Rin-ne (2010)

[境界のRINNE]

Volume 3

Author/Artist: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
A new transfer students arrives at Sakura and Rinne's school.

Story/Characters:
I initially thought Masato was going to be the main rival character in this series, but I was wrong. Our rival in the vein of Ryouga from Ranma or Kouga from Inuyasha is the exorcist Tsubasa Jumonji, who was a classmate of Sakura's back in elementary school. Besides him trying to win Sakura's favor (much to Rinne's annoyance), he also takes a brute force approach to dealing with the supernatural, which tends to cause more problems than it fixes. So both on a professional and a personal level, Rinne has beef with Tsubasa. The romantic angle hasn't really been a factor up until now, but it's coming to the fore and the current case of a lovesick ghost who just wants to go on a date before he can move on dovetails nicely with Tsubasa's pursuit of Sakura and Rinne struggling to find his place in all this (as he's largely in denial about his feelings). We then go on a fun triple date (perhaps not so fun for Rinne because of the expense, but he doesn't go completely unrewarded).

Next up is a prankster ghost who has a history with Tsubasa. This gives us an opportunity to see more of Tsubasa's range (and its general ineffectiveness) and contrast it with Rinne's more measured approach. After that, we have something of a pied piper sort who seduces girls to lure them to the other side which includes such fun as Rinne in drag in an attempt to get into the ghost's lair. Lastly we have a two-parter about the vengeful spirit of a portrait that involves members of the art club.

Art:
The amusement park date has a lot of fun visuals. Anyone who fangirls over Tsubasa will probably appreciate the sight of him with nekomimi. The fight with Toichi and Hanako is pretty good. The trickster god arc treats the audience with the sight of Maid!Sakura (and Maid!Rinne if that's how you swing).

Conclusion:
I rather like what Tsubasa brings to the table. Channeling the old Ranma/Ryouga rivalry is certainly one of the better tools at Takahashi's disposal. It helps that we get some pretty good scenarios to integrate him into the story. I'm quite happy to recommend giving this one a read.

Rating:
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