Buso Renkin

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Buso Renkin
Original title 武装 錬 金
transcription busō renkin
genre Adventure, fantasy, drama, comedy, shons, action
Manga
country JapanJapan Japan
author Nobuhiro Watsuki
publishing company Shueisha
magazine Shōnen Jump
First publication June 2003 - April 2005
expenditure 10
Television series
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese
year 2006
Production
company		 Xebec
length 25 minutes
Episodes 26th
music Kōhei Tanaka
First broadcast October 5th, 2006 on TV Tokyo
synchronization

Buso Renkin ( Japanese 武装 錬 金 , busō renkin , dt. About "weapon alchemy" ) is a completed manga series by the Japanese artist Nobuhiro Watsuki . It comprises about 1,700 pages and is aimed primarily at a young, male audience, so it can be assigned to the Shōnen genre. An anime television series, a novel and two radio plays are based on the manga .

action

The student Kazuki Muto ( 武 藤 カ ズ キ , Mutō Kazuki ) dreams one night that he himself will be killed while trying to protect a girl from a monster. Although the dream is utterly real, Kazuki does not attach much importance to it. Soon, however, a few oddities accumulate that make him puzzled, and finally Kazuki is faced with the monster from his "dream" again, and also with the girl, Tokiko Tsumura, whom he wanted to save in it. She explains to him that he was actually killed by a homunculus the previous night when it pierced his heart. The homunculi are man-eating beings that were created by alchemy and live and kill in secret. Tokiko itself belongs to an organization dedicated to the fight against the homunculi. A special metal, the kakugane , is her main tool. It is in the form of hexagonal, palm-sized discs that have both healing abilities and, in the hands of a bearer, can become powerful weapons, the busō renkin , the only ones with which the homunculi can be defeated.

With such a Kakugane disc, Tokiko was able to save Kazuki's life by placing it in his chest in the place of his heart. Kazuki can also turn his kakugane into a weapon shaped like a large lance. Although Tokiko is initially against it, the boy insists on using his newfound strength to help Tokiko in their struggle.

style

In the drawing style, Buso Renkin differs greatly from previous works by Nobuhiro Watsuki, which, like Kenshin , were more in keeping with the Shōjo style in parts . Buso Renkin, on the other hand, shows a typical Shōnen aesthetic. In terms of content, Watsuki remains with Action as in the earlier works, but this time in modern times and with a young hero as the protagonist, as is usual in the shōnen genre.

Publications

Buso Renkin appeared in Japan from June 2003 to April 2005 in 79 individual chapters in the high-circulation manga magazine Shōnen Jump by Shueisha- Verlag. The individual chapters were also published in ten edited volumes.

The manga was published by Glénat in France and by Viz in the USA . In Germany, from March 2007 to September 2008, all ten volumes were published by Tokyopop . The German translation is by Stefan Hofmeister.

Adaptations

Anime television series

From October 5, 2006 to March 10, 2007, the Japanese TV station TV Tokyo ran a true-to-original anime version of the manga. The animation studio in charge was XEBEC , directed by Takao Kato . The character design was done by Akio Takami and Hatsue Kato and the artistic direction was by Yoshito Watanabe. The anime consists of 26 episodes and was subsequently released on DVD.

The series aired on television in the US and the Philippines and was released on DVD in the UK.

Voice actor

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū )
Kazuki Muto Jun Fukuyama
Tokiko Tsumura Ryōka Yuzuki
Kōshaku Chōno (Papillon) Mitsuaki Madono
Mahiro Muto Aya Hirano
Captain Bravo Masashi Ebara

music

The music in the series was composed by Kōhei Tanaka . The opening credits are Makka Na Chikai by Yoshiki Fukuyama and the credits are Hoshiakari by Jyukai and Itoshiki Sekai by Aya Kagami.

Further adaptations

Further adaptations are two radio play CDs released in May and October 2006, which continue and complement the plot of the manga, as well as two novels, which were published in October 2006 and May 2007, Busou Renkin // and Busou Renkin / Z: Yumemita Rakuen . The author, Kaoru Kurosaki , already supported Nobuhiro Watsuki on the manga as a co-author. In addition, a guidebook for the manga was published with Busou Renkin Infinity in May 2007, and finally a video game called Busou Renkin: Yōkoso Papillon Park E for the Playstation 2 in July 2007 .

Reception and awards

The manga was nominated for the 2007 Seiun Prize . The volumes of the manga sold a total of over three million times in Japan.

The manga could, the AnimaniA convince through clear line management and an entertaining story building. Nobuhiro Watsuki meet all expectations and surprise with a new drawing style. The character design of the anime series is praised, but the animation is rather average. Nevertheless, thanks to the profound story and successful direction, the series also offers good entertainment.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c AnimaniA No. 3/2007, p. 40 f.

Web links