Madlax

Publisher
ADV
Director
Koichi Mashimo
Production
Bee Train, TV Tokyo, Victor Entertainment
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes/25 minutes
Year
2004

Madlax Volume 2: The Red Book

By noghri
14th Jun 06

What ADV has to say

The Gazth-Sonika Civil War - As the death toll mounts, so do questions about both the conflict’s purpose and its highly secretive facilitators. Even the ruling power’s Army Commander hired mercenary Madlax to carry out his own assassination in the hopes of putting an end to the madness. Meanwhile, the quest for answers continues. Before being murdered by his bizarrely entranced daughter, resistance operative Piederica Morey sent a young boy named Chris deep into Gazth-Sonika in order to find the truth - and turn the tide of the war.

Introduction
At first glance, “Madlax” looks like a re-make of “Noir”, another TV series from animation house Bee Train. The story takes place in Europe. One of the protagonists is a young, blonde, European, female assassin who likes to wear a red top and black shorts. Another protagonist is a young schoolgirl with big round eyes who is always rather somber in demeanor because her memory isn’t functioning properly. Something mysterious links the blonde woman and the schoolgirl. The ladies have to use texts with weird inscriptions to unravel a secret. There’s an underground organization with a French name that seems to be responsible for much of the unrest happening in the world. The fabulously talented Yuji Kajiura returns for music scoring duties.

Despite their superficial similarities, “Madlax” is not a re-make of “Noir”. Rather, the show’s handlers took some basic components and created something that’s entirely different from “Noir” to be interesting on its own terms. This gives “Noir” fans something comforting without boring them with a re-tread.

The most important distinction between “Noir” and “Madlax” is that, in the former series, Mireille (the blonde assassin) and Kirika (the amnesiac schoolgirl) meet and team up right off the bat in order to discover their linked pasts and identities. In “Madlax”, Madlax (the blonde assassin) and Margarent Burton (the amnesiac schoolgirl) do not meet until after a few episodes have passed. They seem to have some kind of psychic link, but their other abilities are dis-similar. For example, in “Noir”, Mireille and Kirika are both highly-skilled killers, but in “Madlax”, only Madlax seems to be a professional assassin. Margaret appears to be no more than a confused and some what dopey schoolgirl.

Those of you familiar with “Noir” will smile in appreciation when Madlax jumps into gunfights accompanied by Yuki Kajiura’s new music. Kajiura’s jagged rhythms recall beautiful and threatening images simultaneously. The Madlax character design, the general animation, and the music are key to this series’s draw--“Madlax”, like “Noir” and the “James Bond 007” franchise, makes assassination glamorous. Sometimes, instead of wearing something sensible, Madlax goes so far as to don a seductive party dress with spaghetti straps before killing her prey.

DVD content (May contain Spoilers)

“Madlax Volume 2” has Episodes 5-8. Earlier, in volume 1, Madlax crossed paths with an elite guard sniper from Gazth-Sonika named Limelda Jorg. In this collection of episodes, Limelda is instructed to hunt down Madlax, but she has personal interest in this mission, because she’s never been humiliated by anyone else. Meanwhile, Margaret Burton hires a bibliodetective to determine the origins of the mysterious storybook that she has. The bibliodetectice’s search reveals that Margaret’s book is written in an ancient language known as Elies. Apparently, contact with the language either makes people crazy or drives them to their deaths. An Enfant operative named Carrossea Doon is looking for Margaret’s book; he has orders from the head of Enfant to retrieve the document, but it looks like Carrossea wants the book for himself.

The story starts in the South-West Asian country of Gazth Sonika, fraught with civil war due to an incident that occurred twelve years ago. We meet Madlax, a young and deadly secret agent for hire. She protects, she retrieves, and will kill without hesitation. Yet this beautiful assassin has a strong sense of compassion and an air of mystery around her. Where did she come from? How did she learn to be able to kill so effortlessly? And why is she here in this war torn country? Far away in the peaceful nation of Nafrece, there is another girl, younger than Madlax, called Margaret Burton. She lost her memory after a horrific incident twelve years ago. Quiet and kind, she is taken care of by a loyal and lethal servant Elenore, as well as the mysterious woman Vanessa. They try to help Margaret as she clings to a blood soaked book, a book left to her by her dead father. A book that is written in a secret language and the trail leads to no other place but Gazth Sonika. With the deadly organization Enfant and others after the book, what secrets does it hold? What power does the Red Book have? Why of all people does this one kind girl possess it? What is the connection between Madlax and Margaret? And how many will die as some fight to uncover the truth of what happened all those years ago while others kill to bury it?

Thoughts

This is an intricately woven and well-told story. It combines political intrigue with a supernatural atmosphere, a compelling mystery, and a host of riveting characters.

We encounter other links to “Noir”. Lady Quanzitta is an older lady who lives on a beautiful secluded farm like Altena on the Manor in “Noir”. Nakhl, Quanzitta’s assistant, is an odd girl who is deadly with knives, just like Chloe, Altena’s assistant, in “Noir”. The fact that Elies and the sought-after books are historical artefacts parallels the fact that Mireille and Kirika were associated with “an ancient fate”.

Overall

This volume appears to be a different beast entirely compared to the first volume. there is so much content of the episodes the story is very complex still and although things have been hinted, we still don’t know what the connection between Madlax and Margaret. This series certainly has more to it than first appeared and I’m beginning to enjoy it thoroughly.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: A DVD-only release, including four episodes in English 5.1- and Japanese 2.0-language, with English subtitles. Extras include: clean opening and closing animations; design sketches; Japanese TV spots; Conversations with SSS; and ADV Previews.

Release information: ADV RELEASE DATE: 15-5-2006

Notes: RUNNING TIME: 100 RATING: 15 VIDEO FORMAT: DVD Region 2 AUDIO FORMAT: English 5.1, Japanese 2.0 SUBTITLES: English

-- noghri 14th Jun 06

Madlax Images