Angelic Layer (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

Angelic Layer (機動天使エンジェリックレイヤー, Kidō Tenshi Angelic Layer) is a 2001 television anime series based on CLAMP’s manga series of the same name. The series was adapted by studio Bones, and the staff credits include director Hiroshi Nishikiori, series composition writer Ichiro Okouchi, character designer Takahiro Komori, and music composed by Kōhei Tanaka. The series first aired in Japan on April 2001.

Note: This post has been updated in May 2024 to reflect the current blog layout and some minor tweaks to the original write-up.

Background:

“From the moment twelve-year-old Misaki Suzuhara arrives in Tokyo to live with her aunt, she finds herself swept away by the amazing world of Angelic Layer – a fast-paced, high-tech game where dolls called Angels are controlled by the thoughts of their operator.

Discovering that her new friends are as interested in Angelic Layer as she is, Misaki builds her own Angel and begins competing in battles where will and determination count far more than size and strength. Can Misaki handle the pressure of the national championships while struggling to adapt to life in an unfamiliar city? From the amazing minds and pens of legendary all-female creative team CLAMP, it’s the coming-of-age adventure that’s become an all-time classic!”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, September 2018.

CLAMP worked on a lot of projects that have been adapted into anime form. Many will recognise their works for the Cardcaptor Sakura franchise or even their contribution to Code Geass with Takahiro Kimura. And while it does have its fans, I don’t see Angelic Layer being talked as much as the others, especially considering it takes place in the universe as Chobits.

The series was first licensed in the west by ADV Films for both the United Kingdom and United States. The interesting part is that the UK release was given a higher rating due to a derogatory word on the English dub audio commentary (the word “retard” is generally not accepted in the UK compared to other territories), and therefore it was removed to maintain the lower PG rating. In North America they didn’t need to make any edits so it was left as it was. The license remained with ADV Films over the years and eventually carried over to Sentai Filmworks on DVD before later receiving a Blu-ray release.

Anime Limited rescued the UK license for Angelic Layer in May 2018 during MCM London Comic Con and re-used the Sentai masters which also meant they included the audio commentary whilst also re-using the PG rating.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

Anime Limited are fans of the artists and considering it’s a classic series, it made sense for Angelic Layer to receive a collector’s edition release.

This release is presented with a rigid box containing an digipack housing the Blu-ray discs, in addition to a 40-page booklet. The booklet included illustrations from the anime series.

The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray was 1000 units printed for an SRP of £59.99. A standard Blu-ray has yet to be released.

The series was purchased through eBay as the series was almost selling out.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with Digipack packaging and clean artwork
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• 40-page Booklet

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 24th September 2018

The collector’s edition release for Angelic Layer contains all 26 episodes of the series across three Blu-ray discs, with the encode & authoring done by Sentai Filmworks. The audio options available are Japanese with English subtitles and the Industrial Smoke & Mirrors English dub commissioned by ADV Films.

The yellow subtitles were locked during playback and the disc regions were accessible to Blu-ray players set to A & B.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 1.33:1 aspect ratio
Region	A B
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	Yes
Discs	3 BD-50s

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Disc 1:

• English Audio Commentary for Episode 1 with Voice Actors Jessica Boone (Misaki) & Andy McAvin (Icchan)
• English Audio Commentary for Episode 6 with Voice Actors Kevin Corn (Kotaro) & Monica Rial (Tamayo)

Disc 2:

• English Audio Commentary for Episode 11 with ADR Director David Williams and Voice Actor Shelley Calene-Black (Madoka)
• English Audio Commentary for Episode 15 with Voice Actors Tiffany Terrel (Kaede) & Tiffany Grant (Sai)
• English Audio Commentary for Episode 17 with Voice Actors Sasha Paysinger (Hatoko) & Mariela Ortiz (Ringo)

Disc 3:

• English Audio Commentary for Episode 23 with ADR Director David Williams and Voice Actor Christopher Patton (Ohjiro)
• English Video Commentary for Episode 25 with Voice Actors Christine Auten (Shuko) & Kelly Manison (Shoko)
• Production Artwork
• Clean Opening Animation “Be My Angel”
• Clean Closing Animations “The Starry Sky” & “After the Rain”
• Sentai Filmworks Trailer

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Angelic Layer was available to own on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland, but the series has been out of print ever since it sold out of its stock by this point.