B'T X

If you're familiar with Kurumada's storytelling, i.e., abundant deus ex machina (see: Saint Seiya), well... B'T X is pretty much exactly the same. It epitomizes the classic 90's shōnen manga – for the most part (*more on that later). Kurumada mentioned he had never drawn a story involving robots before, thus B'T X was born. A B'T refers to a large mechanical being often modeled after mythical creatures, loyal to their blood donor until death. X is the name of the B'T belonging to the hero, Teppei. The author will explain in the story what "B" stands for... but forget about "T"; it remains unexplained. XD

Your enjoyment of this series heavily depends on your tolerance for ridiculous clichés and deus ex machinas. This manga is one deus ex machina after another. Most characters have a single special attack used repeatedly. You'll grow tired of seeing Teppei's Methayer Fist soon enough. Also, battles lack dynamic movement. They mostly consist of one drawing with little stars and explosions in the background. I don't think Kurumada knows how to illustrate battles with back-and-forth action. It's just... blah blah blah WATCH MY FIST EXTENDED INTO THE AIR and the enemy goes ARGHHHHH and little explosions everywhere. Additionally, Kurumada has a peculiar habit of drawing a line right through a character's face during "action" scenes. There will inevitably be lines all over, with one always splitting the character's face in half. It's a strange design choice, but you get used to it.

You also encounter typical tropes like, "OMG! We have a 99.8% chance of losing against this B'T!!!" (an actual stat from the manga). Do you think they will lose? :) Deus ex... There are also things like ARMOR REINFORCED TO 200%! Random power stats are given to "illustrate" strength. A newly discovered special move can be used more than once in a battle, too, just to win twice in a row *yawn*. But remember, it's usually one drawing of the special move and one of the enemy getting destroyed. Rarely is there more than that. The development is very classic... we have to fight seven generals to reach the base! So our hero slowly advances towards the base throughout the entire manga.

There's also a weird mix of esoteric/spiritual/philosophical/scientific mumbo-jumbo in the story. Kurumada likes incorporating real-world concepts into his stories and giving his opinions on various subjects, like religion, black matter, atoms, music, etc. He tries to explain a character's special move rationally, using real-life physics concepts... except when he needs a deus ex machina, and suddenly the "power of the heart" wins over everything. Like, seriously. At one point, an attack succeeds because the enemy overlooked the power of one's heart!! It's quite ridiculous.

Kurumada also loves mathematical equations. In volume 13, there's the ultimate anti-shōnen battle I referred to at the beginning of the review. It's a battle between two adversaries that consists literally of a series of extremely high-level math challenges... and the questions and answers are all provided to us! Most of us wouldn't be able to solve any of the equations presented, but who cares! This is so out of left field that I love it. It feels fresh and unique, a significant feat for this manga. And this is where the positive points finally appear for me. Out of 16 volumes, I feel volumes 13-15 are the best ones. The characters suddenly feel more developed and interesting.

The last volume is disappointing, as the ending is a let-down and typical of the genre. Despite all of it, though, I think B'T X is an easy read. It never really feels boring despite not being particularly good. I would probably not recommend this manga to most readers, but if you're willing to make it to the end and are a fan of the author or that era of manga or the cliché and deus ex machina-ridden storytelling or the static artwork, you might find yourself enjoying this.