Ushio & Tora

Episode 32

“I'm finally here, Mom.” Just in time for Mother's Day comes a bittersweet reunion between Ushio and his mother. She's been living in an underwater pillar for the last fifteen years sealing the Hakumen no Mono, and Ushio has some words about his abandonment. Or so he thinks. Instead, this reunion takes both Ushio and the viewer by surprise.

Ushio & Tora can get dark, to the point where I wasn't sure if it would allow us a reunion scene. When Ushio enters the subterranean cavern, eerie green and silent, only to be faced with his mother, still as a statue and covered with just as much dust, I wasn't sure she was even alive. But Mom is full of life and feeling, and while Ushio was all but ready to give it to her about the suffering he's gone through in her absence, Mom preempts it by feeling ten times worse than Ushio ever expected. Instead, the teenager full of angst and no shortage of rage is falling over himself to explain how little each of the scars he's picked up over the course of the show actually hurt. You might even find yourself laughing at Ushio's clowning.

Mom is a pretty stock character, the sweet and gentle ideal of Anime Moms everywhere, so what really makes this scene powerful is how Ushio warms up to her with sheepish expressions and blushing. He's elated but also a little embarrassed when Mom wants to pat his head. But even while Ushio stumbles over himself to cheer Mom up (the total opposite of what he expected), the mood never fully relaxes. The subtle music that accompanies this scene is always a little creepy, to match the echo of the cavern and the watchful eye of the Hakumen, who can see every moment of their reunion. It's a fragile predicament—the silent green of the cavern barely shielded from the murky pink and purple pressure outside—and I don't think anyone's surprised when outside humans upset the balance once and for all.

In the universe of Ushio & Tora, Ushio and Mom stand in contrast to everyone else. While Ushio had every reason to be mad at his mom and resisted, everyone else is still fighting amongst themselves. Just last week, Tora killed and mourned Nagare, a former ally. Now the Anti-Hakumen Unit is splitting into factions: Akabane and Goro who believed Ushio enough to risk their lives, and the rest of the group mindlessly firing missiles. There's also the East and West yokai factions, who have formed themselves into enormous homunculi big enough to face the Hakumen but are using that strength to hurt each other instead. This is exactly what the Hakumen no Mono feeds on, as everyone knows, and yet human (and yokai) nature means they can't help themselves. Out of everyone, Ushio and Mom, with their united feelings, have the best chance of resisting the Hakumen.

Not that anything will be easy. The Hakumen's silent smile is ghastly, and the monster is rendered like a calligraphy brush painting—something ancient from the past that looks out of place in our time. The music is reminiscent of a final boss bottle song in a video game. Ushio is terrified, which is to be expected, but Tora is speechless. Ushio & Tora is a show with heart, which may even make you laugh, but it always returns to the dark monster that lives at its core. Few shows can master that contrast like this one.

Rating: A

Ushio & Tora is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist.