Madlax (Vol. 2 of 7) Anime DVD Review

Anime DVD Review: Madlax (Vol. 2 of 7)

Reviewed by: Krista

Stumble It!

Title: Madlax (Vol. 2 of 7)
Publisher: ADV Films
Running Time: 100 min
MSRP: $29.98
Ratio: 1.78:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 6/7/2005

Overall Rating:

Content:

My Rating:

In the first 4 episodes of Madlax, we were introduced to two main characters from different worlds. In these next episodes, Madlax and Margaret's stories become intertwined through the mysterious picture book, which may be the key to Margaret's forgotten past.

Twelve years ago, some grand event happened in Gazth-Sonika that sent the country spiraling into a civil war that hasn't yet let up. In episode 5, we meet a boy named Chris whom Madlax is assigned to protect. A young idealist, Chris has come to Gazth-Sonika in search of a father he's never met - one, he's told, was the head of Galza, the rebel resistance in the civil war. Hot on his trail are Carrossea Doon, an independent contractor working for Enfant, and his hot sniper chic, Limelda Jorg, who has become obsessed with Madlax. Through this episode we learn that Galza isn't quite what Chris expected but still don't know what to make of this mystery organization.

Episodes 6-8 focus on the mystery surrounding Margaret's picture book, dubbed Secondari by Enfant, which is written in a pre-Christian language that only a handful of people in the world can read. Margaret is strangely attracted to this book, which has a weird tendency to bring out the bad side in some of its readers. For instance, when Margaret's classmate, Lopez, reads a page, his eyes glow and he aggressively demands he and Margaret should go out. Luckily, Elenore and Vanessa arrive just in time and we see Elenore's super-protective streak shine through as she kicks Lopez' butt and then breaks his wrist.

As Margaret grows increasingly obsessed with this book, she becomes more curious about the book's missing pages and decides to hire book sleuth, Eric Gillian, to track down an identical copy. Sure enough, some answers may lie in Gazth-Sonika, so he hires Madlax to accompany him to a remote village where, it is rumored, someone who can read this ancient script resides. Enfant soon learns that he has scanned pages of this coveted book and sends minions after him, but Madlax is worth every cent he's paying her so he arrives safe and sound.

Thus far, this series has presented a number of key players and mysteries to be unraveled but very few answers. We know 12 years ago, an event happened in Gazth-Sonika that sparked the civil war. Somehow both Margaret and Madlax had something to do with this event but neither can remember. There's also the mystery of this picture book, Secondari, and the words running through the series - 'Elda Taluda' and 'Sarks Sarks' - which are obviously meaningful and seem to have the power to make people go berserk. Why is Enfant so interested in this? In addition, there's the ghostly girl and boy from another dimension who mutters cryptic sayings about the truth but rarely interacts with our main characters. Finally, just how are Madlax and Margaret intertwined? Given the nature of the series, we know they must be, but why and how?

With so many unanswered questions, Madlax is both engaging and a bit frustrating. Trying to get a big picture of the story and the motivations of each of the characters just leaves you confused. But it is very pretty with lots of intensity and action, so on some level you have to take on faith that future episodes will shed some light on just what is going on.

Audio/Visual:

My Rating:

I watched this mostly in English, though I think Margaret comes off as slighly more clueless in the English dub. The dialog in both is clean with music from Yuki Kajiura cued in at appropriate times. Action scenes are animated to her classic techno style music, while other scenes get more somber melodies.

The animation is quite lovely - with some beautiful sunset action shots set to vivid pinks, purples, and oranges. Other scenes are darker, complementing the bizarre twists the story throws at you.

Packaging:

My Rating:

Madlax sits casually in the foreground of the front cover cradling a rifle and staring at a flower. She looks lost in her own world - a nice depiction of the conflicting roles Madlax plays within the series. Behind her, Limelda Jorg looms behind her with her hand on her pistol. A yellow flower offsets her dark appearance.

The menu options are overlaid over faded movie clips. A smaller clip of the opening sequence in brown plays below the episode choices.

Extras:

My Rating:

Along with the basic extras that have become fairly standard - the clean opening and closing sequence, dvd preview and credits - we get a number of design sketches, some unused opening animation footage, and Japanese promo spots. Also included is a section called Conversations with SSS, which takes various frames of animation and dubs alternative dialog, making for some humorous moments.