I don’t know whether it was the two-episode break from pattern or that this was simply better, but even returning to the three mini-episode format Kyoukai no Rinne feels refreshed.  I think the addition of Otome to the cast – even in loli form – adds an interesting new dynamic.  There are lots of possible outlets for the story, both in plot and humor, that weren’t available before.  It’s not that Rinne was getting stale, but when it comes to comedy an infusion of possibility like that is never a bad thing.

Kyoukai no Rinne wastes no time in taking that new dynamic out for a test drive, as the first chapter this week features Otome in a starring role.  She decides to use the Kokkuri-san game to draw in a few spirits, in the process creating an opportunity for Rokudo-kun to earn some money.  I like this turn – even as a little girl Otome is still a mom, and now Rokudo has someone in his camp trying to improve his lot.  Otome has lured Rokumon-chan into being her minion with cat food, too, and he proves useful in the first spirit entanglement (one which ties back to the fateful day Otome-san was reincarnated).  The school puts the kibosh on the Kokkuri-san racket, but Otome seems like a resourceful type – she’s not going to sit idly by and watch her boy go hungry.

Next up we have the other parent, and as he usually does Sabato-san keeps things absurd.  He’s lifted a cursed maneki-neko piggy bank, not realizing that the curse is that he’s to be unable to release it until it’s full.  His employees are no help (labor unrest has finally kicked in) so he decided to con the students on Earth into paying off the curse, but the problem is he’s too greedy to actually put the money in the bank and get the curse lifted (or, for that matter, to keep clear of the spiritual explosion the curse causes).  Keep being you, Sabato-san…

Finally, it’s the return of Sansei, the little kuroneko-kun who’s terrified of ghosts.  After he freaks out (there are ghosts) in the storage shed and breaks stuff, Sansei is convinced that Tamako-san is furious at him and comes to Rinne-kun for help.  This is a rather sad little episode, actually – poor Sansei just wants to be forgiven – but it turns out that Tamako and the boy’s grandfather can’t see him because of the magical manju they’ve eaten (they the white, he the red).  They were a gift for “Respect for the Elderly Day” (yes, that’s a thing) but Obaa-san Tamkao was so pissed about that she tossed them in storage (where they presumably gathered dust for some time.  Ganbare, Sansei-kun – you may never beat that ghost phobia, but at least you’ll stop being invisible in two days…