I gave this an overall rating of 8.
Renka is a doll looking for humanity. While this may not be the most original story, the way it is presented is quite interesting. We start off with a chapter about a job that he takes, his job being killing. Immediately after we go into his past and a former colleague shows up vowing revenge and screaming 'mother!'
Both story arcs are just too short. The art was beautiful and detailed, and remotely unique for a typical samurai-era story. Renka is seeking something and is ultimately flawed making him a perfect example of a typical hero or anti-hero; his story is just unique enough to be interesting too. The story and action are good as well, with just enough meat to each chapter to really get you interested.
The tragic thing about this is that it's simply too short. The beginning was fine- something unrelated to the characters goal, but introducing the main characters. But then we move directly into Renka's history and it's just too quick. There wasn't really any build, and ultimately we never see him change. Renka does not seem ended. I can only assume that it wasn't popular enough to continue, which is just too bad.