Renge Shima, a hot transfer student, is Rinne's new classmate. But whose spirit is that hovering over her shoulder?! As if that weren’t enough, Rinne also has to deal with a Black Cat elder, a Nine-Tailed Fox and a visit from a demon of Hell!!
Rumiko Takahashi (高橋留美子) was born in Niigata, Japan. She is not only one of the richest women in Japan but also one of the top paid manga artists. She is also the most successful female comic artist in history. She has been writing manga non-stop for 31 years.
Rumiko Takahashi is one of the wealthiest women in Japan. The manga she creates (and its anime adaptations) are very popular in the United States and Europe where they have been released as both manga and anime in English translation. Her works are relatively famous worldwide, and many of her series were some of the forerunners of early English language manga to be released in the nineties. Takahashi is also the best selling female comics artist in history; well over 100 million copies of her various works have been sold.
Though she was said to occasionally doodle in the margins of her papers while attending Niigata Chūō High School, Takahashi's interest in manga did not come until later. During her college years, she enrolled in Gekiga Sonjuku, a manga school founded by Kazuo Koike, mangaka of Crying Freeman and Lone Wolf and Cub. Under his guidance Rumiko Takahashi began to publish her first doujinshi creations in 1975, such as Bye-Bye Road and Star of Futile Dust. Kozue Koike often urged his students to create well-thought out, interesting characters, and this influence would greatly impact Rumiko Takahashi's works throughout her career.
Career and major works:
Takahashi's professional career began in 1978. Her first published story was Those Selfish Aliens, a comedic science fiction story. During the same year, she published Time Warp Trouble, Shake Your Buddha, and the Golden Gods of Poverty in Shōnen Sunday, which would remain the home to most of her major works for the next twenty years. Later that year, Rumiko attempted her first full-length series, Urusei Yatsura. Though it had a rocky start due to publishing difficulties, Urusei Yatsura would become one of the most beloved anime and manga comedies in Japan.
In 1980, Rumiko Takahashi found her niche and began to publish with regularity. At this time she started her second major series, Maison Ikkoku, in Big Comic Spirits. Written for an older audience, Maison Ikkoku is often considered to be one of the all-time best romance manga. Takahashi managed to work on Maison Ikkoku on and off simultaneously with Urusei Yatsura. She concluded both series in 1987, with Urusei Yatsura ending at 34 volumes, and Maison Ikkoku being 15.
During the 1980s, Takahashi became a prolific writer of short story manga, which is surprising considering the massive lengths of most of her works. Her stories The Laughing Target, Maris the Chojo, and Fire Tripper all were adapted into original video animations (OVAs). In 1984, after the end of Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku, Takahashi took a different approach to storytelling and began the dark, macabre Mermaid Saga. This series of short segments was published sporadically until 1994, with the final story being Mermaid's Mask. Many fans contend that this work remains unfinished by Takahashi, since the final story does not end on a conclusive note.
Another short work left untouched is One-Pound Gospel, which, like Mermaid Saga, was published erratically. The last story to be drawn was published in 2001, however just recently she wrote one final chapter concluding the series
Later in 1987, Takahashi began her third major series, Ranma ½. Following the late 80s and early 90s trend of shōnen martial arts manga, Ranma ½ features a gender-bending twist. The series continued for nearly a decade until 1996, when it ended at 38 volumes. Ranma ½ is one of Rumiko Takahashi's most popular series with the Western world.
During the later half of the 1990s, Rumiko Takahashi continued with short stories and her installments of Mermaid Saga and One-Pound Gospel until beginning her fourth major work, InuYasha. While Ran
This volume of Rin-ne felt rather flat and uninspired to me. Maybe I need to spend another volume or two warming back up to this one. That happens sometimes. I also tend to get a little bored with this series when it introduces a new character, and get more interested as they are integrated into the cast. Since at least half of this volume was spent on an introductory story for Renge, maybe that partially accounts for my indifference, too.
Ever since I’ve been reading “Rin-Ne,” I have been wondering if they are building up a possible story arc for the Damashigami Company plot regarding Rinne’s father Sabato and it seems that in “Rin-Ne Volume Fourteen,” we see even more plot twists from the Damashigami Company that will change everything regarding this series!
In this volume, we are introduced to Renge Shima, a transfer student who immediately gets the attention of all the boys at school. Unfortunately, it turns out that Renge has a Marilyn Monroe look-alike spirit hovering over her that is making the boys become attracted to her, but is Renge harboring a dark secret that could turn the tides for Rinne and the gang? Other stories in this volume involve Rokumon meeting up with the Black Cat Elder, Rinne meeting up with a Nine-Tailed Fox that possesses Tsubasa and a demon that tries to steal beans from a bean throwing ceremony.
Wow! Rumiko Takahashi never ceases to amaze me with her unique writing style in her works! Even though this volume has even more filler story arcs than the previous volumes, there were some stories that also contributed a bit to the main story line regarding the Damashigami Company. Now, I have seen so many new characters being added to this series already, but Renge Shima was an interesting case as she seems to be the most serious character introduced in the series so far besides Kain and it makes me wonder (hopefully) if the series is actually going to get to an actual story arc sometime after this volume. I also enjoyed the side story about Tsubasa getting possessed by a Nine-Tailed Fox since it focused on Tsubasa and it was a pretty hilarious story to read! Rumiko Takahashi’s artwork is a treat to see as the demons shown in this volume are both scary and hilarious to look at and I really loved the artwork of the evil dragon spirit at the beginning of this volume as it was a cross between being frightening when it first arrived to being humorous after it got all the negative emotions it needed.
For anyone who does not like images of demons and other scary characters, this volume has a bit of scary imagery of demons that might scare some people such as the dragon spirit that feeds on negative emotions at the beginning of the volume.
Overall, “Rin-ne Volume Fourteen” is a great volume for fans of “Rin-ne” and I am definitely looking forward to reading more of this series in the future!
A new transfer student has set the hearts of all the male students all awhirl. But's not from her own charms. Renge is a damishigami with a pheromone spirit attached to her back, and she has all the males under her contol....except for Rinne and Tsubasa. But, she has captured Tsubasa's soul, and taken Sakura Mamiya as hostage. Luckily, Rinne and Rokumon take her down. Sadly, she still moves in next-door. ------------------------ This volume was provided to me as an eManga by VIZ Media, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
“That’s right. I’m an employee of the Damashigami Company. And a student at the affiliated girls’ school. I am the damashigami Renge.”
The introduction of Renge Shima easily earns volume 14 of "RIN-NE" a 5/5 stars from me.
While there are other one shots, as the cover suggests, the main story is the introduction of Renge in the last half of this volume. Renge is such an interesting addition to this story and I’m loving her so far. The slow reveal that she was actually a damashigami and intentionally being “possessed” by a spirit was genuinely terrifying. She single handedly overcomes every obstacle in her way in the short time we see her. When has an antagonist ever been so threatening towards Rokudo? (“Then… He’s my enemy.”). The gentleness I have grown to expect was nowhere to be found. The humor only returns towards the end of her introduction arc after a long absence, at least for this series.
Mostly, though, I’m just surprised Rumiko chose to include a character like her in such a lighthearted, romance series. Renge is not like any character we’ve seen before. As Sakura notes, she’s not bumbling, lazy, or incompetent like the other damashigami. And she’s not an idiot when it comes to her interactions with Rokudo and the other characters. She doesn’t even particularly like or dislike Rokudo. She’s shrewd, serious, and cunning - and she’s determined to be the best damashigami, despite the circumstances that led her down that path.
I’m eager to see how Rumiko handles this character in the future; if we will see her eventually portrayed with the gentleness and humor that is the foundation of this world. For now, she’s an excellent foil to Rokudo: a poor damashigami a step above her peers, but lacking the kindness and humility that’s needed to truly make progress. I think, in a way, even Rokudo sees this, which may be the reason he hesitates to confront her. After all, he never answers Sakura and Tsubasa about why he does not drive her out when he has the chance…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
These chapters are all tentatively connected to an overarching story with more side characters being introduced every second. Little progress is made in character development vs one-off stories of putting tiresome spirits to rest, with prevailing schticks of Rinne being a poor, penny-pinching shinigami constantly attacked by all his father’s enemies, despite being the biggest hater of his father’s existence, and Sakura being unfazed by anything good or bad that comes her way while the entire cast revolve around her and Rinne as a whole.
Sakura’s a pretty uninteresting lead with little real emotion or defining monologues of any type (kind of classic to Rumiko Takahashi’s series with the absence of character masking as a ‘strong’ female lead), but the ghost stories and combination of martial arts, supernatural, fantasy and Japanese yokai folklore make this an amusing read that won’t keep you up at night.
Ok I love Rumiko Takahashi and I'm really enjoying Rin-Ne for what it is: episodic, low-stakes fun. I just wish we could sidestep making Rokudo's debt the running joke of the series. He isn't cheap or tight with money, he's POOR. This volume was quite weak so I think the negatives stuck out a bit more but I really liked the introduction of Renge, and am interested to see how she compares to Ageha.
I love this zany manga. It's funny and the stakes are so so low, so it's not anxiety inducing to read. It has actually helped me a bit with my fear of ghosts. Once Renge is introduced, Takahashi's true talent for comedic mahem really shines.