The show centered on a young man, Ushio, in modern day Japan who stumbles across a family secret-they have a demon, Tora, trapped in their basement. The demon has been there for 500 years, when an ancestor trapped him using a magic spear. After a series of mishaps, Tora is freed to help with a problem related to other demons. It seems as though awakening him causes him to act like a demon magnet and Ushio is unsure what to do when his dad goes on vacation. The series details the interaction between the two, who don't get along very well but end up working together nonetheless.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It lacked the complexities that more recent series have-in terms of style, plot, technical matters, and even extras- but it made up for that with good old fashioned humor. Sure, it was a guilty pleasure but the show really was better than a great many shows that've gone on to full fledged season length releases.

It didn't make me think and it wasn't a release that I could explain the appeal it had for me in any intellectual way but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't easily worth a Rental. If you're wanting some fun to let your brain relax, check this one out. Not bad at all.

Picture: The picture was presented in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture looked pretty good for an older title with only a few scratches and print flaws. The dvd transfer seemed to minimize whatever problems were present as well.

Sound: The sound was presented with a choice of either Dolby Digital English or Japanese with English subtitles. The musical score seemed appropriate and the vocals well acted on the English track (as well as the Japanese track which I only spot checked). There has been reported an audio flaw near the end of the last episode but otherwise it wasn't bad at all.

Extras: On disc one there was some bloopers of the dubbed track (about 6 minutes worth) and some trailers. Not much but on disc two there was a really funny set of extra shorts called Comically Deformed Theatre that ran for over half an hour. It was a spoof on the series which had me laughing out loud more than once.

Final Thoughts: I'd almost be willing to recommend this one if it had more extras or a lower price. While you do get a lot of episodes, this is an older series that's made it's money back several times over. On top of that, it didn't have the advertised Japanese artwork which is kind of bothersome. Not great but still plenty of fun in a limited sort of way.