Took in the West

Before he got kicked out of the divine realm, Tuke served as a spirit guardian — and ended up protecting humanity for centuries alongside eight other guardians. Not a bad gig, until the thing they sealed away — the River God's Son — breaks free and rips the souls out of seven of Tuke's companions. Now the guy Tuke fought to imprison is using his own friends as weapons, and the endgame is turning the entire mortal world into purgatory. This ONA from studio bushes leans hard into dark supernatural territory. The first couple episodes establish Tuke's world and his decision to march straight into enemy territory alone, which sets a tone that's less hopeful quest and more desperate last stand. The animation blends traditional and digital styles in a way that gives everything a slightly otherworldly texture, and the power system is rooted in spiritual and elemental forces that actually feel thought through rather than pulled from thin air. The soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting too — atmospheric and eerie in the quiet moments, intense when things escalate. If you liked the ancient, mythic weight of Mononoke Hime or the god-versus-god drama of Noragami, this scratches a similar itch. There's also a Mushishi-like reverence for the spirit world here, though Tuke's story is far more action-packed. The anthropomorphic character designs add a layer of visual identity that keeps it from blending in with every other fantasy anime out there.