Madlax, Vol. 1 - Connections
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DVD details
Artist: Artist Not ProvidedBrand: ADV Films
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-04-12
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: ADV Films
DVD Reviews of Madlax, Vol. 1 - Connections
DVD Review: No Exlax Jokes.... I Promise.
Summary: 2 Stars
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.
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