Buso Renkin Vol. 1 – Manga Review

When I think of Buso Renkin, I think of a few things. First, I think of Rurouni Kenshin, since the author is also Watsuki Nobuhiro. Next, I think of the butterfly glasses guy. Finally, I think of whether it’s really “Busou Renkin,” or “Buso Renkin.”

Story:
I already sorta went through this when I did my first episode impressions of the anime, but here go! Kazuki Muto wakes up from a really scary dream involving a metal tentacle stabbing him through the heart! He was trying to save a girl, but he ended up being skewered himself. The next day, Kazuki is bullied by his teacher. He’s forced to pull the weeds behind the school. Little does he know that the teacher is actually a Homunculus and wants to eat him!

Apparently, the dream that Kazuki had wasn’t really a dream. The girl who he was trying to save, Tsumura Tokiko, was actually an alchemist trying to destroy the Homunculus! After he died, Tokiko put some rare metal into Kazuki’s chest and revived him. He’s stronger, better, and faster than he was before!

The “Kakugane” that’s Kazuki’s heart replacement also allows him to use Buso Renkin, a special weapon made to fight homunculus. Together, He and Tokiko must hunt down the rest of the homunculus in the city before they start eating people! To make matters worse, Tokiko gets infected by a homunculus and has a short time before she becomes one herself! Dun dun dunnn!

Analysis:
The first few chapters play almost exactly the same as the anime. After that, there’s some stuff with Kazuki training and the two of them hunting for the remaining homunculi. I still feel the way about the manga as I do about the anime. It feels really unoriginal and maybe a bit gimmicky. Each of the homunculus are modeled after an animal or plant. This sorta gives the enemies a Megaman X feel to them.

I guess there’ll also be a subplot of romance between Kazuki and Tokiko. Already the other characters think they’re going out when they’re really just fighting monsters together. Kazuki is the typical shounen hero who tries to do too much and needs to “get stronger” to protect people.

I thought the character designs were pretty generic and slightly out of place. Like do kids in Japan still sport biker pompadours? Yes, Kazuki’s sister is cute, but Tokiko could definitely lose the giant scar on her face…

The art is actually really good. I guess it’s to be expected from Watsuki-sensei. While I think the designs for the homunculus are pretty dumb looking, they’re at least drawn really well.

Conclusion:
I really want to like Buso Renkin, considering who the author is. Right now, though, the manga feels very generic and “done already.” I’ll keep reading and see where it goes, though, since I’ve heard a lot of good things about the anime.

Thanks to Viz for the review copy of Buso Renkin Volume 1.