Angelic Layer 7/10

In most anime the parents of the typically young characters are nowhere to be seen. In Angelic Layer the main character has a mother I wish HAD died of whatever it is most anime parents die of. TB or mech attack or whatever.

Angelic Layer ran 26 episodes way back in 2001. Being a CLAMP show, it obviously had a huge budget (why CLAMP gets so much money to make anime I'll never know) and it shines in all the usual technical areas. The character designs and backgrounds are great and well animated throughout the series. The music is orchestral and very good and I even consider the OP better than average. The VA's are also well cast and while I hated Misaki's voice at first it grew on me. She has the funny way of yelling in surprise that cracks me up.

Misaki Suzuhara has just moved to Tokyo to attend middle school and is going to live with her aunt. Her mother, who she hasn't seen in 7 years, is in Tokyo as well but Misaki has had no contact with her since the day she left and for some unknown reason they aren't even capable of picking up a damn phone. This is the stupidest part of this series. How on EARTH do you live with your grandparents and have NO contact with your mom. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Misaki is also a rather small girl who has issues with her diminutive stature and is somewhat timid.

When she arrives in Tokyo she sees an Angelic Layer match on a big screen outside the station and meets Icchan, the crazy scientist who takes Misaki to buy her own angel and is actually the one who invented the toy, unbeknownst to Misaki of course. Misaki then begins a meteoric rise through the ranks of Angelic Layer as she makes friends at school and among her opponents including all the characters in the opening credits. How odd. One little girl named Hatoko, who kicks ass at Angelic Layer even though she's in kindergarten, becomes Misaki's good friend and features at first as a rival, then as her one-girl support team as Misaki battles through to the national finals.

It turns out that Misaki's mom, Shuko, has been helping Icchan with his Angelic Layer research in order to develop some artificial legs. Shuko is sick and has been confined to a wheelchair so she's too embarrassed to tell Misaki the truth. The show has many near misses but they don't meet until Misaki ends up battling her mom in the championship. Shuko's been the champion for the past 2 years and this is GROSSLY unfair having one of the developers dominate the Angelic Layer league. How retarded. Of course the tearful reunion is pretty good but doesn't quite make up for how a 30 year old woman is dominating a sport played by young girls.

I liked this show since it really deals with the insecurities Misaki feels. She has a tough time being a girl in a boys world, being small, not having a mom, and falling for her first guy. Rather than make excuses she overcomes her problems with some pretty good story telling. Even her opponents have problems that are well presented and we even get to see the other side of the "being small" issue when Misaki battles a girl unpopular with boys because she's tall.

The Angel battles are also quite good though you KNOW Misaki isn't going to lose and there isn't too much crying for a show where the cast is mainly female. Recommended.