Rin-ne (2010)

[境界のRINNE]

Volume 4

Author/Artist: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
Rinne catches a cold from Rokumon.

Story/Characters:
When Rinne finds himself down with a cold, he gets targeted by damashigami led by none other than his father Sabato, who has taken the damashigami game and gone corporate, racking up debts that he foists onto his son (while trying to steal every penny the boy makes). Yep, sounds about right for a father in a Takahashi comedy. He doesn't even have a cute panda form like Genma to distract from what an awful pile of trash he is. Besides cleaning out Rinne's bank account, his latest scam involves conning damashigami girls into becoming Rinne's fiancée, so we have Rinne being mobbed by dozens of gold diggers while Sakura tries to help him. As Rinne confronts his father directly, we get quite the battle that poses a fair challenge. Ship teasing with Rinne and Sakura is a nice addition.

We then segue to the introduction to a new major character, the shinigami Ageha, who is hunting damashigami and searching for her missing sister. Said missing sister disappeared after going off on a mission to beat the boss of the Damashigami Company. I'm pretty sure you can see where this is going. Meanwhile, you have Ageha falling for Rinne, Sakura misunderstanding the situation, and the typical romcom shenanigans that ensue. The fact that neither Rinne nor Sakura are in any way forthright about their growing attraction to each other pretty well guarantees a nice drawn-out Takahashi romance. We close with Sakura being targeted as part of a trap by Sabato's unnamed "beautiful secretary", whose Sailor V mask is fooling no one besides the comically thick.

Art:
The Damashigami Company makes a nice setting for all the antics there and the big fight with Sabato is pretty good. I also want to say that I like Ageha's design, though she's basically Inuyasha's Abihime in a sailor fuku.

Conclusion:
The introduction of Sabato opens up the possibility of an overarching antagonist to break out of the monster-of-the-week mold. Meanwhile, Ageha is being set up as a rival for Sakura, so we're moving toward the classic Takahashi love dodecahedron. All told, this is a rather solid volume and well worth a read.

Rating:
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