List of Buso Renkin characters

This is a list of characters in the manga and anime series "Buso Renkin".

The manga was written and drawn by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator of "Rurouni Kenshin", with some story collaboration by Kaoru Kurosaki. It was serialized by Shueisha in the shōnen (aimed at teenage boys) manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Jump" between 2003 issue 30 and 2005 issue 21/22. The story was completed in two extra chapters called "Buso Renkin Period" and "Buso Renkin After," which were published in the two issues of "Jump the Revolution!" in 2005 and 2006. The serial chapters were collected in ten bound volumes. The manga is licensed in North America by Viz Media, in France by Glénat, and in Germany by Tokyopop. The series was adapted as an anime television series by Xebec, which was initially broadcast in 26 episodes by TV Tokyo between 5 October 2006 and 29 March 2007. The series was also adapted as two drama CDs and a novel.

The series is about teenaged boy Kazuki Muto who is accidentally killed during a battle between alchemy warriors at his high school, and after being revived by alchemy becomes one of them. These warriors use numbered alchemial devices called "Kakugane" that, when activated, take on a unique is No.4 of the Muto-assassination team. Maruyama is a bishōnen that is usually under the disguise of a fat, chubby ball, until Tokiko cut open the disguise with her Valkyrie Skirt. He was able to shrink Tokiko to 34 cm in their first battle, then seemingly shrink her to nothing in their second battle, only to find Tokiko still has 4 cm remaining and went into his stomach. He was defeated as his guts were ripped out by Valkyrie Skirt. His special ability is that he can draw a circle without using a compass. In the anime, he, Inukai, Chitose, Busujima and Shusui were sent to fight Victor, but lost against Victor's Buso Renkin, Fatal Attraction, and was forced to retreat. He doesn't use his fat man disguise in the anime either.

His Buso Renkin is Kakugane XXXII, Bubble Cage, a large number of wind-navigated fire balloons that will shrink the person it hits by 15 cm per hit; a person will vanish if he/she gets hit by too many bubble cages. By detonating one Bubble Cage, he can create wind force that'll drive other Bubble Cages towards the enemy. Although these balloons make laughing sounds when moving, they have no intelligence. In the anime, Bubble Cage does not shrink the target, but when it explodes, it splits into more Bubble Cages. anime voices|Junko Minagawa|Sam Regal

hinobu Negoro

Rintarou Inukai

nihongo|Rintarou Inukai|犬飼倫太郎|Inukai Rintarō is No.6 of the Muto-assassination team. Known to have a strong sense of pride, and rather die then getting defeated and left alive. Inukai uses the Buso Renkin "Killer Rabies," two mechanical dogs that are commanded by a dog flute. He claims that anyone not holding the flute will get killed when his dogs are in berserk mode. However, at one point, Gōta used this to his advantage and took Inukai's flute, resulting in Inukai nearly getting killed by his own dogs. He can also imitate a dog's bark. In the anime, he, Maruyama, Busujima, Chitose and Shusui were dispatched to take out Victor, but they were forced to retreat.

His Buso Renkin is Kakugane XCII, Killer Rabies, a pair of mechanical dogs commanded by a dog flute held by Inukai; these dogs have twice the smelling power and ten times the strength and stamina of normal dogs. When in berserk mode, the dogs will kill anyone not holding the flute. Cutting both dogs in half during this mode will not affect them, since with lighter weight they move even faster. The only way to defeat the Buso Renkin is to cut the heads off. In the anime, the dogs were sent to fight Victor, but they proved to have little effect on the giant warrior; one dog was crushed in the neck with Victor's bare hands, and the other was crushed by the gravity force Victor generated with his Buso Renkin, Fatal Attraction. According to the manga data page, Killer Rabies were supposed to be purple-red and purple-blue; however, in the anime, they are portrayed as white dogs with purple tails. anime voices|Makoto Yasumura|

Hayasaka Twins

The Hayasaka twins attend the same academy as Kazuki Muto. When they were children, the two constantly played the "marriage" game with their mother. They were always told never to leave the room they were in and to never go outside. One day their mother died overnight. The Hayasaka twins were unaware that she was dead and only came to a realization of this when her body began to rot. Upon seeing this they tried to leave the house for help but found that the door was chained and bolted shut. Trapped in the apartment, the twins nearly starved to death but were rescued by police who had come to arrest their mother for kidnapping the twins. While in the hospital, they overheard their real parents claiming that the children were no longer theirs. Not wanting to be separated, the twins ran away from the hospital to live together. Eventually they were recruited into the L.X.E. where they decided to work for the homunculi there so that one day they too could become homunculi and live together forever. Their lives changed when they met and later fought against Kazuki Muto and Tokiko Tsumura. They eventually parted ways, Shusui opting to train with his old kendo teacher; Ouka says they were relying on each other as emotional support, and have to stand alone.

Watsuki stated that a part of the Yukishiro siblings, Tomoe and Enishi, from "Rurouni Kenshin" were used in their design and personality.Fact|date=October 2008

husui Hayasaka

nihongo|Shusui Hayasaka|早坂秋水|Hayasaka Shusui is Ouka's younger twin brother. Like his sister, he is depicted as very smart, but unlike his sister, is quick to anger. Shusui is Ginsei High's best student at kendo, his speciality being the notoriously difficult reverse "do". He is also vice president of the student council under Ouka, and Kazuki claims he's number one in terms of genital size. His eyes are shown as fierce and maniacal at times, as noted by Dr. Butterfly and himself. After Shusui is defeated by Kazuki, he surrenders his kakugane to Captain Bravo and returns to his old kendo teacher to try and overcome his demons, and then later becomes an Alchemy Warrior. In the anime, Shusui is recruited by Chitose into the team dispatched to take out Victor. He is later seen in "Buso Renkin Period" defeating Mita in battle.

He uses Kakugane XXIII, which manifests as the Buso Renkin nihongo|Sword Samurai X|ソード・サムライ・X |Sōdo Samurai X, a sword with a small charm attached to the end.Clarifyme|date=October 2008 The sword absorbs energy into the charm, and the user can make this energy discharge from the charm. This energy can only be used as a short-range attack and cannot stop kinetic energy from physical attacks; as such, its strength depends on the user's skill at kendo, making this a deadly weapon in Shusui's hands. "Samurai X" refers to the English name of "Rurouni Kenshin" as translated by ADV, which the author stated he likes.Fact|date=October 2008 Watsuki revealed he created the ability to neutralise energy because he was tired of swords firing energy beams in fighting games. anime voices|Kishô Taniyama|Tom Gibis

Ouka Hayasaka

nihongo|Ouka Hayasaka|早坂桜花|Hayasaka Ōka is the older twin sister of Shusui, and student president of Ginsei High. Ouka specializes in hacking and computer engineering as well as having a sharp mind. She and Shusui originally work for L.X.E. After the L.X.E. is defeated, Ouka works for Papillon to keep Kazuki from being killed. According to her character profile, she especially likes espresso.

Ouka uses Kakugane XXII, which manifests as the Buso Renkin nihongo|Angel Gozen|エィンジェル・御前|Einjieru Gozen, a set consisting of a bow, an autonomous robot, and a glove. It attacks using a stream of arrows aimed by the robot, and by pulling back on the bowstring with the glove, an arrow that transfers damage from the target to the user.Clarifyme|date=October 2008 This is good for long-distance attacks, but ineffective when fighting close-quarters. The robot is unable to speak until Bravo turned on the sound mechanism. Ouka later takes Dr. Butterfly's Kakugane LXX, and while she uses it, Gozen's wings turn into butterfly wings. anime voices|Hitomi Nabatame|

L.X.E.

The members of the L.X.E. (the League of Extraordinary Elects) serve as the main antagonists for the first half of "Buso Renkin", and consist mainly of humanoid homunculi. The organization was formed by Dr. Butterfly a hundred years ago when he found Victor injured, and pledged to heal him in exchange for his alchemic knowledge. The L.X.E. was formed specifically to protect Victor until the treatment was complete. While most of the organization are homunculi, the L.X.E. also employs humans as "Familiars", who are lowest in their hierarchy. These Familiars either use their influence to protect the L.X.E., such as spying, controlling large crowds through propaganda, or other grunt work, with the aim of becomig a humanoid homunculus. When a Familiar's work is completed, either in success or failure, he or she is devoured. Because all the members of the L.X.E. are either human or humanoid, they can use Buso Renkin; however, according to Kinjo, very few members receive kakugane, typically only those high in the ranks. The Hayasaka twins were granted kakugane to defeat Kazuki and Tokiko.

Watsuki's original plan was to name the L.X.E.'s Buso Renkin after fairy tales or children's stories,Fact|date=October 2008 but only three (those of Dr. Butterfly, Kinjo, and Jinnai) are.

Doctor Butterfly

nihongo|Doctor Butterfly|Dr．バタフライ|Dr. Batafurai is the leader of L.X.E. His original name was Chōno Bakushaku (蝶野爆爵) and he is the still-living great-great grandfather of Chōno Kōshaku (Papillon). Dr. Butterfly has a moth-shaped mustache, and his battle outfit resembles a white version of Papillon's, with an attached a cape. He considers Papillon weak, saying he cannot go very far on his own, which leads Papillon to challenge him to a fight with their Buso Renkin. During this, Dr. Butterfly is killed by Papillon just before Victor awakens, and in his last moments, he uses his Buso Renkin to greet Victor.

He uses Kakugane LXX, the real version of the Kakugane that Kazuki supposedly owns, which manifests as the Buso Renkin nihongo|Alice in Wonderland|アリス・イン・ワンダーランド|Arisu in Wandārando. This Chaff Buso Renkin has the same wing-like structure as Papillon's Near Death Happiness, but is platinum-white and confuses the nervous system. In concentrated mode, it is also able to directly affect a person's brain, giving the person hallucinations and illusions. Alice in Wonderland is also capable of disrupting radio and electric waves, and when in contact with water, can create a mist. anime voices|Katsumi Chou|David Lodge

Moon Face

Originally named Lunar Nicholai, Moon Face is a homunculus with a moon-shaped head and a higher-up of L.X.E. He is depicted as constantly cheerful, rarely seen without smiling, and he uses the catch phrase "Moon~" whenever possible. After L.X.E. is defeated, Moon Face is put into custody by the Alchemy Warriors, and later sent to the Moon with Victor and the other homunculi. Moon Face joined the L.X.E. a hundred years before the start of the series, when he came from Russia to Japan for reasons unknown.

Moon Face uses Kakugane XXX, which manifests as the Buso Renkin nihongo|Satellite 30|サテライト・30|Sateraito 30. This allows him to create up to 30 copies of himself, each copy having a different head representing the different phases of the moon. Since this uses a large amount of energy, only a homunculus such as Moon Face can use it. The more copies Moon Face makes, the harder it is for him to coordinate complicated moves. Unless all 30 are defeated at once, more copies can always be made, as each one is the real version. Watsuki stated that he got the idea of Satellite 30 from the character Agent Smith from "The Matrix Reloaded".Fact|date=November 2007 anime voices|Tomokazu Seki|Christopher Corey Smith

Kinjo

Kinjou uses Kakugane LII, which manifests as the Buso Renkin nihongo|Peaky Gulliver|ピーキー・ガリバー|Pīkī Garibā, a gauntlet attached to his right arm able to change its size by absorbing elements from the air, and which has small rockets that can propel attacks or allow flight. However, this proves no use against Captain Bravo's Silver Skin. Kakugane LII originally belonged to an agent sent by Bravo to spy on the L.X.E., but who was found and killed by Moon Face. The name of the Buso Renkin is based on "Gulliver's Travels", as are Kinjou's special moves, Laputa Falls and Brobdingnag Finger. anime voices|Hiroshi Tsuchida|Kyle Hebert

Jinnai

He uses Kakugane LXI, which manifests as the Buso Renkin nihongo|Noisy Hamelin|ノイズィ・ハーメリン|Noizui Hāmerin. Based on "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", Noisy Hamelin appears as a steel whip capable of vibrating itself and emitting sounds that can hypnotize anyone within its range. This has an effective range of about 100 yards, but the more people it hypnotises, the weaker the effect. It can also amplify sound waves, allowing its user to hear from a distance. It can be used as a whip, but as such it is only a normal whip. After Jinnai's death, Papillon claims this kakugane. anime voices|Susumu Chiba|Tom Gibis

Tai

hi

hinyo Suzuki

nihongo|Shinyo Suzuki|鈴木震洋|Suzuki Shin'yō takes the position as the Student President after Ouka is hospitalized. During L.X.E.'s attack on Ginsei High, Suzuki uses his status to isolate Kazuki, however, he is outsmarted by Rokumasu and his plans are thwarted. According to Dr. Butterfly, he is not a homunculus nor possesses a kakugane.

Victor and his Family

Victor

A hundred years before the start of the series, Victor was the leader of the Alchemy Warriors. Originally, Victor used a regular kakugane until he sacrificed himself to kill the leader of the homunculi of that era. In order to save him, his wife Alexandria transferred Black Kakugane I into his heart. However, Victor lost control of the power and killed everyone in the lab, as well as critically injuring Alexandria. Forced to flee his home, pursued by Alchemy Warriors and the homunculus group lead by his own daughter, Victoria, Victor managed to destroy a large portion of both forces before escaping to Japan. While there, he met Chōno Bakushaku before he became Dr. Butterfly, and the two men then struck a bargain: in exchange for Victor's knowledge of Alchemy, Dr. Butterfly would heal Victor.

A hundred years later, during the series, the plan succeeds: Victor is healed and re-appears in L.X.E.'s Ginsei High School attack. During this attach, Victor kills Kazuki a second time by crushing Sunlight Heart with his own Buso Renkin, Fatal Attraction. This damage to Kazuki's Kakugane causes Black Kakugane III to awaken, saving Kazuki's life. Victor then decides to spare Kazuki, and after departing, he travels around the world absorbing energy from those he passes by, eventually retreating to the Pacific Ocean to avoid harming more people. He is later attacked by the Alchemist Warriors and changes to Stage 3 of the Victor transformation, which gives him more power and greater ability to absorb energy, and destroys Sakaguchi Showusei's Buster Baron with Fatal Attraction. Kazuki then confronts him and forces White Kakugane II into his body, but this only reverts him from stage 3 back to stage 2. As a last resort, Kazuki uses Sunlight Heart + to send both of them to the Moon. In "Buso Renkin Period," shaken by Kazuki's determination to protect Earth, Victor uses Fatal Attraction to send Kazuki back, but Kazuki drags Victor along, returning both of them to Earth. Victor reverts to his human form after being given another white Kakugane, and he then asks to be turned into a homunculus to lead all the homunculi to the Moon.

Victor is generally a cold person who hates Alchemy Warriors for hunting him down. During the 100 year interval, to cover up the Black Kakugane incident, the Alchemy Warriors entered fake information in their own database, claiming that instead of losing control, Victor betrayed the warriors and turned himself into a homunculus, then headed for Japan to join the L.X.E.

For most of the series, Victor holds Black Kakugane I, which manifests as the Buso Renkin Fatal Attraction, a gigantic war-axe that is capable of manipulating gravity. It can manipulate the gravity direction on larger or smaller scales. It can used to increase the gravitional pull on an object or reverse it. The axe can also be separated into two to be used as double tomahawks. anime voices|Rikiya Koyama|Yuri Lowenthal

Alexandria

Alexandria is Victor's wife. Her body was paralyzed after Victor went lost control, a century before the start of the series, and she moved her own brain into a container in the Newton's Apple All Girls Academy. She lives inside her daughter Victoria's Buso Renkin, Underground Searchlight, where she continually clones her own brain to increase her mental abilities and to complete Kakugane II. However, after a century in this state, her cells begin to die, and she fades away before the confrontation between Victor and Kazuki. Even 100 years after what Victor did to her, she still loves him. While still in her human form, she specialized in making meat pies.

Alexandria uses Kakugane L, manifesting as the Buso Renkin Rurio Head, which is her only means of communication to the outside world, and is usually worn by Victoria. It is capable of controlling its wearer and searching the wearer's memories, and can attack with its cape knives. At various times during the series, it controls Victoria, Chitose, and Gōta. anime voices|Masako Katsuki|

Victoria

Victoria is Victor and Alexandria's daughter. After her father lost control, a century before the start of the series, she was forced to become a homunculus and lead a squadron of homunculi to kill Victor. As a result, she came to hate alchemy, just like her father, and is depicted as having a sharp tongue and cynical attitude. She is also perceptive of others, and points out to Papillon the nature of his rejection in eating human flesh. Victoria disguises herself as a student of the Newton's Apple All-Girl Academy, protecting the chamber that houses the multiple clones of her mother's brain. She likes to eat "Mama's special", a piece of food which is always hidden under pixelization, but which is in fact a piece of the dead brains of her mother. In "Buso Renkin Period," she is shown following her father to the Moon.

She uses Kakugane LI, manifesting as the Buso Renkin Underground Searchlight, which allows Victoria to generate a hidden cave that can only be entered when Victoria opens it. In its normal state it uses electricity and water from the Academy, but in an emergency it can provide a month's worth of water and electricity. anime voices |Rie Kugimiya|

Others

choolmates

;nihongo|Mahiro Muto|武藤まひろ|Mutō Mahiro: Kazuki's younger sister, who is supportive of him. Like Kazuki, she is very optimistic and has a nearly identical personality. Like her brother, she came to Ginsei Private School for the school uniform. At the start of the story, she is swallowed whole by Mita, but she is saved through the combined effort of both Kazuki and Tokiko. Afterwards, she dismisses the event as a dream. Eventually, she realizes it was real and that Kazuki is an alchemy warrior. Her nickname in school is "Mappy." During the time when Kazuki looks for a cure to the homunculus embryo in Tokiko, Mahiro dresses in a nurse outfit and wraps Tokiko in bandages so that she looked like Shishio Makoto from "Rurouni Kenshin." anime voices|Aya Hirano|Karen Strassman

;nihongo|Hideyuki Okakura|岡倉英之|Okakura Hideyuki: Okakura is one of Kazuki's friends, and the resident pervert. He gets jealous easily, and wants to be in love like Kazuki. In "Buso Renkin After," he asks out Busujima Hanaka after she transfers to Ginsei High. Okakura obsesses over his hair, calling it his "Regent Hairstyle Attack". anime voices|Yuuto Kazama|Liam O'Brien

;nihongo|Masashi Daihama|大浜真史|Daihama Masashi: One of Kazuki's friends. Physically, Daihama is very large, making him noticeable in any crowd. He has a very mild-tempered personality, and apologizes when he is forced to be violent, even when he was controlled by homunculus Jinnai. anime voices |Yoshinori Sonobe |Keith Silverstein

;nihongo|Kouji Rokumasu|六舛孝二|Rokumasu Kōji: One of Kazuki's friendsRokumasu is a strange boy who is inexplicably skilled in many areas, leading to other characters wondering exactly who he is. Some of these skills include voice imitation, lip reading, and kendo techniques. anime voices|Takayuki Kondou|Darrel Guilbeau

;nihongo|Chisato Wakamiya|若宮千里|Wakamiya Chisato: Chisato, also known as Chi-chin, is depicted as the most mature of the three Ginsei girls. She is almost eaten by the homunculus Jinnai when he attacks Ginsei High's dorm, but she is saved by Tokiko. Like Mahiro, she has no memory of what happened, but eventually remembers when Dr. Butterfly and the L.X.E. attacks Ginsei High. In "Buso Renkin After," she is seen taking an interest in Gōta when he transfers to Ginsei High. anime voices|Yuka Inokuchi|

;nihongo|Saori Kawai|河井沙織|Kawai Saori: Saori, also known as Sa-chan, is Mahiro's other friend at Ginsei. Like Mahiro, she is a bit ditsy at times. anime voices|Noriko Shitaya|

Homunculi created by Papillon

Papillon creates five homunculi, who act as his servants.

;nihongo|Mita|巳田|: Mita is an English teacher at Ginsei High, who is really a cobra-type homunculus. He swallows Mahiro, but fails to kill her. He is killed by Kazuki in the manga and by Tokiko in the anime. Mita is later defeated again by Shusui in "Buso Renkin Period." anime voices|Ryotaro Okiayu|Keith Silverstein

;nihongo|Saruwatari|猿渡|: Saruwatari is the leader of a group of ape-type homunculi. He is killed by Kazuki with his Sunlight Heart. Saruwatari is later defeated again by Gōta in "Buso Renkin Period." anime voices|Tetsu Inada|Christopher Corey Smith

;nihongo|Kawazui|蛙井|: Kawazui is a frog-type homunculus able to create swarms of smaller frogs. He is not strongly loyal to Papillon, and surrenders to whoever can defeat him. Kawazui is defeated by Kazuki, and then killed by Hanabusa. Later he is defeated again by Tokiko in "Buso Renkin Period." anime voices |Hiro Yuuki |

;nihongo|Hanabusa|花房|: Hanabusa is a rose-type homunculus that acts as Papillon's tutor. She is very loyal to Papillon. Hanabusais killed Kawazui for surrendering, then later killed by Tokiko again, and later still defeated by Ouka and Gozen in "Buso Renkin Period." anime voices|Yuko Kato|

;nihongo|Washio|鷲尾|: Washio is the most loyal out of the five homunculi. He originally is an injured hawk bought back by Papillon during an insect hunt, and is recreated as a hawk homunculus. Washio is the only animal-type homunculus shown to be capable of transforming only parts of his body—in his case, transforming his hands into claws with wings on his shoulder. He is killed by Tokiko and Kazuki working together. He later fights Gōta during the duel between Tokiko and Papillon in "Buso Renkin Period." anime voices|Kentarou Itou|Yuri Lowenthal

Minor Characters

;Captain: The Captain of Deep Blessing, a submarine Buso Renkin, is an old man that has confidence in his submarine, and believed that his submarine can defeat Victor. In the manga, the other characters assume he is killed when Victor destroys Deep Blessing; in the anime, he and his crewmembers escape. In the manga, Deep Blessing is Kakugane LXXVII. In the anime, his two crew members each own a Kakugane, LXXVIII and LXXIX, and together the three assemble into Deep Blessing. In this version, the three Kakugame can also be re-assembled into a driller, but this also is no match against Victor and the three warriors retreat after two of the three Kakuganes destroyed. anime voices|Takayuki Sugō|

;Crewmember One: Crewmember One is in charge of the navigation systems of Deep Blessing. anime voices|Masaru Harasawa|

;Crewmember Two: Crewmember Two is in charge of the torpedoes of Deep Blessing. anime voices |Yasuhiko Kawazu|

Video Game: Welcome to Papillon Park

;nihongo|Soya Muto|武藤ソウヤ|Mutō Sōya: Kazuki and Tokiko's son, who as a teenager travels back in time to stop a plot by Moon Face. His Buso Renkin is Kakugane LXXIV, Lightning Pale Rider, a trident very similar to Kazuki's Sunlight Heart. anime voices|Hiroaki Miura

Other Buso Renkins

Some additional Buso Renkin are mentioned by characters during the series.

; Genocide Circus: Genocide Circus, created using Kakugane LXVI, is a missile launcher capable of firing a large number of missiles without running out of ammunition. It was once used (by someone whose identity is not revealed) in a failed attempt to destroy Victor.

; Alchemy Power Laboratory: Alchemy Power Laboratory, created using Kakugane XI, is a Buso Renkin that takes the form of a building, which can be used as a secret base.

References