[BOOK REVIEW] Rin-ne Volume 11 by Rumiko Takahashi

Title:  Rin-ne Volume 11


Author:  Rumiko Takahashi

Genre: Horror / Adventure / Comedy / School


Year Published: 2009


Year Read: 2016


Series: Rin-ne #11

Publisher: VIZ Media


Source:  Library


Content Rating:  Ages 7+ (Some Scary Imagery)


Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I was actually surprised by this volume!  Even though Rumiko Takahashi’s “Rin-Ne” series still continues to have Rinne and his friends go on hilarious and intense adventures in the world of the living and the dead, this volume actually introduced a dilemma that Rinne faces that I never thought would pop up so soon in this series!

In this volume, Sakura ends up eating a piece of candy that causes her to lose her ability to see ghosts and even though Sakura is happy about this turn of events, this also puts her in real danger as a group of evil spirits participate in the A-1 Grand Prix and Sakura is the target!  Other stories included this volume are Rinne and Sakura meeting up with an ice ghost who wants to eat a meal that she failed to eat years ago and meeting up with Shoma’s black cat by contract, Kurosu.

I must admit that this volume was much better than the previous volume, which was the tenth volume, since Rumiko Takahashi has actually added a twist to the series that I never would have thought would come this early on in the series!  I like the fact that Rumiko Takahashi explore the tumultuous event that would happen if Sakura lost her ability to see ghosts and how that would affect her life overall.  While we see that Sakura is happy with not seeing ghosts, it was a bit sad during the scenes where Sakura could not see Rinne and readers are able to experience how Rinne feels about the possibility of Sakura not being able to see him anymore.  But, the story that I was the most surprised with was the story with the ice ghost, as Rumiko Takahashi made the ghost look extremely similar to Oyuki, a character who came from Rumiko Takahashi’s previous work “Urusei Yatsura” and it was great seeing Rumiko Takahashi make references to her past works by introducing these characters in a visual gag that fans of Rumiko Takahashi’s works will easily recognize!  Rumiko Takahashi’s artwork is as usual creative to look at as there are many visual gags to Rumiko Takahashi’s past works that pops up in this volume, such as the ice ghost who resembles Oyuki from “Urusei Yatsura!”

A little warning for some readers: there are some scary imagery in this volume, including images of Rokumon turning into a demonic black cat that could scare some readers. So if you are not used to scary imagery, you might want to read this volume with some caution.

Overall, “Rin-Ne Volume Eleven” is a fantastic volume that really introduces new troubling situations for Rinne and the gang and I am definitely looking forward to see where this series is heading to next!