Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volumes 21, 24 & 26by Rumiko Takahashi
Quick recap: Rinne Rokudo is a shinigami, a psychopomp who helps lost spirits find their way to the afterlife. He’s part-human, and must use expensive tools to make up for his weak powers. Between these expenses and debts saddled on Rinne by his deadbeat father Sabato, the boy lives in perpetual poverty. In high school, Rinne became friends with Sakura Mamiya, who can see spirits because of a childhood incident, but is otherwise normal. Sakura helps Rinne with his cases, and is usually the voice of reason among the wacky cast!
I’m doing a bit of catch-up with scattered volumes I was able to find at the library.
Volume 24: It’s summer, and Sakura is with her human friends at the seaside. They hear of a tunnel inhabited by a giant octopus spirit, and of course Sakura’s friends have to see this spooky place. And as soon as it turns out to be real, the friends run away, leaving Sakura to team up with Rinne and Jumonji (an exorcist who has a crush on Sakura) to lay the spirit to rest.
Next up is a special 200th chapter, as the gang investigates a haunted beach house. They’re joined by Ageha (a spoiled rich girl who has a thing for Rinne), Matsugo (Rinne’s childhood acquaintance who insists they’re friends and might be gay or just creepy) and Anju (Matsugo’s classmate, a snobby girl who has a thing for Matsugo), as well as the black cat familiars. The expedition turns into more of a summer beach party, which ends in disaster.
After several stand-alone chapters, we are introduced to “the shopping mall lady”, a mysterious fortuneteller with a crystal ball. The crystal ball is a shinigami heirloom, and Rinne decides he should get it back from the woman. This proves more difficult than anticipated, since the ball allows her to see the future–sometimes.
The woman turns out to be Hitomi Annette Anematsuri, who is descended from French witches on the maternal side. Centuries ago, Annette’s ancestor made a deal with a shinigami, feeding it in exchange for the crystal ball, which the ancestor used to help people. And now she’s a teacher at Rinne and Sakura’s high school!
A handful of chapters revolve around the new teacher’s powers (limited) and personality (lazy and stingy.) The volume finishes up with the tale of a haunted scarecrow that’s genuinely scary for a bit, especially when it pulls out a sickle.
Volume 24: We open with a story about Masato, the narrow-minded devil, cursing Annette’s crystal ball so that any prediction made will lead to disaster. We also learn that while good witches contract with shinigami to gain items to help others, evil witches contract with devils to heap curses upon their enemies.
As it happens, Annette has a way to break the curse at home…somewhere. Too bad she’s forgetful and untidy, which leads to a search in the large house, complicated by Masato also being trapped inside the building and not wanting the curse removed.
The next big storyline is the Oihagizuki Saga. A powerful black fox spirit with a high bounty is on the loose, and the best way to stop it is the legendary scythe, Oihagizuki, which only works for its chosen wielder. Due to an attempt to steal the weapon by Sabato, Oihagizuki accidentally bonds with Sakura, and the only way she can get released is by defeating the black fox spirit herself!
But that won’t be easy, as both Sabato and the unlucky damashigami (deceiver spirit) Renge interfere in the hunt for their own reasons.
The final story in the volume involves an elevator that doesn’t stop on the non-existent ninth floor, but if you push the button for it, there are glimpses of something terrifying. Yes, there’s a ghost involved.
Volume 26: It’s late summer again (but because this is a gag manga none of the characters are any older.) Rokudo and company are at a heavily haunted campsite for a working holiday. One particular spirit is troublesome because it inhabits a clay doll and likes to play pranks. It turns out that child shinigami Shoma accidentally created this menace.
Then it’s time for special chapter 250! Rokudo and Sakura go to a traditional ghost story telling event. By custom, one hundred candles are lit, and as each story is told, one candle is extinguished. If all the candles are snuffed out in the correct way, legend has it that a real ghost will appear.
The twist is that at this ceremony, it’s ghosts who tell scary stories to other ghosts. Once they tell their stories and other ghosts sympathize, they can move on. Mind you, most of the endings are only kind of scary. Like the cabdriver who picked up a pale woman on a rainy night, but when he got to the destination, she was no longer in the back seat. She’d passed out drunk on the taxi floor, and the seat was covered in vomit!
Content warning: A couple of the stories rely on transphobia for shock value.
The remaining stories are one-shots, including a silly tale in which Masato is blessed by an angel to have all his wicked deeds turn out to the good of the intended target, and one where we find out the actual name of Sabato’s sidekick who up to now as only referred to as “Beautiful Secretary.” Be prepared for a shock!
The final story in the volume has Annette being stalked by a disembodied head. It turns out she’s kind of responsible for this, having sold her grandmother’s witch outfit at a yard sale. Grand-mère is still alive and did not give permission for her possessions to be sold. We also learn that Annette cannot read or speak French, as she never bothered to pursue that part of her heritage.
The most important volume here for those who want to just hit the highlights is #21, with its introduction of a new major character. The others have fun stories, but can be skipped as the overall plot does not progress.
Recommended to fans of comedic fantasy.
