Kyōkai no Rinne

Episode 15

This will be my final episode review for Kyōkai no Rinne. However, I have a good feeling that this review will be interchangeable with the reviews I would have given for all the episodes to come. Like every episode since Ageha was introduced, this half hour focused on Sakura believing that Rinne and Ageha are in a relationship, and the increasingly repetitive circumstances that keep Rinne from being able to explain otherwise.

Ageha and Sakura like Rinne, though only the former will admit it. Rinne and Tsubasa like Sakura, though only the latter will admit it. Every single interaction now hinges on these two points, leaving the supernatural elements of the show to serve as a mere backdrop. For example, the baddie of this show is an evil spirit inhabiting the boxed lunch that Ageha makes to express her feelings to Rinne. (Despite the misunderstandings it will cause with Sakura, Rinne is far too cheap to resist a free lunch.) Meanwhile, Tsubasa has decided to play matchmaker, knowing that if Rinne and Ageha are paired off, he'll have Sakura to himself.

These single-minded motivations inspire every action taken by every character, making plots predictable and repetitive. For several episodes now, Rinne has been attempting to explain his non-relationship with Ageha to Sakura, and each time they are interrupted by one of Ageha's unmistakable romantic overtures. Repetition is a key part of Kyōkai no Rinne's humor, but it falls flat in cases like these, when the scenario doesn't raise the stakes every time. By the end, as Rinne fails for the third time in 30 minutes to explain himself to Sakura, I felt like I'd watched the same episode three times.

It's a shame that the supernatural subplot was such a minor part of this episode, because it was genuinely funny. The monster this time around was an evil cocktail weenie who grants three wishes in exchange for your soul. When Sakura asked, “Rokudou-kun, is that the sausage fairy?” I snorted. As usual, the English translation was very clever, especially with Rinne's use of “meatspace” as a pun for this plane of reality. However, there were many indications that this was a secondary plot to Rinne and Sakura's idiotic inability to say “I like you.” For example, Ageha kills the wiener before it can possess a lovelorn girl near the end. Normally in Kyōkai no Rinne, a possessed teen is merely the halfway point before it's time to exorcise the evil spirit.

But no, this episode ditches its strongest plot elements to focus on our four dumb protagonists. Rinne can't admit to Sakura that he likes her, Sakura can't admit to herself that she likes Rinne, Ageha hasn't quite realized that she's a third wheel, and Tsubasa still thinks he has a chance. In the end, none of this ever gets resolved, and this is where I take my leave. Best case scenario: after this, everyone comes clean with their feelings, the pieces fall where they may, and they all go off to exorcise ridiculous demons. Worst case: the love quadrangle turns into a love pentagon (I mean, there's still a character in the new OP that hasn't been introduced). Kyōkai no Rinne is a show with light, fun humor that's gotten too mired in buried feelings. I know how I'd like to see it improve, but I won't be holding my breath.

Rating: C+

Kyōkai no Rinne is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.