Ushio & Tora

Episode 16

Levity seems to have no place in a show that is quickly becoming a high-stakes drama. Yet in Ushio & Tora, it just works. This episode mixes humor into a life-or-death situation without ruining the mood.

First, I should clarify that many of my former predictions were wrong. I should have known they wouldn't kill off Moritsuna so quickly. At least this week, he gets an entire half-hour to deal with his issues, though he's not awake for most of it. He spends most of this episode unconscious while Ushio and Tora decide to pull a Magic School Bus and shrink themselves small enough to fight demons in his brain. Tora probably wishes he had stayed home today.

Of course, as is the case whenever Ushio and Tora require a new and untested ability, they make a new yokai friend. Izuna is some kind of tsundere fox that I can't stop thinking of as this show's Scrappy Doo. Izuna can't stop picking fights with people much bigger than him, but his chemistry with both Ushio and Tora is unexpectedly funny. The trio find themselves in a tough situation, where failure means their own deaths as well as Moritsuna's, but is anyone actually scared? The battles are gripping and well-animated, but there's no way the show is going to kill off its two leads, so even as the plot sucks us into the drama, we know that they're going to succeed. That's why humor works, even in such a dramatic situation. Without it, Ushio & Tora would just be another melodrama. “Sorry for not letting you eat me,” Ushio says before Tora decides to go with him on what's being presented as a suicide mission. You have to admit that's kind of hilarious.

With Izuna's help, our protagonists can inhabit another person, though it's a task that comes with astoundingly high stakes for Ushio: he may turn into a beast for life. This risk is presented with incredible empathy through Akiba, who is quickly becoming one of the best things the show has to offer—in a sea of myopic characters who focus only on the task at hand (Ushio and Tora included), Akiba looks at the big picture. Instead of focusing on his own inability to be chosen by the Beast Spear, Akiba can sympathize with Ushio. He's just a middle schooler thrust into this situation by fate. “I wonder how many girls a guy can stop from crying in a lifetime,” Ushio says to Akiba as he decides to risk his life to bring a smile to Jun's face. (Never let it be said that Ushio isn't smooth with the ladies.) Akiba's “had it up to here” reaction face is priceless.

Really, this is an episode about feelings. It's Ushio's emotions that drive him into this dangerous situation, and it's Jun's affection for her brother that gets him out of it. This is a supernatural show, but what makes it relatable and worthwhile is the way feelings we've all experienced become the cause and solution to every problem. We also learn in this episode that the Hakumen no Mono itself is fueled by emotion: human hatred. When despair begins to overwhelm Ushio, Izuna resolves it with meta humor: “There's an order to things. The boss comes later.” It's a perfect example of the levity that tempers this episode at just the right times. Not that this emotional rollercoaster is anywhere close to done—the episode ends on a cliffhanger. Still, it's the balance of various feelings that will make you want to know what happens next.

Rating: A

Ushio & Tora is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.