Customer Reviews

Madlax, Vol. 1 - Connections + Series Box

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On the initial pass, Madlax seems to be a show about dualities. In the first four episodes presented in this volume, we are introduced to the two main characters, Madlax and Margaret. The former is a gunbunny assassin to whom the word "deadly" would be an understatement, yet she carries herself with a breezy composure. The latter is a (seemingly) scattered schoolgirl with some sort of deep, dark trauma in her past. The show drops enough clues, even from the opening credits, that the two are somehow related despite their geographic and professional divides, and yet, I'm still drawn in by how this relationship will be explored in the context of the show's backdrop (a protracted civil war in a rather Indonesia-esque country, a shadowy terrorist organization that seemingly brainwashes people via TV and computer monitors) and its cast of characters.

This is a show that doesn't force-feed its plot, and frankly, it does require a bit of patience in witnessing its plot unfold. The action and gunplay is more of a cinematic choreography accenting the story arc, and the seeming lulls in this arc may frustrate those who may desire a steadier stream of slam-bang. For me, the deliberate pacing is a welcome change of pace, and this first volume has made numerous repeat plays in my DVD player. There are a lot of details to trainspot, and the characterizations are as engaging as the lovely visuals and the great soundtrack. And for lazy people like myself who don't necessarily want to read everything in one's anime collection, the English dub is quite solid (the MST3K-esque DVD extra is a hoot, to boot).

In short, your mileage will vary, but I'm definitely enjoying this show.

To appreciate Madlax, one must watch more than just Disc One and Disc Two. This series' beauty is in its subtleties and use of imagery, in the voice-acting as well as the complexity of its background music. (A note about voice acting: If you choose to use the English Dub, you will fail to fully understand the characters).

The following questions will be answered as the series unravel: Why does Madlax have a calm, serene demeanor in the midst of a war zone? Why is she "so darn good" in a gunfight? Why is Margaret so scatter-brained? Who are the freaky kids with strange eyes?

The action plays a supporting role to the drama development. This is not a straight-forward series about "babes & guns", as I had hoped. It is surprisingly more profound and rewarding, and three-dimensional.

Madlax's pacing accelerates at the end of Disc Two. This is a series about existence and presence of mind. By Disc 6, the characters will evoke strong emotions in a keen audience.

(Brief musical analysis)
The music itself is an eclectic assembly of flavors from cultures throughout the world, to symbolize the two fictional regions: The peaceful European city and the war-torn South Asian states. Some tunes will sound like a Celtic or Slavic dance; a few are techno-heavy and sometimes atonal for the demented and evil organization; some have Asian-inspired harmonics and instrumentation; some will remind you of Chant and Sacred music; and some are Middle-Eastern in rhythm and tempo; all are well-layered in instruments, counterpoints, and harmonic modulation... compared to its contemporary.

This is yet another masterpiece bought to you by the creators of NOIR. The secret to this story is to disregard the character design similarities. I was thoroghly confused the first 2 episodes because of this, the characters are entirely different and the story is in no way linked to NOIR. Once I accepted this fact the story was fantastic, all the pieces fall into place a little at a time. I was able to figure out the scenario by the the middle of volume three, but the story's unfolding was nice right on to the end. Lot's of surprises but not a lot of subplots thrown in to drag it out, a sign of great writers. Sticking to the script and the development of the characters was fun to watch, a great story. Highly recommended. If you prefer a more "godfather" type story with lots of gun battles than I would recommend NOIR, this is a sci-fi tale of adventure and mystery.

I have to say i took a leap of faith in purachseing this item as i had seen several trailers of this anime. After watching it i was sucked into the mystery surrounding the characters in the story. In the extras there was something called calls with SSS(three speed) It was hilarious.

"Noir" will always be known as an awesome series. A well-written storyline and awesome music and cool animated action scenes.

It was definitely no surprise that fans were in high-anticipation mode when Bee Train announced a new anime series called "Madlax".

Bringing back the Twin Bee team behind "Noir", director Mashimo Koichi, composer Kajiura Yuki ("Noir" and "Aquarian Age" and character designers Shiba Minako and Miyachi Satoko, "Madlax" is definitely a highly anticipated anime for fans who enjoyed Twin Bee's "Noir" and ".Hack" series.

So, what is "Madlax"?

Madlax is an assasin. She is the ultimate in the art of combat. She's beautiful, skilled, elusive and dangerous.

In episode 1, the anime introduces us to Madlax as she is dispatched to the country of Gazth-Sonika which is currently embroiled in civil war.
Her mission is to recover data.

In this episode, we get to see a soft side of Madlax as she tries to help a rebel soldier but at the same time, we get to see her deadly side as she changes her outfit in a sexy nightgown gunning down an army.

As an agent-for-hire, she is contact with a mysterious liaison known only as "SSS".

If there is anything that we do know, Madlax has these images in her head but no recollection of her past.

In episode 2, we are introduced to Margaret Burton. An orphaned schoolgirl who is haunted by bizarre dreams, something that may be part of a horrifying past.

Whatever happened to her, made her live life as if she's out of it. All that she really thinks about are images and she has no recollection of why.
In episodes 3 and 4, we get to see more of Madlax on missions but the first two episodes are introductory episodes to both main characters.

I look forward to seeing how the characters progress further on in the storyline and how their lives are intertwined.

I can't say enough of how "Madlax" is so similar to "Noir". In both series, we have a mercenary and also a teenager girl with no memories of the past.

One thing that is different to "Madlax" are the supporting characters and characters that show up from nowhere.

For example, we briefly see mysterious young girl named Laetitia who speaks in mysterious phrases.

In episode 2, we meet Elenore Baker who is the maid and caretaker of Margaret. Also, Vanessa Rene, Margaret's tutor and next door neighbor.

And a really mysterious masked individual (who we can tell is probably going to be the supreme bad guy) named "Friday Monday" who is the leader of the Enfant.

As for the anime series, "Madlax" has big shoes to fill, especially with the success of "Noir".

The animation is very well done and the action scenes with Madlax in assassin mode wearing a nightgown, I actually found beautiful.

Sure, it's a little far-fetched but it's kind of cool to see. I like the color usage in this anime from the darks, to the cloudy look and much more.
As for audio, the English dub is very well done and was presented in digital 5.1. The Japanese 2.0 track is definitely good as well. But the audio sounds great on 5.1 and Kajiura Yuki's music is beautiful and again, very reminiscent of "Noir".

Special features include the clean opening and closing themes, Japanese promo spots, production sketches, unused opening sequence and production insert.

I really enjoyed Twin Bee's "Noir" and ".Hack" series and in a way, I do have high expectations for "Madlax".

I can only hope that the series is different and not too similar to "Noir".

The Intel Report provided to us by ADV Films suggests that the potential exists that "Noir"and "Madlax" may have closer ties and that further obeservation will be necesssary. Hmm...

As for me, I can't wait to see more episodes. Twin Bee has not disappointed me at all with ".Hack" and "Noir" and I have high expectations that "Madlax" won't either.

The premise sounded interesting, but the characters and plot failed to come through. I didn't care about the characters. Madlax seemed too passive for an assasin plus the fact that she found it necessary to change into an evening gown in the middle of the jungle in order to shoot someone. The little girl just sat around acting strange, but doing nothing to win me over. The anime raised a few questions about how the two girls were connected, but didn't provide enough bait to keep me interested. Seems like it was aimed at an audience more interested in violence and well proportioned women than in a real plot line.

With anime, probably more often than an any other medium, there often come along shows that just have the finger prints of what came before them all over them. It goes beyond the window dressing aspects of the show, such as just being two shows about giant robots who fight aliens, and incorporates much of same the plot structure and character types. Mind you, that is not always such a bad thing as anime is notorious for starting out with great ideas and turning into barely coherent mush by the end. And that brings us to Madlax, the newest series from BeeTrain, the people who brought us Noir and .hack/SIGN. Madlax is the type of show that I meant above in that is determined to ride to coattails of its precesor Noir, a stylish action/drama about the mysterious connection between two top notch assassins. At first glance, Madlax is a carbon copy of Noir. It has two main characters: Madlax, the skilled mecenary/assassin who will kill for money, and Margret Burton, a quiet school girl who has sinister secrets hidden in her clouded past. These character types are very similar to lead characters in Noir. Heck, the character designs and costuming even looks similar. So does the DVD cover art and there is a similar mystery to solve involving shady pasts and cults with goofy french names. However there is one major thing that keeps Madlax from being Noir the Sequel. Noir was stylish and good... very good. Madlax.... not so much!
Our story begins with Madlax, mercenary extradinaire, setting up shop in Gaz-Sonika, a country that has been ravaged by a decade-long civil war. Madlax takes orders from a mysterious man known only as Three Speed, who acts as Charles Townsend to Madlax's army of one. In a neighboring country, there is a girl named Margret Burton. She's a wealthy girl that went through some great ordeal in the past that has left her not-all-there. Some people that may be connected to a criminal organization called Les Enfantes are watching Margret closely. This mysterious group may also be pulling strings in the Gaz-Sonika civil war. There is supposed to be some kind of connection between these two otherwise unrelated people as Margret owns a blood-splattered red book, of which Madlax also owns a page.
Madlax tries so hard to be Noir that it is pathetic because it fails at everything Noir did right. Noir had stylish action and an intriguing mystery. Madlax is not so much stylish as it is silly. In the very first episode, at the climatic scene were Madlax must show her stuff by defeating a whole platoon of enemy soldiers, Madlax changes into a COCKTAIL DRESS right before conducting jungle warfare. Also, the soldiers can't aim to save their lives because they shoot right at Madlax and never hit her even though she never moves!
The clues aren't cryptic as much as they are incoherent. The series is peppered with scenes where a young girl with vacant eyes, who I'm assuming is a young Margret, spouts off these weird little lines of dialogue. Also Margret will occasional say something ridiculous that I assume is meant to be deep and mysterious. Where do the red book, Madlax, and Les Enfantes fit into this? I'm not sure, and I really don't care.
The plot is a total wash in this first volume, the pacing is bad, and I don't care a lick about Madlax or Margret and their situation. However, the series looks great and sounds great. The backgrounds, be they jungle canopies or sun-drenched cityscapes, are gorgeous and Noir composer Yuki Kajiura returns to write the background music. Her melancholy piano pieces are especially nice, but the music is not as well utilized as it was in Noir.
Well, that's Madlax, a disapointing show that's pretty but empty. Seriously, I had difficultly watching it past the second episode. If you are looking for something mysterious and stylish... this is not the show your looking for.

After you watch the very first episode Madlax starts to get boring. The only thing holding it up is the power it has over you for wanting to know mystery of the connection of Madlax and Margaret. These beginning episodes lack the right amount of action for this type of series. It's just plain old slow and boring and it literally puts you to sleep. It looks like the story will take forever to develop. The show does seem to have potential but because of that one mystery that bugs you. Basically the biggest problem is there is not enough action and the story development is to slow. Madlax is an assassin so why is there little action in this series. I think Madlax has great animation and potential but you have to get past volume to get to anything decent.