At the beginning of the Project Arms: The 2nd Chapter (Vol. 2): The Time Has Come, the Arms -- a collection of teenagers who each have a special power -- find themselves at a little Western town called Gallow?s Bell. Each Arms kid has had a specific portion of his or her body transformed by nanotechnology so that it becomes part of a complex nano-weapon, powered by something called ARMS. For instance, Ryo Takatsuki discovered that his right arm had been transformed by ARMS, making it larger, tougher, and much more powerful. Other kids have other attributes (left arm, legs, eyes... no other anatomical references, however... this is a family friendly Web site).

Confronting them is another group of kids who call themselves the Chapel Children.

There is nothing typical about the Chapel Children. They?re about a hundred times smarter than the average adult (that?s only about 50 times smarter than the average Game Vortex reader, of course). They?re also about a billion times nastier too, and they?ve decided to escape from the Egregori lab they were created in and take over a nearby town. The only thing the average person can equate this to is if the motor home housing the traveling staff of ?The Simple Life? was to weigh anchor in front of your house.

The Chapel Children use another bunch of super soldiers, called the Hound Battalion, to attack the Arms, but with little success, at least at first. As the battle rages, the Arms discover that Azazel, a 50,000-year-old meteorite that is linked to their powers, is also inside the Egregori labs at Gallow?s Bell.

Okay... are you following me so far?

Well, that?s how you feel after taking a big bite out of this DVD, Project Arms: The 2nd Chapter (Vol. 2): The Time Has Come, without having seen any of the other DVDs. For a while, you just float, absorbing information and trying to figure out who all these people are.

Once you do, though, the ensemble action is quite absorbing.

Unable to use the Hound Battalion to convince the Arms to join them by force, the Chapel Children realize that they should be fighting alongside the Arms against the real enemy: the Egregori. This happens just in time because Keith Silver has chosen to surround Gallow?s Bell with elite Epsilon fighting forces. So advanced is this force that it employs nanotechnology as a widespread weapon; anyone not protected by a hazmat suit is at risk. During the ensuing battle, Ryo is unable to allow any further loss of life and begins to tap into the power of the Jabberwock. Unfortunately, this puts him squarely in the way of Azazel?s awakening, a revival that could spell disaster not only for the Arms, but for everyone else as well.

Project Arms: The Second Chapter (Vol. 2) is chock full of interesting science and pseudo science. It moves along at a rapid-fire clip, so much so you might say it?s breathtaking. It succeeds because each of the Arms kids is fully formed and readily identifiable. The art direction, character design, writing, and dialogue are all of very high quality.

Where Project Arms disappoints (at least in this DVD offering) is by overloading the viewer with waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many characters doing their thing on screen at any given time. Add in the fact that some characters have normal names while others have fictitious names like Jabberwock and White Rabbit. Is there an easy way to streamline this when your ensemble cast meets another similarly large group? Probably not. But it?s also something to keep in mind when approaching this offering, especially when you haven?t synced up with the program?s background.

Also disappointing is the creator?s decision to load the characterizations down with foul language. Having certain characters swear on occasion is a way to develop a rebellious spirit. With nearly everyone taking time to tear up a blue streak, the result was like taking down a crystal music box with a ball peen hammer. Even if the original Japanese language version was as colorful, the English language version would have benefited by a little ?addition by subtraction.?

The bottom line is that if you?re interested in getting the most out of Project Arms: The 2nd Chapter (Vol. 2): The Time Has Come, start at the beginning and go through all the earlier episodes.

The investment is worth it.