The manga series Rin-ne is written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi.[1] The first chapter premiered on April 22, 2009 in Weekly Shōnen Sunday[2] and the last was released on December 13, 2017. The series focuses on Sakura Mamiya, a girl who gained the power to see ghosts after an incident as a child, and her classmate Rinne Rokudo, a boy of mixed human and shinigami heritage who helps lingering spirits finally pass on to be reincarnated. Shogakukan released 40 tankōbon volumes in Japan from October 16, 2009[1] to January 18, 2018.[3]Rin-ne is licensed for an English-language release in North America by Viz Media,[4] which published the chapters simultaneously online in English as they were serialized in Japan until March 17, 2011.[5][6] Viz Media began releasing the volumes of Rin-ne on October 20, 2009, which was the first title to be released under their Shonen Sunday imprint.[7] Viz Media released the first tankōbon volume on October 20, 2009;[8] the last volume will be released on July 13, 2021.[9]
001. "The Mysterious Classmate" (謎のクラスメート, "Nazo no Kurasumēto")
002. "The Legend of the Weather Hutch" (百葉箱の伝説, "Hyakuyōbaku no Densetsu")
003. "Four O'clock Behind the Gym" (体育館裏4時, "Taiikukan Ura Yo-ji")
004. "Have We Met?" (どこかで会った女, "Doko ka de Atta Onna")
005. "Y·O·U·N·G Woman" (お・ね・え・さ・ん, "O Ne E Sa N")
006. "Mystery in the Club Building" (クラブ棟の怪, "Kurabutō no Kai")
007. "Black Cat by Contract" (契約黒猫, "Keiyaku Kuroneko")
008. "Afraid to Fall Asleep" (眠るのがこわい, "Nemuru no ga Kowai")
Sakura Mamiya is a high school student living with the ability to see ghosts after an event in her past where she met a shinigami in the underworld, though she does not remember this. Sakura meets a classmate named Rinne Rokudo others cannot see, leading her to suspect he is a ghost. She discovers later he is actually a shinigami of sorts, and when he is wearing his Haori of the Underworld, normal people cannot see him. Rinne helps Sakura by exorcising a ghost which has been following her around as well as the spirit of a chihuahua. Sakura's friend Rika is plagued by a ghost calling her cell phone and leaving the same angry message. Rinne tells them how if they leave a letter and offering in the weather hutch behind the school, that they will get help. Rinne takes the offering and tracks down the angry spirit, which he promptly exorcises to the afterlife with some help by their gym teacher. Sakura meets Rinne's grandmother Tamako, also a shinigami. Sakura travels into the underworld and wanders to the wheel of reincarnation. Rinne saves her before she gets on the wheel and Sakura finally remembers how Tamako was the shinigami she met in the past. Sakura learns how Rinne is actually of mixed human and shinigami heritage. Sakura takes home a hurt, black kitten which steals a meal and leads her to the old club building at school where she finds Rinne living. The black cat is named Rokumon and he forms a contract with Rinne to help him in his shinigami duties after Rinne's grandmother fired Rokumon. A second-year student at Sakura's school named Kaori Himekawa seeks help from Rinne for an ancient warrior who is haunting her dreams causing her to lose sleep over it.
011. "Songstress of the Pool" (プールの歌姫, "Pūru no Utahime")
012. "Something Lost" (無くしたもの, "Nakushita Mono")
013. "Curse" (祟, "Tatari")
014. "Duel at the Rabbit Hutch" (ウサギ小屋の対決, "Usagi Koya no Taiketsu")
015. "Spirit of No Return" (戻れない生霊, "Modorenai Ikiryō")
016. "Welcome to Hell!" (ようこそ地獄へ!, "Yōkoso Jigoku e!")
017. "Debt Hell" (借金地獄, "Shakkin Jigoku")
018. "Stream of a Thousand Winds" (千の風気流, "Sen no Kaze Kiryū")
Kaori agrees to perform a marriage ceremony with the warrior so he can pass on, but it does not work. Rinne suspects Kaori is not the warrior's reincarnated lover, and Rokumon takes Sakura to the underworld to buy a mirror where someone can see their previous incarnation in it. Kaori sees a sea turtle in the mirror, and Rinne takes the warrior around to find his real reincarnated lover, who turns out to be the current gym teacher at Sakura's school; after realizing this, the warrior promptly passes on. Sakura comes in contact with a girl named Misora Utagawa who died in the school pool but cannot remember her lingering attachment. Misora had been a popular girl in the choir club. Rinne ultimately figures out that Misora had lost her false tooth in the pool and died trying to find it; Rinne gives her another false tooth and Misora sings on last song before passing on. Sakura watches on day as a demon puts a curse on a boy's spirit named Reiji Todoriki, though he is not dead. The demon, named Masato, has an old grudge on Rinne and uses Reiji's spirit in a plan to get back at Rinne. Masato takes Reiji's soul to hell and Rinne pursues him, though in the process causing a large amount of damage to the surrounding area. However, Masato's plan backfires and he ends up paying for the damages. In the end, Reiji's soul is able to return to his body.
023. "The Price of Power" (力の代償, "Chikara no Daishō")
024. "Shinigami Scythe" (死神のカマ, "Shinigami no Kama")
025. "Lure of the Pumpkinhead" (カボチャ頭の誘惑, "Kabocha Kaburi no Yūwaku")
026. "Hall of the Damashigami" (だまし神の館, "Damashigami no Kan")
027. "Draw Me" (私を描いて, "Watashi o Kaite")
028. "Black & White" (黒と白, "Kuro to Shiro")
A transfer student, Tsubasa Jumonji, becomes a member of Sakura's class. Tsubasa had met Sakura when they were much younger and found out about her ability to see supernatural beings. Tsubasa, who had a crush on Sakura back then, asks Sakura to go out with him, but she just wants to be friends for now. Rinne helps a spirit by getting him a date with the girl he loves, though it eventually becomes a group date with Rinne, Sakura and Tsubasa also coming along to the amusement park. Everyone has fun on the date and the spirit is able to pass on peacefully. Rinne learns of a 100,000 yen bounty on an evil spirit and finds out the spirit of a little girl is in league with the evil spirit in order to attain power. In order to find the evil spirit, Rinne obtains a shinigami scythe for 5,000 yen and uses it to purify the evil spirit, which allows the little girl to pass on. The 100,000 yen reward, however, is immediately seized to pay for Rinne's debts. During the school festival, a damashigami (a shinigami that takes those who should not die to the afterlife) draws many girls to the afterlife, but Rinne follows the damashigami and defeats him. A female ghost with no face is terrorizing male art students at school, but turns out to be in fact a strong emotion which came to life. The source of the emotion is an unfinished drawing by the art club president, Suguru Egawa, of the previous president, Hitomi Egusa, and eventually he finishes the drawing with Hitomi's consent.
035. "You Don't Disapprove of That?" (イヤじゃないのか, "Iya Janai no ka")
036. "Ageha, The Shinigami" (死神鳳, "Shinigami Ageha")
037. "Sister's Whereabouts" (姉の行方, "Ane no Yukue")
038. "Bride Screening" (花嫁審査, "Hanayome Shinsa")
After Rokumon gives Rinne an afterlife strain of virus (which mortals cannot catch), damashigami come to attack Rinne. Later, Rokumon reports that Rinne's bank account is showing a negative value, followed by Rinne's father Sabato arriving to give Rinne a bunch of IOU; it was Sabato that took all of Rinne's money. Sabato, who runs an illegal damashigami company, wants Rinne to succeed him as president, and lures Rinne and his friends to the afterlife. Further, Sabato wants his son to marry one of the damashigami girls who are employed in the company. Rinne has a match with his father to decide his fate, ending ultimately in Rinne's victory with Sabato failing to get Rinne's handprint. Rinne's grandmother (and Sabato's mother) Tamako reveals herself after having dressed up as a seal to sneak in, officially ending the fight. They manage to get Rinne's money back, along with the forged bankbook and name seal Sabato used to withdraw Rinne's money. After another damashigami strikes at school, Rinne meets another shinigami named Ageha, who initially believe Rinne to be a damashigami. They defeat the damashigami and Rinne gets to keep all the reward money, as Ageha is only interested in defeating damashigami. Ageha comes to Rinne to ask for his help in tracking down her sister and he agrees after seeing a picture of her sister with his father. Ageha's sister comes to find Rinne to get him to marry Sakura and inherit the damashigami company and its debts, but Sakura says she and Rinne are just classmates.
039. "The Hot Secretary's True Identity" (美人秘書の正体, "Bijin Hisho no Shōtai")
040. "Rich Girl" (お嬢様, "Ojō-sama")
041. "Just a Simple Thanks" (あくまでお礼, "Akumade Orei")
042. "Soul Eater King" (魂食王, "Konshoku Ō")
043. "The Unopenable Bookshelves" (開かずの本棚, "Akazuno Hondana")
044. "Roses and Soy Sauce" (薔薇と醤油, "Shōbi to Shōyu")
045. "The Cursed Track Star" (呪われたエース, "Norowareta Ēsu")
046. "I Don't Want Him to Know" (知らせたくない, "Shirasetakunai")
047. "The Haunted Cedar" (おばけ杉, "Obake Sugi")
048. "Yo-Yo Memories" (ヨーヨーの思い出, "Yōyō no Omoide")
Ageha finds out her sister is romantically involved with Rinne's father and after he and Ageha's sister escape back to the underworld, Rinne and the others follow them. Ageha falls into several traps where she is tricked by damashigami into handing out large sums of money, but as she is rich, she does not mind. After Rinne saves Ageha from a demon that had a 1 million yen bounty, she begins to take a liking towards Rinne. Sakura believes Rinne and Ageha to be romantically involved, leaving Rinne to attempt to clear up the misunderstanding. Ageha makes him a large boxed lunch, but did not know the box contained an evil spirit named the Soul Eater King, which grants three wishes in exchange for a soul. Rinne sees through the evil spirit's intentions, however, and Ageha jumps in to defeat the spirit. Two bookshelves in the library will not open, because there is a dog guarding them. Rinne follows a rope on the dog to the owner, a spirit of a girl named Fumika who recently died. Fumika had written a love letter and placed it in a book the day she died. Once she recovers the letter and destroys it, she passes on. Riku Hayata is a star runner on the track team and is cursed with falling down on the track by the disembodied spirit of his senior on the team, Shu Kazami. Kazami recently sprained his ankle because of a banana peel accidentally left by Hayata on the track. Hayata's own disembodied spirit was feeling remorse for this, and Kazami's spirit was caused by Kazami being unable to tell Hayata about this; afterward, both spirits vanish. Sakura and Tsubasa visit a sacred tree at their old elementary school to dig up a power stone buried by Tsubasa years before. They find a vengeful spirit of a boy named Yota using the stone; Yota had been Sakura's classmate in elementary. Rinne destroys an evil spirit controlling Yota, who is able to retrieve Sakura's yo-yo, which Yota had stolen years before, because Sakura was more skillful with the yo-yo than him. Yota passes on after giving the yo-yo back to Sakura.
049. "The Power Stone's Curse" (聖石の呪い, "Pawā Sutōn no Noroi")
050. "The Chain of Negativity" (負の連鎖, "Fu no Rensa")
051. "Spirits" (精霊, "Seirei")
052. "The Look-Alike Ghost" (同じ顔の幽霊, "Onaji Kao no Yūrei")
053. "Love Song" (愛の歌, "Ai no Uta")
054. "The Shinigami Clerk" (記死神, "Shirushigami")
055. "Seizure" (差し押さえ, "Sashiosae")
056. "Capital" (資本金, "Shihonkin")
057. "Inside The Crate" (箱の中, "Hako no Naka")
058. "The Ring of Judgment" (裁きの輪, "Sabaki no Wa")
Masato goes to Tsubasa and gives him a book of devils so that he will use the cursed power stone to curse Rinne. Tsubasa unintentionally curses Rinne and bad things continue happening to him. Tsubasa eventually curses himself to save Rinne, and in doing so, purifies the stone with Rinne's help. Spirits come out of the stone and send Masato on his way. A ghost that looks like the student council president at Sakura's school, Yuki Naomi, goes around causing trouble. It turns out the ghost is the dead twin sister of Yuki's mother. After realizing she is dead, Ranko apologizes to Yuki (believing her to be her twin sister Rinko) and passes on. Ageha encounters a shinigami clerk, Kain, who is looking for the damashigami company run by Rinne's father. This leads Kain back to Rinne who decides to take Rinne's life to pay for his vast debt. Kain's mother had been swindled out of her money by Rinne's father. Kain takes Rinne's life flame and escapes to the underworld, where he is pursued by the others, including Rinne's spirit. Sakura finds a seal crate at Kain's mother's home addressed to Rinne. After opening it, he obtains the ring of judgment, a tool used by a shinigami that leads its owner to where an offender he or she is after. This takes Rinne and Sakura to the damashigami company and Rinne gets his life flame back.