Buso Renkin, Vol. 10

Finally completed my collection !!

It did not capture too much essence from Rurouni Kenshin ending, but it was very worth reading it for enjoyment.

It's over.Kazuki has found a way to finish the battles with Victor and Papillon and I don't want to say too much. If you're reading this review and have made it this far, I'm guessing you're going to read the last one and I don't want to mess with that first reading of the end. It feels a bit rushed but not overly so. I feel the author did a good job of wrapping up all of the story lines, something you can't always say.Overall I enjoyed this series and am going to watch the anime this week to see how it measures up (at time of writing available subbed on HULU). I wouldn't call it a classic, and it's not a must have for me, but I do recommend giving it a read. If your library has it I would encourage you to check it out or request them to purchase it (mine has a feature for this online, your's might as well)Bonuses: the usual liner note PLUSthe second is a bonus Buso Renkin short story. A bit cute but not much to say on that.the first one is a one-shot story that I am hoping is going to be a series. In fact, I just finished reading the volume and I am going to search for it next because I LOVED it.'Embalming: Corpse and Bride' is the story of a Frankenstein who works for hire. His fee is body parts from young, pretty girls to attempt to assemble his bride. In this short story we have a young girl who's family was murdered by a maniac who made 50 of them. I started to write more but erased it so as to not give away the plot too much (hee hee). I really liked this and hope since this series is over they made this into one. I'm off to look!!

Kazuki Muto is gone, but not forgotten -- at the end of the previous volume, he blasted himself and the deadly Victor to the moon.And the tenth and final volume of "Buso Renkin" is all about the aftereffects of that devastating choice, and what Kazuki's friends and girlfriend plan to do about it. Nobuhiro Watsuki uses the entire volume to wrap up various loose threads for the alchemist warriors and the homunculi, as well as to display a more gruesome brand of fantasy (involving Frankensteins). Gouta, Ouka, Shusui and a devastated Tokiko all gather at the park for their final mission: the destruction of Papillion and the homunculi (turns out he cloned back all the ones that died before). Papillion is enraged by Kazuki's departure, and by Tokiko thinking that she can fulfill his promises. But it turns out that blowing up the world isn't his intention -- instead, he's created something exclusively for Kazuki.And when a golden light shines on the moon's surface, Tokiko finds that the Alchemist Army is combining its myriad Buso Renkin for one last mission: getting Kazuki Muto back, and curing him of his condition -- not to mention dealing with Victor once and for all. And Papillion is waiting down on Earth for his one last battle with his archnemesis/friend.Then Watsuki plops an unrelated horror-fantasy story into the volume, "Embalming: Corpse and Bride": the eerie, hulking Frankenstein John Doe and his attendant Rose are summoned by a young dying girl, who wants them to destroy the sadistic Lord Corpse. Then it's back to "Buso Renkin," two months later: Kazuki asks Tokiko a weird question that sends her running across town."Buso Renkin Volume 10" is basically all about wrapping up the loose threads, and Nobuhiro Watsuki does a pretty good job of gathering them together and tying them in a nice little bow. The alchemists, the homunculi, and all the assorted characters (the ones who haven't died, anyway) are all given a leisurely send-off -- the biggest flaw being that "Embalming" shouldn't have been smack in the middle of "Buso Renkin's" finale.The first part is pretty intense -- lots of grief, action and gut-splattering, as well as Tokiko's emotional reunion with her beloved. But the second is a pretty lighthearted affair, with Kazuki and Tokiko encountering the various characters as they get on their lives, and showing us just how much the two teenagers adore one another (" I love everything about you... including that scar!"). It's just so cute... and the Papillion action figures don't hurt either (especially "Hypocrite Boy" and "Gut-Splatter Girl").It's a sign of Watsuki's affection that he uses the final chapters to give a satisfactory send-off to the entire cast -- Victor and the homunculi get a satisfactory ending (including the endearingly loyal Washio), Papillion gets his final fight and a new outlook ("PUT MORE LOVE INTO IT!"), and the assorted alchemist warriors take new positions in life. And once more, we see that Kazuki's indomitable spirit never fails, no matter how ghastly his circumstances.The one flaw with the characterizations? Well, while Tokiko's background is wonderfully gory and horrific, it seems a bit out of place at the very end of the series. Good story, though.The tenth and final volume of "Buso Renkin" is a loving farewell to this endearing action series -- lots of gut-splattering, romance and comedy. Not to mention a pat on the head to every one of the characters.

This tenth and final volume of Buso Renkin contains the final chapter of the series as well as a couple of short stories, one for Buso Renkin and the other totally unrelated to the series.The conclusion of the series is unfortunately something of an anticlimax as although there are a couple of brief but good fights and most of the loose ends are tied up, it does have a somewhat rushed feel to it. Despite this is still quite funny in places, mostly involving the brilliant Papillon, but it still could have been better. The Buso Renkin short `Afterward' is set two months after the end of the series and is quite good being very funny as well as finally showing some of Tokiko's past as well as tying up some of the things left to do from the final chapter.The other short included in this volume is `Embalming: Corpse & Bride', the tail of a Frankenstein's Monster who hunts others of its kind. This short is quite a bit darker than Buso Renkin but it is very interesting and does have some potential so I hope it gets picked up for a full series.Overall, although Buso Renkin isn't the best manga in the world it has never been anything less than fun and interesting and I definitely enjoyed reading it.

Este volumen le da cierre a la historia de Buso Renkin a petición de Watsuki-sensei después de que le cancelaran el manga, incluye dos historias extras: la que da origen al manga de Embalming (que tambipen escribió junto con su esposa Kaoru Kurosaki) y un capítulo extra que funge como epílogo al manga y confirma la relación entre los protagonistas.