Rin-ne Graphic Novel Volume 32 cover image

After a mysterious encounter with the afterlife, Sakura Mamiya gained the ability to see ghosts.  Now in high school, Sakura wishes the ghosts would leave her alone.  Then, she meets Rinne Rokudo, who is a shinigami (god of death)... sort of, and her life is drawn deeper into the amazing and sometimes perilous boundary between the living and the dead.

Rin-ne, Vol. 32 (Chapters 309 to 318) opens with Rinne and Sakura taking on cases involving spectral hand prints on windows, cursed “hayama” (Japanese ceremonial arrows), and ghostly ceremonial lion from a Chinese New Year's Day celebration.  They also participate in a Christmas exorcism.

However, the most important story arc concerns Rinne's mother, Otome Rokudo, a once hugely accomplished shinigami.  Long ago, when Rinne was a small child, Otome mysteriously disappeared and has not been seen since.  Rumors suggest that she left after her lazy husband, Sabato Rokudo (Rinne's father), sold her shinigami scythe.  And apparently, part of the mystery of Otome Rokudo involves, Ichigo, a girl in the first grade who can see ghosts.

THE LOWDOWN:  The Rin-ne manga is a sparkling supernatural comedy, mystery, and action-adventure.  Most of the stories are single-chapter affairs, and creator Rumiko Takahashi uses a revolving cast of recurring characters and occasional new characters to drive her tales.

Rin-ne Graphic Novel Volume 32 opens with the usual one-off tales of haunted items and restless ghosts that cannot depart until they resolve some lingering issue.  However, Vol. 32 ends up being a volume that stands-out from recent entries in the series because Takahashi delves into the weighty questions surrounding the disappearance of Rinne's mother.

That story arc runs over five chapters, and is by turns funny, ridiculous, imaginative, and poignant.  The tale of Otome Rokudo defines the eclectic nature and inventiveness of Rumiko Takahashi's comics.  Christine Dashiell's translation conveys the subtle emotions in Takahashi's stories, and maintains the overall peculiarity of her narratives.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Readers who love Rumiko Takahashi’s manga will want the Shonen Sunday title, Rin-ne.

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8 out of 10