Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2006-10-04
Age rating: ???
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Shounen, Supernatural
Animation Production: Xebec
Source: Anime News Network
The Good: Animation looks fine when it counts.
The Bad: Stupid plot.
Status: Dropped
My impressions and review:
Back when the Fall 2006 anime rush started flooding me and I couldn’t decide what to watch, Busou Renkin looked promising based on what a lot of people were saying. They were comparing it to Full Metal Alchemist, and how it would reinvent Full Metal Alchemist. I kept it high on my list of shows I would try out and I just got around to actually watching it.
Well… Busou Renkin sucks. Don’t believe the hype, and whoever’s been watching this train-wreck all this time and telling people to watch it is evil. How can you watch an anime that obviously has no plot cohesion or framework. The first episode is terrible to say the least. The second one got even worse, and I’m pretty sure it continues downhill from there.
The plot, for those who care, goes a little like this: A random school student named Kazuki Muto is killed when he’s involved in a fight between a Homunculus (artificial humans similar to Full Metal Alchemist) and a Busou Renkin user named Tokiko. He wakes up alive the next day though, because this person gave him an artificial heart made of alchemy. That same day Muto is attacked by the same Homunculus that killed him the day before but Tokiko saves him again. This time he realizes that what he dreamed of was real. A situation puts Muto back at the helm of battle with another Homunculus, only that he somehow awakens his own Busou Renkin which is a large spear of some kind. So just like that Muto joins with Tokiko in the fight against the Homunculi and he defends his classmates and his sister. Mixing a little bit of stale humor and uninteresting character designs, the show is a “Homunculus of the week” formula that fails at existing in the wake of Full Metal Alchemist’s legacy.
Worse yet, the art is fairly generic, so bundled with the dumb plot it just makes a disaster. There’s almost nothing I can credit Busou Renkin for other than some clean animation sequences here and there.
No matter how many people tell you that Busou Renkin is awesome, don’t believe them. If you want to watch a good anime with alchemy go watch Full Metal Alchemist instead.
LOL I think you missed the point. It’s note really supposed to be an a generic shounen series. It sort of makes fun of the very formula, or at least that’s what I read from the early episodes.
When compared to FMA, it does look lackluster… but that is pretty much the only reason why people don’t like it. Coz they keep comparing it with their own perception of what an anime should be.
It has even been called a Bleach ripoff, coupled with FMA. People say that it’s disappointing primarily coz it was from the creator of Kenshin.
I, for one, still watch this show because it’s fun shonen fare that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s no mega-angst like FMA, nor is there mega-testosterone like Bleach. It’s harmless, mindless fun with funny situations. And the opening song rocks.
So many people underrate this one, but I’m pretty satisfied with that. Nothing like liking something that all FMA fans would like to treat as non-existent. And yeah, I tell my friends to give it a shot too, so I’m evil
- T
Hah! I totally forgot that Nobuhiro Watsuki was behind the manga.
Now that’s all well and good but there’s a huge difference in appeal between Rurouni Kenshin and Busou Renkin. You say it’s “harmless, mindless fun with funny situations” but I ask you, where exactly is the “funny?” I just don’t see it and all of the forced faces in between all of the crappy drama isn’t funny. Bleach can be funny at times, Full Metal Alchemist can be funny (especially the Armstrong sister episode), but if comedy is Busou Renkin’s saving grace why is it so dry and painful?
Putting it simple, Rurouni Kenshin’s heavy plot and unique characters makes it something to watch and appreciate even as the years go by, whereas Busou Renkin is just something to watch… if you’re bored and have nothing else to do… and forget you ever saw it. It won’t stick in your head the way Rurouni Kenshin does. It’s not badass like Bleach, and it’s not cultured and unique like Full Metal Alchemist.
The man’s gotta eat but this anime just doesn’t have a soul.
I agree that the comedy is it’s saving grace. And as for the plot, much like Bleach it gets far better around the 15 ep mark once they move on from fighting jobbers.. but even then it’s still not a must-watch.
And as for how people compare it to FMA.. that’s kinda ridiculous. Sure there’s the same stuff in it, but it’s not like FMA invented them, and we don’t compare Harry Potter to FMA just because it had a Philospher’s Stone in one of the books
I’ve been watching this right upto episode 20 and with the latest episodes quite abit is have started to be explained. You are getting to see some interesting development between the characters and the comedy aspect does rear its head quite a few times in different aspects. Shake hands?
Maybe its just me and I’m an idiot but I like the series enough to keep watching it and see what happens to Kazuki and Tokiko.
I dont think its a good idea to compare animes, if i did i wouldnt watch hardly of the new animes coming out, but i have to say , in the intro of the second episode theres a metal armor just like Alphonse from FMA, isnt that just copying, lol
But apart from that it just looks like it could be fun to watch as u say notihng better to do, if your bored, but if your like me and watched alot of anime, most of the time to fill the boring times, u watch this sort of anime.
I actually like the show very much, and it was a bit slow, but once they introduce LXE then it starts to pick up pretty fast. Also, you really cant compare it to any of the anime mentioned and its not really accurate to base an opinion on the first few episodes, then write the whole thing off. But so far it has been interesting and there isnt anything else out so why not
The reviewer of this series that started this short blog must be a FMA pot head. FMA is a good anime series too, but it sure isn’t the first to use alchemy and the PS (as others pointed out). I too, after watching the first 2 eps almost stopped watching this series completely. But, after getting thru the 1st 10 – 15 eps – I began to see redeeming value. The comedy as some point out or fail to mention can be summed up in 2 words ‘Koshaku Chono’! He literally steals the show sometimes. On a serious note – the strong points of this series is the similar traits of characters between ‘Kazuki Muto’ and ‘Ichigo’ of Bleach and their strong since of justice and protection. We can point out a lot of other comparisons with this series to others, as the formula works for all of them. The same series that we seem to cherish as top notch also borrowed concepts from other anime series. So, judging this series alone on it own merit – it keeps you wanting to see each episode to see what choices are made and the relationship development between ‘Kazuki Muto’ and ‘Tokiko’. This alone should guarantee some positive feedback and viewership. Even ‘Ichigo’ from Bleach hasn’t kissed ‘Rukia’ yet and they’re into eps 118!
hi everyone,
i dont have much time to spend here due to exams but i’m a pure fan of Busou Renkin…despite all the ugly reviews from certain group of critics…Tokiko is really hot n sexy …and all the other characters are so interesting in their own looks and skills…i m too engrossed with this anime…each anime have their own merits…the classics like FMA, Kenshin and lots more are really good too…with many other type of animes…i grew up with DBZ as well…and i think this is so far the best anime currently, along with Bleach etc…basicly for those negative comments there’s always another way u can view the anime…hehe thx for ur time..looking forward to ep 25 & 26…aarrghh..i don’t want it to end …
tata =D
For the record, for those of you defending Busou Renkin, the few of you doing it with real interest and not fanboyism is great. Comments that try to infuse me with new ways of viewing and interpreting an anime is always welcomed.
There is no definite right or wrong when it all boils down to opinions, but there is a threshold of quality that separates the good, the classics, and the abhorrent terrible shows — at least I believe this and hope many can agree. The shounen genre is generally crap in the eyes of most critics because it stems from a mold that is usually very predictable. The main character or characters will always surpass evil doers with strength or comradery while overcoming some heavy angst or retribution. The only real achievement most shounen shows can boast about is a unique sense of style and the immersion level that ultimately becomes indicative of its success. When the right conditions are put together a long-lasting enjoyable franchise can thrive with a level of shallow -yet- entertaining elements. This is completely different from an anime with a smaller budget and only 26 episodes with a set path. Some of the best anime of all time are only 26 episodes or less, but normally the best shounen anime run much longer than that because they have the cohesion, the style, the characters, and the raw materials to milk it much longer. Not every episode is great -heck not even most- but there’s always the originality and potential that keeps you going.
On the flip side, cheesy anime -of which Busou Renkin and many others fall into- are enjoyable because of the cheese itself — not much else. Both fortunately and unfortunately, anime has very different conventions that many new fans can be born from every new anime they are exposed to. Not everyone has spent as much time as anime critics watching -just- anime and will be casually entertained by many anime shows as long as they are different from what they usually watch. I don’t mean to say that everyone that’s watching Busou Renkin has never seen anime before, or is very new at anime, but there’s always a new group of fans that will decry foul play when someone throws mud on what they actually enjoyed. Not only that, but they are usually told -like in my case- an anime that is much older is better and that throws them into a fit. It’s not like mainstream media where you can put down a movie or a TV show and compare it to something else — people don’t usually follow major anime releases long enough to know a pedigree or baseline from which to compare.
Art, style, musical score, and theme songs — all of these things mash together and form an animated world that a group of people will likely associate with. As an audio-visual medium of entertainment, the finer tuning and the grace that goes into production values can never be underestimated. Budget is important, but so is talent and the elements of chance that bring together the right people at the right time to produce the best long-lasting elements of any particular anime. For example, little things like a musical score that is dynamic and produced to fit the striking animated action on screen may be all it takes to produce goosebumps for gleeful fans. The progression of characters in anime and the rush of higher levels of power in fighting is always cool; it’s just that if we -the critics- have seen it done better already it’s not as impacting. Mediocrity in anime unfortunately can be tolerated by those that have not been exposed to better and greater uses of the same or similar ideas. Critics that have digested a far greater amount of content can draw similarities and contrasts that a typical person can not. This is not to say that a critic does not personal favorites or bias towards certain efforts, but it is reasonable to think that their opinion weighs in on some level of truth and validity.
When I compare past anime with either critical success or commercial success to new anime, I do it to put things into perspective or context. In this case It’s not to say that Full Metal Alchemist will never be surpassed, or that no one should attempt to use alchemy in an anime because it’s just not going to be the same. This blog is my personal space which allows me to be less impartial and much more hard hitting than some may prefer in a much more professional outlet, but at the end of it all it’s just my opinion. I don’t work for A or B company, I don’t make money off ads, and I certainly don’t need the attention. When I feel like writing, I write whatever comes to mind without worrying about consequences, but I do know there are a handful of people reading so I tend to keep things a little bit cohesive.
Simply put, the way the show was hyped made me draw connections to Full Metal Alchemist which made my expectations that much higher and subsequently made the disappointment that much greater. The few of you that enjoy the show should continue to watch it and I hope you get some conclusion that satisfies your association with the characters and the world depicted in the show. However, if you’re going to become a voice of reason and defend the show to death, you should try Full Metal Alchemist sometime and see for yourself if it’s better as that’s the only way to find out. You may like the cheese in Busou Renkin more than the darker story elements in Full Metal Alchemist, but at least you should be aware of the genuine value of a success such as Full Metal Alchemist regardless of your -personal- taste. Full Metal Alchemist is -obviously- crafted with much more care and scrutiny in all aspects of storytelling, animation, and art/character designs that live up to the name it has carved for itself.
Think about this before you go out and start buying Busou Renkin wall scrolls and plushes and tell all your friends how awesome the “best anime ever” is. You might get some Shinichiro Wantanabe (Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo director) fans knocking on your door wanting to have a word with you over “best anime ever.”
P.S. Switch to Death Note when Busou Renkin is over. It’s the -real- best new anime of Fall 2006.
Im not going to try and say that Busou Renkin is the best thing ever, or that its even that brilliant a show when compared to things like FMA.
All I can really say is that episodes 24 and 25 made me cry, and parts of the show before made me laugh out loud.
FMA made me grin, and made me sad at times (episode 25 again being the prime culprit) but neither so much as Busou Renkin does.
Its all down to personal preference as has been said before and will, no doubt, be said again, but a show which can make me care that much about the characters aint half bad in my book. And with FMA i just dont sympathise as much.
Now, I seriously don’t know what all of you guys are crying about. Half of you look at so many details that most people don’t pay much attention. If anything, I like the things that Busou Renkin has from other shows. Such as him getting powers from a girl to save A life or how it uses alchemy and homonculus. It can only be considered to be taking small details from other shows that people like and I dont see the problem why people care about that so much. Busou renkin is a good show.
Dude ok you may not like the show and that’s your opinion and I respect it. But for those people who do like the show don’t call them evil it’s there opinion and please respect it. I don’t see any people bashing you for likening something over something else so please just respect their opinion as they respect yours.
I f*cking loved Busou Renkin. I mean it’s generic shounen, yeah, but it’s a lot better than Naruto or Bleach. The jokes are funny for once, the characters are likable and not total idiots, there’s even a romance subplot that actually moves along and gets resolved. Plus it has a happy ending that I’m a sucker for