The series’ first two-parter finally makes an appearance, and it’s everything it needed to be.

Ushio and Tora are finally rested up and leave Raishin and Kagari to continue their trip to Asahikawa.

…by bus, apparently.

Youkai start attacking the bus, forcing Ushio to escape and run through a forest to evade the legions of pissed off Youkai that want to kill him.  He gets separated from Tora and bumps into a friendly Kappa who tells him the story of Hakumen no Mono, a Dai-Youkai that is the enemy of all the Youkai and humans in Japan.  He also says the Youkai have a long-standing grudge against Ushio’s mother, but they’re interrupted before he can get to that part.  Fortunately, Hitotsuki, another Youkai and former ally of Tora’s, fills in some of the blanks.  Ushio’s mother is the latest in a line of maidens who protect Hakumen no Mono from attack.

The Youkai also try to recruit Raishin and Kagari to their cause, but the siblings owe Ushio and Tora and start slicing Youkai up.

Meanwhile, we find out everyone on the bus except the driver survived the attack, but the crash holds up traffic, and we see Saya and the Zashikiwarashi again, which is nice.

The episode ends with Ushio saving an old man in the forest and taking him to a village while Tora stays behind as Hitotsuki goes after Ushio… but we know full well he isn’t going to just let him do what he wants.

In the next episode, Ushio has a short-lived break before having to run off again.

He meets up with Raishin and Kagari again, and the three hold a final stand against the Touno Youkai.

The group has problems with Hitotsuki, however.  Luckily, Tora comes in to save the day.

Our heroes escape, only to get lost again in a mysterious mansion  hidden in the fog.  Ushio gets separated and meets with the elder of the Touno Youkai, who explains the situation regarding Ushio’s mother.  She is Hizaki Sumako, the third of the tasked women who protect Hakumen no Mono.  The Elder (who was also the old man Ushio saved) decides to trust Ushio and promises his Youkai will not attack him so long as he agrees to meet with his mother and ask why she’s been protecting Hakumen no Mono.

It seems everything is set, but Hitotsuki still wants to take out his frustrations on Ushio.  Tora gets in the way, and a duel is declared.  If Hitotsuki wins, he gets to kill Ushio, but if Tora wins, Hitotsuki has to suck it up and be a man.  Naturally, Tora wins.

The battle was pretty great, and the end comes with Tora telling Hitotsuki that his name is no longer Nagatobimaru… it’s TORA.  That’s just great character development right there.

And so Ushio and Tora leave the mansion, Mayoiga, in peace… for now.

Overall a great two-parter to finish off the first section of the anime, though the second part did cover a lot of ground that was already covered in the first part, so that was a bit of a shame considering episode economy.

The battles are flashy and intense, but also really short.  That’s been pretty much the case for nearly every battle in Ushio and Tora, and that’s just the way it’s going to be for a long while.  I do wish they went on a bit longer, but hey… we’ve only got 39 episodes.