Manga Questionnaire: Kyokai no RINNE, whose main character Rinne was "born" two weeks before the serialization started

Translated by: Harley Acres

In "Manga Questionnaire," the editor in charge of a project talks about the appeal of a popular manga. This time it is Rumiko Takahashi's comedy manga Kyokai no RINNE, in which a high school student shinigami (god of death) and a high school girl help spirits reach the Wheel of Reincarnation. We asked Mr. Masayoshi Yokoyama (横山真義) of the Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan) editorial department and Mr. Shunsuke Motegi (茂木俊輔), the first editor in charge of Kyokai no RINNE and current editor of Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan), about the appeal of the manga. ^[1]

What's the appeal of this manga?

Yokoyama: This work, Kyokai no RINNE, is an "after-school requiem comedy" that describes the days of Rinne Rokudo, a poor high schooler who is also a shinigami. Along with his partner Rokumon, a black cat, and Sakura Mamiya, a classmate with the ability to see spirits, together they lead lost spirits to salvation.

The main task of Rinne and the other shinigami is to confront the spirits that remain in this world and take them to the "Wheel of Reincarnation" in order to work out their unresolved feelings and help them to reincarnate into the next life. The spirits Rinne deals with come in a wide variety, from fallen warriors from long ago and female students from the Taisho era to new gravure idols!　Rinne solves a wide variety of problems that the spirits are facing.

The secondary characters, who are also full of personality, are one of the main attractions of this work. Sabato, Rinne's father who is a suspicious and deceitful shinigami, Kain, a government official of the afterlife (a shirushigami), and Ageha, a passionate shinigami girl who is in love with Rinne, are just a few of them. Sometimes financially, sometimes romantically, they all drive Rinne into a corner!

How did the work come about?

Motegi: Having worked on Inuyasha for 12 years and with that being such a serious story, Takahashi-sensei herself said, "I think the next one will be a comedy work that can be read casually."

After that, we had many meetings about the setting and the staging, and although the general framework was formed, it seemed that Takahashi-sensei was not able to come up with a sense of the main character, which was the most important part.

At the very last minute, two weeks before the serialization was to begin, it was suggested, "wouldn't it be interesting if the main character was poor?" From that moment on, the main character's clothes, personality, and lifestyle emerged concretely in her mind, and the character "Rinne Rokudo" was born. ^[2]

I remember being very moved by the moment I witnessed the main character being born from Takahashi-sensei's mind.

Please tell us some of your happy memories as an editor and some of the not-so-happy times.

Yokoyama: The most important time is the editorial meeting with Takahashi-sensei. Every week, I speak with her about "what kind of story would be interesting to tell next...?"

I'm always delighted when she says, "That's a good idea," after hearing one word or idea that I casually mentioned. The image that came to my mind was then shaped into a story by Takahashi-sensei, and then into a manuscript. As someone who has loved reading Takahashi-sensei's works since I was a child, there is nothing more enjoyable than this.

On the other hand, there are times when she'll say "no, not quite like that," and I find myself in meetings where I am at a complete loss as to what to do and then my head would go blank and I think "what should I do?"

The other happy moment, I know this is cliche, but it's when I get to see Takahashi-sensei's name for the first time. ^[3] When I read the completed work, I laugh and tell her, "It's funny!" Then I'd get to go home with a relieved look and a smile on my face. I think moments like that are irreplaceable.

What are your future plans and what would you like to say to our readers?

Yokoyama: There are many fascinating new characters that have appeared in Kyokai no RINNE lately and the reader survey is going very well! I hope you will read it once and find your favorite character. The 10th volume, which is the latest book will be released on November 18th, and we hope you will enjoy it along with volumes 1 through 9.

Also, one of Takahashi's best-known works, Ranma 1/2, will be made into a live-action TV drama in December. To coincide with the drama, the Ranma 1/2 TV Drama Commemoration・The Best Complete Edition will be released in as two volumes. These books contain selected chapters related to the drama, and they will be the first special A5-size book with color reproductions of the color pages from the serialization. Check it out!

If you were a fan of Ranma back then, please experience not only the special book, but also the latest version of Rumiko Takahashi's world Kyokai no RINNE!

-Shonen Sunday Editorial Department Masayoshi Yokoyama

-Big Comic Spirits Editorial Department Shunsuke Motegi

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Footnotes

• [1] Shunsuke Motegi (茂木俊輔) was Takahashi's last editor on Inuyasha and her first editor on Kyokai no RINNE. Masayoshi Yokoyama (横山真義) was her third RINNE editor. You can read more from each of them on the "My Page One" interview.
• [2] Motegi addresses a good bit of this in his "My Page One" interview as well.
• [3] A "name" (ネーム/neemu) in manga parlance is a "rough sketch", a quick layout of a page which is then inked over. The images shown in the articles are not "name", rather they are the finished images that were published. However they are framed on Takahashi's personalized paper that has her famous Maison Ikkoku piyo-piyo chick emblazoned on it. This is what her pages look like when they are submitted to the the publisher.

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