Rin-ne: Collection 1

The most revered woman in Japanese comics, Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma ½, Maison Ikkoku, etc.), devised this lighthearted take on ghostbusting for a 2009 manga series that is adapted here in this 2015 anime. Schoolgirl Sakura Mamiya can see dead people (and animals), while classmate Rinne Rokudo is a mystical “Shinigami” who is able to guide confused and regretful lost souls to their proper destiny (lest they become evil spirits) in their next lives. Normally Shinigami—a variant of the Grim Reaper, essentially—are spirits themselves, but Rinne is mortal, the result of an unusual Shinigami-human marriage. Being mostly human, Rinne must rely on buying magical tools for his work, which strains his shoestring budget as he tries to make his quota of saved souls, while Sakura emerges as an incipient sweetheart. Eventually, other Shinigami and various apparitions show up, rivalries develop, and the series takes viewers on an amusing trip to Hell. In the Takahashi tradition, the emphasis here is on comedy-fantasy whimsy (with inside-jokes aimed at other manga/anime franchises) and witty characterizations more than violence or fan service. Compiling the first 13 episodes in separate DVD and Blu-ray editions, rated TV-14, and presented in Japanese with English subtitles, this is recommended. [Note: Rin-ne: Collection 2 is also newly available.] (C. Cassady)