Manga Review: RIN-NE, Volume 30, by Rumiko Takahashi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Sunday (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2019

Volumes: 40.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 26. 31.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Manga legend Rumiko Takahashi’s lighthearted tale of a girl who can see ghosts and a boy from the beyond.

After a mysterious encounter in her childhood, Sakura Mamiya gained the power to see ghosts. Now a teenager, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! Then one day she meets Rinne Rokudo, a boy who is far more than what he seems.

In the summer season of restless spirits, Rinne and the gang head to a beach house to confront a supernatural spirit who’s obsessed with braids. Sakura’s trademark hairstyle makes her a target of the ghost’s mad desire… Can Rinne figure out how to send the spirit away, ASAP?!

Review:

The episodic plots seem to be extending a bit more, as most of them seems to last a couple of chapters now. Such as the love-lost ghost haunting a bell. And the dead girl who thought her boyfriend cheated on her. Lastly, Rokudo faces off with Masato, with a surprise appearance by Rokudo's salesman father, in order to find a magical mask that turns stuff to stone.

There was a weird theme of people dying for terrible and dumb reasons, though. It's good none of it was taken seriously, or it could have been very depressing and tragic.

These are relatively fun chapters, but very episodic and with not much lasting plot lines. I don't mind these volumes, but I'm not very connected to the characters, either. Easy and fun, but little substance.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Rin-Ne, Volume 26, by Rumiko Takahashi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Sunday (VIZ Media)

Release Date: March 2018

Volumes: 40.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 24. 27.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Manga legend Rumiko Takahashi’s lighthearted tale of a girl who can see ghosts and a boy from beyond.

After a mysterious encounter in her childhood, Sakura Mamiya gained the power to see ghosts. Now a teenager, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! Then one day she meets Rinne Rokudo, a boy who is far more than what he seems.

The haunted hijinks continue as spooky summer days turn to fall. Masato, everyone’s favorite demon, accidentally wins the favor of an angel and ends up with wings and a knack for good deeds, no matter how hard he tries to be bad! Can Rinne revert him to his normal self?

Review:

There is definitely no real story progress happening here. I'm not sure if there's really supposed to be, though. This is just fun, crazy magical antics.

We see a young boy who makes a voodoo doll of sorts, who starts causing havoc while he's asleep. A guy with an unrequited crush has a ghost following him. This witch starts haunting their teacher.

I will admit that the stories featuring craziness surrounding their teacher are probably my favorite. She's an interesting character. I like seeing Renge, too, and seeing what Rinne will do for money.

This series is fun and light and easy. Not much to say, though.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Rin-Ne, Volume 24, by Rumiko Takahashi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Sunday (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2017

Volumes: 40.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 22. 25.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Manga legend Rumiko Takahashi’s lighthearted tale of a girl who can see ghosts and a boy from the beyond.

Ever since a strange encounter when she was a child, Sakura Mamiya has had the power to see ghosts. Now in high school, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! When her mysterious classmate Rinne Rokudo shows up, Sakura finds herself following him into the amazing world between life and death!

Rinne and Sakura’s homeroom teacher starts receiving some very strange messages from her fortune-telling Peeking Ball. Then a ghost scythe attaches itself to Sakura, and she must exorcise seven souls to get rid of it!

Review:

The peeking ball once again causes a strew of misunderstandings and competitions. For a few chapters, they're all fighting to get some money, which causes them to do one thing after another. Quite a bit of hilarity insues.

After that, we get a goofy ghost haunting a tree, a haunted sports uniform, and a haunted elevator. At one point, Sakura gets a scythe and tries learning how to use it.

Lots of crazy antics in this series, not much plot progression, or romance progression. It's a bit all over the place and episodic, and I actually quite enjoy it. Even though I've only read a few volumes of this series, they're fun. It's an easy reprieve.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Rin-ne, Volume 22, by Rumiko Takahashi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Sunday (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2016

Volumes: 37+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 21. 23.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Beloved manga creator Rumiko Takahashi delivers lots of kook and a little spook in this story of a girl who sees ghosts and who meets a boy who navigates a realm between life and death.

After a mysterious encounter in her childhood, Sakura Mamiya gained the power to see ghosts. Now a teenager, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! Then one day she meets Rinne Rokudo, a boy who is far more than what he seems.

Has a vending machine ever taken your money? Maybe it was haunted! Rinne’s got to solve the mystery of the school’s dysfunctional drinks machine soon, because everyone is blaming him for their missing coins!

Review:

The crystal ball is still being hunted as this volume starts. We see that everyone is sneaking around and planning how to get their hands on it. Renge gets a bad prophesy amidst this.

After that, there are several short plots. There's a tree spirit haunting people for misusing it. Rinne gets blamed for a vending machine stealing money. There's a meat bun haunting people by taking their meat bun filling. There's a Christmas mystery. A rather entertaining one to me was when there's a dream test, and everyone is invading each others' dreams, including the dreams featuring their crush.

While I haven't followed much of this series, this was a rather fun volume to read. I like all of the antics, I like seeing how money can sometimes win out on worries. I don't even fully understand the magic-world dynamics, and I still find it fun to follow.

These volumes are easy to read and I enjoy getting them.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Rin-Ne, Volume 21, by Rumiko Takahashi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Sunday (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2016

Volumes: 31+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 20. 22.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ever since a strange encounter when she was a child, Sakura Mamiya has had the power to see ghosts. Now in high school, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! When her mysterious classmate Rinne Rokudo shows up, Sakura finds herself following him into the amazing world between life and death!

The sun is shining and the spirits are out! Rinne, Sakura and friends keep busy over the summer. Once school’s back in session, a mysterious new teacher finds Rinne’s otherworldly knowledge very helpful…

Review:

I surprisingly don’t feel like I’m missing anything from not reading the previous books in this series, and also like I don’t even need to read them to get more attached to the characters. All of the chapters are so episodic that it doesn’t really feel like it matters.

They are surprisingly enjoyable at times, though. And it kind of makes me want to actually read the Inuyasha volumes, because I was a fan of that series.

There’s a lot of one-shot chapters, nothing too exciting. And then we meet a witch, who’s using a crystal ball that Rinne wants for a reward. She’s an interesting character, who can see the future at times, and I like the banter. There’s some competitions, the couple cures a few characters, including a girl haunted by a scarecrow she tried to fix.

This is an all right series to me, and I don’t mind reading the random volumes I receive, but I don't really plan on collecting the rest.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Rin-Ne, Volume 20, by Rumiko Takahashi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Sunday (VIZ Media)

Release Date: March 8, 2016

Volumes: 29+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Volume: 1. 19. 21.

Add on Goodreads 

RightStuf Synopsis:

A school trip goes awry when Rinne and Sakura pretend to be dating—and end up hating each other instead! Will a homemade lunch repair their friendship…or will it turn out to be a bowl of haunted ramen?!

Review:

Disclosure: I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series.

Since I haven’t read any of the previous volumes in this series, I had no idea what to expect. I was surprised to find that it’s very episodic, with not much of a large plot line, so easy to just jump into.

There’s a gang of characters here, and they’re all competing, with underlying unrequited (and possibly requited) romances mixed in. Sakura and Rinne are working together to solve some spirit mysteries, one for a dog and another for a demon plant, then working in a team to collect charms on a tour group.

It was surprisingly entertaining, actually, and I enjoyed reading this volume. The relationships were pretty easy to figure out, and I liked that. The artwork is rather average, though. But it’s still made me intrigued to maybe catch up on one of her series being released.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!