Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
theroboxer
Buso Renkin is an anime that, on paper, might seem like a complete train wreck, but somehow manages to come out the other side with a certain charm. It features alchemy, monster fights, strange weapons, a passionate hero, and plenty of shonen tropes, yet instead of overwhelming the viewer, it maintains a steady pace that suggests it has a purpose.
Kazuki Muto is not a perfect hero. He’s impulsive and emotionally flawed, which makes him feel more human. This is part of why the series works. He makes mistakes, becomes angry, but keeps moving forward, fighting with his Buso Renkin as if his life depends on it, because, in this case, it does. Tokiko is the series’ backbone, cool, sharp, deadly, and she’s portrayed in a way that feels authentic rather than ornamental. She handles herself with…
Read at the sourceComet_Official
If you’re looking for something that feels like a mix of Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, then Busso Renkin is definitely worth checking out. Not ONLY does it have the same kind of quirky, ability-driven characters you see in FMAB, but it also brings in some really solid, high-energy fights that feel closer to Bleach in not only depth of story but badass-ery of the fights. I also LOVE the way it plays into the alchemy and human experimentation, which for me is pretty similar to FMAB with the homunculus.
On top of that, the fights are just straight-up fun as they have really cool weapons, unique powers, and some genuinely GREAT character dynamics! If you are looking for something with BADASS fight scenes and is reminiscent of Bleach and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood then I…
Read at the sourceJoe_Devaney
Overview:
Throughout the decades, there have been many shonen anime and manga that have become wildly popular and beloved for their intricate worlds, large and diverse casts of characters and beautifully animated fight scenes. "Buso Renkin" or "Arms Alchemy", first released in the mid-2000s, is NOT one of these. While it's by no means a bad anime, it is a very cliched and derivative one, borrowing heavily from the likes of "Fullmetal Alchemist" and "Bleach" among others, with the main thing that makes it stand out being that it doesn't take itself very seriously.
Story (6.5/10):
One night, 16-year-old Kazuki Muto has a weird dream where he dies saving a mysterious girl from a monster. As he learns later, however, said dream wasn't a dream at all- he really was killed by a monster, known a…
Read at the sourceDompa112
Buso Renkin is as much of a 7/10 shounen you get. Very standard by the book shounen that never excells in any area. Not its music. Characters. Story. Fights etc. But in the end despite my doubts halfway in what to think its still decent enough and i do think the second half was its stronger point. Theres more story and plot going on and you get some more background stuff and worthy antagonist. Its a big late though and dont get fleshed out enough, could definetly have more work and more time for it rather than wasting to much of it on the worse first part. Nog that its bad but at times watching it the enjoyment i had was more along the Gantz line ”so bad its good” with its stupid dialogue and characters. Especially papillion. But also the butterfly guy. Some of the fights and dialogue were…
Read at the sourcemissinglynx05
After reading the manga I was curious about it was adapted into an anime, and to my surprise it was. The manga gave me such nostalgic feel I had to add this 26 episode show to my watchlist. It may be alittle silly especially with anime nowadays, but as someone who enjoys classic anime (back when anime was in parts, dvds, or cable tv), this brought me back to a time where I where I genuinely enjoyed Shonen work.
When they first mentioned alchemy, I couldn't get FMA out of my head, but a great story otherwise. I really enjoyed the unique style of weapons that came into play and how they were used to defeat each opponent. They did change some scenes from the manga, but you wouldn't be able to tell unless you read it first.
Regardless I still feel like they wrapped up the show quite nicely a…
Read at the sourceResting_Bonfire
Busou Renkin
An older Shounen title, which shows most of the usual shortcomings, but has also put something individuality at the table.
This Title comes straight to the point in the first episode and explains to the audience what this story is about and what system this world follows there. It is in fact nothing too earth-shattering, but a more pleasant introduction than in some other Shounen.
I quote the description "Together they have to stop the humunculi now" - unfortunately this takes up almost the first 12 episodes of the work, in which there are almost continuous battles that devour almost the entire episodes and really do is very sluggish.
The basic idea of Busou Renkin is not bad, but it failed due to a captivating implementation. This work could have been completed in 14-16…
Read at the sourceBobSamurai
I regret watching this, and I'm here to save you time.
I watched this because the source material comes from the creator of Rurouni Kenshin and it's a far cry from what I was expecting.
Having not read the manga, I still can't help but feel this was an attempt to cash in on the alchemy craze of the early 2000s thanks to FMA. The protagonist is randomly killed and given a magical alchemical power in the first episode. He uses this power to fight enemies who want to steal more of these Buso Renkins. I've basically just spoiled the entire story for you. I find little relevance in this story that would require it to revolve around alchemy. Sure there's "alchemy" and "homunculus", but wheres the actual transforming of one object to another? they're all just empty jargons that could have bee…
Read at the source-ShadowClaw-
It was corny, a stereotypical shounen as one would expect from the early 00s and had plot holes.
Yet i loved every living shit out of it :)
Well this will give u a basic summary of the plot and there is defintly more to tell that i wont spoil:The narrative of Buso Renkin follows Kazuki Muto, who saves Tokiko Tsumura and is killed by an alchemical monster known as a homunculus. Tokiko, an alchemist warrior, feels responsible and revives him by replacing his destroyed heart with a kakugane (核鉄). The kakugane is an alchemical device which, when activated, takes a weapon form based on its user's personality, forming a buso renkin—the only thing that can destroy a homunculus. Kazuki creates his own buso renkin and joins Tokiko in the fight against the homunculi and their master, Koushaku Chou…
Read at the sourceLeonardoRJ12
If there is an anime that covers many subjects in a masterful way Busou Renkin is certainly this anime. In dealing with complex subjects about life and death, friendship, relationships, dedication and power, all these elements make a perfection combined with each character proposed for this anime. Neither of them loses the details and all the bows point to something bigger that is a golden key that offers this anime that is perfectly extracted of its manga of origin.
Tradução: Se existe um anime que aborda muitos assuntos de maneira magistral Busou Renkin certamente é este anime. Ao lidar com assuntos complexos sobre a vida e a morte, amizade, relacionamentos, dedicação e poder, todos estes elementos fazem uma perfeição combinados com cada personagem proposto para este anime. Nenhum deles…
Read at the sourceJCopZoro
Buso Renkin is a shounen battle anime that has all the aspects you will enjoy if you like the shounen battle genre. It has a heroic- high school age protagonist, a large cast of fun characters with extraordinary abilities, it has interesting villains, it will include moments of laughter and moments of tragedy, and it has epic fight scenes.
Buso Renkin is also written by the author of the highly acclaimed series, Rurouni Kenshin. Buso Renkin is an all around passable anime. It isnt particularly great in any regard, but it doesnt have any glaring flaws. There are a few aspects about it that make is refreshing compared to many of the other shounen battle anime.
The anime is 26 episodes. No filler arcs, no slow paced episodes, it doesnt require you to watch hundreds of episodes, its tells a…
Read at the sourceH4Z3
After i watched it, i really want to talk about Busou Renkin. The show is generally deemed as a thing "Similar to FMA", and i can't for the love of my god understand why. The only thing that they have in common is the fact that alchemy exist, but they handle it in very different ways.
Story: 8
Not too generic, not outstanding. As far as shonen standards go, the plot is good enough to keep you watching.
Art: 8
Considering its time, it's preety good. I don't remember particular scenes where they fked up or did something outstanding, but it keeps up with the time. Don't like Papillon artstyle doh.
Sound: 10
Ok, maybe i like the OP a lil' bit too much. Anyways, OST was preety good, even if it wasn't too large.
Character: 7
Probably the worst part of the show, basically no one receives an in d…
Read at the sourceMrLegitimacy
Remember your first anime? Me too. This was not my first anime, but it /is/ the first series I ever watched from beginning to end, and as such it holds a special place in my heart. That was my disclaimer to let you know that I'm reviewing one of my favorite series, and while I tried to mitigate it, there may still be some inherent bias found within. Busou Renkin is a fairly unimpressive production, but was the first anime that fully captivated me with its entertaining characters, exciting battles, and easygoing attitude.
Busou Renkin's animation is about par for the course for 2005. That is to say: the visuals are probably its weakest element. Some of Watsuki's character designs are fun and original, but a good few are just uninspired or bland. The animation can range from bad to pretty g…
Read at the sourceGrayRealm
Busou Renkin is a shounen anime. I don't really like shounen, and I started (and dropped) Busou Renkin in the past. Still, I recently decided to watch it again...
I would say it is pretty much Shounen done right. Characters do not throw angsty fits, do not preach mid battle, there are plenty of comedic episodes inserted into the story, and fights do not last two episodes. Animation is quite fluid, even though art style is somewhat simple. There's nice music, and the whole thing feels believable, or even touching at times. It is much, much, much better than I expected.
Detailed breakdown below:
Story - it is fairly simple/straightforward story about a school boy getting powers, meeting a companion and then fighting enemies. However what sets it apart is light-hearted handling of many scen…
Read at the sourceMistyBlue
Intro to the Review: (skip 2 paragraphs to get into the review)
After reading some of the reviews for this anime, I am somewhat surprised that many express the same thoughts: "this anime was generic as heck, but I still love the darn anime and give it an 8 or higher!"
For me, this anime should not receive anything higher than a 6 because it does not bring anything new to the table of overused concepts and cliches. Most, if not all anime, share some of the same concepts, but exceptionally good ones bring a twist to them that make it enjoyable. For this anime, not so much. However, I think those who like the anime might be due to the guy in the butterfly mask (in the anime cover picture), known as Papillon or Chouno in the anime. For more info on that, gloss over to my Character and Art po…
Read at the sourceXanWasting
This anime is shonen, first and foremost, and any and all judgement you pass upon it should be made while taking this genre into account.
People here won't behave logically.
Everyone will shout out their lame move names right before launching them.
Laws of physics apply as long as it's convenient for the story, and the next episode they go in absolute reverse.
SFX are shitty power-rangers tier ka-shangs and booms.
main characters are glorified for no reason.
no one with more screen-time than 15 minutes will die, and MC will do his worst to save lives of his enemies and other shonen shit.
all military formations in the world (including the alchemical army, which should be doing this shit on daily basis) are painfully inefficient, incompetent, and overall a bunch of SJW protesting for thei…
Read at the sourceAnimeCruizer
Spoiler Warning**
Story 6/10 :-
75% Exaggeration
5% Romance
8% Comedy + Fantasy
6% Decent non-exaggerated action moves
6% Slice of School Life I have put 75% exaggeration, because the hero's (Kazuki) power doesn't increase much at all in starting until Captain Bravo (Sakimori Mamoru) arrives and trains him. After he starts training with Bravo, Kazuki's power unreasonably skyrockets. All the anime I have seen until now will include romance , because the hero always becomes strong fastly because he wants to protect the loved one, but in this the only romance is the only part that they kiss in episode 23 end, and the part that a new male rival comes after nearly 15th episode even though he loses in winning her heart. So this is what made me give 5% romance.
8% comedy + fantasy
Some non-la…
Read at the sourceangleslam41
Read other review for the dimensional critique. I just wanted to input that this is an example of an anime where one can really enjoy the process w/o being off-putted by the objective story line (as this is not unique by any means).
Again your enjoyment of an anime is based off your personality/values and what nuances of a 'story' you enjoy most. for me this hit a lot on them right on, making it one of my top 3 at this point.
Story/Character- I really liked this because it is a good example of 'non-remarkable' protagonist who has a good nature and wants to help people. Probably what I liked most is the lead female character, I just really enjoyed the character dynamic shown throughout. Even the 'filler' content was very enjoyable.
Read at the sourceSSJR2
Man This is definitely in my list of Top 20 favorite shonen Anime. I mean I get how some newer viewers can have a jaded opinion about this anime cause they have seen a ton of similar shonen anime but if they give this a true chance they will find a great anime that had a lot of potential. This was definitely great for its time.
Story:
The story is pretty straight forward at first but takes an even more dangerous turn later on that really surprised me and helped me enjoy this more. It's not a hugely amazing story in the beginning but its one of the better stories in shonen. My only real issue with this is that i saw SO much more potential with this series if it expanded beyond just 26 eps but oh well.
Characters:
Man, there were a good amount funny, charismatic and overall interesting cha…
Read at the sourceGodlyKorean
This isn't my favorite genre of anime with all it's magic action, but because this was like the anime that made me watch anime (I think it's called a bridge anime?) I thought I'd write a short review on it. I may be biased since it brings back memories of when I first started anime, but Busou Renkin was really enjoyable for me, and I think others should give it a try. Busou Renkin is actually a show more fit for kids - teens, not so much mature adults.
Story: In the world that Busou Renkin takes place, there are monsters called homonculus, and the power of alchemy. The protagonist, Mutou Kazuki is a normal high school student whose life changes forever one night when he died (stabbed in the heart) while trying to save a mysterious girl, Tokiko from a monster (a homonculus). Feeling guilt…
Read at the sourcebeatriz_elf
It's my first time to write a review, and I really don't understand why I'm writing this, but, I just couldn't help it. I guess is because I was planning to watch some cliche shounen anime, and Busou Renkin just surprised me in a very good way.
I loved the anime! The story is not something very impressive or original, but in some way, it was very nice.
The sound... what can I say of it?? I just loved the first ending! And the opening was great, too. The second ending... well... it's hard to describe it with words, because it's very random... It left me with a weird feeling: I didn't know wether to laugh or stare at the computer dumbfounded. You'll understand me when you'll watch the anime.
I really love the main characters! Kazuki is kawaii in my opinion, and Tokiko, at the beggining, s…
Read at the source
