Review of Madlax: Vol.2 - The Red Book

Introduction

It`s fair to say that the first volume of Madlax didn`t make a big impression on me. The story was all over the place, literally so, with two mysteriously linked characters in two different parts of the world, with hints and flashbacks, allusions and insinuations making it a show that demands the viewers full attention, and then sets homework. That in itself isn`t a problem. In fact, it`s a type of storytelling that I usually prefer to a neatly doled out narrative. What gave me pause was the Superman syndrome. Superman is a character that is introduced as perfect, and then imperfections and weaknesses are added as the story requires. Madlax is such a character, who had a perfectly ridiculous intro in the show, and was initially revealed as some sort of death wielding goddess assassin. In contrast to Kal-El, the imperfections and flaws in her character were added pretty quickly. Still, I usually prefer the reverse, imperfect flawed characters that have to overcome their shortcomings to prevail. At this point, it`s really the story that has me eager for the second volume of Madlax.

Coming from Bee Train, the creators of Noir, Madlax has quite a pedigree. Madlax is an assassin, efficient and deadly who receives her assignments from the mysterious SSS, and winds up weaving a tapestry of death in the world`s deadliest war zones. Margaret Burton is an orphaned aristocrat who attends a private school in an idyllic part of Europe. There couldn`t be two more unalike people, but Margaret has a mysterious past, and is haunted by horrific visions, and for some strange reason, she has a connection to a killer she doesn`t even know.

In the first volume, we met the two main characters, and got tantalising hints of the forgotten past that the two seem to share, as well as the strange link that seems to join them. As the Gazth-Sonika civil war continues between the forces of the government and the Galza rebels, Madlax makes her presence felt on the battlefield, executing missions for money. At the same time, the war touches on the distant and peaceful land of Nafrece, where Margaret goes to school, with the criminal Enfant group figuring prominently.

The next four episodes of Madlax are presented on Volume 2 - The Red Book from ADV.

5. None
Madlax`s next mission is a simple one on the face of it; ensure the safe delivery of a package to the Galza. It`s just that this package is teenager Chris Krana. He`s in Gazth-Sonika at the behest of the late Nafrece politician Piederica Morey, who is helping him get into the war torn state to learn the truth behind the war. Chris also wants to finally meet his father Min Durk, who happens to be the leader of the Galza. It`s the sort of thing the Gazth-Sonika leadership can`t countenance, and Carrossea Doon (the mysterious bidder from volume 1) employs sniper Limelda Jorg to stop the reunion. Only Chris isn`t prepared to learn the truth about his father.

6. Leave
Margaret is still being haunted by strange dreams, and she can`t be parted from the red book that she discovered previously. At school, her friend Chiara invites her to a party, where there will be boys and among them one in particular who has expressed an interest in the Burton heiress. Maurice Lopez, himself the son of a wealthy family has the usual ulterior motives when it comes to Margaret, and she`s quick to rebuff his gentle insistence. His personality changes dangerously though, when he gets a glimpse of what is written in Margaret`s book.

7. Nature
There is a page missing from Margaret`s book, and she is determined to have the whole thing in her possession. Vanessa recommends a bibliodetective, a man whose business is to seek out rare and valuable tomes for eager and extremely rich collectors. Eric Gillain is a sucker for earnest girls, and he agrees to help Margaret. A little research reveals that the mysterious book is written in Elies, an ancient language of Gazth-Sonika. To follow up the lead will mean going into a war zone, and Elies is said to be a cursed language. There are people high up in Gazth-Sonika and Enfant who want that book, and will do anything to have it. Eric needs a dependable guide/bodyguard. But there is something he has forgotten.

8. Soul
Eric is surprised to see that his guide is a young girl, but he`s soon glad to have the able protection of Madlax, when Gazth-Sonika operatives come after him with all guns blazing. Their flight takes them into the war zone towards a village where it is reputed that a native Elies speaker lives. 12 years previously, an academic group visited the village and the nearby caves to study the ancient Elies text, and determine its links to a lost civilisation. None of those scholars survived. When Eric examines the writing in the caves, it awakens something wondrous, and terrifying.

Video

The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer is excellent. It`s clear and sharp, and the distinctive look of the anime comes across well. Other than the smallest of NTSC-PAL telltales, it`s free of any artefacts or visible compression signs. The animation itself is of high quality, fluid and energetic, with pleasant world and character designs. It has a subdued, slightly pastel look to it that suits the more serious tone of the story, but it doesn`t venture so close to utter severity that the occasional comic moments don`t look out of place.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 5.1 English and DD 2.0 Japanese, along with translated subtitles or signs. The stereo does a fair job in creating a pleasant aural experience, with the action and the music represented effectively. The 5.1 is the track of choice if you want the extra oomph that goes with it, but it does mean putting up with the dub. I sampled it, and nothing I heard offended my sensibilities too strongly. If English is your language of choice, you probably won`t have anything to complain about.

The show`s music comes from Yuki Kajiura. Her choral and orchestral pieces are distinctive and work well with the animation, although at times can overpower the action. She`s also something of an acquired taste, and it helps if this is your first experience of her anime work. It`s my third, and I was having a hard time remembering if I was watching Madlax, Petite Cossette, or Tsubasa.

Subtitle annoyances again, Nafrese in volume 1, becomes Nafrece in volume 2.

Features

The sleeve notes this time are where you will find contributions from some of the character design staff on the show.

The disc gets the usual animated menus and jacket picture common to anime releases. You will also find the clean credits, Japanese Promo spots, a 2-minute Design Sketch slideshow, and a preview for volume 3.

Trailers on the disc are for Cromartie High School, Elfen Lied, FMP: Fumoffu, D.N.Angel and Peacemaker.

The Conversation with SSS featurette returns and this time it`s longer at 15 minutes. Think Scott Mills` phone pranks on Radio One and you`re there, only these are scripted on both sides, as the English voice actors goof off re-dubbing some of the show`s scenes for laughs. Dull isn`t the word.

Conclusion

This second volume of Madlax is certainly an improvement on the first. As the story unfolds, more of the characters` history is unveiled, the world is developed some more, and the elements of the show that seemed disparate and unconnected early on, come into further clarity, and the writers begin to play a game of dot to dot, piecing things together.

Madlax manages to stay out of formal eveningwear for the duration of the volume, and while she still deals out death with impunity, herself immune to enemy bullets, her character is beginning to show some depth, not only in the way she interacts with the people that she meets, but also in her own brittle past as it continues to be explored. Just as the steel-hearted assassin shows some emotional vulnerability, the fragile and damaged Margaret shows an inner steel in these episodes. She may have trouble relating to the world, and is hampered by her amnesia, but she shows some strength of character when confronted with an insistent suitor, and also a degree of callousness with regards to her book and the effect it apparently has on people. With the shared memories and hallucinations/dreams, it really looks as if Madlax and Margaret are almost two halves of the same person.

The story also progresses, and we begin to see the first tangible links between the two when Margaret commissions Eric Gillain to search for another copy of her book. The search sends him to Gazth-Sonika, where he encounters Madlax, and Madlax learns of Margaret`s existence, which sparks some familiar memories for her.

Other than the apparent psychic link between Madlax and Margaret, the rest of the story seemed a rather thin allegory for the Israeli-Palestinian situation, with the names changed to protect the infamous. All that changes in the second volume, as the story injects a heavy dose of mysticism and the supernatural into proceedings. It all revolves around Elies, the ancient language that comprises the text of Margaret`s mysterious book. It`s a language with a mysterious power; just looking at the text invokes a strong reaction in the reader, ranging from the revelatory to the homicidal. When Anna Morey killed her father, the words `Elda Taluta were found on her computer. These Elies words turn up again in this volume, with similar effects on those that read them. The powers behind the conflict recognise Margaret`s book as an ancient text known as the `Secondari`, and that provokes a response as certain factions want that book badly. It seemed that the theme of lost memories and rewritten pasts applied to Madlax and Margaret alone, but the end of the previous volume, and this volume in particular make it profoundly clear that these issues, and the power of mind control are central to the story, and affect many of the characters. It`s not just a gimmick of the week designed to make a couple of the characters a little more interesting, but fundamental to the whole plot.

Those plot seeds that I mentioned in my previous review, that the writers were sowing with such profligacy at the start of the story, really start to sprout in this second volume, and with it, I`m hooked. Roll on volume 3!