Cheap Ushio & Tora - Complete Collection (DVD) (Kunihiko Yuyama) Price

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Customer Reviews of Ushio & Tora - Complete Collection

Ushio & Tora #5-- Weasle-Monsters and Water Spirits
Of all the U&T videos I have to admit that I liked this one best. If you're not turned off by extreme wierdness and very gory anime, this one is for you! The first flic (parts one and two) concern a humongous water-demon which (through various fights) gets vanquished by Ushio & Tora, and there are truly touching moments, particularly towards the end of the second part. Nice. The second two flics concern a trio of kamaitachi (traditional Japanese weasle-monsters), one of which has gone mad with grief and loss and is killing loads of humans in an extremely gory manner. His brother and sister beg Ushio's assistance in ending the matter via assasination of their brother (most reluctantly), and things go from there. Once again, emotional interplay is strong in this video. I would rate the four episodes very highly, but would not recommend them for viewing by the younger anime audience-- the last two are REALLY bloody (people being cut in half, blood everywhere, etc.). A nice ecological message is contained in the last two, though. Everything gets followed up by a truly odd bunch of short flics, done in the "super-deformed" mode, and I suppose they're OK. Watch the first four videos first.

Madness Tora style
I got the subbed video version of this years ago; and it was one of the quirky strange little series that I've kept and enjoyed for years.

Ushio frees the powerful demon he names Tora to save his friends; and so becomes responsible for a monster who enjoys eating people, causing mayhem, and whose simple presence draws out ancient demons and evil from hidden places across Japan. Ushio keeps alive and ahead using attitude, temper and the ancient magical spear that once trapped Tora.

Visually, the combination of bright colours and harsh angled lines works. The Japanese subbed version was a lot of fun: I haven't seen a dubbed version.

The characters have a bit of depth, and do grow and change through the story. Nor are the monsters stereotypical. Some are immense and seemingly mindless, some are insane with grief and despair or the need for revenge, others are simply desperate. My personal favourites: the family of giant flying heads!

Ushio and Tora is a little odd, a little funny, and painfully sad in places. All of the characters are alienated in different ways, and looking to make sense of being alive and sharing that life with each other. Tora wants to both connect with and EAT the other characters - so some of the situations can rapidly spin out of control!

The episodes consist of short story arcs introducing different monsters. The issues get darker and more complex with each story arc, with human deaths, and more difficulty in finding the 'moral high ground'. The monsters are not necessarily evil: some were even once benign. But none of them fit the modern world.

All up: I like this series every time I re-watch it.

Bonus One: There is no huge cliffhanger at the end.

Bonus Two: The videos included some fun little shorts using the cute, squashed characters the Japanese love. I don't know if these will be added to the DVD. Also a lovely short where Tora adopts a kitten. If they are on the DVD, they're worth a look.