I hesitated about posting this, because I'm such a fan-girl it's embarrassing. . . this is full of references to works that I'm sure most readers couldn't care less about. CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED! Still, here it is . . . be gentle :)

Quick Summary: To give you fair warning, I'm a pretty big Takahashi fan, and therefore I enjoyed this book. A lot. Thus, this entry isn't really a critique, but I guess it counts as a review. And it is very much a review for the anime/manga geek. Well, okay, the Takahashi geek, since I'm only comparing this volume to her own work. Just saying.

Title: Rin-Ne (vol 1)
Author: Takahashi, Rumiko
Translator: Dashiell, Christine
Imprint: Viz Media / Shogakuken
Date of Publication: 2009

I enjoyed this book. A lot. But I'm a big enough fan of the creator that I'm utterly biased. Thus, this entry isn't really a critique, but I guess it counts as a review.

Quick Information: Rin-ne is Takahashi's latest comic series, which began running in English late last year. This first volume introduces us to the two main characters. In typical Takahashi fashion, they are a spunky teenage girl (Sakura) and a moody teenage boy with supernatural problems (Rinne). In this particular case, the boy is part human and part shinigami (a sort of Shinto psychopomp), and has the ability to render himself invisible to ordinary humans. Many of Takahashi's favourite themes reappear in this story, as outlined in some of the sections below.

Art Style: Character design here is strongly reminiscent of that in Inu Yasha. Imagine if Inu Yasha's Miroku and Sango actually managed to get married and have a daughter. Give her her father's hair, and her mother's eyes, then age her up to about 15, put her in a modern school uniform and braid her hair, and you have Sakura Mamiya. Rinne himself often resembles Inu Yasha, particularly in terms of facial expressions. Sakura and Rinne's random school friends resemble Kagome's random school friends in Inu Yasha, there is a cat demon who resembles Shippo, and so forth. Interestingly, for  once, I can't find any characters who strongly remind me of Ranma from Ranma 1/2

Male Lead: As we've seen in Ranma 1/2, and Inu Yasha (heck, if aliens count as supernatural, even Urusei Yatsura), young men in Takahashi's world have a tendency to have odd, supernatural problems. Ranma turns into a girl; Inu Yasha is half human and half dog "demon", and Rin-ne is part shinigami and can essentially become a ghost. Like Ranma, Rinne's life is made miserable by the idiotic decision of a foolish but doting parental figure (in this case, Rinne's shinigami grandmother). He is also simultaneously sweet yet naive, and slightly disreputable, in the long tradition of One Pound Gospel's Kosaku and Maison Ikkoku's Yusaku.

Female Lead: Sakura is a lot like Inu Yasha's Kagome. Spunky, outgoing, and not as violent as Ranma's Akane or One Pound Gospel's Sister Angela. I imagine that an uncertain, on-again off-again romantic relationship with Rinne will end up developing here. I don't, however, get the feeling it's going to go the Ranma love dodecahedron route, though there may be the occasional triangle.

Puns: Takahashi's love of puns is evident again here. There is nothing so convenient for the English reader as Ranma's Shampoo and Mousse, but there are puns hidden throughout. Fortunately, Viz has kindly noted many of them in the liner notes at the end of the volume.

 Use of Religion: Where One Pound Gospel contained an incredible amount of explicitly Christian imagery, and Inu Yasha was heavily influenced by Shinto mythology, Rinne thus far seems to contain a mix of Shinto and Buddhist influences. It will be interesting to see how the series develops, to see which one prevails.

 Anyhow, overall the volume is humorous and moves quickly. I enjoyed it very much.

Originally Written: December 8, 2010

See? What did I tell you? Rampant fan-girl-y-ness.