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 Rin-ne Volume 24 cover image |
Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
Sakura Mamiya had a mysterious encounter with the afterlife when she was a child. This caused her to gain the ability to see ghosts. Now in high school, Sakura wishes the ghosts would leave her alone. Then, she meets Rinne Rokudo, who is sort of a shinigami (god of death), and her life is drawn deeper into the amazing and sometimes perilous boundary between the living and the dead.
As Rin-ne, Vol. 24 (Chapters 229 to 238) opens, Annette Hitomi Anematsuri a.k.a. the “Shopping Mall Lady” is now Rinne and Sakura's homeroom teacher. She is getting some strange messages from her fortune-telling peeking ball, and the cause may be a familiar demon.
Also, something ominous is keeping young people from enjoying a prime cherry blossom viewing spot. A magical bamboo sprout causes trouble, and a locker at a soccer facility hides a dirty secret. Plus, Rinne's father, Sabato, and his grandmother, Tamako, return in the tale of a peculiar shinigami scythe and a black fox spirit with a huge bounty on its head.
THE LOWDOWN: The Rin-ne manga continues to delight with its mostly single-chapter, situation comedy stories. Yes, creator Rumiko Takahashi also continues to introduce new characters, the kind of eccentric players that have made this series a delightful supernatural comedy, but I have to say that I am not crazy about Sakura and Rinne's homeroom teacher and her old peeking ball.
Rin-ne Volume 24 is not one of the stronger volumes in this series, but it does have some rather delightful stand-alone tales, such as the ones about the haunted locker, cursed cherry blossom tree, and the occult elevator. It's these single-chapter tales that sparkle and also show Takahashi's vivid imagination. I hope the next volume has more like that.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Readers who love Rumiko Takahashi’s manga will want the Shonen Sunday title, Rin-ne.
B+
7 out of 10
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