[BOOK REVIEW] Rin-ne Volume 3 by Rumiko Takahashi

Title:  Rin-ne Volume 3


Author:  Rumiko Takahashi

Genre: Horror / Adventure / Comedy / School


Year Published: 2009


Year Read: 2015


Series: Rin-ne #3


Publisher: VIZ Media


Source:  Library


Content Rating:  Ages 8+ (Scary Imagery)


Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Man, I just cannot put down Rumiko Takahashi’s newest work “Rin-Ne” for nothing!  This series continues to be extremely interesting and much different from Rumiko Takahashi’s other works that I just cannot wait to see where this series take the characters next!

Sakura Mamiya and Rinne Rokudo still have adventures dealing with the afterlife, even in this volume.  But one day, an old childhood friend of Sakura’s named Tsubasa Jumonji moves into town and wanted to go on a date with Sakura! At first, Sakura was wondering how Rinne would feel about this and even though Rinne told Sakura that he does not care about Tsubasa’s feelings for Sakura, it seems that Rinne just might have feelings for Sakura…

This volume was pretty interesting as a standalone volume, as I liked the fact that Rumiko Takahashi introduced a new character in this volume in the form of Tsubasa Jumonji.  I honestly think that Rumiko Takahashi did a brilliant job at portraying Tsubasa’s character as Tsubasa is a pretty interesting character as he is the only other character (besides Sakura and Rinne) who can see the spirits in the world of the living and like Rinne, can fight them off (even though he is not as good at defeating spirits as Rinne is).  Even though I have seen the formula about a love triangle forming between the characters being played out before in Rumiko Takahashi’s other works (especially “Ranma ½” and “Inuyasha”), it was still interesting seeing a relationship develop between Sakura and Rinne and I would like to see their relationship develop even further in future volumes.  Rumiko Takahashi’s artwork is as usual unique and gorgeous to look at, especially the scenes of Rinne and the gang seeing various spirits pop up in the world of the living and the spirits look so unnatural compared to the human characters which really brings out the creativity of this series.

Like the previous volumes, this volume does have some scary images, including images of spirits menacing the main characters.  However, due to the comedic tone of this volume, some readers might be able to get through the volume.

Overall, “Rin-Ne Volume Three” is a truly interesting standalone volume that anyone who is a huge fan of Rumiko Takahashi’s works and anyone who loves the “Rin-Ne” series in general!