Introduction
Busou Renkin is an anime that I would say is a blend of both the animes Full Metal Alchemist and Bleach. While it was not as great as those two animes, it most definitely did not disappoint and it came pretty darn close to it. With non-stop action, no fillers, and an opening theme that will grow on you, what is there to add?
Review
Story
As mentioned, this anime pretty much combine elements from two different animes and made it quite good. The theme of alchemy actually has not been used much in animes (though I could be wrong since I would not say that I have watched tons of animes) and it makes for a good and somewhat unique storyline. Add in some cool weapons and we certainly have something going.
But to say that it copies certain elements from the two previously mentioned anime would be somewhat of any understatement. As I watch the anime, I find some remarkable resemblance to the two, most notably being our protagonist Kakugane. When called upon, it turns into a huge lance that in certain regards looks like a sword. Big sword, sounds familar Bleach viewers? But being a lance though, it reminded me of Edric's weapon of choice from Full Metal Alchemist.
Fortunately, it was not just a full copy of the two animes but it has its own unique and interesting plot. The theme of romance was also added to the mix to diversify it even more. The story flows nicely and most of questions you would get as you watch this anime is answered. It is simple as it does not contain a whole lot of plot twists such as Code Geass: Lelouch of Rebellion but sometimes, little is better.
I was also amazed at how every single episode was actually worth watching. There were absolute zero episodes that I would consider a filler. It was non-stop action from beginning to end. Certainly, being only a twenty-six episodes show, they really use what they had wisely unlike the anime Happiness! which I watched previously. It did have one problem and that was the ending. For all the build up to it, the ending was somewhat unsatisfying. I was expected more and I didn't quite get it. Good, nevertheless.
Characters
The main focus of character development was paid to Kazuki with some of the other characters getting minor attention. I did find the character development to be lacking overall but it is hard to fully develop all your characters when you have so many and you only have a small number of episodes to use it on. It is kind of like pick your choice, either spend the episodes developing your story or the characters. This anime chooses to develop the story and that is absolutely fine with it as I prefer it that way.
Animation
The comparison to Full Metal Alchemist and Bleach stops here. While the animation was good, it is not to the level of those two animes. I did not check the year that this anime was released but overall, it was pretty darn good. From frame to frame, it transition well without any flickering. The fight scenes were actually pretty well done as well as many of time still is echoed in my mind.
Sound
I'll be honest, at first, I did not like the opening theme at all. But as I continue to listen more and more to it, it really grew on me. I can't say the same for the ending theme however as it was just painful to listen through it. I don't remember much about the background music as there were not any songs that sounded all that great. Overall, I would say this was average.
Conclusion
In the end, Bosou Renkin, made themes of two different animes into its own unique story. It was good and interesting. No fillers and that was definitely a huge plus. If they wanted to though, I could see them made the anime much longer, maybe even fifty episodes, but why mess with something that was already good. If you haven't seen this anime, go get it and watch it. It will be certainly worth your time and effort.
Download
Listed below are downloads available for this anime: