It was a long wait to continue the story of Aoi Tsubaki and her quiet adventures in the Hidden Realm in anime form. (Viz has been releasing the manga right along, although as of this writing the novels remain unlicensed.) But now at last we get to learn what happened to Aoi after her sojourn at Oriyo-ya and with her relationship with the oni who would be her husband, Tenjin-ya's Master Innkeeper…although if you have high hopes on that latter front, it might be best to temper them. While the content of this season is a lovely balance of ayakashi lore, peril, and cozy cooking, it doesn't come to anything remotely close to a satisfying conclusion at the end of episode twelve.

That feels like a blow, given viewers already had to wait so long for this season to materialize. That feeling is compounded by the fact that some real progress is made between Aoi and Master Innkeeper in the first few episodes – they've both grown more comfortable with each other to the point where it really feels like their relationship has a chance. He's much less of the man who pronounced Aoi's fate to be his bride and more like someone who wants to marry her because he genuinely loves her. Similarly, Aoi's attitude has softened towards him as she's gotten to know him. Marrying him no longer feels like something she's being forced into by men who would control her life, but something she might want to do because she cares for him. It's very sweet…and then all of a sudden, it's gone.

Although this series is based on strictly Japanese lore, it feels like a comparison with the folktale classified as ATU425a, “The Animal as Bridegroom,” more specifically with the motif H1385.4, “The Quest for the Vanished Husband.” Extant all over the world, this tale type and motif (best known as the Norwegian fairy tale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”) follows a woman as she sets out to find her missing husband, whom she first met in a nonhuman form. This is precisely the trajectory Aoi follows: the Master Innkeeper is an oni with the animalistic feature of horns, he is spirited away from her, and she sets out to recover him. She's even accompanied by other nonhuman companions, in this case Ginji, Ranmaru, and Chibi, and she meets up with other helpers along the way in the form of Byakuya, Kasuga, and Oryo. Whether intentional or not, framing this season as ATU245a gives Aoi a framework to follow to successfully get her husband back. As of episode twelve, she's doing just that, and the fact that she ends up in the Northern Land of the Hidden Realm only strengthens the links to stories like “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” and Hans Christian Andersen's “The Snow Queen,” both of which feature intrepid heroines venturing northwards to find their lost loves.

Having this framework also makes the story beats hit a bit harder. Aoi's cooking skills are her magic power, and she uses them to solve problems she encounters along the way. When she finds food that the young prince of the Hidden Realm can (and will) eat, she's not just feeding a hungry child; she's creating an ally. When she comes up with signature local dishes for Kasuga's new husband, Kiyo, leader of the Northern Land, she's securing his aid. And when she helps the snow fairies feed their god, she likewise is gaining the loyalty of a group that can help her, both in the moment and further down the line. While it may seem a bit antifeminist that Aoi's “magic” is something so associated with female domesticity, the truth of the matter is that in a world where she's otherwise at a magical disadvantage, her everyday abilities are deemed as powerful. Others can cook, but they can't cook like her. Her food was one reason why she was allowed to become the uncontested betrothed of the Master Innkeeper, and her use of it to find him and save him is simply building on that. And when you think about it, the ability to cook good food is the ability to keep people alive and happy.

Once Raiju appears on the scene, proclaiming himself the new master innkeeper of Tenjin-ya and stating that the previous holder of that title has been imprisoned, the series takes on its quest narrative flow. Raiju is painted as almost cartoonishly evil, but the glee he takes in forcing ayakashi to reveal their true forms (as opposed to the humanoid ones they typically adopt) ensures that he's utterly hateful. The mirror he uses to force masks from ayakashi clearly causes them pain, as we see when he uses it on Byakuya, a hakutaku, because it is imposing a physical change. It's a form of assault, and one Aoi is only safe from because, as a human, she has no other shape to take. Raiju's use of it shows the depths of his depravity and thereby calls into question the judgment of the ruler who sits quietly by and lets him do it. If Aoi is to get her Master Innkeeper back, she's going to have to go up against a monster and a man who has no problem keeping company with monsters.

As with the first season, the animation has its issues. There's a lot of stiff movement and awkwardly off-model moments, although the art makes a very good attempt to cover that up, particularly with the Ainu-inspired Northern Land outfits and ayakashi. (And Chibi, of course, remains adorable.) Both sub and dub are good, although it's a pity we don't get to hear much of Katsuyuki Konishi and Christopher Wehkamp as the Master Innkeeper. The biggest issue here is really the non-ending. As of this writing, there has been no word of a third season, which could understandably dampen enthusiasm for this one. But it's still worth watching – even if you don't care about the folkloric elements, any time spent in the Hidden Realm is a treat.