Madlax Volume 1: Connections - DVD Talk
- DVD Talk
- Chris Tribbey
- 06/01/05
MADLAX Vol. 1: Connections
Prebook March 15; Street April 12
ADV Films, anime, $29.98 DVD ($39.98 SE), NR
The entire production team of Noir may be behind the latest female action series from ADV Films, but MADLAX is little like its moody, super serious predecessor.
The Noir comparisons are unavoidable: The director, composer and character designers are the same, two girls are the central players, and guns ? lots of guns ? are involved. But our assassin girls from Noir are replaced with a mercenary and debutante, and the mysterious secret society that ruled the dark world of Noir is substituted with civil war and an unknown connection between two very different females. In one jungle country, civil war is underway, and Madlax is the top mercenary around, claiming no side or motive. She?s a crack shot, a well-oiled machine who goes about her business with a measure of pleasure. Unlike the girls of Noir, Madlax has a playful quality to her. Before taking on an encampment of a dozen armed men, she decides she?ll be eating pasta when her assignment was over. Madlax is all about service with a smile. Heck, the assassin girls of Noir smiled all of twice during the entire series. In another country, we find a young aristocrat, Margaret, who moves through life almost like a ghost, noted only for her nobility. Her existence seems empty, repetitive. But mysterious forces ? and a bloody book ? are going to change that. The visuals and especially the music are reminiscent of Noir. Every now and then the audience has to wonder if someone spiked the Kool Aid: psychedelic, abstract backgrounds are thrown into a few scenes, just to remind us that this is anime, not Japanese language G.I. Joe. And the opera-like, female-heavy songs are both well-timed and eerie, just like Noir. But the differences between Noir and MADLAX are most notable in the pace of the episodes: We start with one big ball of unrest and explosions, as Madlax is hired by the resistance side of the civil war. Bullets fly, bodies pile up, the jungle is alive with war. Ah yeah. Our next episode sees our second girl, rich and pampered, starting to question where she comes from. Noir mixed the mysterious and the violent at regular intervals, while MADLAX, so far, has clearly separated the two. We?ll see what happens when Madlax and Margaret meet. Madlax also has one of the most fun ending animations I?ve seen in a while: naked women float in a martini glass, as splotches of what could be paint or blood hit the screen. It?s like James Bond credits with Jackson Pollock directing. Studio Bee Train is making quite a name for itself. Before Noir and MADLAX, only Arc the Lad leaps out as a really recognizable, enjoyable anime this subsidiary of Production I.G. produced. Now with Noir and MADLAX, you could say they?ve arrived as a top anime production studio. SELLING POINTS: MADLAX isn?t as creepy as the very popular Noir, or as heavy handed. Noir was great in the action department, but was often too dense. After the 26 episodes of MADLAX play out, we may be talking it instead.
- Chris Tribbey
Posted on Wednesday, June 01, 2005 (Archive on Friday, July 01, 2005)