Mini-review: Angelic Layer

When a weird stranger named Icchan drags her into Piffle Princess to kit her out with Angelic Layer goods, she starts to play seriously, leading in short order to the national Angelic Layer championships -- and a long and much-yearned-for reunion.

Angelic Layer is by turns dramatic and silly, but focuses on a wide cast of characters with various quirks, ranging from a child in elementary school to an idol singer. The characters are largely explored through the alter egos of their Angelic Layer dolls and the matches they play in.

Misaki is a charming protagonist who swiftly brings all of her opponents over to her side, to a degree that is almost annoying at times. However despite her bright surface she is quite lonely, due to the apparent abandonment by her mother years before. This thread is explored and concluded in the last few episodes.

In all it's quite fun to watch, and I found myself looking forward to the next DVD as they were released, but it will never be known as one of CLAMP's greatest series. It tries to be too many things to be truly great at any of them, although it's nice to see a creature combat anime with some semblance of depth.

Animation is bright and sharp, voice acting is solid, and in general presentation is excellent.