Galaxy Angel is a program that is just right for a silly good time. There is no overall plot. Episodes are just twelve minutes long, which makes it seem not quite accurate to say it's a twenty-six episode series. More like twenty-six HALF episodes. And each is a stand-alone story, good for laughs and slapstick.

The best characters in the series are the gun-totin' hard-nosed action girl Forte, the self-centered (rich-)man-crazy superstitious Ranpha, and the sweet, cute, bland but terrifyingly iron-willed Mint. Milfuelle is considered the main character, but I don't really know why. She is a air-headed young rookie who has miraculous luck, and I suppose she does as well as anyone as a neutral focal point. Vanilla is an almost robotic, emotionless character who spews religious admonitions. Quite frankly, she's something of a drag on the show, lacking in any interest or likeability. There's also an annoying computer chip (alternately inhabiting a missile and a stuffed...um...platypus(?) with the world's most irritating metallicized voice. There's a Colonel Volcott who leads the brigade and gives them their orders (MUST have a MAN in charge, right? Pooey) but he doesn't do much of anything, despite giving the impression of being a potentially amusing character.

There seemed to be only one attempt to become serious on the show--an episode where Forte meets a street orphan who reminds her of herself as a child--but the show sticks mainly to doing what it does best--short, funny stories. Lost cats who are the heir to millions. Horrible space viruses that turn people into monkeys. Faking your own death so your friend can use your funeral as an excuse for being late for a date. Sending your friends on potentially deadly detours in the middle of a full-scale disaster so that they won't see the embarrassing tourist cut-out you got your head stuck in.

Galaxy Angel won't pull at your heartstrings, have you at the edge of your seat, or exercise your mind. However, it will provide you with a lot of light, fun entertainment. It's the cotton candy of anime. Tune in for a very high grade of pure, fluffy silliness.

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Since writing the review, I have seen subsequent seasons of Galaxy Angel, Galaxy angel Z and A.

It doesn't alter my review much, except that in later episodes, the less-used Angels get more screen time, as does Volcott, and I quite like all the characters now.

Also in later seasons, the Angels don't go out on missions very often: more often, the plot has to do with some lost technology that alters them somehow, and dealing with the after effects, or maybe their being on vacation and stuff happening there. I miss the plot-drivenness, but the formless style allows for some pretty funny situations. In Galaxy Angel A, a rival/allied team appears, the Sirius Twin Stars (?) a pair of ten-year-old boys led by an opportunistic female rival of Volcott's, Major Mary.

Oh, and the 'cleavage windows' in Forte's and Ranpha's uniforms are covered over in white cloth in later series.

Bandai has contracted to release GA_AA, the second half of Season A...I will be waiting!