I have liked the mangaka's other work in the past, especially InuYasha, so I was interested in this one when I heard about it.
I was disappointed to see the art style had not been upgraded since InuYasha. It's like the mangaka is still stuck in the art style of the 80's. So the whole manga has a very 'dated' kind of look to it. But, I can tolerate this.
RIN-NE is about a boy named Rinne who is a Shinigami, a sort of death god who exorcises souls. He's dead-poor, and lives in the real world where he has to pay real money. In order to get out of his debt, he tries to be as cheap as possible when exorcising a ghost (many contraptions he chooses to use cost a lot of Yen apparently), and asks for money in return when someone requests he exorcises a ghost.
Then there's the supposedly main character, Sakura, who is nothing but a background character. She's a normal student, and she can see ghosts, this means she can see Rinne as well. She basically follows him around after this, sometimes helping in hearing sob stories from ghosts, but not doing much else.
RIN-NE is surprisingly dull. It it not a plot driven manga, definitely not. This is a 'monster-of-the-week' manga with no main plot. At least InuYasha had a main plot, aside from their random 'monster-of-the-week' battles. Anyways, you'll see some ghost bothering a person. They ask Rinne for help. Rinne hears the ghost's sob story. Rinne needs to pay for some ghost trap thing to help get the ghost to leave. Rinne tries to be cheap about it. Sakura is there too, not doing much. The random person that was bothered has an epiphany and the ghost leaves. Rinne, Sakura and all the other random characters have 0 character development.
That's basically what happens every 2 or 3 chapters. After 83 chapters, there still is no main plot. There was however, a few chapters that explained how Rinne got into debt, but this has not become a 'main plot'. It was sort of pushed to the side to be forgotten.
Oh, and did I mention there's some romance in there as well? Or at least, I think. Rinne definitely likes Sakura after a while, but Sakura, being the background character that she is, either ignores it blissfully, or is really that dense.
Rinne isn't a half-bad character, but not much to brag about.Sure his attitude towards money is fun for a while, but at least make some new jokes with it. Sakura really hurts the series. She's dull, barely there, offers nothing new, and remains to be a background character for most of the time. Gee Rumiko, were you so hung-up on writing tsunderes (Ranma 1/2 and InuYasha) that you had no clue how to write another girl personality? Well, it definitely shows. I have no problems with a more laid-back girl, but come on - she's barely even present! And if she says something, it's just so dull and uninspiring, any character could have said it.
If you liked Ranma and InuYasha, and think this manga will be great too, because it was made by the same mangaka - then please turn back now. RIN-NE is nothing like those two. It's like the mangaka lost her motivation to make a good series. RIN-NE is barely entertainment, and I like plotless mangas! Provided they have some character development that provides the continuity. RIN-NE has no character development. It's sad.