Hiroshi Nishikiori Angelic Layer TV

Misaki Suzuhara is a bright cheerful, but somewhat undersized 12 year old girl. On her way to Tokyo to move in with her Aunt Shoko to attend a new middle school, she accidentally gets off at the wrong train station, and is instantly mesmerized by a giant billboard TV screen showing a competition where a smaller and weaker Angel performs a come from behind win against a larger and stronger opponent...

A brief explanation on the premise of this series.... There are these electronic toy dolls, referred to as 'Angels' which are normally inert, but when combined with a special data display goggle/thought scanning head band, and a cybernetic control platform, refered to as the 'Angelic Layer', the dolls come to life, controled by the thoughts and driven by the wills of there operator. The dolls are then used for combat sports competition with organized local, regional, and national competitions.

In addition to the 7th grader Misaki, other major characters include Hotako Kobaiyashi, a little kindergarten girl she befriends on her way to school, (and who turns out to be known as the 'Miracle Kindergarten Kid', a highly ranked national semi-finalist of the Angelic Layer), her older brother Koutarou, who is Misaki's classmate, and the boy punching bag for girl martial artist and fellow classmate Tamayo Kizaki, with a fiery personality, (and shares the same name as a famous Japanese Fireworks company).

Based on the Manga series written by the artist team known as CLAMP, 'Angelic Layer' was their first attempt at writing a 'Shounen' (Got to catch them all!!!) genre series. And likewise, the 'Angelic Layer' anime series was the first anime TV series to be produced by Studio bones, who later produced other highly acclaimed series such as 'RahXephon', 'Wolf's Rain' and 'Full Metal Alchemist'

When I first heard about the CLAMP series, I wondered, what kind of story can you have about toy dolls punching and kicking each other???, But the story isn't about battling dolls, its about their operators. In addition to the weekly competition aspect of the Shounen genre, the series takes on many of the aspects of Sports anime genre, where we watch the characters overcome their trials and tribulations on their quest to go all the way... And being a CLAMP series, you can expect unique personalities and a complex character relationship chart. Every major character has a emotional issue of some kind that has to be overcome, with many personal closet skeletons revealed. Misaki's most fearsome competitors are given detailed backgrounds to make you feel for the characters.

As their first TV series, Studio bones did an excellent job of animation, bringing the emotions of the characters and the dolls to life. They also demonstrated the seamless integration of hand drawn and CGI graphics, a trend that continued with their more recent works.

'Angelic Layer' being a Shounen genre, isn't a series to present deep thoughts or complex philosophy. What it is, is a bright cheerful and fun series, and a great character development story that is a joy to watch. The ending of the series is preordained the moment Misaki steps outside that train station. But the series isn't about the end results, it's about the adventure along the way.