Kyoukai no Rinne 3rd Season

Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most famous and wealthy female mangaka in Japan, authoring such classic and well known series (even to those in the west) such as Inuyasha, Ranma1/2, Urusei Yatsura, and ect. However, one pitfall she is often guilty of falling in to, and one that Kyoukai no Rinne here is not exempt from, is STAGNATION.

Now you can have the best concept for a story in the world, but if you don't progress your plot forward or develop your characters, you're going to run yourself into a bit of a rut. Kyoukai no Rinne, as with a lot of Takahashi's other series, ... start out pretty decently with an alright premise and a colorful and interesting cast of characters. However, Kyoukai no Rinne season 3 is where this series reaches its full Takahashi-brand of stagnation.

KnR may even be worse off than a series like Inuyasha because it's entirely focused on comedy slice of life. There's not really a plot or endgame here to drive the characters forward or develop the world. And because there isn't one, the only thing that CAN drive a comedy slice of life series forward is its characters. But unfortunatley by this point, all the characters in this once-charming cast have been dumbed down and reduced to one-note archetypes, mouth pieces that just exist to drop exposition or lame jokes, and mere shadows of their former selves--which is a danger many writers put themselves into when their cast expands to this extent. None of the characters in this series grow, change or develop no matter how many episodes go by, and nothing is made interesting and compelling when everything returns to the status quo by the end of EVERY (yes, every) episode. And all the interesting and unique traits that these characters used to have have now either been lost or clumsily stripped away.

Take Juumonji Tsubasa for example. He starts the series out as a regular human who can see spirits like Mamiya Sakura. Unlike her however he comes from a family of exorcists and spiritual mediums. He also has a crush on Sakura and rivalry with Rinne. In season 3 he has been reduced to "HOLY ASH ATTACK!" and exposition man. Nothing more. His crush on Sakura and rivalry with Rinne has only been brought up TWICE in all 25 episodes of this season, and potentially interetsing things about his family background and experiences are never explored.

And at this point, every character in this series has become like him: watered down, uninteresting and flat. Basically everyone in this series can be described in one or two character traits at most. Ageha is just a shallow, angry, rich girl (her crush on Rinne, jealously for Sakura, relationship with her Black Cat Oboro, relationship with her sister, or her life as a rich and pampered youth are either hardly brought up or never explored), Shirushigami Kain's sole role at this point just seems to be to tick Rinne off and make him angry (the specifics of his homelife, the loss of his money by Rinne's father, relationship with his Black Cat Suzu, and things about his mother aren't even touched upon) Matsugo exists SOLEY to have a really creepy obsessive crush on Rinne which is played only for laughs and nothing more, while the debateably best designed female character in this series--Anju--only exists to have a crush on HIM. And it goes on and on for every character.
When a character enters a scene in this show you know EXACTLY what they're going to do and EXACTLY what is going to happen, because it's the exact same thing that happens every time they are in a scene.

Another pitfall Rumiko Takahashi often falls into is reusing and recycling jokes and troupes to the point where beating a dead horse seems like too weak an analogy for it. Every time Rinne's father Sabato shows up, does he have to get hit on the head with Rinne's scythe? Every time Juumonji shows up does he have to throw holy ash at things? Does Rinne's grandmother Tamako really have to grind her knuckles on Rinne's head every time he accidentally calls her 'grandma' (an aside, even if the characters point out that the joke is becoming trite, it doesn't make the joke any less trite) How many episodes are we going to get which center around Rinne coming into sudden, unexpected monetary wealth, only to have it cruely stripped away from him in the end and have him return to a poor breadcrumb eating Shinigami?

Now despite how I'm ragging on it, this season isn't all bad. There are a small handful of fun episodes and pretty funny jokes scattered throughout if you're patient and can endure waiting for them (also, if you're reading this you may as well watch the last episode of this season, because it was pretty good as a send off for this series). However, if you're someone like me who found the series charming in its inception and even if it got dumb sometimes, you couldn't help but enjoy it, this season still might be a good place to cut your losses and just stop watching.

This season is incredibly fillery with the majority of episodes consisting of 2-3 self contained mini SOL stories, some involving ghosts around the school or the town, or others involving shenanigans in the spirit world. However, as I said before, with flat, lifeless characters experienging these things, there's nothing interesting, fun or compelling about any of these stories, especially when you know everything is just going to go back to the way it was by the end, and that nothing is going to change, develop or grow.

Unless you're a super diehard fan of Rumiko Takahashi or this series, feel free to give it a miss or assume the series ended at season 2. sidenote: it makes things infinitley worse that more than half of this series was simulcasted and subbed by Anime Network Online, who love outdated ugly yellow fonted hard subs and insultingly poor translations. If Rinne is calling his mother ofukuro, you guys know you CAN translate that as just "mother" instead of just leaving it as ofukuro right?

I believe this series is very misunderstood, and this is a problem which permeates all of Rumiko Takahashi's works. You don't get to be one of the richest mangaka without having actual worth in your work. People come into this show expecting a action-shonen style of storytelling, but the truth is the show is a character driven daily rom-com gag type show ala, Urusei Yatsura or Ranma. The plot will always take a back seat in Takahashi's work, since they often boil down to short stories with a loose connecting narrative normally based around the love triangles and premises that Takahashi sets ... up.

As long as one understands the format, and understands that the show should probably be watched in moderation given that is was designed as a weekly gag comic, unless you really love Rumic humour such as myself.

The characters are what drive her works, they feature a certain type of character design philosophy where in one can probably predict their reactions in the variety of situations they are placed in. The strength of this is that it allows the situation to define the comedy, and the viewer not to be alienated if they had missed something over the long periods her shows/manga stay in publication. Rinne is poor,cheap and has a weakness for money but is ultimately a good guy who deeply cares for his friends and particularly Sakura. Sabato is a scumbag, Tamako is best oneesan, Sakura is unfazed, Jumonji throws holy ash, Riko and Miho run away scared, etc. The characters are predictable so that they can be placed in situations and you know where they are going.

Some people don't like this style, leading to the many comments of repetitive gags, and this is understandable but I'd imagine much of the sub 7 ratings come strait from this core since the modern anime community tends to favour stories which take themselves more seriously or shows that focus heavily on selling the waifu aspect. But if your complaining about the pacing, this is one of the better adaptations of Takahashi's work given that they started it well into the mangas run, it doesn't end up bloated like Inuyasha.

Takahashi's art style shines trough, and is honestly a blast from the past which really shows up in how the bangs pop out on the side. She was always ahead of her time however so it feels like a great mix of new and old. Her work is widely influential on the "Anime" aesthetic and it really allows her work to easily move into more modern decades than many of her contemporaries. The animation is mostly on point with some drops here or there, but don't expect any sakuga here. The show overall looks refreshing and the colour choices really pop, even if the animation is limited.

Overall this show reminds me of why I have such fond memories for Takahashi's other works, and has given me many new fond memories. It allowed me to realize that she is a short story writer (especially apparent in season 3 where most episodes have 3 different stories) and this has greatly improved my view on the pacing in her earlier works. Suzu the Black Cat is one of the strongest Cat-girl designs I have ever seen, and Tamako the Shinigami has captured my adoration. It's too bad that many can't see the value in Takahashi's style of storytelling however...

This show is a must watch for Rumic fans and a highly recommended pick me up if you need a simple comedy to watch every now and then.

(NOTE: This review applies to all seasons and will be posted on season 3)

If you are expecting ANY STORY development forget it, not even in the manga something will happen. So if you are just looking for a good laugh for one episode then this is the anime for you.
However, this was not for me...
This is the same as the other seasons, with more characters. So enjoy:
Rinne is a boy of mixed human and shinigami heritage residing in the human world
Sakura was spirited away as a little girl, but comes back with Tamako's help, and gains the ability to see ghosts and spiritual beings.
You will meet Rinne mother and a lady with a crystal ball.