Angelic Layer, Volume 5

A great end to a wonderful series. This book also includes bonus chapters! If you like the series, make sure to check out the anime- it differs slightly, including more characters and some different outcomes.

This is the fifth and last book of the five-book series, Angelic Layer, and picks up immediate where the fourth book left off. With the National Championship underway, Hikaru and Misaki are now facing the toughest angels and their Deuses (controllers) in all of Japan. But, leading with her heart, Misaki is certain to overcome all her obstacles, both those in the Angelic Layer and those in her life. This is the final book in the series, and it tied everything up nicely. This book is fun and exciting, watching Misaki unravel all of the mysteries of her opponents, and overcoming. I liked the story and the fun little eccentricities that separate this sort of book from the normal, run-of-the-mill American cartoon. (You have to see these characters when they get excited!) I found this a fun book, one that you can easily give to the kids in your life. I highly recommend this book!

Nothing unexpected happens in this one--everone should have figured out who the lady watching from the shadows was, although her reason for hanging in the shadows is a bit insane--she freaks out when she's around people she loves. This is in the Cardcaptor Sakura vein of Clamp work, but lacks the depth & suspense of CCS, likely due to the length of the work. Angelic Layer is fun, like a mini-vacation--I love the mad scientist stuff & he is a pretty mad scientist. The little dolls are cute, the art is CCS Clamp, not Rayearth Clamp & it's worth the read.