Ushio & Tora

[Spark Of Spirit]

Called it!

Now you gotta watch til the end. 

[gunswordfist]

Episodes 19 and 20 are when the show started to really blow my mind. And it doesn't slow down from there!

[Avaitor]

Wow, this seriously is the perfect show for Toonami. There's enough shonen charm to appeal to the block's typical fanbase, and the story and characters develop more than well enough to reward those who stick around.

They would be foolish to not at least consider it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Despite ANN and its fanbase ignoring it (outside their one reviewer), the voters have determined that Ushio & Tora was the best anime of the Spring 2016 season.

[VLordGTZ]

The series definitely gained a lot more attention around the start of the final cour.  It's good to see that it was so well received.   

[gunswordfist]

All good news! In fact this pass week has been full of good anime news (like the fact that One Punch Man is guaranteed real popularity in just two weeks). I hope UT continues getting more love and a Toonami announcement.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It really is baffling how little attention U&T got. Unlike other 90's manga being remade like Hunter X Hunter and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, U&T had virtually no hype surrounding its release, and I never really came across any discussion threads talking about it on any anime forums that I visited. Yet whenever I do see any polls or lists of the best anime from this year or season involving it, U&T almost always ranks up pretty high with viewers. So, clearly people must have been watching it and liking it in order for that to happen. So then, why has there been no buzz about it throughout its entire run? That's really odd.

Also, what the hell is up with that one poster on ANN saying that the second half of season one was a mess? I have no idea what he's on about. The second half of season one is what cemented this anime as one of my favorites.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I found a pretty good (albeit short) video review summing up why the show is so great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL7FTh6eR9g

[Spark Of Spirit]

It really is baffling how little attention U&T got. Unlike other 90's manga being remade like Hunter X Hunter and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, U&T had virtually no hype surrounding its release, and I never really came across any discussion threads talking about it on any anime forums that I visited. Yet whenever I do see any polls or lists of the best anime from this year or season involving it, U&T almost always ranks up pretty high with viewers. So, clearly people must have been watching it and liking it in order for that to happen. So then, why has there been no buzz about it throughout its entire run? That's really odd.

It had no articles written about it like Kabaneri, Re:zero, or even Flying Witch, and yet it got high rankings every week above even those. It seems to me, unless it's something they can't ignore (like the "Big 3", AoT, or Dragon Ball), the anime media just doesn't give shonen the time of day. Which is odd, because it's the highest selling anime and manga type. You'd figure they'd want to hook in that bigger audience more.

But there is clearly an audience for stuff like this. If it gets a Toonami run, we might learn just how much of one.

Also, what the hell is up with that one poster on ANN saying that the second half of season one was a mess? I have no idea what he's on about. The second half of season one is what cemented this anime as one of my favorites.

Yep. Two comments: one saying no one talks about the show, and the other saying the awesome second half of season one was bad.

I'm expecting the rest of the comments, save one or two, to either ignore U&T entirely like every other week or be butthurt about how well ranked it was. Same as every week.

My theory is that the people who watch and enjoy U&T simply don't hang around anime communities anymore. They still get high ratings and sales, but you never hear anyone talking about it. Just check out ANN's talkback threads for MHA. Most of it is complaining over tiny crap that was actually explained or obvious to anyone who pays attention. The MHA haters are quite the tryhards.

Still, there might be a reason for all this. I honestly don't think most shonen fans participate in the anime world anymore.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I think it sucks. It started off brightly, but as it went on it got cheesier and cheesier, consequently making Ushio's cliched dialogue more overbearing. I also found the forced relationship between Mayuko and Tora rather creepy, and felt it just highlighted how much of an unrealistic and poorly written character Mayuko was?

This is the amazing level of criticism shonen gets these days.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It had no articles written about it like Kabaneri, Re:zero, or even Flying Witch, and yet it got high rankings every week above even those. It seems to me, unless it's something they can't ignore (like the "Big 3", AoT, or Dragon Ball), the anime media just doesn't give shonen the time of day. Which is odd, because it's the highest selling anime and manga type. You'd figure they'd want to hook in that bigger audience more.

Well, both Hunter X Hunter and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure also got a lot of media buzz surrounding them, and other shonen like Haikyuu!! and MHA get articles on sites like these as well. So I don't think it's so much that a lot of reviewers don't want to write anything about shonen anime, hence why I find it strange that U&T was largely ignored by the media as well as big anime YouTubers.

I think it sucks. It started off brightly, but as it went on it got cheesier and cheesier, consequently making Ushio's cliched dialogue more overbearing. I also found the forced relationship between Mayuko and Tora rather creepy, and felt it just highlighted how much of an unrealistic and poorly written character Mayuko was?

This is the amazing level of criticism shonen gets these days.

This comment actually legitimately made me laugh. As soon as I read it, the first thought that popped into my mind was: "Is this somehow the same poster who thought that Meruem and Komugi had a sexual relationship and that it was a combination of bestiality and pedophilia?"

[Avaitor]

Damn, Kirio.

Yep, on episode 23.

[gunswordfist]

Also, what the hell is up with that one poster on ANN saying that the second half of season one was a mess? I have no idea what he's on about. The second half of season one is what cemented this anime as one of my favorites.

lol I wanted to address that guy. While the last 6 episodes have my least favorite 2 arcs in the show from what I remember, they're still good and I obviously like them. But if he means the last 13 or so episodes, including the time two parter (my 2nd favorite part of the series), Ushio becoming a demon and the fight against the monk Hakumen possessed then that makes a 1000X less sense. At best, he's complaining about the last few episodes that switched around manga material. Basically, boo hoo.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I like how Kirio, in contrast to your typical brainwashed character, isn't actually an idiot. He is allured in by the false promises and fake feelings of love that Hakumen no Mono's avatar gives him, but on a subconscious level he knows that something is off, and when he finally comes to the realization that the person who he thought cared for him was a lie the whole time, his reaction is perfect. It's not that whiny tripe that most writers would shove down your throat. He straight up takes responsibility for his fuck-up and puts an end to Hakumen's avatar himself.

[gunswordfist]

I loved that. Lesser series would have turned him into a whiny villain rival that doesn't get that what he's doing is wrong until the end of the series or arc.