The series tells the story of a twelve-year-old girl, Misaki, who is instructed in a technological game that involves using robotic dolls. The dolls are programmed to fight in a special arena and the games are quite competitive. The dolls, when put on a special arena surface, come to life and are thought controlled by the owner. Two go into the arena and fight, with various rules and regulations to control aspects of the contest, and how well they do will dictate how many points they get and their ranking in regional bouts.

As the third DVD opens up, Misaki is finding her newfound success at the Angelic Layer game to cause her some difficulties in terms of fans and jealousies with some of the more competitive players on the circuit. With the semi-finals wrapping up soon, her wins are earning her quite a reputation among those who watch the game and not all of the observers are happy. Here's a quick breakdown with minimal spoilers for the included four episodes on the third DVD:

Episode Nine: Sing Misaki! Is The Deus An Idol?!:
Misaki's latest opponent is a pop music singer, Ringo Seto, a popular gal with the crowds. Her angel uses a technique that amounts to a long distance attack, something usually forbidden in the games. Hikaru's main strength is her speed and Misaki's ability to analyze combat strategies very quickly but can the team fight win when they can't even get close enough to land a blow?

Episode Ten: Mean Sisters! Hikaru, The Target!:
The next opponents are a team of sisters, the Fujisaki sisters, one of which is a technical whiz with electronics and the other a champion fighter with plenty of experience. When the sisters want to hedge their bets against the Misaki/Hikaru team, all bets are off as they find a way to cheat. Can Misaki overcome the cheating sisters or will she forfeit the match?

Episode Eleven: Finish It Off! Hikaru & Mao's Important Game!:
The Fujisaki sisters get serious and Hikaru's lapses of control prevent her from defending herself adequately. Icchan knows something is wrong but doesn't want the scandal of cheating to mar the games. Can a certain friend stop the cheating and let the game play itself out or will the show be discredited?

Episode Twelve: Misaki & Kotaro. Their Exciting Date!:
In a break from the games, Misaki and Kotaro go on a picnic of sorts. She packs a lot of food and the two have a great time. He invites her to his dojo in order to teach her some moves of her own in the martial arts. As the finals approach, a new system for fighting is on the horizon, threatening to upset the status quo.

When I first started watching the series back in Volume 1, I didn't think it would grow on me like it has. I prefer a bit more sophistication in my anime and this didn't have it. Still, as time goes on, something clicked and I'm anticipating the future volumes of the show, which is why I'm giving this a rating of Recommended. I know it's geared towards younger, and female, fans of anime but it was cute enough and different enough that it was enjoyable to watch. The Japanese vocals were a bit better this time but the audio effects sounded better on the English language dub. I look forward to seeing the later volumes of the show to see if the characters develop more or if this is going to get old quickly as many fighting anime shows do.

Picture: The picture was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color, the standard for television anime shows for years. The picture was very clear and colorful with no artifacts or other problems observed. The transfer was solid and I had no problems with the picture.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of either a 5.1 Dolby Digital English track or the original 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese track. I favored the original track on the vocals but preferred the dub on the effects with the better spatial characteristics. The dub vocals weren't bad, I actually enjoyed them a lot, but some of it was due to the writing.

Extras: The best extra was an audio commentary by Shelly Black (voice actor for Madoka) and director David Williams. The two spent a fair amount of time introducing themselves and their background as well as some information about the show. There was a paper insert that described two of the leads and their dolls, clean openings and closings, and some previews.

Final Thoughts: The series is definitely a cute show to watch with more than a little moral advice disguised as a plot. You can pick it up in the middle of the series since the general concepts are fairly universal but if you get a chance, watch it from the beginning since you'll derive more from it that way. The direction, voices, and story are all good enough to suggest it as a show to enjoy for all ages.