Busou Renkin

it was ok i guess. Not much to say...

some parts were interesting and some were so boring i felt like fast forwarding. i managed to finish it though.

i think this is one where you can watch when you have absolutely nothing to watch.

Analysis : All Fansub episodes watched

• Drama : Med
• Action : High
• Comedy : Med
• SciFi : High
• Ecchi : Low

Like Stretch said, this is a mix of practially EVERY fighting anime out there. It basically steals it's plot from FMA, later it will steal from Dragonball Z. Except for the weapons, nothing is original. But it is a fun old time.

This is probably the first anime where the main girl is drawn pretty ugly, especially compared to the other female cast. Intentional I'm sure, but I don't know why.

MAISM (More After I See More!)

PS : JC you aren't being to cynical, it steals TON's of ideas! Have you seen 16 where Dragonball Z get's ripped off?

• Lets see, Plot FMA
• Homoculous - FMA
• Super Sword - Scryed
• Tail that was wrap around and do stuff - Disgaea.
• Spider Renkin - Mai Hime.
• Boy has to die first - YuYu Hakusho
• Boy has something special inside that keeps him alive - UFO Maiden Valkyrie
• Ditzy sister - Bleach
• Yellow Hair Powerup - Dragonball Z.
• Girl has Mask scar on her face - Naruto
• Boy has rival that just wants to fight him - Dragonball Z.
• One set of renkins can form 3 different vehicles - Voltron

You know I enjoyed it so much that I should've marked it a buy but the ending was too shonen. It was too pat and easy.

BTW Watch 26 to the end to see something funny.

(All episodes watched):

Sometimes a show comes along which, despite some definite flaws, just strikes the right chord with me and I love it--Busou Renkin ("Arms Alchemy") would be a perfect example. Yes, BR is definitely milking off of FMA and Bleach. A guy discovers terrifying creatures that he had never dreamed existed, but also discovers that he possesses amazing powers, and winds up the apprentice of a mysterious woman--where have I seen this before? But I have no objections--because I like this show better than either of those! I watched FMA in it's entirety but experienced a distinct loss of interest in the second half, and I'm 33 episodes into Bleach but am becoming tired of an seemingly endless series of fights. It would be easy to dismiss Busou Renkin rightaway as a ripoff--except that it's so fun to watch! But most surprising of all is that what starts off in a thoroughly unoriginal manner develops such an entrancing plot. I'm tempted to say that what mangaka Watsuki Nobuhiro was thinking was "this is the way FMA and Bleach should have been done"!

Actually, when towards the end I asked myself why I liked this show which has so many obvious flaws as much as I do, I realized that the series which BR most reminds me of is neither FMA nor Bleach, but rather another favorite of mine: s-CRY-ed. Both have outlandish action, devilishly fun characters, and a general wackiness about them (and Busou Renkin ends much better!). If you're looking for a primarily action series you'll possibly be disappointed, since the action here isn't all that original. But if you're looking for an action-comedy (or maybe I should say comedy-action, to make my priorities clear) you'll likely be delighted. There's a touch of craziness to Busou Renkin--I like it! It bounces back and forth between horror (just slightly horrible) and silly comedy in a pleasing manner--again, like Bleach, but perhaps even more so. Who couldn't love bizarre touches like the outlandish hairdo of Kazuki's friend, Okakura, or the "Valkyrie Skirt", a set of razor sharp, scythe-like blades that attach to Tokiko's thighs? Not to mention a plethora of freakish villains, like "Papillon" or "Moonface"?

Papillon, by the way, is clearly the real star of this show (IMO), upstaging Mutou Kazuki. Episode seven is killer as he meets Tokiko's strangely named superior officer at a fast food joint. I was thinking--hoping, really--that he might just change sides and become an ally of Kazuki and Tokiko (as villains sometimes do in anime). That didn't turn out to happen, but still he isn't the most cooperative evil henchman, and has an agenda of his own which takes priority over that of the "League of Extraordinary Elects" (why does that sound familiar, too?). The villains in general are so freakish that I couldn't help wondering how seriously I was supposed to take them. Kazuki kind of reminded me of Masaru from Sexy Commando, being alternately calm and rational and then loudly freaking out. I think this dopeyness (for lack of a better word) keeps the show from becoming predictable and lame, which it easily could have been since so much of the basic premise is borrowed from other series. Both Kazuki and Tokiko seemed like interesting people which I got to like, having their own shortcomings which made it possible to identify with them. Apparently Tokiko is supposed to be a tsundere character (since she starts out grouchy and dangerous, but softens up with time). For some reason, my favorite moment was when Kazuki realized what Tokiko meant when she asked him if he liked older women--ahh, that was great.

My overall impression of Busou Renkin is that it starts out great, goes into a slump at around the midpoint, but then improves again and ends very well. Though semi-predictable early on, the plot works out quite well, namely the damned-if-he-does-an­d-damned-if-he-doesn­'t choice which Kazuki must make. The fine details of the plot don't make complete sense, but that's no big deal since almost everything else comes together so well. Best of all, the conclusion, slightly corny though it is, makes sense, in a pleasing, cathartic way completely unlike the endings of FMA or s-CRY-ed. The animation and artwork are pretty good, too. If this is a knockoff series, I think it's a quite well done one. More than a few people will probably fervently hate this show, but for me it's the comedy which I love, and the plot and action are quite satisfactory as well. I think this show is making fun of itself in a sly way, yet remaining just serious enough to be engaging and highly enjoyable. Numerous funny lines of dialogue come to mind, whereas some shows have few if any. The OP and ED songs are good, too--just the OP sequence invariably had me grinning all by itself. Owing to some unfortunate problems (for more details, read my episode reviews), and the unforgiveable sin of not being completely original, I'll give BR a "Rent+". But I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of anime series which I liked so much that I was tempted to not watch the final episode, because I simply didn't want them to ever end; this would be one of them. In part because it is so much like a number of popular series, and because it develops so well, I'd be willing to bet that BR will be R1 licensed before too long. In the end, this was the fall 2006 show which I most looked forward to seeing new episodes of. Some shows just know how to be fun; such was Busou Renkin.

My favorite line: "I'll blow your guts out!" --Tokiko

And just when you thought it was safe .. the team at XEBEC have just released a new anime series called - Busou Renkin.

NO!! (I know what you are thinking!!) NO!! The quality of animation is a lot better than with Mahou Sensei Negima! , but there are still a number of problems with this series. (sigh!)

Take a male high school student who finds himself in a very weird situation, then add (steal?) most of the fun terminology and weird magic from the series Full Metal Alchemist and then add (steal?) a very strong dash of the death-god sword-action and bizarre monsters that appeared in Bleach .. and what do you have? How about a new anime series called Busou Renkin?

(Hey? Forbin! Pls feel free to kick me if I am being a bit too cynical?)

After watching the first episode .. what can I say? Overlooking the creative theft of a number of fun ideas from other series, there is something fun in this series. While the premise of the series is really uncreative and unexplained, the animation is OK and the characters (in the first episode) appear to come from a generic recycling bin, but this series does manage to work!. Yes!! - I find myself moderately amused and looking forward the next episode.

I understand that there is difference between overt plagiarism or a creative reinterpretation of someone else’s fun and successful ideas. So while I chose not to flame this series (yet), I am very reluctant to put down my BIC lighter and my carefully pre-prepared Molotov cocktail !! I am just going to have to wait for the next few episodes to decide.

I posted some picts of the first episode