Rin-ne Volume 10 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Her childhood encounter with the afterlife meant that Sakura Mamiya could suddenly see ghosts.  Now a teenager, Sakura wishes the ghosts would leave her alone.  However, Rinne Rokudo, a sort of shinigami (god of death), comes into her life and draws her deeper into the amazing and sometimes perilous boundary between the living and the dead.

As Rin-ne, Vol. 10 opens, the dispute between Ageha, a shinigami in love with Rinne, and her black cat, Oboro, continues.  It threatens to drag everyone into tedium or worse, get the bosses of the afterlife involved.   Then, Rinne, Sakura, and Rokumon (Rinne’s black cat assistant) try to help a ghost trapped on a bus, but the reasons the spirit of a teen boy is there are more complicated than they seemed at first.

Kain, a shinigami with a grudge against Rinne’s father, and Suzu (Kain’s black cat), stir up a pot of hot mess with Rinne and Rokumon – twice!  Then, Sakura calls in Rinne and Rokumon when she learns that a poltergeist is tearing apart a friend’s apartment.

THE LOWDOWN:  A new volume of the Rin-ne manga, and I’m still not sure why I like this series.  Yes, I’ve said that before in other reviews.  Its mix of creepy and sweet is so odd that I can’t define it.  I’m still surprised that it carries a rating of “T+” for “Older Teens.”  This is practically a children’s comic book.  Does it have this rating because of the subject matter?  Ratings, schmatings:  creator Rumiko Takahashi bewitches all ages with this Rin-ne thing.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers who love to travel to the worlds that Rumiko Takahashi creates will make an appointment for Shonen Sunday’s Rin-ne.