Ushio and Tora (manga)

Ushio and Tora (うしおととら, Ushio to Tora) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Kazuhiro Fujita.

Plot
Ushio and Tora centers around the travels and battles of Ushio Aotsuki, who is constantly being stalked and aided by a gigantic, supernatural and sometimes invisible tiger-like monster.

Ushio's family maintains a temple in Japan, where 500 years ago, his samurai ancestor battled that same monster to a standstill, and eventually trapped him against a rock using a cursed spear called the "Beast Spear", which grants strength, speed, and endurance to the wielder in exchange to his soul. Ushio accidentally unsealed the cave Tora was trapped in.

Initially, Ushio refuses to remove the spear pinning Tora (Japanese for tiger) down (as Tora made the strategic blunder of mentioning that the first thing he would do upon being freed would be to devour Ushio), but Tora's unsealed presence attracts various monsters to the temple. Ushio is forced to free Tora, who would like to eat Ushio, but dares not since Ushio keeps the spear close by. The series focuses on their relationship, interspersed with battles against mythological foes, and with Tora's attempts to grapple with modern life. During the regular battles, Ushio slowly begins to notice that as much as Tora claims to be irredeemable, the demon takes to fighting evil and defending the innocent with more enthusasim than he cares to admit.

History
The manga began serialization in issue 1990-06 of Weekly Shonen Sunday. It ended in issue 1996-45 of of same magazine. It spanned 313 chapters, which were combined in 33 volumes. It also got a Gaiden volume containing 6 side stories. In 2013 in Issue 04-05 and 06, Ushio and Tora was adapted in 2 more chapters for support of 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake Relief Effort Project and later included along with other previously popular series from Sunday in a book named 3.11 o Wasurenai Tame ni - Heroes Comeback (The Heroes' Comeback - To Make Sure 3/11 is Not Forgotten).

In 2000, the manga was recollected into 18 wideban volumes. And in 2004, the manga was also recollected into 19 bunko volumes. In 2015, the manga was again recollected into kanzeban editions containing the original color pages.

The manga received the 37th Shogakukan Manga Award for best shonen in 1991. It also received the 28th Seiun Award for best comic in 1997. The manga also took 20th place in 2006s Japanese Media Arts Top 100, a campaign to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Japanese Cultural Bureau's Media Art Festival, were anyone could vote on 4 categories: art, entertainment, animation, and manga.

It was adapted into three OVA series: one with six episodes released from September 11, 1992 to February 1, 1993; one with four episodes released from June 11, 1993 to August 1, 1993; and one single episode OVA released on October 1, 1993. The anime was released in the United States by ADV Films.

A new television anime series based on the manga, was co-produced by MAPPA and Studio VOLN and started on July 3, 2015.