New Rumiko Takahashi Manga Rin-Ne Debuts, and InuYasha Ramps Up

As promised, VIZ Media published the first chapter of Rin-Ne online on Wednesday afternoon, almost the same time that Japanese fans were able to get their first peek at the latest series from superstar manga creator Rumiko Takahashi. You can now read over 40 pages of Rin-Ne for free, online and in English at TheRumicWorld.com.

At the same time, VIZ also announced on the RumicWorld blog that they'll be ramping up their release schedule for the Inu-Yasha manga. Beginning in July with the release of InuYasha Volume 38, new volumes will be released monthly instead of quarterly. These new volumes will also be released unflipped (that is, in the original right to left reading format as it was published in Japan). In addition, new VIZBIG omnibus editions of InuYasha will debut in November 2009.

So now that the wait is over, what's Rin-Ne about, and what are the first impressions of this new series from the creator of InuYasha, Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku?

Well, first a bit about the characters and the story. The official teaser posted on the RumicWorld website says:

"When she was a child Sakura Mamiya mysteriously disappeared in the woods behind her home. She returned whole and healthy, but since then she has had the power to see ghosts. Now a teenager, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! At school, the desk next to Sakura's has been empty since the start of the school year, but one day her always-absent classmate shows up, and he’s far more than what he seems!"

And with that, we meet Sakura Mamiya, the pig-tailed high school girl (who looks vaguely like a less flirtateous Ranma from Ranma 1/2) as a child. She's in some mystical realm where she sees a giant wheel in the sky -- something that looks vaguely like Dharmachakra, which is one of the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism. After this mystical encounter, Sakura is able to see ghosts.

So when Sakura starts high school, she has to dodge the attentions of a ghostly boy who wants to go steady with her, and she sits next to a mysterious classmate with "fire-engine red hair" who may or may not be a ghost, but definitely has spiritual abilities. His name? Rin-Ne Rokudo.

This first chapter of Rin-Ne has many of the familiar elements that Takahashi-sensei's fans love about her work: likeable characters, a touch of Japanese supernatural mythology and a heaping helping of slapstick humor. There's also a quirky but plucky heroine, and a slightly grouchy but powerful hero, and in chapter 1, just a taste of the supernatural forces that will bring them together. There's also some high school hijinks, a few supernatural beings and even a chihuahua. All this is bound together by Takashi's crisp, charming, deceptively simple but always appealing artwork. There isn't much in this first chapter of Rin-Ne that'll raise eyebrows as being a radical departure from Takahashi's previous stories, but that might change as each new chapter is released weekly in the months to come.

It's also too early to say definitively whether this series is destined to be as successful and long-running as InuYasha (which wrapped up last year in Japan after 12 years and 56 volumes of the graphic novel), but it's off to a promising start. I'll be looking forward to reading each new chapter as it appears every Wednesday.

On the technical side, VIZ's website and online manga reader gets points for not choking under the pressure, and for giving almost all early readers of Rin-Ne a seamless, snafu-free reading experience. The interface and navigation is simple and intuitive, and doesn't require any special software downloads or registration process. However, for those who are reading this article outside of North America, a few fans residing in Japan reported that they were blocked from viewing this English edition of Rin-Ne.

The Comics Reporter columnist David Welsh talked with Elizabeth Kawasaki, VIZ Media's Senior Editorial Director for her take on this innovative, simultaneous Japan / U.S. online publishing venture. Here's what she had to say about how VIZ was able to shear off the usual months and years required to translate, produce and publish Japanese manga in America:

DAVID P. WELSH: How long has this been in the works? I'd imagine there were a bunch of complications beyond the usual for publishing a Japanese comic in English.

ELIZABETH KAWASAKI: Everything came together relatively quickly, in a matter of weeks. It's not overly complicated, it's just that everything has to be done at warp speed. The main challenge is translating and then replacing the Japanese text with English for each chapter within one, maybe two, days.

One interesting caveat to being able to read Rin-Ne for free online is that these chapters will not be live and available online indefinitely. As Kawasaki explained it, "The chapters will be available for a limited time for free at TheRumicWorld.com. We're still working out the schedule details."

Mike Montesa, editor for Rin-Ne also filled in more details about how quickly this new series will be translated and published in the U.S:

"VIZ Media is publishing new chapters on this website as soon as they appear in Japan, and when we have enough chapters to make a graphic novel, we’ll put them all together and get that out to you as fast as we can. Our chapters of RIN-NE go live on the very same day that Shonen Sunday goes on sale in Japan, so you’re getting them as soon as they are available!"

You can also sign up for free email alerts or add the RumicWorld blog RSS feed to your feed reader to stay on top of the latest updates to the RumicWorld site.

If you've checked out Rin-Ne already, what do you think? Are you lovin' it, or were you disappointed, or are you in "wait and see" mode? If so, why? Post your comments below!

Image credit: "Kyoukai no RIN-NE © 2009 Rumiko Takahashi / Shogakukan, © Rumiko Takahashi / 2000, 2006 Shogakukan