境界のRINNE/Kyōkai no RINNE
RIN-NE Manga Volume 03 Review

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*SPOILERS*

Transfer student and exorcist Tsubasa is assigned to Sakura’s class, having known her when he was a boy due to them both being able to see the supernatural. He develops a rivalry with Rinne over his forced exorcism methods as well as Sakura’s obvious caring for Rinne. Since Masato had shown no interest in Sakura and his story didn’t really give any future indications of showing interest in her, I understand why Takahashi-sensei chose to bring in another guy that would form those love-triangles she is so enamored with.

The professional rivalry between Tsubasa and Rinne works for me since both guys are human and have different methods for getting the job done. Rinne has the advantage being a pseudo-shinigami and having relatives in the “spirit world.” The nice thing is that Tsubasa is written so that he’s smart enough to realize that changes to his usual methods are sometimes required, as happened in the Hanako of the toilet story, where he ends up defending the ghost of the little girl he’d been trying to exorcise. Then, he allows Rinne to take the girl on to the next life. As such, it makes his character more interesting in my opinion.

On the romantic front, both are rivals though Rinne doesn’t realize it at first. Establishing that Tsubasa knew Sakura from a short stint during their childhood is pretty cliched, but it serves its purpose. Takahashi-sensei then pushes things with the triple-date whereupon he ends up tagging along under the excuse of protecting a ghost from Tsubasa (the ghost wanted to date a girl as his last wish). So that rivalry is a bit fun, though being that this is Takahashi-sensei writing it, I expect to have little to no progress on any relationship front.

The story of the damashigami may be the most humorous story for the fact that (1) Rinne wears a dress and (2) the ghost of the popular student shocks all the girls attracted to him and “kills” the damashigami by saying what kind of girl he really likes. ^_^

With three volumes under my belt, I have to say that I really like Sakura as a character. She’s pretty levelheaded, taking all of the strange things she encounters in stride. Granted, years of dealing with this in the story helps explain it from that perspective, but I am glad that Takahashi-sensei has such a character. I grew weary of Kagome’s jealousy and tsundere moments and as such, Sakura is a welcome breath of fresh air. I hope that should Takahashi-sensei make Sakura and Rinne progress as far as a romantic relationship goes (highly doubtful but anything could happen), she’ll keep Sakura a levelheaded character.

On the Viz side, I’m thankful for the continued use of base honorifics and Japanese terms like shinigami and damashigami. Considering the title is so steeped in Japanese culture, specifically its horror and supernatural cultural aspects, the use of said Japanese terms is highly appropriate in my opinion. Viz also has translator notes, something I wish they’d have for Hayate the Combat Butler, but at least they have them here. ^_^

So, another fun, fairly lighthearted manga volume in the RIN-NE series. I’m rather looking forward to more of these adventures of Rinne and Sakura.