Ushio & Tora

Episode 37

There's a scene in this episode of Ushio & Tora that depicts the scale of the Hakumen no Mono well, as a dozen yokai crawl on its chest like so many ants. It really drives home that it won't take two people to defeat this monster, even if they do have magical weapons and armor—it'll take everyone Ushio and Tora has ever known to get the job done. Ushio & Tora has essentially been documenting this final battle with the Hakumen no Mono since episode 33, but it doesn't feel slow because there are so many characters to juggle, and at this pace the show succeeds at making us resonate with each of their stories. While this episode's visual quality was noticeably lacking, its character development was strong.

Is it OK to ship Tora and MAYUKO? Tora looks more like a tiger than a person, but he's always had a human will, and now we know it's because he used to be human—which makes me feel way better about rooting for this couple than I did during their mock wedding in episode 24. It's also clear that Tora has a "type," now that we've met the sweet older sister he tried to protect as a human 200 years ago. MAYUKO's sunshiney disposition fits the bill. While this new pair's last team-up was far jokier, with MAYUKO all smiles and Tora cartoonishy perplexed, this reunion is dangerously emotional because it has an element the other didn't: hope. MAYUKO, using her newfound ability to send her spiritual form outside of her body, runs Ushio's mom's comb through Tora's hair to try and make him human again. In visuals as fuzzy and frustrating as a dream, MAYUKO fantasizes about double dates and hamburgers with Tora that are, tragically, never going to occur. But through her tears, MAYUKO remains unthreatened, observing that if Tora is going to eat her "right after Ushio," that means he doesn't ever plan on eating her. It's a bittersweet emotional scene, and it's not surprising to learn that it had the physical effect of healing Tora, because I left it feeling better too.

I don't want to forget the moments before MAYUKO appeared, when Tora was confronting his solitude and weighing the freedom of being alone against the newfound reward of fighting at Ushio's side. This observation is the first in a domino effect of similar expressions of gratitude toward Ushio that resonate across this episode. He's ever-present in Tora and MAYUKO's moment, when he appears in their mutual fantasies of double dates and human dinners. Then there are aftershocks across the rest of the episode. The H.A.M.M.R. scientists have clearly undergone a remarkable motivation shift, and it's all because of their run-in with Ushio. They've found a cause worth laying down their own lives for—driving home their anti-Hakumen weapons, both Trump and the barrier tucked into Ushio's belt. The Anti-Hakumen Unit is similarly ready for a suicide attack until the Kamaitachi siblings, who previously hated all people, come to their rescue. Even then, they worry their efforts will be in vain because not everyone is as understanding toward yokai as “Ushio-sama.” In another scene, Saya mans the underworld gate—and her devotion to Ushio and Tora's cause might be the most pivotal of them all. Then of course there's the “ultimate insult” of the episode's title—Ushio and Tora's taunt-riddled reunion, in which they touchingly call each other “idiot” through obvious relief.

This episode's visuals are noticeably bad. For the first time in a while, I couldn't ignore the reused footage from the Hakumen's identical attacks. Tora and MAYUKO's dream sequence was supposed to feel mystical, but it just looked blurry. However, the story saved it—delivering a quick succession of emotional moments all linked by Ushio and continuing to develop a dozen likable characters in parallel, which is no easy feat.

Rating: B+

Ushio & Tora is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist