Greetings and felicitations, ladies and gentlemen of the Internet! Anna speaking.


Wow...two posts in as many days...this has to be a record (Nick, I hope you're happy!).


Anywho, so I have recently been re-reading one of my most favorite manga of all time, Inuyasha. I love this series so much and I have always been impressed with Rumiko Takahashi's work (with the small exception of One Pound Gospel.). Naturally, I was delighted to hear about her newest project, Kyokai no Rin-ne.


Kyokai no Rin-ne tells the story of high-schooler Sakura Mamiya, a girl with the unwanted ability to see and communicate with spirits. Sakura's ESP leads her to meet Rinne Rokudo, a bizarre classmate of Sakura's. Rinne turns out to be a kind of shinigami, a death god of sorts (Death Note fans know what I'm talking about...). The manga follows their adventures in exorcisms and stopping evil death spirits.


When I read Kyokai no Rin-ne, all I could say was, "...haven't I read this somewhere before?" And then I realised it. Kyokai no Rin-ne is a sad little smoothie of Bleach and Inuyasha with a miniscule splash of Death Note and a sprinkle of Ranma 1/2. Rinne is half-human, half-shinigami (Sound familiar, coughInuyashacough?). Sakura can see ghosts but doesn't want to (Sound even more familiar, coughBleachcough?). Rinne has to deal with guys vying for the attentions of Sakura, who he likes but he can't tell her (Bells should being going off now, coughRanmacough.). Rinne and Sakura fight ghost monsters all while attempting to reach a common end (COUGHBLEACHANDINUYASHACOUGH!). And the worst part of it all is this: THE STORY ISN'T THAT GREAT! I found the characters to be one-dimensional and trite. The bad guys (If you can even call them that...) are way too easy to beat. The scenarios aren't convincing and they get resolved in the most feeble ways possible. I was, all in all, seriously disappointed with Takahashi-sensei.


Rating: D- (I am seriously upset about the unoriginality of this manga.)


Well, that's all I have to report for now. Happy geeking!


~Anna

Author: Rumiko Takahashi

Age group: Teen

General Synopsis: Young boxer Kosaku Hatanaka is the pride of Mukaida Gym...most of the time. After only two bouts after leaving high school, he went pro, stunning the audiences and his opponents with his strong punches. But due to his bottomless pit of a stomach, Kosaku has had to change his weight class since graduating, going from flyweight all the way up to featherweight. His coach, in constant struggle with Kosaku's constantly fluctuating weight, begs him to get his head in the game. Enter Sister Angela: a novice nun who tries to help Kosaku take control of his life. Slowly but surely, Kosaku develops feelings for the kind and gentle sister. And to her frustration, she begins to feel the same way.

My Rating: 2 Stars

One Pound Gospel gave all the punch of a wet paper bag. It was incredibly predictable and rather boring. In the fashion of its sucessors, Ranma 1/2 and InuYasha, the protagonist has multiple run-ins with some very...colorful (okay, down-right bizarre) characters. I found the relationship between Kosaku and Sister Angela to be weird, desperate, and spark-free. In fact, I was hoping throughout the entire series that Angela would have an epiphany or Kosaku would get hit hard enough so they would remember that SHE IS A NUN, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! The fights were tame, the opponents were wimpy, the coach was whiny, and Kosaku had no real drive except food (and Sister Angela). If he has decided to box as a career, don't you think he should be serious about it? From where I was sitting, he was just a kid doing an extracurricular activity. All in all, Ranma 1/2, which has a very similar protagonist (rough, tough, and macho), had much more interest and flare than its predecessor.

One Pound Gospel vs. Anna...

1, 2, 3, K.O. Anna wins!!!!!!!!!!! (Crowd cheers wildly)