Ushio and Tora

Ordinary high school kid Ushio is sent to clean up around the shrine that his father is the caretaker of. Stumbling through an ancient doorway, he finds himself face to face with a vicious, demonic monster with tiger stripes - a bakemono, pinned to the stone wall by an old spear.

The bakemono's evil aura attracts minor bakemono to converge on the shrine, and Ushio makes the decision to free the tiger bakemono who promises to clean up the mess. However, the tiger bakemono merely attacks Ushio and gloats that it is free to devour humans once more. Outraged at the betrayal, Ushio unexpectedly channels the Beast Spear's awesome power and cows the fearful tiger bakemono into helping destroy the minor bakemono using its formidable strength and lightning bolts.

After this unusual introduction, Ushio decides to keep the tiger bakemono close by in order to prevent it from killing and eating other humans, to its chagrin naming it Tora (Japanese for tiger). Tora, meanwhile, sticks around in order to find a chance to eat its tormentor.

However, the act of removing the Beast Spear leads to a chain of events, ultimately drawing back to an ancient prophecy and an old and implacable enemy who has the power to destroy all Japan - human and bakemono alike. As Ushio and Tora face off against a variety of bakemono based mostly on Japanese traditional legends, they grow closer until they reach a perpetual Enemy Mine / Heterosexual Life Partners state.

Famous for its portrayal of classic Japanese monsters in a modern setting such as the Kamaitachi and Kappa (as well as having the heroes kick monster butt) and the interplay between the two leads, Ushio & Tora stretched 33 volumes of manga and was adapted to a short 10-episode OVA. Ushio and friends appear in the Massive Multiplayer Crossover game, Sunday VS Magazine Shuuketsu Choujou Daikessen.

Ushio&Tora provides examples of:

 * Action Girl - Hinowa is tomboyish battle monk-ette with a caustic attitude, probably because she was born a girl and her dad wanted a boy to train up as a warrior monk.
 * Most of the girls involved either are this or come pretty close.
 * Asako in particular, here, after we thought she was strong but no fighter.
 * Art Evolution / Art Shift / Off-Model - Tora's ears are no longer visible. Or rather, witht he way his hair is drawn it's incredibly difficult to distinguish them.
 * In-series example; Ushio's art drastically improves from the first volume to the next one we see, in volume 15.
 * Badass - A ton of people. Ushio gets the Badass Normal / Charles Atlas Superpower mention, because he was both strong and cool from the start (at least in fights).
 * Badass Adorable - Believe or not, Tora can be pretty cute when he is pouting.
 * Badass Family - Ushio's old fart of a dad is actually one of the strongest in a secret order of bakemono-trashing monks. His mom is singlehandedly keeping Hakumen no Mono pinned down and holding off every bakemono of Japan that wants Hakumen no Mono's head.
 * Badass Longcoat - Creepy black-coated Hyou makes a living (and revenge) hunting bakemono, and almost took down Tora single handedly.
 * Ushio acquires one on his trip to find out about his mother.
 * Bald of Awesome / Bald of Evil - The battle-ready monks mostly have clean-shaven heads, including one who is a clear psychopath.
 * Because Destiny Says So - MAJOR SPOILER. Ushio and Tora and the Beast Spear are intricately linked to Hakumen, because . So Ushio wielding the spear with Tora at his side to face down Hakumen represents a grand culmination of destiny.
 * Batman Gambit - Hakumen no Mono tried this with Kirio and the Elzaar Scythe - a plot spanning years to undermine support for the Beast Spear and ultimately destroy it by creating a wielder and a weapon actually very dangerous to itself.
 * Did the Beast Spear do this even as it  Seeing as the spear can almost always return to its wielder's side,.
 * Probably. MAJOR SPOILER.
 * Big Bad - As the series progresses, hints are dropped about Hakumen no Mono (White Face), a giant dragonlike nine-tailed fox whose hobby is destroying both humans and other bakemono. The mere idea of it awakening again is equated to the end of Japan as we know it, followed by whatever civilization it decides to destroy next, and for good reason.
 * Call Back - The 'lost memories' arc is full of these as various characters recall past scenes that are missing... Someone... Who?... Which is shown by recycling panels from earlier chapters but which the someone's face blotted out.
 * Chekhov's Gun - The Beast Spear is inextricably linked to White Face and even 's origin.
 * Call Back / Chekhov's Gunman - Just about every single character and even enemies the heroes meet shows up to . Justified by the fact that one of the key roles of the protagonists is to rally disparate individuals and groups to work together.
 * The Chessmaster - Hakumen is undoubtedly this, having multiple insidious and long-running plans to weaken opposition to its eventual rise. Add to the fact that it can't move making chess-piece manipulation its only recourse...
 * The Beast Spear itself qualifies somewhat...
 * Which also justifies why Ushio (chosen wielder of the spear) and Tora fight so well together.
 * Clothing Damage - Hinowa has her clothes ripped almost every time she appears. Being hardcore, she doesn't seem to care if she's titillatingly exposed.
 * Happens a lot to Ushio and some opponents, simply due to the course of battle.
 * Combo-Platter Powers - Tora. His list of powers consists of: Super Strength, Flight, Invisibility, Limited Intangibility (phases through mundane object - does not work on other demons, magical weapons, or modern-day substances he isn't familiar of such as concrete), Firebreathing, Lightning Summoning, and Magic Hair / Prehensile Hair mentioned below.
 * Justified in that he is an ancient and experienced Youkai and probably developed them over a course of years.
 * Justified, but as later revealed (see Single Specimen Species below), for a different reason.
 * Cool Sword / Heroes Prefer Swords - Averted throughout the series, beginning with Ushio using a spear, to the monks using staves and unusual weapons, to Kirio using the Elzaar Scythe, to Hyou using knives, to the kamaitachi using their body sickles. In fact, there are only a handful of notable sword users throughout the story (e.g. an agent of Hakumen with a katana, and Shinno with a western-looking two-edged sword).
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass - After centuries buried underground, Tora is naively intrigued and often befuddled by the advances of human technology and is drawn SD style. He gets better.
 * Ushio's dad seems like an annoying, cranky, good-for-nothing old geezer. He also leads a double-life as a Japan-traveling, bakemon-killing badass monk who is respected and held in awe by the juniors of the sect and who was able to keep it a secret from his son to protect Ushio the entire time.
 * Despair Event Horizon - MAJOR SPOILER! Happens to Ushio
 * And for everyone remaining, the youkai and humans as their last best hopes (not even counting Ushio) are casually swatted aside... See also Near Villain Victory below.
 * The Determinator - After losing so many lives that he just failed to save, Ushio refuses to let anyone else close to him die on his watch... Especially not the love of his life.
 * The Dragon - Tora's 'evil twin' (and that's saying something when Tora is a human-eating, savage bakemono!) Guren is basically this to Hakumen (who is ironically quite a literal dragon itself)
 * Elite Mooks - Guren's Kokuen spawn are more than a match for even the best fighters among the entire East-West alliance of Japan's bakemono... And he can create endless numbers of them! Says a lot about how elite Guren himself is.
 * And after Ushio and Tora easily kick their butts, the next batch are spawned with a massive Level in Badass.
 * Emotion Eater - Hakumen literally feeds off fear of it from human and bakemono alike. Furthermore,
 * Enemy Mine - Ushio often whacks Tora with the Beast Spear to keep him in line, and Tora always makes the excuse that no bakemono but him is allowed to eat Ushio, but as the story progresses the two become fast friends and watch each other's back - even while still giving the same excuses as ever.
 * Everyone Can See It - During a tearjerker scene, Mayuko calls out Tora on his excuse that he always sticks by Ushio for purely selfish reasons. Mayuko: You promised to eat me. Tora: Right after Ushio, you'll be my dessert. Mayuko: Then, Tora... You're never going to eat me huh?
 * Evil Eye - Perhaps Hakumen's most defining feature. Readers can tell when a human female character is actually a split-off part of Hakumen acting as its agent by those unmistakable eyes.
 * Expy - Tora here sure looks a lot like Raizen...or perhaps vice versa?
 * Fan Service - Every couple of story arcs, one of the many females Ushio meets will be either undressed, de-clothed or undressing herself (for spiritual purposes of course).
 * Not to mention various female-form bakemon who appear stark naked. YMMV.
 * Freudian Excuse - Just about every opponent Ushio and Tora meet has one of these.
 * Gonk - As common to Kazuhiro Fujita's style. More of an intensification of expression, although some of the worse youkai are truly gross.
 * Grandfather Paradox - Later in the plot, time travel is invoked. The particular type used doesn't seem to have any qualms about present-day characters influencing past events which will directly cause the events that lead to the present-day characters time traveling in the first place. Actually just one single, much-entangled case in point (MAJOR SPOILER):  are all interlinked to the point it becomes unclear what the original, pre-time travel timeline could possibly have been!
 * Grievous Harm With a Body - Tora with Ushio, here.
 * Heroic Sacrifice - The series is full of these, perhaps none as many in a row (well, attempted anyway) as when.
 * Hope Springs Eternal - Against a seemingly invincible and impossibly powerful Hakumen, Ushio and Tora awaken The Power of Hope in human and bakemono alike. Literally -
 * Idiot Ball - It occurs only to a few priests that maybe Ushio is The Chosen One (at least to the spear...).
 * Justified, in that they've been training for a lifetime in martial arts and spiritual power - especially the Chosen Four who are supposed to wield the Beast Spear when it appears - and then this kiddo from the city with NO kungfu skills and ZERO spiritual training shows up with it? Even Ushio temporarily surrendered the spear to Hinowa when she pointed this out!
 * Improbable Weapon User - Hinowa uses combs to focus her energy.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy - Mayuko is willing to let Asako have Ushio. Tora even calls her out on it at one point.
 * This is doubly so because Mayuko loves both Ushio AND Asako. She even admits it directly to Asako
 * Which is immediately followed by Asako giving him up to Mayuko when she.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold - Tor's slowly becoming one, much to his dismay.
 * Love Triangle - Ushio, Asako, and Mayuko. Asako most likely is in love with Ushio, but is Tsundere as hell. Mayuko is in love with Ushio, but seems bent on not ruining it for Asako (though there are some hints that she wouldn't be adverse to sharing him. Ushio...is most likely completely in the dark about either of them.
 * Magic Hair - Tora's can be used as prehensile limbs (and can catch bullets mid-flight), blades, replacement limbs for running, and even break off and shapeshift (e.g. Mayuko or Asako's form) complete with homing function!
 * At least once every new arc, Tora will be drawn taking up almost of full page, with his exquisite mane floating about him.
 * Near Villain Victory - Ironically happens towards the end, since Hakumen is incapacitated until the climax. Everyone has drastically underestimated Hakumen's power - even considering their massive trepidation of it! - and in quick succession, and Hakumen is only just getting started.
 * Nightmare Face: Guren likes to watch.
 * Noble Demon: Tora likes to emphasize that he is a mean monster who is only hanging out with Ushio to eat Ushio. He is not fooling anyone.
 * Off-Model: Tora, all the time. Probably intentional, since he's an bakemono.
 * Notably, his ears disappeared... or at least are hidden now by his hair, as they were not before.
 * Our Monsters Are Weird - And how!
 * Power At a Price - The Beast Spear bestows great strength and power, but at the cost of the user's soul... Potentially turning him into a bakemono as well.
 * The spear itself was made at the cost of two human lives - one for the blade, and one for the shaft.
 * Powered By a Forsaken Child - The Beast Spear might count.
 * Power Makes Your Hair Grow
 * Prehensile Hair - Tora's can be used to grapple and even catch bullets mid-flight. Plus, he's often drawn with hair floating around looking totally Awesome. Plenty other bakemono use hair as limbs (since they're often lacking actual limbs) and slashing weapons.
 * Razor Wind - The Kamaitachi Siblings
 * Single Specimen Species - Seemingly played straight but then averted with, who is shown to be merely the Monster Progenitor of a whole slew of bakemono with similar shape and powers, all spawned by.
 * The Stoic - Hyou turned from loving father to merciless hunter of the supernatural because a bakemono killed his wife and daughter. How does he respond when a shapeshifting bakemono reads his heart and takes the form of his wife and daughter? He picks up his daughter tenderly and then
 * Takahashi Couple - Ushio and Asako have only memories of fighting ever since childhood, except for one.
 * Taking You With Me / Good Thing You Can Heal - During the finale of the Lost Gedou storyline,
 * The Power of Hate - A running theme later in the storyline. Spoilers abound!
 * Tsundere - Tora is a male example.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl - Asako and Mayuko
 * Tragic Villain - Would you believe that Hakumen no Mono, of all compassionless civilization-destroying omnicidal Complete Monsters, has a tragic backstory? It is revealed almost at the last that  Still doesn't excuse its total jerk attitude.
 * Tuck and Cover - Tora does this for Omamori.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds - The title characters are working their way to this.
 * Was Once a Man - Massive spoiler that has already been spoiled at The Chessmaster above.
 * Weirdness Censor - How the vast majority of Japan manages to forget personally witnessing or watching on TV giant, murderous bakemono battling with a spear-wielding boy and his lightning-spewing flying tiger sidekick.
 * Windows of the Soul - Literally with wielders of the Beast Spear. Their soul is gradually consumed until it is drained completely, and the mark preceding final transformation into  is the eyes and pupils 'shattering' to become pupil-less.
 * Youkai - Of many varieties, including a European-style vampire.
 * Youkai - Of many varieties, including a European-style vampire.