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PROJECT ARMS – THE FOURTH REVELATION: FORTRESS (VOL.15) |
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Wednesday, 07 March 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | ART/AUTHOR: | | RYOJI MINAGAWA / KYOICHI NANATSUKI | | | | ▪ | FORMAT/COLOR: | | JAPANESE FORMAT/ BW | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 206 | | | ▪ | RATED: | | OT | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 01/09/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 03/08/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL | | |
Project Arms continues with its fifteenth volume, covering the stories of the “Arms” – Ryo, Hayato, Takeshi, and Kei. All four of these teens are implanted with nanotech limb enhancements that cause them to transform into grotesquely deformed and out-of-control super weapons. The organization responsible for their plight is “Egrigori” – bent on engineering the future of mankind. With their unique powers, Ryo and the others have vowed to protect the world at any cost. They must destroy “Alice”, the massive A.I. computer that lies at the heart of the organization’s evil plans.
The four main characters have traveled to New York in pursuit of the Keith series. Takeshi remains in a persistent vegetative state, while Dr. Tillinghast tells of Alice’s creation and her plan of terror. He then begs the children to destroy her, but first Ryo and the others must save Katsumi. Green confronts James Huang in a long battle involving physical transformations and psychic powers. The battle is left unfinished as James escapes, but Katsumi is saved from his grip. The four then square off with a plethora of adversaries, including a giant mecha where the story leaves off for this volume.
The art is fairly good, and the action scenes are very involving. The fighting is a cross between the brutal psychic battles of titles such as Akira, and the mind games/powering up that is a mainstay of manga like Dragon ball Z. Adversaries are always one-upping each other both verbally and physically as they transform into giant deformed beasts and the like. All the little details are there, as each page is worth giving a second look over just to enjoy the time put into the drawings. With plenty of speed lines, blood, and cyber-punk inspired action scenes, Project Arms provides a type of entertainment that will remind the viewer of some of the best art to come out of the late 80’s – while still maintaining a new and unique look and feel of its own. As much as this manga is about action, there’s still plenty of story and character conversation to make it a good read – ensuring that it remains well-balanced.
IN SUMMARY:
Project Arms is a story of humans being fused with machine technology and subsequently going horribly wrong. It’s the age old manga concept of “beware the dangers of technology” that was given birth by the aftermath of World War II and the effects these events had on Japanese society. Fans of action, sci-fi, and cyberpunk manga should give this one a once over. |
