Rin-ne (2011)

[境界のRINNE]

Volume 10

Author/Artist: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
With reluctant help from Oboro, Rinne goes to save Ageha after she is swallowed by a giant ghost mongoose.

Story/Characters:
We kick things off with the latter half of the four-parter that began last volume. Rinne rushes to save Ageha because Oboro's contract is still in effect and a black cat who abandons his shinigami while under contract will face a hefty fine of five thousand yen. (Remember Rinne's standard of the value of money.) However, it seems like Ageha released the contract and Oboro is happy at first until Rokumon proposes that it could be a fake and in addition to the fine for breach of contract, his license would be suspended for ten years. With his livelihood on the line, Oboro goes out to help Rinne save Ageha. Ageha, however, isn't in that much distress. She's set up a little pocket dimension inside the mongoose as a trap for Rinne so she can enjoy a tropical honeymoon with him. Oboro crashes the party, though, and he and Ageha go after it a bit and it becomes clear that the two twisted personalities are made for each other. When Rinne sees the clause in Oboro's contract that mentions his salary, he advises Oboro to hold dear what he's got and that does it for that (albeit with Rokumon pining a bit for an actual salary).

Next we have a spirit of a student bound to a bus as he was never able to reunite with a classmate he liked. The main gag is that the ghost's story goes on too long and Rinne is violently carsick and wants to get off the bus as soon as possible. We then have a stalker ghost taking pictures of the girls in the judo club, only to reveal the ghost is the late father of team captain trying to keep up with his daughter's life, but his predilections lead to him being misunderstood (partially, as the accusation are mostly on the money).

Next we have Rinne deal with alleged lack of payment on his association fees, which brings him into conflict with everyone's favorite dickweed bureaucrat Kain. We're also introduced to his black cat Suzu. Rinne goes to great lengths to prove that both he and Rokumon are individuals of integrity, going on a whole detective case to avoid paying the 500 yen again along with a five-yen late fee. We then have the case of a ghost who was all eager to join the tennis club but was stuck collecting balls the whole time, so they have a game of double with the ghost and Sakura versus Rinne and Tsubasa. Tsubasa's needless (and counterproductive) competitiveness is the main gag. Next we have a chapter about the ghost equivalent of roach motels and an expired one that gets passed around like a hot potato because turning in an expired ghost house will cost you your reward points. You can imagine how honest shinigami are with such things. We then close with the ghost of a young salaryman tormenting the residents of an apartment with his try-hard efforts at party gags.

Art:
The progression of Rinne's car sickness in the bus chapter is pretty funny. Suzu is pretty cute, so if you were hoping for a catgirl to go with the catboys, there you go. Tsubasa's tennis playing is rather amusing, as is the runaround in the ghost house chapter.

Conclusion:
We get some fairly funny stories in this volume, certainly enough to make this one worth a read at the very least.

Rating:
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