Meirin Kanzaki AKA Dr. Rin
Haoyung Laila, please grant this maiden's wish.
Ask Dr. Rin! (Dr. Rin ni Kiite Mite!) is a manga by Kiyoko Arai, which ran in the shoujo magazine Ciao from 1999 to 2003. It received an anime adaptation that ran for 51 episodes from 2001 to 2002.
The plot at first follows the everyday life of Meirin Kanzaki, a 13-year-old girl with the power to predict the future using feng shui magic. In order to test her powers, she creates a Web site under the pseudonym of Dr. Rin. On that page she tries to provide fortunes to whoever happens to wander by. By the time the anime has started, the Web site has become wildly popular (so much so that it threatens to drive her father - a feng shui diviner by trade - out of business). However, the one boy who wishes that she would shut up every so often about fortunetelling, Asuka Yuuki, is Meirin's romantic obsession. The show switches constantly between being a romantic comedy and a magical girl adventure.
This series contains examples of:
- All Love Is Unrequited - Meirin follows Asuka around like a lost puppy while Tokiwa chases after her, Shinagawa makes a pass at Yue only to get dissed every episode, Shuuko can never seem to get the attention of any boy she crushes on for that episode... probably the only couple that's actually together is Meirin's parents.
- Butt-Monkey - Shinagawa and Ooimachi. Heck, Ooimachi seems to exist purely in order to do the pratfalls that even Shinagawa has too much dignity for.
- By the Power of Grayskull! - "O Shenlong, who governs my power of Feng Shui, Haoyung Laila, please grant this maiden's wish."
- Fictional Counterpart - The Ayu Hanasaki concert that Asuka took Meirin to bears a resemblance to a certain Ayumi Hamasaki, doesn't it?
- Fortune Teller - Many of the characters do this. Meirin uses feng shui, Tokiwa uses Onmyōdō, Banri uses tarot cards, and Eddy uses astrology. Meirin's father also uses feng shui, but he's not so good at his job.
- Handsome Lech - Tokiwa both during and after being possessed, apparently - during, he's a borderline rapist, and after, he's very ditzy and narcissistic
- Hero Secret Service - Asuka, Tokiwa, Banri, and Eddy are the reincarnations of (respectively) Seiryuu, Byakko, Genbu, and Suzaku, and are sent to protect Meirin, the reincarnation of their master, Haoyung Laila.
- Heroic Fire Rescue: When Tokiwa was still in his Yandere phase, one of his attempts to woo Meirin involved using his shikigami to set her school on fire while she was trapped in one of the rooms. His plan was to invoke this trope, even though he set the building on fire in the first place. Naturally, Asuka managed to show up and rescue her first.
- Love Makes You Evil - Subverted-ish? Tokiwa is evil in the beginning, and even after his Heel–Face Turn, it's still pretty apparent he likes her. It's just that the connection between the two is feigned.
- Love Martyr - Meirin's brother tosses Azusa's gifts each time and tells her that he's not interested in that. Consequently, he is only using her in order to try and obtain Meirin's powers, and freely admits it (much to Azusa's distress.) After Azusa interferes quite a bit in his plans, he goes so far as to try and kill her.
- Lucky Charms Title - No, people who write the title aren't just very emotive. The exclamation mark in "Ask Dr. Rin!" is part of the official title.
- Miko - Oddly enough, Tokiwa seems to be a rare male version of this trope because his family is in charge of the Nikumo Shrine.
- Not Blood Siblings - Meirin's brother, Kyoumi, actually tricked her and her family into thinking he was their oldest by altering all their memories.
- Pink Is for Sissies - In "Victory Is Pink Pink Pink!" Meirin finds that the soccer team's lucky item for a big game is pink underwear. Asuka does not take to this revelation well.
- The Power of Love - Since Kyoumifell in love with Meirin, he developed a soft side, which she and Azusa are able to convert him back to. Also, during the final episode, Meirin and Asuka's kiss reverses the effects of The End of the World as We Know It.
- Rope Bridge: Nanao's trial for Tokiwa in her introduction episode ends with her hiding a contract between them on the middle of a flimsy rope bridge in what appears to be the windiest section of town.
- Save the Villain - Meirin takes a critical hit from The King of Darkness, AKA Kyoumi, in order to save Azusa who he's trying to kill yet again. Of course this causes a Heel–Face Turn on Azusa's part.
- Talking Animals - Only three out of four of the main animals can talk. Nanao the kitsune, Cynthia the panda, and Takoyaki the parrot are all capable of speaking. Tenshin, Rin's pet monkey, can communicate, but only in squawks.
- Tiger Versus Dragon - Two of the people who are supposed to be Meirin's guardians, Tokiwa and Asuka, are reincarnations of Byakko the Tiger and Seiryuu the Dragon respectively. They are the two big competitors for Meirin's affections.
- Waif-Fu - Meirin's mom is stated to have previously been a pro-wrestler, with accompanying pictures that show her laying the smackdown on a man at least twice her size.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? - Or in Nanao's introductory episode, Why Did It Have To Be Dogs, Water, And Heights during her trial for Tokiwa.
