Hakumen still isn’t finished yet as he decides to blind himself in order to hide his fear of the of the Beast Spear, and attacks mercilessly by continuing to sense it’s presence near Ushio.
With things having quickly taken a turn for the worst, Tora decides there’s no choice but to stab himself with the spear as he reveals that when he was first sealed away all those centuries ago, it was a ploy by both him and the samurai who attacked him in order to keep Hakumen from finding it. Now he’s prepared to do the same thing again, but Ushio’s not willing to let him go it alone and the two of them wield the spear together as they obliterate Hakumen once and for all. In his final moments, Hakumen looks to Tora to continue despising him so he can continue to exist, but Tora’s already let go of that hatred, and Hakumen reveals that in truth, even he wanted to be genuinely acknowledged by others. It certainly doesn’t do much to make Hakumen sympathetic, but it definitely makes for a perfect sense of irony as Hakumen dies alone and acknowledged by no one.
Unfortunately, this victory isn’t without its consequences and Tora’s injuries ultimately prove to be fatal. The duo’s last moment together is heartbreaking as Ushio begs Tora not to die without fulfilling his promise to eat him, but Tora finally admits that he’s already “full” from all the experiences he gained from traveling together. Ushio’s not quite satisfied with that answer and claims that he’ll join Tora soon enough once the Beast Spear consumes him, but for all that admiration, Tora says that Ushio’s better off not being like him. It was only by meeting Ushio that Tora moved past his rage and learned how to find strength in fighting for someone else, and that same strength is what saves Ushio in the end as having been touched by the kindness of his heart, the spirits of Jie Mei and Giriko that were within the spear have now decided to dwell within Ushio, preventing his transformation.
Tora’s not the only one to make an exit for the finale though as Omamori-sama decides to go to the underworld in order to seal the gate in Saya’s place, and the majority of the yokai decide to turn themselves to stone in order to keep Japan from sinking while the rest stay behind to watch over humanity. These scenes admittedly aren’t as compelling as they were probably intended to be, but they work nonetheless and help to cap off this conflict as live in Japan gradually returns to normal. A year passes by and while Ushio can finally enjoy life with both his parents, neither he or Mayuko have really gotten over Tora’s death. However the memories of his time with Tora are enough to keep Ushio going, and for him, that journey is one he’ll never be able to forget.
At this point, I shouldn’t really be surprised at how effectively this show can deliver a gut punch, but even though Tora’s death was kind of inevitable, it still had me in tears and I really appreciated how powerful his last scene with Ushio was. In many ways, though, that feeling speaks to the overall quality of the show itself. I came into this series expecting a grisly, testosterone filled battle shonen, and while it certainly had plenty of that, the real backbone of this series lies in its overwhelming sense of heart and sincerity. In an age where a lot of the newer action shows pride themselves on being cynical and complex, sometimes it’s really nice to get something that’s simple and genuine in portraying the themes it’s trying to convey. This show’s certainly demonstrated that and it’s proven even some of the oldest and most familiar of shonen themes can still have plenty of value when done right, and it’s easy to see why the manga is such a beloved classic in Japan. Now it’s the anime’s turn to leave an impact, and I’m really hoping that Sentai pushes to get this show on Toonami since there’s certainly enough appeal here to reach a wider audience. Ushio & Tora may be far from the most original shonen series out there, but it’s definitely one of the best, and for me, it easily stands as one of the best shows in recent memory.
In Summary:
After a 39 episode journey, Ushio & Tora finally draws to a close as the fight with Hakumen reaches it’s conclusion. Not too surprisingly, it’s a fight that both our heroes can’t walk away from, but even though Tora’s fate was always obvious it still hits really hard and his final scene with Ushio is easily one of the most compelling scenes in the entire series. The other sacrifices in the episode don’t pack quite as much punch, but they still get the job done, and makes for a satisfying finale overall. I came into Ushio and Tora for the action and stayed for the emotional drama, and the fact that the show managed to do a pretty great job at both those things is a testament to just how strong a series it is, and I’m hoping that the anime will stand the test of time as well as the manga has.
Grade: A+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, Hulu