Ushio and Tora is an anime based of the manga with the same name written by Kazuhiro Fujita. The anime is directed by Satoshi Nishimura and ran through MAPPA studio.

This series ranked two on my most anticipated anime of the summer. In short, it lived up it.

Spoilers: Minor spoilers just involving the first episode.

Plot: Ushio is a young boy who is left to look after his dad’s temple while he is away. Upon cleaning, he falls into a basement where he meets a demon trapped by the beast spear, the one his dad had been telling him about. Here in the basement with the exchanging of dialogue between the two, I knew I was going to love this anime. An unlikely of bonds is formed when Ushio must unleash the demon to save his friends. The two will now attempt to work as a team to stop the remaining demons Tora’s demonic aura attracts.

Characters:My favorite part of the anime. I will just be talking about the two title characters. Ushio is a lovable main character. He is very funny, loves his friends, and is actually quite fierce. He never truly seems scared of Tora. In fact, he quickly takes control of him. Tora is hilarious for an “evil spirit turned good guy by force” character. I am absolutely amused by their dynamic together and can’t wait to see them grow has demon hunters.

The World: It is pretty standard. The fantasy aspect of it comes from Tora’s aura attracting evil spirits.

Recap: My favorite anime so far, I wish it was already done so I could just watch all the episodes at once. Watch this anime if you’re into action anime with comedy. Lets break it down by category:

Action: There wasn’t action until about 20 minutes into it, but that’s okay. It was awesome and I know future episodes will have great action as well.
Romance: You get the sense of love triangle between Ushio, Nakamaru, and Inoue. I haven’t read the manga so I don’t know what develops but my money is on Ushio and Nakamaru.
Story: The story may not be groundbreaking but I’m definitely into it and sets up for an awesome story.
Characters: Ushio and Tora alone are awesome. I hope Nakamaru and Inoue play larger parts in later episodes.
The World: As mentioned, the world doesn’t seem any different from your average anime other the fact there are demons on the loose.
Humor: Hilarious anime. It doesn’t just rely on them two bouncing off each other. Ushio is pretty funny by himself and when he is around Nakamaru they’re funny as well. Definitely a strong point.
The Ending: Maybe the best ending I’ve seen from the summer animes. It ends on a high note and has me so beyond pumped for episode two.

Verdict: Anybody who loves a great action show with funny characters to go with it needs to watch this. It has been my favorite summer anime. Go watch it.