User Reviews

-WARNING!! HERE BE SPOILERS!!-

what seems like a charming anime on the outset becomes plagued with uncomfortable implications when delved into deeper.

the show is geared towards jr high aged girls and is about a game called "angelic layer" that is played with animated dolls, kind of like pokemon except that they're little person shaped robots. the dolls, called angels, fight, but don't bleed or appear to suffer major trauma. the main character is a 12 year old girl who's been raised by family since she was a young child, believing that her mom was kept away by work. she arrives in tokyo to live with her aunt and attend school and discovers this game in which she quickly gets involved. she turns out to have a natural talent and competes well in various tournaments. what she doesn't know is that her mom really left when she developed a degenerative nerve condition in her feet, and left to take part in bionic research which turned into "angelic layer" when funding for pure research wasn't forthcoming. the daughter moves up through the ranks of the game's elite players and reaches the world championships. although the mom knows the daughter is in the world championship, the daughter doesn't know that the defending champion is in fact her own mother until just before the final match. there is a big tearful reunion and immediately after, they proceed to beat the bejeezus out of each others' dolls in the final match.

the show is dominated by fight sequences between the dolls, and occasionally breaks away to attend to what might have been enlightening character development. in the final episode, i waited for the surprise ending where rather than fighting, the two dolls representing mother and daughter embrace and walk off the playing field as something less than champions, but far more profound than mere combatants. however, the message was that winning is everything, even if it means fighting the ones you love, even if you haven't seen said loved one in years. the message is that violence is okay as long as there is no blood, as long as the fighters are toys or something other than truly human. not to mention the theologically questionable aspect of referring to the dolls as "angels" and the users as "deus," literally translated as gods.

i had high hopes for "angelic layer" as it is in theory the prequel to the more maturely themed "chobits", which i enjoyed a great deal more. i fear that "angelic layer", in aiming for a less sophisticated audience, missed opportunities to be more meaningful.