Ushio and Tora

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Ushio and Tora

うしおととら (Ushio and Tora)
Genre
Manga
Authored by	Kazuhiro Fujita
Publisher	Shogakukan Tora Aman Publications SDN BHD
Serialized in	Shōnen Sunday
Original run	–
No. of volumes	33
OVA
Directed by	Kunihiko Yuyama
Studio	TOHO, Shogakukan
No. of episodes	10
Released	1992

Ushio and Tora (うしおととら Ushio to Tora) is a youkai manga by Kazuhiro Fujita that has been adapted into a 10-episode^[1] anime OVA series released in 1992. It was released in the United States by ADV Films.

[edit] Plot

It centers around the travails and battles of one Ushio Aotsuki (蒼月潮 Aotsuki Ushio), who is constantly being stalked and aided by a gigantic, supernatural and sometimes invisible tiger (somewhat like Calvin and Hobbes).

Ushio's family maintains a Shinto temple in Japan, where ~500 years ago, his samurai ancestor battled that same tiger to a standstill, and eventually trapped him against a rock using a blessed spear called the "Beast Spear", which in addition to its intrinsic formidability as a weapon, can also endow its wielder with the martial ability of the ancestor who originally wielded it. Ushio accidentally unsealed the cave Tora was trapped in.

Initially, Ushio refuses to remove the spear pinning Tora (とら, Japanese for tiger) down (as Tora make the strategic blunder of mentioning that the first thing he would do upon being freed would be to devour Ushio), but Tora's unsealed presence summons various monsters who wish to fight him, and by extension Ushio. Ushio is forced to free Tora, who would like to eat Ushio, but dares not since Ushio keeps the spear close by. The series focuses on their relationship, interspersed with battles against mythological foes, and with Tora's attempts to grapple with modern life.

The plot also includes Ushio's relationships with two girls. Ushio is friends with the tomboyish Asako Nakamura (中村麻子 Nakamura Asako) and the feminine Mayuko Inoue (井上真由子 Inoue Mayuko).

Episodic in nature, most of the manga is a series of fights with different youkai or other creatures from Japanese legend. But at thirty-three volumes, the story continues far past the events of the anime, and leads to an epic conclusion.