The series has also spawned two drama CDs, two light novels, a PlayStation 2 video game, and many types of Buso Renkin-themed merchandise.

In Japan, the Buso Renkin manga has sold over 3 million volumes and was nominated for the science fiction works focused Seiun Award.

Watsuki's art received the most positive comments from reviewers, while other aspects of the manga, such as its action and characters, have divided critics' opinions.

The narrative of Buso Renkin follows Kazuki Muto, who saves Tokiko Tsumura and is killed by an alchemical monster known as a homunculus.

Before his death, Dr. Butterfly drains the energy of the students at Kazuki's school to heal and revive Victor, a being superior to humans and homunculi.

The black kakugane absorbs human life forces; to prevent this from happening, Kazuki's death is ordered by the Alchemist Army.

The Alchemist Army dedicates itself to research a way to revert homunculi back into humans, ending their war activities.

[5] Watsuki drew references from several sources in Buso Renkin; from his past works Rurouni Kenshin[6] and Gun Blaze West[7] to American comics,[8] and from films to other anime and manga.

[9] Despite dealing with alchemy, Watsuki initially avoided mentioning the philosopher's stone because he thought he could be accused of plagiarizing another series.

[13][14] Shueisha published the individual chapters in a series of ten tankōbon (collected volumes), which were released between January 5, 2004, and April 4, 2006.

[24] In Japan, the Buso Renkin manga was adapted into an anime series which ran on TV Tokyo; it was directed by Takao Kato, written by Akatsuki Yamatoya, and produced by Xebec.

[47] It also released two "Expert CDs", which features the radio drama, opening and ending themes and unreleased soundtrack songs.

[49] Two light novels were written by Kaoru Kurosaki, illustrated by Watsuki, and published under the Jump J-Books imprint by Shueisha.

[65] Writing for Active Anime, Sandra Scholes found points of interest in the series' story, and praised its action.

[62] Leigh Dragoon from Sequential Tart described Buso Renkin as "derivative" and "hackneyed", and called the characters "completely forgettable".

[66] Holly Ellingwood praised the final volume, stating that Watsuki did "a fabulous job of covering all fronts and the various characters, juggling them effectively" and that it ends "in an amazing way".

[68] Writing for ANN, Luke Carroll stated the series is generic and that it became "[a] bit more tolerable ... during its light-hearted moments".

[69] Although ANN's Carl Kimlinger said the anime follows the "shōnen fighting formula", he praised Tokiko's characterization, saying it is one characteristic that distinguish the series.

[71] UK Anime Network's Andy Hanley also called it "generic" at the start, but said it "has a fairly decent stab" in the second half.

[72][73] Chris Beveridge of Mania praised the balance between the humor and the "lighter side", and stated that Buso Renkin "took the clichés and obviousness of ideas and ran with it in an engaging and fun manner".