Madlax: Vol.3 - In-Between (UK)

Introduction

I found the first volume of Madlax to be a hit and miss affair, but the second volume showed that this is a series that grows and develops, rather than impressing with an initial burst of eye candy and then coasting along with stretches of filler. The second volume also gave the main character some much needed development and background, so rather than pause and take a breather, I dived straight into this third volume, hoping to build further on what had come before, and hoping to see more pieces of the Madlax jigsaw fall into place. Of course it meant thinking up another intro to a review just days after the last one, which is probably why this paragraph feels a little lacklustre.

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 warzones. 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.

The previous volume offered more hints and clues behind the civil war in Gazth-Sonika, as well as the mysterious past that links Madlax and Margaret Burton. We learned that the war isn't the simple factional conflict that it appears to be, and there are shadowy figures orchestrating events in the region for their own clandestine purposes. At the heart of this appears to the ancient texts and language of Elies, a script that has a mind altering effect on those that read it. The red book that Margaret carries as a keepsake from her late father is a rare manuscript written in Elies, known as the Secondari, and there are people who will do anything to possess it.

The next four episodes of Madlax are presented on Volume 3 - In-Between from ADV.



9. Scent
Luciano was one of Madlax's associates, but he wants to get out of the mercenary game, and find a nice, quiet life. It means doing one final lucrative job of course, and it's a mission that will take him to Nafrece. Vanessa is treating her neighbour and friend Margaret, along with maid Elenore to a day out. Her company has an exclusive hotel reserved for bigwigs, and with a little creative accounting, she has wangled a couple of rooms for her and her friends. When their car breaks down on the way there, a Good Samaritan named Luciano helps them get back on the road. At the hotel, while Margaret and Elenore relax, Vanessa is surprised to see Carrossea Doon and one of her superiors make an unscheduled visit. She's stunned when she overhears their conversation. But someone else has been expecting Carrossea Doon.

10. Dive
Vanessa can't believe that her company Bookwald is involved in illegal arms shipments to Gazth-Sonika, and in cahoots with the criminal Enfant group to boot. She needs evidence, but with Carrossea Doon having seen her, she knows that her every move will be watched. Instead she goes for help to an old college friend who has a talent for hacking, and owns a supercomputer. But the assets of Enfant are immense, and ever vigilant for attempts to hack their network. When Vanessa and her friend attempt to download secret files, they are diverted to an isolated server elsewhere. If Vanessa wants the evidence, she'll have to travel to Gazth-Sonika to get it. Meanwhile Carrossea Doon is following his own agenda, tracking down the Secondari. He doesn't want his allies in Enfant to know, so he has to do it the old fashioned way, on foot.

11. Object
Vanessa tries to cover her tracks by conducting legitimate Bookwald business in Gazth-Sonika while she tries to track down the stolen data. It's a forlorn hope, as she quickly catches the attention of Carrossea Doon, who tries to engineer a quick return to Nafrece for the inquisitive Vanessa. She's not to be dissuaded, and she's soon off the beaten track, trying to locate the terminal to which the data was diverted. Hot on her tail are a group of Enfant operatives, who have no qualms about removing all in their way to recover the incriminating information. Fortunately, Vanessa's hacker friend puts her in touch with an agent to keep her safe. While Vanessa carelessly blunders her way in search of the truth, Madlax watches over her like a guardian angel, an angel armed with a high-powered rifle.

12. Close
Vanessa is lying low with Madlax, although making sense of the files is difficult given the encryption, coupled with the need to stay off the grid. The turmoil is ideal for Doon however, as he's still playing both sides against the middle. He informs Friday Monday, the head of Enfant, that it is Madlax who has the stolen data, and he even sets Limelda Jorg after her, knowing well how much the sniper wants revenge against the assassin. While his superiors are distracted, he takes a trip by himself to Nafrece, in search of the Secondari, and one Margaret Burton.

Picture

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.

Sound

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.

Yuki Kajiura's music is finally growing on me, and I'm beginning to get used to the prominence the score takes in the show. I hope I don't watch any other Kajiura scored anime in the meantime, as that will probably throw me out of whack again.

Extras

This volume's sleeve notes feature interviews with Yuki Kajiura (composer) and Sanae Kobayashi (Madlax's Japanese voice actress).

The disc gets the usual animated menus and jacket picture common to anime releases, while on the disc you will find the clean credits, Japanese Promo spots, a 4-minute Design Sketch slideshow, and a preview for volume 4.

Trailers on the disc are for Cromartie High School, Area 88, FMP: Fumoffu, Noir and Mezzo DSA.

The Conversation with SSS featurette meanders back, and makes me skip forward through 11 minutes of pseudo-comedy. 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.

Conclusion

Some anime serials are a cinch to review, they retain enough of an episodic nature to make the individual volumes easier to evaluate. You can talk about highlights, about memorable moments, standout characters, and notable story developments, and you can easily define why a volume is worth looking into, leaving the series summation for the final volume, so you can gratefully avoid those pesky spoilers for the final episodes. Madlax isn't one of those series. This volume, like those before it, is very much part of a larger whole. I can speak in general terms, of how it is a compelling mystery action series, which is continuing to improve with each successive episode. Or rather, as it lays down more of its plot, develops the characters, and picks away at the edges of the enigma that lies at the heart of the story, it becomes all the more engrossing. It's rapidly gone from a rather uninspiring debut to a series that is hard to put down.

Or I can delve into the minutiae of the episodes, the plot developments that occur over the course of the 100 minutes. The main arc of these four episodes concerns Vanessa's employers Bookwald, and their clandestine involvement in the Gazth-Sonika war. When she hears the mysterious Carrossea Doon discussing the company's illicit dealings, her conscience pricks her into acting, although by doing so she is going up against some terrifying opposition. It also provides the first tangible link between Margaret and Madlax, when Vanessa goes to Gazth-Sonika to retrieve the data, and has to employ the assassin as a bodyguard. The mists surrounding the Gazth-Sonika war begin to lift, as we learn the identity of the leader of Enfant, who is masterminding the war. He's a masked man with the somewhat incongruous moniker of Friday Monday, and he appears to be one of those all-powerful supervillains who is happiest when he is manipulating events to his own ends. The riddle that is Carrossea Doon deepens. He works for Bookwald, moves in the highest circles of the Gazth-Sonika government, has a hotline to Friday Monday, yet is following an agenda all his own. He spends lives with a callousness that is chilling, but whether he is hero or villain is unclear.



The combined mystery that is Madlax and Margaret continues to unfurl. The links between the two become more tangible, especially when Madlax's own clouded past becomes clear when Vanessa confronts her about her brutality. Madlax is only seventeen, yet has been in her business for three years, and it is the only thing she knows or remembers. She's the same age as Margaret, despite her older and more cynical outlook. It seems the two girls have much in common. Then the story gets opaque once more, with the Elies speaker Quanzitta, and her aide Nahkl keeping an eye on developments, for an as yet unknown reason. Also it seemed that Madlax and Margaret were sharing visions of a couple of children in a wartorn landscape. But now it seems that Laetitia and Poupee, while less than corporeal, are something much more complex and meaningful than mere hallucinations.

I'm enjoying the way the story is unfolding, and it balances the action and mystery well. Yet, reviewing this disc is somewhat akin to reviewing a jigsaw with just one piece of the puzzle. I can tell you that it looks like a fair bit of tree, with a nice bit of sky, but I won't know what the picture will be until I have seen all the pieces put back together. Similarly, while this disc offers four appealing episodes with a well-told story, I have no idea of the overall direction of the show, and can't even guess at how it will pan out. The good thing about Madlax is that on the strength of the first three volumes, it's definitely a puzzle I want to see completed.