Buso Renkin Review (manga): Get Armed With This Quirky Title

I found my way to the Buso Renkin manga in an interesting way. A Japanese acquaintance suggested that I try the Buso Renkin anime since I was a fan of the Rurouni Kenshin manga. So I started watching episodes of Buso Renkin on the now defunct DivX Stage6 web site, and was impressed by the colorful animation, and alchemist storyline. From there, I decided to give the manga a try since it was being released domestically by Viz, and more importantly, I am a fan of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s work. After reading all ten volumes of the manga, and more of Rurouni Kenshin since then I came to a conclusion, Buso Renkin is a somewhat forgettable story. If Rurouni Kenshin was Watsuki’s grand narrative, then Buso Renkin can be thought of as a fun side adventure.

Buso Renkin‘s characters and much of its story don’t particularly stand out, especially when compared to other action series. The storyline while interesting, isn’t deep or thought provoking. The series’ greatest strength comes from the fact that the manga doesn’t take itself seriously. If humor wasn’t liberally applied throughout Buso Renkin the series would be boring at best. Instead, Watsuki carefully balances action, sci-fi, comedy and quirky characters to create a solid take on the subject of alchemy.

One night the life of Kazuki Muto, a 16 year-old high school student changes forever. While trying to save a mysterious teenage girl from a large snake-like monster he is instead killed. His misguided, but selfless act intrigues the girl and she revives him with a device created from alchemy known as a kakugane. Because his heart was completely destroyed the kakugane takes its place. Kazuki then forgets most of the incident and believes it is a dream, until he’s attacked by the same giant snake monster the next day. The monster itself is actually a beast created from alchemy known as a homunculus.

The girl gives Kazuki permission to use the kakugane to fight back, and just as he is devoured whole, he finds his fighting spirit. The kakugane then transforms into a weapon known as a buso renkin or “arms alchemy.” As he bursts free from the body of the homunculus the girl shows up on the scene to finish it off with her own buso renkin. From here on she reveals herself as Tokiko Tsumura, an alchemist warrior from an organization later known as the Alchemist Army charged with dispatching homunculi worldwide. 

Tokiko divulges that beyond public knowledge of alchemy as a failed science,  two types of alchemy actually succeeded. The buso renkin weapons and the monsters known as homunculi. Buso renkin are transformed from kakugane using the fighting instincts of a person to create a unique weapon with a unique special ability. Buso renkin can take the form of anything, even animals all with their own special abilities. Homunculi are immortal monsters created by humans that disguise themselves as humans in order to feed on people. The core of a homunculus is created from base cells (usually an animal), which the fully developed homunculus transforms into while fighting or feeding on people.

Kazuki and Tokiko take on a special bird-type homunculus with their buso renkin. This guy was originally a wild hawk but was transformed with the power of alchemy.

The plot deepens as Kazuki is inducted into the Alchemist Army by Tokiko’s superior officer, Warrior Chief Captain Bravo. Their goal is to stop a special organization of human-type homunculi (these kinds of homunculi retain their human selves but have supernatural strength and the ability to use a buso renkin) known as L.X.E. or League of Extraordinary Elects. The leader of the L.X.E., Dr. Butterfly, plans to revive a turncoat alchemist warrior, named Victor, who struck a deal with the homunculus one hundred years earlier. As Victor is ultimately revived, Kazuki discovers that the kakugane implanted in his chest leaves him with more in common with the warrior traitor than he could have ever imagined.

Warrior Traitor Victor easily stops Kazuki’s lance buso renkin. There’s more to Victor’s story than meets the eye.

On a very superficial level Buso Renkin may seem to have a lot in common with Fullmetal Alchemist. Both stories involve the use of alchemy for both good and evil, and even use terms such as “homunculus” and “Philosopher’s Stone” at some point. Terminology aside, this series has nothing in common with Hiromu Arakawa’s work. Both Arakawa and Watsuki use the idea of alchemy very differently. Arakawa’s work focuses on greed, equality and sin told through alchemy and “equivalent exchange” while Watsuki tells a light-hearted story of first love, hope and learning from past mistakes. Anyone who would write Buso Renkin off as some type of FMA clone would be sorely mistaken.

Watsuki is a long-time manga artist and his artwork is top notch. He is a big fan of Marvel comics which influences his work from time to time. He uses a variety of styles, including a gorgeous sumi-e style for some of the battle scenes. The fight scenes are really where his work shines when it comes to action, facial expressions and body language. The intricate details of mechanical objects such as the buso renkin in mid-transformation and the homunculi themselves are pretty amazing. In short, the artwork does a fantastic job of bringing the story to life. The details found in this black and white manga often run circles around much of what is found in heavily photoshopped Western comics today. Less really is more. The only qualms I had with Watsuki’s work are the censorship mosaic blurs, they sometimes made the depicted violence seem worse than it really might have been.

For fans of Watsuki’s work, especially Rurouni Kenshin fans, there are lots of references sprinkled throughout Buso Renkin. Even some of the characters are directly inspired by Watsuki’s other works, with Tokiko being sort of a female Himura Kenshin and Kazuki being a male Misao Harumachi. Watsuki also leaves a lot of notes about the most of the characters, their weapons, and who they’re modeled after. He also includes his though processes in creating the story, which more manga artists really should do.

In terms of character development there isn’t much growth among many of the characters. Kazuki becomes stronger, but in the end he is static character. He is a very likable character, and his willingness to help others combined with his optimistic outlook changes others around him. Tokiko, previous a loner and a fierce warrior, ends up falling in love with Kazuki and opens up her heart to him. Though she never loses her vicious edge when fighting. Papillion Mask, or Koushaku Chouno, is a very selfish man, who thinks nothing of using others to satisfy his own needs. When he is defeated by Kazuki, he sees the optimistic 16 year-
old as a rival and strives to become stronger to defeat him, becoming less selfish in the process.

Koushaku Chouno is probably one of Buso Renkin‘s most unique characters. Chouno is actually a foil to Kazuki which works out well for the series. When introduced he is a genius who is afflicted with a terminal illness and wants to become a humanoid homunculus in order to live. To make his dream come true he sacrifices the lives of others, only caring about himself. When confronted by Kazuki, Chouno sees a hypocrite who was revived by alchemy while telling him not to become a homunculus. Their meeting leaves an impression on the evil genius. Chouno  then attempts to kill the young alchemist warrior as a newly transformed homunculus but is instead killed. When revived by Dr. Butterfly (who is also his great grandfather), he is grateful to Kazuki for killing the once weak human that he was, and now sees him as a worthy rival. That line of thinking ensures that Chouno is loyal to Kazuki, and the two help each other grow.

Chouno while still human and quite frail.

After Chouno’s transformation he goes from being a resentful person, to a very quirky and flamboyant villain. He is flashy, unafraid of death (having died once already), and all around amusing. His fashion sense is probably more notable than his personality change, as he enjoys running around in a butterfly themed leotard and a butterfly mask. His fashion sense is enough to make anyone blanch at times, but that is part his demented charm.

Chouno as Papillion Mask Tokiko’s reaction is very fitting.

Captain Bravo is another notable character. He serves as a mentor and older brother figure to Kazuki and Tokiko. Bravo is a strong warrior, but is also kind and playful. His personality works well with Kazuki’s as the two of them first become great friends, and then rivals later on in the series. His fashion sense, like Papillion Mask’s is outlandish, with his long silver  jacket, long boots, gloves and cowboy style hat. He also has the habit of saying “bravo” frequently and keeps his real name secret, initially claiming that it was cooler that way. If all of the frequent characters were as interesting as Papillion Mask and Captain Bravo, the series would have been one to remember on the strength of quirky characters alone.

Kazuki and Captain Bravo at the beach. Buso Renkin is packed with silly moments like these.

Despite the interesting storyline and characters, Buso Renkin is a series that doesn’t really ascend to greatness. Don’t get me wrong, the series is good, but not great. If you loved or hated Rurouni Kenshin, you still might enjoy Buso Renkin. It is obscured by other works within its genre such as BLEACH and Fullmetal Alchemist, but it is still worth a read for anyone looking for a short and action packed story between longer series.