4/5 The essence of alchemy
  by E. A Solinas (MD USA)
So after Nobuhiro Watsuki's megahit action series set in 19th-century Japan, just what would one expect of his next series?

Well, I don't know what was expected. But it turns out to be the lighter-hearted love child of "Bleach" and "Fullmetal Alchemist" -- "Buso Renkin," a fast-paced action-comedy with some darker moments sprinkled throughout the first half of the series. "Buso Renkin Set 1" does a good job introducing the hero to this weird new world, his new powers, and lots of vaguely cybernetic homunculoi.

Schoolboy Kazuki Muto has a nightmare about trying to rescue a mysterious girl, and being killed by a monster. The next day he thinks nothing more of it.... until he gets a text message telling him to enjoy his new life.

But then a surly teacher turns into a mechanical cobra and attacks him -- and Kazuki ends up trying to defend himself and his innocent sister. Turns out an alchemical device called a kakugane has replaced his heart, and it also gives him a megasized sword called a Buso Renkin. And the mystery girl he tried to rescue -- Tokiko Tsumura -- saves him once again, then reveals that there is a massive battle going on between the monstrous homunculi and the Alchemist warriors.

Though Tokiko orders him to stay out of her battles, Kazuki believes that his power means he must fight and protect the humans around him. But they're confronted by a mysterious masked boy, who is the master of the homunculi -- and even worse, he infects Tokiko with a homunculus embryo that will shortly turn her into a monster. Kazuki is determined to stop the Papillon Mask and get the antidote for Tokiko... but he may have to sacrifice his principles to do it.

And the war isn't over yet. Kazuki's nemesis isn't quite as dead as he expected, and a secret homunculus organization called the LXE is planning a coup -- and they've sent a pair of familiars in with Buso Renkin, to stop or kill Tokiko and Kazuki. And the LXE's ultimate weapon is unveiled in a vast battle at the school...

"Buso Renkin" is somewhat derivative from other action/fantasy anime out there (especially "Bleach" at first), but somehow that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. It's sort of one-third fantasy story, one third blood-spattered action and battles, and one third school-based romantic comedy -- and despite some dark and gruesome moments, the overall message is an uplifting one. Specifically: gain strength from friendship, and try to keep as many people as possible from being hurt.

Along the way there's lots of alchemical action scene, big powerful homunculi (who are metal, for some reason), high-intensity action scenes, usually with loads of flying blades, blood and bolts of energy. And there are some really dark, often gruesome moments sprinkled in as well, such as the story of Shusui and Ouka being trapped with a rotting corpse. But there's also plenty of comic relief sprinkled through the stories ("We have to give my lance a REALLY cool name!"), and more than a hint of romance.

One small warning: The climactic battle between the LXE forces and the Alchemist Warriors (plus Kazuki's wacky pals) takes a rather shocking twist, which definitely counts as a cliffhanger. It quite literally changes everything.

Kazuki is a particularly fun character -- he's an ordinary kid whose spacey, somewhat dramatic personality ("I'll avenge my death, dangit!") hides his true strength and courage. He's just an all-around good guy, with a pure heart. Tokiko is a bit harder to warm up to, since she's tough and fairly hard-nosed, but she's a solid girl-warrior with plenty of guts and personality -- and it's clear that Kazuki's enthusiasm is warming her up.

The supporting cast is pretty likable as well, especially the larger-than-life, hyper-trained Captain Bravo, and the masked Papillon (who turns from a sickly invalid to a campy archrival). The tragic twins Shusui and Ouka bring a darker shade, turning friendship to emnity; and the kooky trio of Kazuki's friends and his flaky younger sister provide plenty of comic relief, but they also serve as solid backup whenever something goes wrong.

"Buso Renkin Set 1" is a thoroughly solid, action-packed little anime series, with a likably sunny hero and plenty of imposing homunculi. And the story ain't over yet...

5/5 First Class anime from the creator of Rurouni Kenshin
  by J. Snook (Wales)
Kazuki Muto is an everyday high school teenager who leads a perfectly normal life...that is until he has a strange dream in which he is killed by a creature known as a homunculus while trying to save a beautiful girls life. After waking up, Kazuki is later shocked to find out that the nightmare was in fact real and the girl he had tried to rescue was an alchemist warrior named Tokiko Tsumura. By replacing his pierced heart with a Kakugane (a supernatural alloy that transforms fighting instinct into a physical weapon called a Buso Renkin) Kazuki was revived from death and given a new life as an alchemist warrior. Alchemist warriors are all equipped with Kakugane which gives each of them a unique weapon that they use to fight against the homunculi. Kazukis' is a huge lance called Sunlight heart, and Tokiko's is a series of spider like blades attached to her thighs.

Kazuki, now aware of the existence of the power within him vows to protect his friends and his sister and join forces with the alchemist warriors in their battle against the homunculi and their creator; the sinister, yet eccentric Papillion.
This DVD set contains 3 discs which contains the first 13 episodes and what we get is a fun anime series that follows Kazuki's quest to destroys all the evil human eating homunculi, and protect the people who are close to him, while trying to harness the immense power of his Buso Renkin.
Your first instinct when watching this could be to notice the similarities between Buso Renkin and fellow shonen (boys) anime Bleach. With the spiky haired teenager recieving a supernatural power from a mysterious female, and therefore joining forces to protect the people he cares about from the bad guys. However, this series, though not incredibly original is still an entertaining and enjoyable series in it's own respect.

The action sequences were pretty impressive in this anime, with real time fight scenes accompanied by smooth animation. The artwork in this series is mainly quite bright and colourful which will definetly appease those looking for aesthetic qualities in anime. It looks particularly impressive in the fight scenes when rays of light are reflected off the weapons, this just displays how much attention to detail is on show here.
I was surprised at how much humour was in this series; pretty much every episode has something to laugh out loud about thanks to some truly excellent characters. Like Kazuki's ditsy younger sister and her hyper-active silliness, or fellow classmate Okakura who is just totally nuts (watch and you'll see why) as well as the hilariously camp Papillion who for some reason seems to spends a lot of the time prancing around in his underwear...
I've only watched the english dub for this anime and I must say that it is quite good. Some good voice actors here are Steve Staley (Heat Guy J, Naruto, Tenjho Tenge), Yuri Lowenthal (Naruto, Afro Samurai) and Kyle Herbert (DBZ, Naruto). The music is also especially good, with some genuinely catchy tunes along with one of the best opening songs I have heard for an anime.

When it comes to shonen anime, Buso Renkin ticks all the boxes. It contains plenty of action, blood, big weapons, interesting villains, great characters and loads of humour. Buso Renkin is an easy going and entertaining anime that can be enjoyed by most anime fans of all ages as well as newcomers to the genre and with a great cliffhanger at the end of this set, the second and final part of this series should be something to look out for.


5/5 An Exciting Anime Well Worth Getting
  by Rich (CA)
This series comes in two box sets and I'm happy to finally have gotten both
to this entertaining series. The short storyline is there is a war between Homunculus(Human Beings or animals transformed into a sort of higher evolutionary state) and Alchemist warriors who's purpose is to destroy the Homunculus. The reason for that is Homunculus feel an irresistible urge to eat humans as food. The story begins with Kazuki being thrust into the war when he gets killed while trying to save another person who turns out to be a alchemist warrior by the name of Tokiko. If you have seen Full Metal Alchemist you'll see some similarities between the two shows. There are comedic parts in the series so it's not all drama or action which I truly liked that they did. Also you'll have a little romantic subplot between two of the characters which is entertaining to see as you watch their romantic funny scenes. The ending to the series for me was also good it doesn't leave to much confusion or open endings which is sometimes annoying. So if your a fan of Bleach or Naruto I'd say this is another series worth getting for the collection..

5/5 A Memorable Shonen Jump...
  by Carol Nichols (USA)
Okay, so we've got another anime based on a(popular)manga, and we look at the cover and see 3 main characters with expression. What do we think: Hmm, sounds like something I've seen before... EHHH WRONG!

I saw this manga last Dec. and chaecked out all 9 volumes after reading the 1st one. Not bad, violence, a non-cliche element(kakugane), and a stereotypical protagonist. My impression: what's gonna happen?? I quickly finished the manga and came to the conclusion, that it was a trip!

I saw a trailer to the anime during the Bleach movie in theatres, and was in awe. I earned enough money and bought it.

Now what makes Buso Renkin, Buso Renkin? First off is Tokiko, the first "real" female protagonist. A hot-blooded, reserved, and lethal warrior that could make men cry. Then we have the third main character who, in my opinion, is one of the most unique characters! Papillon is a puzzle. You never know which side he's on, he's contrary, yet has honor that is so... heroic. He has the most isses, but expresses them with sex appeal and wit.

The plot is not it's cornerstone, rather it is a mirror: guy saves girl;cliche, girl fakes and is "very" tough;non-cliche, first fights hard;non cliche, first villain respects hero;both. To put it simply this anime merges a traditional shonen plot with it's alluring jewels.

Now what are we looking at here; a combo of Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist. A little supernatural and alchemy, interesting. A very good point I didn't mention earlier is that the nature of the show is quite unstable. Some points are very mature: ep 9 and 10, other moments are comedic and suit the show well.

The bad points of the show(yes there are), are a few. The first and obvious is Kazuki, an easy-going guy who is purpetually obliged to assist in the extermination of homunculi. Now what is so wrong about Kazuki is his morale. Where does a 16-year old get enough balls to use his new life to fight evil?! But we seem to forget the first 14 seconds of the show: he died once. Psychologically that might make him more courageous.

To sum it all up, Buso Renkin is a jumble of genres and uniqueness/cliches. What drew me to the series was to look at it for what it was: A great exerpt of a Shonen Jump! Created by the mangaka of Rurouni Kenshin, this show was intended for the left over energy left behind. A perfect show? No. But it's the start of a ride that saves you time and money on the other long-running Shonen Jump series.(Naruto, Bleach, One Piece). Buso Renkin is worth watching in both audios, and has the spirit of a classic, with the body of a fused cliches.

4/5 Fun and memorable.
  by Michiru (New Mexico)
Buso Renkin starts with a good ol' good-guy-vs-bad-guy yarn, and a lot of the characters (such as the heroic Kazuki, his kind and cheerful sister and his bumbling friends) and plot points (Kazuki is introduced and inducted into a whole league of heroes, which he inevitably betters with his rule-breaking) follow storylines we've seen before. I should point out that it does that well, in an entertaining, exciting, and funny way.

However, Buso Renkin also has some very original ideas inserted in the more traditional action story that bring it to life. It never hesitates to break realism and go way, way over the top either to make a dramatic point or form a unique character.

Many of the characters, for example, are obviously charicatures. Our primary anti-hero, Pappillion, is very tragic in that he's terminally ill and unloved by his family (in fact, the series' creator said that he'd formed the character from his own feelings of isolation in high school), but his outrageous clothing choices (anything thong-like with butterflies) and "I-can't-believe-he-said-that!" rude comments are often hilarious. And he's not the only one that makes you do a double take: we have a hero who covers his face because he thinks it looks cool; a villain with a butterfly mustache in yellow spandex; a Hawaiian-shirted romantic with an aversion to shaking hands; and a deeply scarred woman with all the social skills of a garden slug. Realistic or not, I loved them and recognized bits and pieces of them in people I know. Just watching them bounce off of each other in dialogue scenes made the box set worth the buy.

However, I do agree with some criticisms already written in other reviews. You will recognize some fight scenes and situations from a lot of other shounen manga, certain episodes are rushed, and sadly, a lot of very funny scenes from the manga didn't translate well to screen. Still, I think the anime is easily worth four stars for an engaging story, smooth animation, great acting, and a plot with something for everyone (action, romance, slice-of-life, humor: it's all there). Above all things, Buso Renkin is unapologetically fun.

Manga fans take note: There are some significant story differences in the last half-dozen episodes of the anime, so it's worth watching even if you know the manga story.