To Kazuki Muto it all seems like a dream when he recalls saving a young girl from a strange monster, but dying in doing so. An encounter with a teacher who changes into something else – and finding his lost backpack in a location from his dream – jolt him, but not as much as having his life saved by the girl from his dream. He learns that Tokiko Tsumura, the girl from his dream, is an Alchemist Warrior who is trying to save the world from monsters called homunculi.
Tokiko saved his life by replaced his ripped out heart with a medallion called a kakugane – a magical device that gives its owner a powerful weapon, called a Buso Renkin, that is the essence of the person’s fighting spirit [in his case a spear with a long haft and a trailing red banner]. He learns that homunculi eat humans to life – the younger the better! Because he is the person he is, he insists on joining the fight.
The Buso Renkin Box Set #1 collects the first thirteen episodes of the popular series and introduces Kazuki [and us] to a world unlike anything he’s ever encountered. We meet his friends [the usual gang of idiots who complicate things at the worst possible moment, or get jealous of his new “girlfriend”], his sister [who is already pretending that Tokiko and her brother will marry – making Tokiko her sister-in-in-law], and several villains from the world of the homunculi – though not all of them are, in fact, homunculi.
The series is smart, wickedly funny and very entertaining. The Buso Renkins of the various Alchemist Warriors [and some homunculi] are wildly diverse and create unique battles. The characters are engaging and the pacing is fast enough to keep the viewer engaged, even during the character and exposition arcs. The first thirteen eps doing a very nice job of introducing the main characters and establishing the series mythology – and are entertaining as heck, to boot.
Features: Three Audio Commentaries [by the English vocal cast]: Episode One: A New Life; Episode Six [The Butterfly of Black Death], and Episode Nine: The Hayasaka Twins; Behind the Scenes of Buso Renkin, and a set of Postcards featuring various characters. The set comes in a bookcase-styled package with a card stock slipcase with embossed print.
Grade: Buso Renkin – Box Set 1 – B+
Grade: Features – A
Final Grade: A-