Seventh-grader Misaki Suzuhara moves to Tokyo to live with her aunt and is captivated by Angelic Layer, a game in which players called Deus mentally control custom dolls known as Angels on a field called the layer. An eccentric man who calls himself Icchan urges her to build her own, and she names her Angel Hikaru. Small but quick, Misaki enters competition and begins climbing the ranks against seasoned Deus.