Rin-ne: Volume 3

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

When she was a child, Sakura Mamiya disappeared in the woods behind her grandmother’s house and somehow ended up lost in the afterlife.  Sakura safely returned, but afterwards, she could see ghosts.  The teenage Sakura wishes those ghosts would leave her alone, but the sudden appearance of Rinne Rokudo draws her deeper into the amazing, but sometimes perilous boundary between the living and the dead.

Rin-ne, Vol. 3 introduces a new player in this fantasy drama, Tsubasa Jumonji, a young exorcist whom Sakura knew as a child.  Tsubasa is in love with Sakura and is very jealous of her relationship with Rokudo.  Meanwhile, this new love (of a sort) triangle struggles with restless spirits and entities.  First, the ghost of a sickly boy won’t rest until he goes on a date with the girl for whom he secretly pined.  The girl says yes, but will the rivalry between Tsubasa and Rokudo ruin everything before the ghost boy is satisfied and crosses over?

THE LOWDOWN:  I’m at loss to explain why I like Rin-ne, so how do I convince non-Rumiko Takahashi fans that they will like this.  Last night, while reading the second half of Vol. 3, I thought it reminded me of Doctor Strange.  What if Stan Lee had turned to a Japanese woman, a female manga-ka, to do most of the creative work on Dr. Strange instead of Steve Ditko?  Would it be something like Rin-ne?  Like Ditko’s Dr. Strange, Rin-ne is offbeat and weird, but its creepy fascination with the demise of young people who leave behind unfinished business makes Rin-ne the stranger one.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Rumiko Takahashi fans and lovers of weird fantasy will want to experience the world of Rin-ne.

A-