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Review:
I am a big fan of the works of CLAMP. From Card Captor Sakura to X, I have been greatly entertained by all of the CLAMP anime I have seen. Some of that is to do with the character designs; the eyes of the characters in CLAMP series always seem so expressive to me. The people are just so darn cute, you just sort of want to sit them on your shelf with your other plushies... CLAMP always bring together the reasons why people are doing the things that they do. The scenes all mesh and the interaction is always good, and the stories don't suck either.
All in all, I had some pretty high expectations when I began to watch Angelic Layer. I was not disappointed.
Misaki, the main character of the story, lives in a small village in the country with her grandparents, but she moves to Tokyo to attend a school that her mysterious mother is paying for. (A recurring theme through the episodes is Misaki's desire to see her mother again, and the payoff is delightful.) "Grounded" is the best way to describe Misaki; she comes under a lot of attention, but takes it all in her stride, and mostly stays an extremely bubbly person. She is quite a good lead character, in a classic CLAMP way.
Although, what is it about CLAMP Heroines (and some of the Heroes for that matter) that they are usually quite domestic? Good cooks, incredibly neat, good at housework. Sometimes in a power-to-destroy-the-world kind of way, but still... I laughed a lot where Misaki's Aunt asked her to be her wife, and she was not the only one to do so. It seems lots of people want a little Misaki of their own.
The other main character is Icchan, the Mad Scientist/all around odd guy. They got the look right, he does have a great many wacky lines, particularly with the punishment games. (Note to self - It does NOT look fun to walk around with a live octopus in your pants for 10 minutes). But to begin with (and they make a joke of it almost right off) he does seem a little perverted, or at least a little sinister with all his glinting glasses moments.
The story is a little bit Magic Girl, a little bit Sci-fi. The premise that moves the whole story along is that of the creating/training/participation in the sport called Angelic Layer which is like WWF, with Barbie dolls (Well, little ones, not the great big ones who do that for a living). I found myself wanting Misaki to win her Angel battles, though I do have to stop watching these when other people are home, as I sometimes find myself yelling at the TV, cheering etc. (I don't watch sport, so this is quite unusual for me.) If Angelic Layer was real, I know that I would be attempting it (though with how good I am at computer games, my success would be debatable if not outright laughable).
Overall, with this being CLAMP's first series specifically aimed at a male audience, I think that they have clobbered it for a six. The story has something for everyone that watches it, especially kids and the kids at heart.
Yes, I am a CLAMP Fan through and through. And there is nothing wrong with that. 8 Dancing Angels out of 10 by Ian Arentz
Ian lives in Canberra and has been told that he watches too much anime. He says simply that there is no such thing as too much anime. He does do other things that aren't directly related to anime, such as work for the government, but this invariably forces him to watch anime to escape, and spend all his salary doing so. He was a little annoyed at what it cost him to get the .Hack Infection anime episode, but at least they give you a free PS2 game when you purchase it. His local comic store really likes it when he comes in. As do the anime stores in Melbourne. He would really like some anime ties to wear to work but has not been able to locate any at this time. back to the top
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