Madlax review
Quick review
Year it was made: 2003
Studio: Bee Train
Distribution: ADV films
Format: Series
Where I saw it: On DVD (personal collection)
Subbed/Dubbed/Both: Both
Genre: Action/Fantasy/Drama/Girls with Guns
Length: 26 episodes
Story: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation: 10/10
Art: 10/10
CGI: 10/10
Fanservice: 9/10
Action: 10/10
Music: 10/10
SFX: 10/10
Japanese VA: 9/10
English VA: 9.5/10
In depth review
When I started watching this series I had passed it off as a Noir clone but that is not the case. Sure, it has it's similarities like a mostly female cast of characters, a shojo-ai subplots and a girl who is really good at killing people but thats where the similarities end. Madlax has it's own unique story line which blends elements of action and fantasy. The story starts with a little girl named Laetitia talking about a place where people don't desire and then Madlax is introduced, a 17 year old girl wearing a military style jacket, short shorts (Astro boy short), knee high boots and two SIG P-210 pistols. Madlax is a mercenary who is sent on missions by her boss 3-speed or SSS. The missions she goes on would be considered suicide by a normal person but Madlax isn't normal, she's "different". She is an expert markswomen (actually beyond expert) and almost always seems to evade bullets effortlessly. The story is set in a country called Gazth-Sonika where the rebels (Gaztha) and the kingdom army are locked in a bitter civil war with no end which was started by a secret criminal organization with a silly French name, Enfant which is lead by the evil Friday Monday. The second episode we introduced to Margaret Burton a 17 year old orphan, she has no memories of before she was 12, she spaces out a lot, she is also the heir to her families fortune and she also has a book called Secondari which is valuable to Enfant.
Margaret lives in a peaceful country called Nafrece where she lives with her maid Elenore and her tutor Vanessa.Vanessa works for a company called Bookwall which is connected to Enfant.
She ties Madlax's story line and Margaret's story line together.
The first thing you will notice is that Madlax is f*ing beautiful with great backgrounds, visual effects, smooth animation and excellent character design. Madlax not only looks beautiful but sounds beautiful as well, with a soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura and songs by Fiction Junction Yuuka
like "Hitomi no Kakera" and "inside your heart". The voice acting is great on the Japanese dub as well as the English dub. Madlax also has it's problems; the fanservice seemed out of place given serious tone of the series and the converging of Madlax's and Margaret's story lines drags on a little too long.
Overall, Madlax is a great series. It gets 9.5/10.
Year it was made: 2003
Studio: Bee Train
Distribution: ADV films
Format: Series
Where I saw it: On DVD (personal collection)
Subbed/Dubbed/Both: Both
Genre: Action/Fantasy/Drama/Girls with Guns
Length: 26 episodes
Story: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation: 10/10
Art: 10/10
CGI: 10/10
Fanservice: 9/10
Action: 10/10
Music: 10/10
SFX: 10/10
Japanese VA: 9/10
English VA: 9.5/10
In depth review
When I started watching this series I had passed it off as a Noir clone but that is not the case. Sure, it has it's similarities like a mostly female cast of characters, a shojo-ai subplots and a girl who is really good at killing people but thats where the similarities end. Madlax has it's own unique story line which blends elements of action and fantasy. The story starts with a little girl named Laetitia talking about a place where people don't desire and then Madlax is introduced, a 17 year old girl wearing a military style jacket, short shorts (Astro boy short), knee high boots and two SIG P-210 pistols. Madlax is a mercenary who is sent on missions by her boss 3-speed or SSS. The missions she goes on would be considered suicide by a normal person but Madlax isn't normal, she's "different". She is an expert markswomen (actually beyond expert) and almost always seems to evade bullets effortlessly. The story is set in a country called Gazth-Sonika where the rebels (Gaztha) and the kingdom army are locked in a bitter civil war with no end which was started by a secret criminal organization with a silly French name, Enfant which is lead by the evil Friday Monday. The second episode we introduced to Margaret Burton a 17 year old orphan, she has no memories of before she was 12, she spaces out a lot, she is also the heir to her families fortune and she also has a book called Secondari which is valuable to Enfant.
Margaret lives in a peaceful country called Nafrece where she lives with her maid Elenore and her tutor Vanessa.Vanessa works for a company called Bookwall which is connected to Enfant.
She ties Madlax's story line and Margaret's story line together.
The first thing you will notice is that Madlax is f*ing beautiful with great backgrounds, visual effects, smooth animation and excellent character design. Madlax not only looks beautiful but sounds beautiful as well, with a soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura and songs by Fiction Junction Yuuka
like "Hitomi no Kakera" and "inside your heart". The voice acting is great on the Japanese dub as well as the English dub. Madlax also has it's problems; the fanservice seemed out of place given serious tone of the series and the converging of Madlax's and Margaret's story lines drags on a little too long.
Overall, Madlax is a great series. It gets 9.5/10.
posted by Jim at 7:08 AM
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