Rin-ne (2012)

[境界のRINNE]

Volume 12

Author/Artist: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
The ghosts of a gravure idol haunts a pool where she died during a publicity event.

Story/Characters:
The opening chapter about the gravure idol was meh. Happily, we get a hefty five-chapter battle arc about the Kuroneko exams, where Rokumon, Oboro, Suzu and others compete to get their first degree qualifications. We get a lot of Suzu being easily distracted, Oboro scrapping with Ageha, and Rokumon trying to benefit Rinne while working hard on the test. Rokumon's such a good boy. Kurosu acting as a proctor for the exam keeps him integrated into the story. The battle portion is neat, particularly when Rokumon and Oboro team up to whittle down the competition.

We next get a two-parter about the ghost of a student who was infatuated with Suzuki-sensei. Amusingly, he keeps on making the situation worse. Next we have the spirit of a power stone that gets foisted on Sakura and we get to see Tsubasa unveil his ability to summon power stone spirits, which may come up again in the future. Lastly, we have Rinne receive some matsutake mushrooms in the mail and though he's desperate to return them before he has to pay for them, but Rokumon breaks from his usual obedience and pulls out all the stops so he can eat them. Nobody wins in the end.

Art:
Suzu's antics during the test are fun to watch and Rokumon does some creative stuff in the battle. I liked the designs of Tsubasa's power stone spirits and hope they'll show up again.

Conclusion:
The three one-shots were fairly mediocre and the Suzuki-sensei two-parter was okay at best, but the Kuroneko exam portion more than makes up for the weaker half of this volume. It's entirely due to the Kuroneko exam section that I can recommend this for a read.

Rating:
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