Misaki Suzuhara is a junior high student who came to Tokyo to study. On the big screen in the city, she sees a video of the fighting game “Angelic Layer“, which is played out with dolls called “angels“ and it immediately captures her imagination. After seeing how excited she is, Ichiro Mihara, a.k.a. “Icchan“ gives her an angel egg. Misaki names the angel born from that egg “Hikaru“ and together they enter the official “Angelic Layer“ competition. Misaki proves to have a natural talent for the game, and wins match after match.

This was CLAMP’s first action manga, published from 1999 to 2001 in “Monthly Shonen Ace“ (Kadokawa Shoten). The idea of “angels“ came from playing with Licca dolls, and this was incorporated into a story about a futuristic fighting game involving people and dolls. As “Monthly Shonen Ace“ is Kadokawa Shoten’s anthology aimed at young boys, the art style leans heavily into liberal use of action lines and dynamic fight scenes befitting of shonen manga. And there are also many fun links to other CLAMP titles for fans to look out for. The angel “Hikaru“ is modeled after Hikaru Shidou from “Magic Knight Rayearth“, and the technology used in “Angelic Layer“ is also found in the world of “Chobits“. The more CLAMP titles you read, the more you discover about the deeply interwoven worlds they’ve created. In 2001, Angelic Layer was adapted into a television anime. A game was also produced based on the story in 2001.