If you are a fan of classical shonen anime, then you might have heard of Ushio to Tora, or simply just Ushio and Tora anime. It is a mythological shounen anime that was adapted from a Japanese manga of the same name written and illustrated by Kazuhiro Fujita. The manga was first published in January 1990 and ran till October 1999 in the famous Shogakukan’s shōnen manga magazine, Weekly Shōnen Sunday. It is a blend of action, adventure, comedy, and supernatural elements, and both readers and critics praised it highly enough for it to win several prizes at the time of publication. In 1992, it won the 37th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shonen category, and in 1997, it won the Seiun Award for Best Comic. Here’s everything we know about Ushio and Tora Season 3 Release Date.
Two years later, when the publication started, it received an 11-episode-long OVA (Original Video Animation – which is not directly adapted from the manga but is scripted separately), produced by Toho and animated by Studio Pastel, which ran from September 1992 to October 1993. Following its popularity of it, studios Mappa, famous for anime like Death Note and Attack on Titan, and Studio VOLN, known for the anime movie I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, picked up the manga to adapt it into a weekly running anime almost 20 years later in 2015. The anime was divided into two seasons, with thirty-nine episodes in total, and was directed by Satoshi Nishimura.
The show, just like its manga, was very well perceived by the anime fans thanks to the trend of remaking old shows with more improved versions and animation and faithful adaptation of the manga. The show’s plot is fierce, strong, and ethereal; it is essentially a supernatural combat show but pretty straightforward. Even though the series is supposed to be a serious combat show with a darkened theme, it still finds time to give us comedy shots here and there, giving it a perfect balance of bright and dark sides.
If you watched the series lately or recently and are wondering when and where the new season – season 3 of the anime is coming out, along with other details about it, then keep reading. We are going to cover all the aspects in the rest of the article.
Ushio and Tora Season 3 Release Date
The good news for fans of Ushio and Tora is that the series has not been canceled up to this date by the creators and producers. Bad news, it also has not been renewed by them and there are more chances of it not returning back.
The first two seasons of the show covered almost all of the manga stories and concluded them at the end of season 2, skipping a lot of minor and insignificant scenes and details. The original manga has three hundred plus chapters distributed in thirty-three tankobon volumes. The first season consisted of a total of 26 episodes and was released on July 3, 2015, and ran till December 25, 2015. It received a lot of love because of its improved animation and characters that it was immediately renewed for the second season, which came out on April 1, 2016, and ran till June 24, 2016, with a total of 13 episodes. Hence, the director of the anime wrapped the story up in 39 episodes, leaving very little probability for a new season.
The series’ first season had a total score of 7.58 out of 10 scored by 94,335 users and the second season had a score of 7.91 by 61,743 users as of this writing on MyAnimeList, which is significant enough for its director to pick it up for the next season, but if, according to them, the series is wrapped, this might be a difficult decision to make.
However, other than the three hundred plus chapters of the manga which relate to the direct story, there were a few gaiden stories (meaning the extra side stories that are not directly related to the manga but run parallelly) released separately by the mangaka, so there might be chances of them getting adapted in the new season. Since anything can happen at any time in the anime industry if the show receives enough fan support, there is no harm in holding out hope for a new season while also understanding that it has not been completely canceled.
| Name of the Show | Ushio and Tora |
|---|---|
| Season Number | Season 3 |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, Comedy |
| Ushio and Tora Season 1 Release Date | 3 July 2015 |
| Ushio and Tora Season 3 Release Date | Not Announced Yet |
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Ushio and Tora Season 1 and 2 Story
In season one of the show, we met our main protagonist, Ushio Aotsuki, a 16-year-old boy who is the son of a temple shaman and a lady priestess. Ushio, unlike his parents, who believe in and are afraid of “yokais,” does not share their beliefs, but he is destined to use the Beast Spear and defeat the super yokai Hakumen no Mono. Then, one day, while helping his father with cleaning the temple, Ushio ends up in front of a secret basement and opens it out of curiosity, not knowing what lies ahead.
In the basement lies a 500 years old Yokai named Tora, who was sealed with the help of Beast Spear by his samurai ancestor while fighting it. The Beast Spear grants its wielder strength, speed, and endurance in exchange for his soul. Initially refusing to set him free from the spear, Ushio later agreed to free him with the condition that he would be his keeper and wouldn’t allow him to eat any humans after knowing that there was going to be a very huge attack by yokai.
In the first few episodes, we see that after freeing the all-powerful yokai, Tora, Ushio’s life can no longer be the same as youkai, demons, and spirits invade his space, and he must fight them in order to protect the temple and himself with the help of Tora, who is at times unwilling to help him. However, as the plot develops, we witness how their peculiar bond becomes one of greater loyalty, attachment, and even respect.
As the story approaches its final arc, Ushio meets the final villain of the story, who is overpowered and will slaughter everything that comes his way. Ushio, with the help of Tora and a special snowflake protagonist with his super secret powerful weapon, defeats it, and we see a happy ending.
Ushio and Tora Season 3 Story
Though there are very few chances for Ushio and Tora to return for the third season, there is no harm in predicting what might happen in the new season if it comes out. As mentioned, the first two seasons saw our protagonists, Ushio and Tora, getting closer to each other and fighting monsters on a daily basis to protect everyone around them, and at the end, annihilating the final villain, concluding the story.
The foundation of the new season may be the Gaiden stories that were written independently and published later. The mangaka of the series wrote the two remaining chapters for Weekly Shonen Sunday on December 26 and January 9, 2012, with the intention of raising money for the regions devastated by the March 2011 earthquake. These two chapters may also be adapted. The stories explore other elements of the story and the past of Tora 500 years ago when he got trapped in the basement by Beast Spear and other important characters.
Though nothing is confirmed, anything might happen in the new season.
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Ushio and Tora Season 3 Characters
The exact cast of the new season is not known at the moment, but the old voice actors with their old characters might appear in it. They include Tora, the yokai which Ushio freed, voiced by Koyama Rikiya; Aotsuki Ushio, the male protagonist of the story destined to wield the Beast Spear, voiced by Hatanaka Tasuku; Nakamura Asako, the love interest of Ushio, voiced by Komatsu Mikako; and Inoue Mayuko, the powerful shaman best friend of Ushio who has feelings for him, voiced by Yasuno Kiyono.
Other supporting characters that might also return for the new season include Hyou voiced by Namikawa, Daisuke, Takatori Saya voiced by Nanri Yuuka; Akiba Nagare voiced by Hosoya Yoshimasa; Izuna voiced by Nagasawa Nao, Juurou voiced by Kaji Yuuki.
Ushio and Tora Season 3 Trailer
There has been no news of the continuation of the show since the last episode of season 2 aired back in 2016 and, because of that, we don’t have any trailer available for it. If you want to watch the action-packed trailer of the first two seasons, then find them on Netflix’s or Mappa’s official YouTube channel or on Twitter.
Where to Watch Ushio and Tora Season 3 Online?
If you want to watch the first two seasons of Ushio and Tora, they are available on Netflix and selectively available in some regions on HIDIVE. It is also available on Crunchyroll in North America. If Ushio and Tora Season 3 comes out, it is expected to be made available on Netflix itself, unless some other streaming platform also shows interest in it.
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