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Volume 27

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Chapters Originally Published in:
Shonen Sunday 2014 Vol. 48 - 49, 51 - 2015 Vol. 8

Kyokai no RINNE Vol 27

Chapter 259: 冥界の約束
Meikai no yakusoku

(The Hades Promise)
Kuromitsu, Matsugo's black cat by contract, comes to visit Rinne to invite him to come to Matsugo's school festival in the afterlife. Rinne immediately refuses, knowing that this is some elaborate scheme for him to flirt with Rinne and try to get closer to him. Kuromitsu denies it, saying that Matsugo is on the festival committee and will be too busy to try and bother Rinne. Ultimately Rinne decides to go and brings Sakura, Renge, Tsubasa and Rokumon along as well. As soon as they see Matsugo, Rinne immediately tells him he brought his friends to try to defuse any weirdness. Surprisingly Matsugo confirms that he'll be too busy with his class's attraction, The Hades Promise, a homemade cavern-themed haunted house that he beckons everyone to enter after explaining they've been putting it on at the school for generations. Tsubasa immediately realizes that this is his chance to get closer to Sakura and cuddle with her if she gets frightened in the dark. Anju suddenly appears and warns them that there will be no making-out in this haunted house due to the strictly enforced rules. Matsugo explains the "Orpheus Rule" based on the ancient Greek legend of Orpheus who ventured into the underworld to retrieve Eurydice. He was promised that he could take her back to the land of the living if he did not look at her until he had left the land of the dead. Unfortunately Orpheus looked back as soon as he stepped into the land of the living not realizing Eurydice was still one step behind and thus was pulled back into hell. The same rule applies in the haunted cavern, the boy must walk ahead of the girl and never look back, if he is able to reach the other side while doing this he will get a coupon for free yakisoba. Rinne and Tsubasa lead the way while Renge and Sakura walk behind them as they enter the cavern. Suddenly a spectral snake appears attempting to scare the two boys into turning around, but Tsubasa dispatches it with his sacred ashes. Unfortunately he immediately turns around to brag to Sakura and is consequently whisked away by a skeletal horseman. Seeing the goal ahead, Renge rushes past Rinne but is also spirited away because the rules state the boys must lead the way just as in the Orpheus legend. Meanwhile in the darkness Matsugo looks on, laughing evilly as he plots how he will get rid of Sakura.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2014 Vol. 48
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 1
Publication Date: October 29, 2014
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode 75: A Promise in the Underworld
Notes:
  • This issue of Shonen Sunday celebrates the 10th anniversary of Kenjiro Hata's Hayate the Combat Butler (ハヤテのごとく!). Rumiko Takahashi among all the other artists with series being published at the time provided drawings to celebrate the achievement.
  • Japanese schools from kindergarten all the way up to university have "culture festival" (文化祭/bunkasai) celebrations where students hold dance and theatrical performances, open small restaurants and hold other activities. These are open to the public and often former students of the school will visit. Typically these are held around November 3rd which is a national holiday in Japan (Culture Day).
  • "Is that a Yorishiro Doll?" - Yorishiro (依代) references an object that a spirit is drawn to dwell in.
  • Takoyaki - the octopus is cooking takoyaki (タコ焼き) which are octopus puffs.
  • Matsugo and Anju are dressed as kuroko (黒衣). These are black-clad stage hands from theatrical productions that move scenery and are meant to be understood to be invisible when they are on stage.
  • Tsubasa imagines Sakura clinging to him as they walk through the haunted house at the school festival. To the left of this image when the skeleton pops out are a series of wooden boards with writing on them. These are grave markers called "itatoba" (板塔婆) or occasionally "sotoba" (卒塔婆). We talk about this and other funerary aspects of Japanese culture shown in Takahashi's work in this video.
  • The Orpheus Rule - this is a reference to the story from Greek mythology. Orpheus' wife Eurydice was died on their wedding day. Overcome with grief Orpheus descended into the underworld and bargained with Hades and Persephone to win Eurydice back. His mournful lyre playing managed to touch Persephone who convinced Hades to allow Orpheus to take Eurydice back to the living world. However Hades made Orpheus agree that as he guided Eurydice out of the underworld he would not look at her until they were both in the land of the living. Orpheus agreed, however as soon as he set foot out of the cavern entrance he turned around, not realizing Eurydice was still a few steps behind him and technically still in the underworld. As soon as he looked at her she vanished back to the land of the dead and Orpheus failed in his rescue attempt.
  • This storyline incorporates elements of the Ranma 1/2 manga, specifically chapter 287 and chapter 288.
  • We see a paper lantern with one eye and a tongue hanging out. This is a chochin obake (提灯お化け), a haunted paper lantern. They appear often in ghost stories, prints and illustrations of haunted scenes.
  • Matsugo's laughter is written "kukukuku" (くくくく). This is considered to be "evil laughter".

  • Table of Contents
    • Q: When was a time that you were so happy you cried?
    • A: The first time I was published in Sunday.

Chapter 260: 振り向いてはいけない
Furi muite haikenai

(Don't Turn Around)
Other student's at Matsugo's school continue to fall victim to the traps set within the cavern as they are tricked into turning around and facing their female companion who must walk behind them, even the hearty couples crumble when the boy in the lead refuses to stop and help the his female friend when she gets pulled away from him. Matsugo releases phantoms to haunt Sakura and try to distract Rinne, but she remains firm and tells Rinne everything is alright. Unfortunately for Rokumon when Matsugo starts throwing food it proves to be too much for the little cat and he is swept away by a low flying pterodactyl upon turning around to get some food. Rinne still perseveres even with the loss of Rokumon, but Matsugo causes Sakura to fall into a pit and sneakily slips in behind Rinne who does not realize Sakura has fallen away as Matsugo tugs on his haori and follows in her place. Anju lowers a mirror to reveal to Rinne who is walking behind him and Rinne tosses Matsugo away with a judo throw without having to turn around. Sakura catches back up but Matsugo uses the smell of yakisoba to entice Rinne to hurry ahead, causing Sakura to trip into another pit. When he retraces his steps to find her he runs over her head and she assumes he ran off to get the yakisoba without returning to check on her. Anju asks Matsugo about Rinne disqualifying himself over turning around but Matugo has fallen asleep and not noticed what happened. Ultimately Rinne back tracks wondering if Sakura went to the goal alone but she sees him, relieved that he did not pursue the food and leave her behind. Sadly she calls out to him and Rinne, in his relief turns around, sees her, and is removed from the contest, losing just a few short steps from the goal.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2014 Vol. 49
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 2
Publication Date: November 5, 2014
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode 75: A Promise in the Underworld
Notes:
  • Kyokai no RINNE did not run in Shonen Sunday 2014 vol. 50.
  • The floating ghostly lights that loom around the characters in the cave are will-o'-the-wisps (火の玉/hi no tama).
  • One of the ghosts following Sakura that Matsugo unleashes resembles Edvard Munch's The Scream.
  • Konjac (こんにゃく/konyaku) is a plant-based jelly block often used for making candies.
  • The torii gate that Anju is on top of when she has the fishing rod with the mirror has a sign on it that says 正一位 (shouichii). This means "the highest rank given to a shrine".

  • Table of Contents
    • Q: Please tell us about a memorable experience from your student days.
    • A: We would eagerly discuss Kodai's adventures aboard the Yamato back in high school.

Chapter 261: カセットテープの悲鳴
Kasettoto teepu no himei

(Casette Tape Scream)
During annoucements over the school PA system suddenly the sound of a shriek followed by angry cries of "you idiot!" interrupt the day. At that moment at the weather hutch, Rinne receives a letter saying that something is amiss in the broadcasting room and asks him to investigate. One of the club members explains the problems first began when they found an old casette tape in the back of a shelf. The tape has the mysterious shouting they heard earlier and soon after listening to it the ghost of a young man appears. Surprisingly as soon as he sees Sakura he begs her forgiveness and runs away. Sakura wonders if the ghost they saw was a madman who attacked at girl in the booth, and when they find the ghost again he calls Sakura "Miya", a former classmate of his. It turns out that the ghost, Otobe, was a classmate of Miya who strongly resembles Sakura. She brought a tape for them to listen to but eventually Otobe accidently broadcast it over the PA system. The two were separated when one was transfered to another school leaving Otobe unable to deliever a cassette to Miya. Helping Otobe track down Miya they are shocked to find Sakura's mother. Sakura explains that her mother's name is not "Miya" but young Otobe calls her "Miyamae-san" upon seeing her, her maiden name. Reuniting the two allows Otobe to pass on.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2014 Vol. 51
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 3
Publication Date: November 19, 2014
Pages:3 (full color) 16 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode 70: Wings of Celebration / Kabakichi-kun / Scream of a Cassette Tape
Notes:
  • This week the anime for Kyokai no RINNE is announced.
  • Cassette tapes were the standard music format that preceded compact discs. They were first sold in 1963 and were developed by the Dutch company Phillips. By the 1980s CDs were becoming more commonplace and cassettes slowly began to be phased out by the 1990s. 2002/2003 are typically cited as the years that the cassette had come to the end of its lifespan.
  • The name of the band on the cassette is the "Awa Awa Club" (粟粟クラブ). The band writes their name with the kanji 粟 (which means "millet" a type of grain). The joke is that Awa Awa when written as "淡淡" actually means "uninteresting".
  • Otobe immitates Edvard Munch's The Scream when he becomes upset.
  • Otobe's name (音辺) is also humorous because the first kanji is "sound".
  • Yorishiro (依代) references an object that a spirit is drawn to dwell in.
  • We learn that Sakura's mother's maiden name was "Miyamae" (宮前). The joke here is that the second kanji means "before". So her name could be rendered as "Miya from before". The "miya" is the same as the "miya" in "Mamiya" (真宮).

  • Table of Contents
    • Q: Please tell us the first movie you saw and your impressions of it.
    • A: It was a double feature of Mothra and Wakadaisho. It was fun.
    • Webmasters' Note: Both Mothra and the first film in the Wakadaisho series, Daigaku no Wakadaishō were released in 1961.

Chapter 262: 寒い部屋
Samui heya

(The Cold Room)
Rinne helps with a case involving a freezing room that seems to never lose its chill. A young man named Tatsuya inherited his grandfather's room, but find it is always chilly, as he grandfather always liked to keep it cold. Now that he has passed away the room still remains constantly cold, even in winter time. It seems the old man's spirit still lingers and toys with the air conditioner's remote control. Rinne investigates and ultimately discovers that Tatsuya's grandfather bought a bottle of wine the year Tatsuya was born with the intention of giving it to him on his birthday. All through the years he had to keep his room cool to ensure the wine would never spoil, and he continued to watch over the bottle even after his death until he could give it to his grandson.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2014 Vol. 52
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 4
Publication Date: November 26, 2014
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: None
Notes:


  • Table of Contents
    • Q: What do you always bring with you when travelling long distances?
    • A: A paperback novel.

Chapter 263: 噛み砕く
Kamikudaku

(To Crunch)
Tsubasa unwraps some trouble when a haunted nutcracker doll comes to life and starts to terrorize his home. Despite warnings not to unwrap the gift, the nutcracker begins to run wild, crunching and chewing up everything in his path including Rinne's scythe. It seems that a couple bought the nutcracker while traveling abroad but once they realized that it was cursed they sent it to the Jumonji family to deal with. Tsubasa attempts to placate it by offering it different foods to crush in its wooden jaws, but Rinne and Rokumon who have so little can hardly stand the injustice of it all, especially when Tsubasa has no nuts for the nutcracker and offers it expensive crab instead.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2015 Vol. 1
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 5
Publication Date: December 3, 2014
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: None
Notes:


  • Table of Contents
    • Q: When is the most exciting day of the year?
    • A: When the cherry blossoms bloom.

Chapter 264: デコレーション
Decoration

(Decoration)
Rinne visits a dessert store looking hopelessly at the delicious Christmas cakes he wishes he could afford. Sakura, Miho and Rika arrive and when Miho buys a cake a strange, ghostly presense begins to loom over her. Soon the presense reveals itself to a ghost in a reindeer costume who is dead set on stealing the Chistmas cakes sold at the bakery. He snatches one from Rinne who pursues him to a children's hospital where the ghostly reindeer takes it to room, now empty, hoping to give it to a boy named Hiroto. Hiroto, it seems, is long since gone and the ghost sadly recounts working hard at the part time job in hopes of providing for the boy, who he reveals was his son. Returning to the delicatessen he realizes that his son now owns the store and after giving him the stolen cake is able to finally rest in peace.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2015 Vol. 2-3
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 6
Publication Date: December 10, 2014
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: None
Notes:
  • Christmas cards by the artists of Shonen Sunday were published in this issue. Readers could enter a lottery to win copies of them. This is a double issue so nothing was published the following week. This issue also contains Christmas card illustrations by the various authors.

  • Table of Contents
    • Q: What was the most memorable thing you got for Christmas?
    • A:Santa's shoes stuffed with candy.

Chapter 265: 鐘を撞くまで
Kane wo tsukumade

(Until the Bell Tolls)
Rinne is called to a temple on New Year's Eve, it seems the bell ringer for the ceremonial tolling of the temple bell has died and the priest being a highly-spiritual sort can see the old man's spirit lingering around the temple bell. He believes the old man must take part in the bell ringing in order to pass on into the afterlife. Rinne takes the old man's spirit back to his home to watch over him until New Year's but while Rinne is away one day Masato breaks into his apartment and finds the old man and removes the barrier seals that Rinne placed on him to ensure he did not become an evil spirit in the interim. The old man immediately changes into a massive temple bell and attacks Rinne when he returns as Masato leads him to believe that Rinne had it in for him. In truth Masato hopes to corrupt the old man and take his soul to hell. Rinne takes the old man to the temple site to try and placate his spirit but when he arrives he finds the bell is now missing. Rinne attempts to use the old man's spirit which has taken on a bell-like appearance to satisfy his need to hear the New Year's bells ringing and ultimately he saves the spirit from Masato spiriting it away to hell.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2015 Vol. 4-5
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 7
Publication Date: December 24, 2014
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: None
Notes:
  • This is a double issue meaning that Shonen Sunday was not published the following week.

  • Table of Contents
    • Q: What do you do to relax on a cold day?
    • A: Right now I don't really know. Use the kotatsu.

Chapter 266: 悪霊の遺産
Akuryou no isan

(The Evil Spirit's Legacy)
Sakura, Rika and Miho stop by a local ramen shop and upon sitting down for a bowl Sakura notices a dark force hovering around the chef. As they start to eat the spirit knocks chopsticks and other items into their food, ruining their meal. Sakura reports the strange sighting to Rinne who goes to investigate the disturbace and finds that Renge has taken a position as a waitress at the store. When he is offered a free bowl the spirit ruins it, devastating Rinne who could hardly believe he was being given something for free. Using his spirit paint ball to make the spirit visible they are surprised when the chef claims he does not recognize the spirit who insists the shop belongs to him. The spirit continues to ruin the man's business by driving away his customers until Rinne realizes he can use his somato lantern to view the spirit's memories and look for a clue there. As he watches he sees the man secreting away money in the crawlspace of an old apartment building. Rinne and Renge both dash off to find the apartment building and the fortune secreted away in the box. Upon examining the box it is discovered to be empty so Rinne must watch more of the ghost's memories and realizes the spirit spent all the money on lottory tickets at store named "Takara-Kuji" which he has mistaken for the ramen shop "Takara-Ya". With his tickets returned the ghost is able to pass on, leaving Rinne and Renge disappointed in the whole affair as usual.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2015 Vol. 6
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 8
Publication Date: January 7, 2015
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode 74: Supplemental Class for Fierce Dog Catching/ Money Spirit/ Evil Spirit's Legacy
Notes:
  • The name of the Ramen Shop is "Takara-ya" (宝や) which means "treasure". On the entry curtain (のれん/noren) it has the kanji for "noodles (麺/men).
  • The previous owner of the shop has a t-shirt that says "Raaaamen" (ら~めん) on it.
  • The ghost manages to catch Rinne's scythe between his hands. This is a play on 真剣白刃取り (shinken shirahadori) or "stopping a sword with your bare hands."

  • Table of Contents
    • Q: What is the first dream of the New Year that you would like to have?
    • A: I want to have a dream of Mount Fuji a hawk and an eggplant in real life.
    • Webmasters' Note: Hatsuyume is the first dream one has of a new calendar year. It is considered particularly auspicious to dream of mount Fuji, a hawk and an eggplant.

Chapter 267: 怪異のヒント
Kaii no hinto

(Mystery Hints)
A girl named Konomi Tsuruga comes to Annette to tell them about some problems her boyfriend Ishimatsu is having. Ishimatsu is a member of the boxing club at school. When Annette consults her crystal balls she is surprised when she sees nothing at all. Rinne and Sakura decide to go visit the boxing club and see what they can discover what is amiss. While watching Ishimatsu spar, he gets a black eye and seems to be struggling. Removing his headgear reveals a very peculiar beard on Ishimatsu's face that his girlfriend hates. Ishimatsu claims that he shaved earlier that morning, but his girlfriend flees at the sight of his weird beard. No matter how often Ishimatsu shaves the beard grows back immediately. Rinne uses one of his spirit paintballs on the presense that seems to be following Ishimatsu and reveals a hovering flame that quickly disappears. After further investigation Rinne picks up on the fact that the pair started dating at Christmas. Around that time Ishimatsu took a trip with his family and bought a little Daruma doll who Sakura immediately notices has the same sort of beard as Ishimatsu. After returning home Ishimatsu regretted the purchase and painted only a single eye of the daruma doll in before pitching it into a fire at a temple festival. The second eye is meant to be painted upon the achievement of a goal, but the doll was never able to realize it's purpose due to Ishimatsu's callous act of throwing it away. Returning to the temple Rinne discovers the daruma doll bounced out of the fire and under the temple and upon retrieving it and painting in the missing eye the doll's haunting of Ishimatsu ends.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2015 Vol. 7
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 9
Publication Date: January 14, 2015
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: None
Notes:


  • Table of Contents
    • Q: Exam season has begun! Please give me some tips on how to weather the storm.
    • A: I eat fish while drawing the chapter name.
    • Webmasters' Note: The name is the prepatory sketch for a chapter.

Chapter 268: 噂
Uwasa

(Rumors)
A rumor is going around the school that a former teacher was found dead and money that she had collected from students was hidden somewhere in the school at the time she died. Rinne investigates and eventually finds a hidden cache of money stashed away with the word "curse" written on it. The teacher's ghost returns insisting that the money is hers but Rokumon is quite protective of the little stash, finally revealing that he has been hiding his meager earnings there in order to make a nest egg for himself. The deceased teacher tries to take Rokumon's stash in order to deal with her own debts which are keeping her tied to the mortal realm, but Rokumon refuses to give up his savings. Little by little the teacher reveals how she died at the school- it seems the debt collectors arrived and when she tried to run away by slipping out a window she forgot she was hiding on the third floor and fell to her death. After recounting her story the woman finally realizes she is dead and thus free of her debts which allows her to happily pass on into the next life.

Published In:
  • Shonen Sunday 2015 Vol. 8
  • Kyokai no RINNE Tankobon Vol. 27 ch. 10
Publication Date: January 21, 2015
Pages: 18 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode 40: Recovery Cream / Rumor / Mushroom Picking
Notes:
  • Kyokai no RINNE anime airdate was announced and the first clip was shown online.
  • The spirit of the teacher says she worked at Yosono High School. Yosono (四祖野) is written with the kanji for "four ancestor fields". The name has no particular meaning but is referenced again in manga chapter 346.

  • Table of Contents
    • Q: What’s something you’re glad you did recently?
    • A: Nothing in particular.


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