List of Buso Renkin characters
The "Buso Renkin" anime and manga series features an extensive cast of characters created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The series takes place in the fictional Ginsei City, Japan, where a boy named Koshaku Chouno is creating alchemical monsters known as homunculi. During a night, Kazuki Muto, an ordinary boy, is killed by a homunculus, while trying to save Tokiko Tsumura. Feeling guilty, Tokiko, a member of the Alchemist Army, revives him by replacing his heart with an alchemical device called kakugane. The kakugane allows its wielder to form a buso renkin, a special weapon that is  the only thing that can destroy a homunculus. With his own buso renkin, Kazuki decides to join Tokiko in the fight against the homunculi. Over the course of the series, they also must to defeat the L.X.E, a group consisting of human-type homunculi, as well as Victor, an entity most powerful than the homunculi. While developing the series, Watsuki was influenced by his previous works, mostly by "Rurouni Kenshin" from which he drew references to the main characters; Kazuki and Tokiko were conceptualized after Makimachi Misao and Himura Kenshin, respectively. Films such as "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and  Brotherhood of the Wolf also served as source of inspiration, as well as American comics. Reviewers called the characters generic and also criticized their designs. The main characters divided critics' opinion; Kazuki and Papillon have received both praise and criticism, while most of praise was towards Tokiko, who also was voted as the most popular character of the series by readers. Creation and conception. Watsuki based "Buso Renkin"s characters and fictional elements on his previous works. He conceptualized Kazuki while imagining Makimachi Misao, and Tokiko was designed as a feminized version of Himura Kenshin from "Rurouni Kenshin". From the same  series, Yukishiro Enishi and Yukishiro Tomoe served as inspiration for the Hayasaka twins; Inui Banjin and Otowa Hyōko for the homunculi Kinjo and Jinnai. Shusui Hayasaka's buso renkin, "Sword Samurai X", refers to the English name of "Rurouni Kenshin". Watsuki declared that Buster Baron is a "reincarnation" of the Armor Baron from "Gun Blaze West". In addition, Victor's buso renkin is named after the "X-Men" storyline of the same name. Watsuki has drawn many references from films. He choose the Kazuki's weapon as a lance because he watched "A Knight's Tale", and thought it was  cool. "Brotherhood of the Wolf" served as the inspiration for Silver Skin, which is based on the main characters' outfit, and for Victor, which is based on a Native American. Moonface's replication ability is based in "Matrix"s Agent Smith. The name "League of Extraordinary Elects" was based on "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". The submarine buso renkin was inspired by the "Nautilus" from Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". The term for the human followers of the homunculi, "familiars", comes from the human disciples of the vampires in "Blade". Gekisen, the buso renkin of Genji Ikusabe  was based on "Hollow Man". Characters. The Alchemist Army. In the manga, with the exceptions of the three new members (Kazuki and the Hayasaka twins), all members of the Alchemist Army, including Tokiko, have their names annotated exclusively with katakana (e.g. ), while all other characters have theirs regularly with hiragana. Tokiko's family name, Tsumura, was annotated with hiragana (as ) for the first two volumes, however. The Re-Extermination Squad is a team led by Sekima Hiwatari and commissioned to kill Kazuki. The group is composed of , another of Captain Bravo's former teammates, her buso renkin is called , a  radar that also can teleport objects; , a shy girl whose buso renkin, , is a gas mask capable of mixing all gas-type elements into either poisonous or explosive mixtures; , a combative man whose buso renkin, , is a spear that heals any wound it's wielder suffers; , an androgynous boy whose buso renkin, , takes the form of a belt which fires out balloons that can shirnk and seal people within them (manga) or multiply themselves when destroyed (anime); , a quite yet stern man whose buso renkin, , is a ninjatō that creates pathways to another dimension when it cuts a solid object ; and , a man whose buso renkin , is a pair of mechanical military dogs commanded by a flute. Reception. Leigh Dragoon of Sequential Tart qualified the characters as "completely forgettable" and said they lack of personality, citing Mahiro "could be portrayed as a piece of paper". Dragoon said Kazuki "seems like a direct lift from "3x3 Eyes"s Yakumo [Fujii]", and Tokiko and "Rei Ayanami without the interesting attached", respectively. Similarly, Michael Aronson from Manga Life stated "all [the characters] fit familiar roles". Later, Aronson named the character's dialogue as the series "strongest suit", but criticized how Kazuki and Tokiko "only  act as bland foils". Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network (ANN) qualified Kazuki "a non-entity", and the remaining characters "human-shaped gags". Writing for ANN, Luke Carroll said the character designs are "a rather uninspired affair". Kimlinger said the designs are "so generic that they'd shame a dating sim". A reviewer of "The Star" declared "the manga's antagonists are quite weak and one-dimensional" and that it is "difficult to take Papillon Mask seriously." In the same vein, Carlo Santos of ANN criticized the designs, mainly the villains who "slides right down into lame", saying "who would  even want to cosplay Papillon?", and comparing Moonface to a scary McDonald's campaign. The "overblown" villains "soon start to become old hat" and "irritating", according to UK Anime Network's Andy Hanley. Although praised Papillon's backhistory, Mania's Chris Beveridge criticized his design and called him "a very quirky and weird character". Conversely, Patti Martinson wrote for Sequential Tart that the characters "are distinctive and interesting", and "The Star" reviewer called the character "Buso Renkin"s "saving grace". Kazuki was said to be a "very likeable hero" by Active Anime's Holly Ellingwood, who also stated Papillon is the  most memorable villain of the series. Carroll said Tokiko "is the best of the bunch", while Kimlinger, who praised her "an oasis of feminine strength in a genre more remarkable for its monster-bait femmes", declared it is one of few characteristics that distinguish the series from other "shōnen" fighting series. Active Anime's Sandra Scholes praised the character's illustration as well as called Kazuki and Tokiko "wonderful couple". Hanley said he only "feel a little empathy" for Kazuki and Tokiko in later episodes, while Beveridge praised Papillon taking "an amusing role" in those episodes. The supporting cast was  also praised; Aronson cited there are "interesting personalities", while Beveridge said they "help it out immensely", and Kimlinger stated that they "so clearly outclassed its main character." The addition of Re-Extermination Squad was praised by Holly Ellingwood of Active Anime who called they "interesting". At the end of the series, Ellingwood praised how Watsuki did "a fabulous job of covering [...] the various characters, juggling them effectively". In the "Buso Renkin" official popularity poll conducted by "Weekly Shōnen Jump", Tokiko was elected the most popular among the manga fanbase. Kazuki ranked second, Papillon ranked third, Bravo ranked fourth, Shusui ranked  fifth, Mahiro ranked sixth, Gouta ranked seventh, Angel Gouzen ranked eight, Ouka ranked ninth, and Moonface ranked tenth. Two of the major villains, Victor and Dr. Butterfly, ranked 15th place and 19th place, respectively. Note: The information is taken from the history itself as well as from the author's note.