Twelve-year-old Misaki Suzuhara moves to Tokyo to live with her aunt and gets swept up in Angelic Layer, a nationwide sport where players called Deus pilot custom-built dolls known as Angels in miniature arena battles. An eccentric mentor called Icchan pushes her to build her own Angel, Hikaru, small and fast but capable of surprising power. Determined to prove herself, Misaki enters her first tournament matches against seasoned competitors across Tokyo.