Rin-ne (2011)

[境界のRINNE]

Volume 8

Author/Artist: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
A young shinigami is paired with Rinne as part of his school's homestay program.

Story/Characters:
We kick things off by introducing Shouma, a bratty half-pint who hates being stuck with Rinne and his abject poverty and is punching above his weight in a bid to end his homestay sooner. We have a case involving the ghost of a pet crocodile, which Shouma makes worse and worse until it finally gets resolved. Next we have Masato scam Shouma into helping him, but all it takes is Tamako telling Rinne that there's now a penalty fee for unsuccessful homestays for him to leap into action to sort things out.

With that settled, we have Ageha getting conned into buying something called the Friendly Square, with the intent of using it to get closer to Rinne. Turns out the "Friendly Square" is just a kotatsu. Now, the Japanese are already weak to those things, but for a pauper like Rinne, the effect is magnified several times over. Things seem to be going well for her until Sakura and Tsubasa also stop by. She challenges them to a game of Old Maid where the stakes are that the loser has to do whatever the winner says. Too bad she's really bad at cards.

We then have the ghost of a luckless nerd haunting the home ec room because no girls ever gave him anything he made. Because the girls in class offer to give Rinne any botched creations they make, he's willing to turn a blind eye to the ghost's mischief, until things escalate. We then have the vengeful spirit of a hand-knit scarf that strangles the recipients of other hand-knit scarves, all the while Rinne's main priority is getting a scarf of his own from Sakura on the pretense of drawing out the strangler.

Art:
The art is solid as ever. A giant crocodile has more visual comedic potential than you might imagine.

Conclusion:
While Shouma is fairly obnoxious, the payoff to his little arc is worth it and we round out the volume with several decent episodes. The series continues to be worth reading. Part of me wishes there was a little more punch, either comedic or dramatic, but there's something to be said for consistent quality. Give it a read.

Rating:
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