Buso Renkin (Busō Renkin) is a Japanese comic book, also known as a manga, that was created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Watsuki is most well known for his Rorouni Kenshin series, which features samurai’s. He has created other series, and has also had some impact on the design of certain video games. Buso Renkin was first produced in Shonen Jump, a popular manga magazine. It has since been licensed for distribution in the United States by VIZ media, a company that has become known for releasing Japanese manga and anime into the US. A novel as well as CD’s have been created from the Buso Renkin series.
Buso Renkin is about Kazuki Muto. Kazuki is your average, every day teenager. One night he discovers a girl being attacked in a factory. He saves her life, at the demise of his own. Suddenly he’s back in his dorm room, awake! He is sure that it must be a dream, but he discovers that he is truly alive. Suddenly a giant monster attacks him, and his sister, and he is told by Tokiko Tsumura that the monster is called a homunculus.
A homunculus is a human that devours other human beings. In essence, it is similar to a modern-day zombie. It is the same type of creature that killed Kazuki when he tried to rescue Tokiko. He reveals that he was dead, but that she saved him by putting a Kakugane medal into his chest. This medal will keep him alive and be his heart. She tells him that the Kakugane medal is formed by alchemy. It creates a Buso Renkin, which is one of the only types of people that are able to actually defeat the homunculus monsters.
After he becomes accustomed to the idea, Kazuki realizes that he has to fight the homunculus monsters and creates a huge lance that he names “sunlight heart”. Tokiko was already fighting the homunculus monsters, and decides to travel with Kazuki. Together, the two of them, along with other fighters, take on the homunculus in an effort to defeat them, and the person that is controlling them.