Madlax

Plot synopsis:
The first half of the series alternates between the two leads. Madlax is one of the most efficient special ops agents for hire in the war-torn Gazth-Sonika, while Margaret Burton is a sleepy, clumsy amnesiac living in Nafrece, a country styled after France. When a "picture book", presumably given to Margaret by her late father, attracts the attention of international criminal network Enfant, she discovers that the origins of the book lie in Gazth-Sonika. Enfant's top operative, Carrossea Doon, tracks Margaret down but tips off his superiors in the wrong direction, towards Madlax, who has been causing Enfant trouble for some time. Meanwhile, Vanessa Rene, Margaret's former tutor whose parents died because of Gazth-Sonikan war, discovers that her current employer, Bookwald Industries, covertly supports the war by supplying both sides with firearms and starts investigating its true cause. Her investigation brings her to Gazth-Sonika, where Madlax is hired as her bodyguard, and together, they uncover data that proves that Enfant orchestrated the entire conflict. Enfant eventually intercepts them and they are forced into hiding. Back in Nafrece, Margaret decides to help Vanessa and travels to Gazth-Sonika, accompanied by her devoted and sometimes overprotective maid Elenore Baker and Carrossea Doon.
Eventually, Madlax and Margaret meet and embark on a search for Quanzitta Marison, a Gazth-Sonikan mystic who supposedly knows about Margaret's book, Enfant's involvement with it, and Enfant itself. Lady Quanzitta does indeed tell them about Enfant and its plans to plunge the entire world into a total war, starting with Gazth-Sonika. She reveals that Enfant's leader Friday Monday possesses supernatural powers connected to the three ancient books, one of which belongs to Margaret. Margaret uses her own supernatural abilities and that of her book to return her lost memories. Carrossea, who has been aiding Margaret, requests that his memories be restored as well despite warnings not to do so; he discovers that he, in fact, died 12 years ago and held on to life only by sheer force of will to protect Margaret. Carrossea disappears, and Margaret is captured by Monday who intends to use her abilities to advance his own plans.
While Margaret and Carrossea perform the ritual, Madlax is attacked by Limelda Jorg, a Gazth-Sonikan sniper who holds a grudge against Madlax ever since she failed to stop an assassination by Madlax earlier in the show. Limelda kills Vanessa while targeting Madlax, sending the latter into clinical depression. Elenore and Lady Quanzitta's servant Nakhl manage to restore Madlax's will to live and persuade her to save Margaret, and the three storm Enfant's headquarters together. During the assault, Elenore is killed and Margaret, now under Monday's control, shoots Madlax. Believing her to be dead, Monday commences a ritual to unleash people's inhibitions and trigger worldwide anarchy; but Margaret's memories return and she snaps out of his mind control. Only now does the audience learn the back-story: back in 1999, Monday drove Margaret's father insane with his powers and she was forced to kill her own father. To escape the horrible truth of her patricide, Margaret split herself into three personae: the "memory keeper" Laetitia, the sinful Madlax, and the innocent Margaret herself. Margaret then fuses her three personae back together to undo the ritual she previously performed with Monday, saving the world from insanity. Madlax, who should no longer exist after the fusion, appears and guns down Monday. It becomes apparent that Margaret has once again split herself into three, judging that after twelve years, she no longer has the right to make decisions for her other personae.

Tags: paranormal, brainwashing, romantic

Review:
An excellent piece of Japanese animation.
These last year Japan has been producing really few nice material, from 24 minutes propaganda of toys and cars to blackmail oriented themes (just for adults), it was nothing really good to see, even sagas like Gundam were suffering a "pussification" (come on guys, Kira, Athrun, Lacus.
etc were freaking disappointing characters).
Well, Madlax make us forgive the past, particularly in the design of the storyline and the graphics.
I wont tell you the synopsis of the series, you can find it in the web, however, I want to remark the strong symbolism about this anime (just like Noir, another masterpiece of Bee Train), which bring us interesting messages about our world, our human nature , and about the eternal conflict between civilization and barbarism, at first time perhaps you couldn't see this but believe me, thinking a little about every part of the story will make as reflect about the universe and about us (just like all the good stories), of course Madlax isn't a moral tale, so don't worry, you will see urban fights, sniper missions, war battles, and freaking skirmishes.
The characters are wonderful done, making excellent combinations of textures and colors without abuse of the computer generated image, it looks like Bee Train is definitely one of the best studios of Japan, in fact they have already created Noir, Hack Sign and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (which unfortunately results in a Today's combo of the Clamp arsenal, of course I can't denied graphics were really nice).
Another thing i want to recognize of this production is it's music, Yuki Kajiura, the composer behind the tracks of the blonde agent anime bring us a unique style of exotic and delightful sounds, I enjoy particularly the use of the violin in Nowhere (track commonly used in the action scenes), the opening and the ending are wonderful too, holding the high artistic and synchronized level.
Finally I only have to say Madlax is an excellent choice to see something new in our clone based TV options even if you are not a anime fan the experience will be enjoyable..
Pretty good anime.
Really liked Madlax, she's like Vast the Stompade but in more rather serious tone.
Man, some girls with guns anime like this one does bring the hype up to make it a good anime to watch!
One of the Best Anime Out There!.
This is the best of the best!
A wonderful masterpiece!
Probably the best TV series I've ever seen.
It's just freakin' awesome!
It has a fantastic storyline and awesome characters, especially the main character Madlax.
(She is sooooo hot!) The animation and artwork were gorgeous, and the story was very original and very well-written.
It kept me at the edge of my seat from start to finish.
The action scenes were also stunning.
The English dubs were near perfect!
The voice actors did a fantastic job and their voices fit the characters very well.
Nancy Novotny as Madlax and Vic Mignogna as Carrossea Doon were perfect choices.***Spoilers*** Elenore Baker refusing to shoot the soldier as she pointed the gun at his head was an awesome scene.
It showed how important Margaret was to her.
She's a true character.
I was surprised how many characters died in this show.
Elenore, Vanessa, Carrossea, and many others who were a main part of the storyline all died.
Even though it was tragic, it made the story even better.
I was glad that Madlax didn't disappear.
I would've hated the series if she reunited with Margaret and just vanished.
I loved the ending, how Margaret wished for Madlax and Laetitia to remain in the existing world as an individual.
It was much better than a satisfying conclusion.
***Spoilers End***I have to say that this is one of the best anime out there, a true masterpiece, so don't miss out.
I definitely recommend this title for any of those who are fans of complex story lines, twists and turns, and mysteries!.
The Most intriguing Mystery I have Ever Seen!.
This show is so freaking awesome!
It's got action, a bit of romance, and the best part of all mystery.
It's from Director Koichi Mashimo, who brought us NOIR, and .hack//SIGN.
In the beginning I only saw a few episodes, and I was impressed, and excited for the next episode.
And now, I own the entire series on DVD and it was well worth it for each waitFantastic story.
Smart well written, It's a mix of warfare, the occult, romance, drama, mystery and so much more.
Also shows some interesting view points about the chaos of war, and how capitalism is involved, yet with out getting on a soap box and preaching.
And surprisingly it's very much a talkie.
I love how they have the guts to do a talkie.
It proves to me, they are less concerned with success, and more with a good story.
Sure talkies can get a little slow, but hey Vol. 3 is a real nail biter.
episodes 9-12 Whew!
Intense.
And Volume 5 is when we see the giant jig-saw puzzle starting to come together.
Truly an excellent screenplay.
I also love the characters.
Margert, although off, she's really adorable.
She's cute, lovable, slow, just this strange girl, you have no idea about.
And Elenore, is a wonderful character too.
The way she is so protective, and loyal to Margeret makes her the not a-typical house maid.
It was great to see a character that didn't fall to the common stereotype of maids.Fantastic Direction from Koichi Mashimo.
He always does fine work, plus Bee Train's Animation is spectacular.
And the most key element for me, music.
From the esteemed composer of .hack//SIGN and NOIR, Yuki Kajiura has some beautiful, and haunting melodies.
I even heard re-arranged parts from the song "A Stray Child" (.hack//SIGN) and I heard a modified version of "Aura." I love when composers reincorporate their themes and melodies.
Her opening theme is spectacular, and her ending theme is great.
And there is this really cool piece that sounds like a waltz.
And the song "Nowhere" which is featured when MADLAX get's gun crazy, is such a fun song to listen to.
All her music is so darn excellent.
Great Vocing too.
Dubbed by ADV Films, no repetitious VA's and VAC's, all fresh voicing.
And from what I've been told the Amercian VA's match very well to their Japanese counter parts.
How many times do you see that happen?
It may not always be the best idea, but it did.
As much as I love ADV actress Hilary Hagg, I don't think she would have been fitting in any of these roles.
So they have a really nice voice cast.************SPOILER DANGER************* ***SCROLL DOWN PAST THE END Spoiler MARK IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ***And the ending was shocking, intense and sad.
Elenore and Vanessa both killed, what the doll really was, how and why Margert lost her memories.
And Elenore, classy and dignified character to the end, always marinating her dignity, always willing to protect Margaret.
Especially as she held the gun to that soldiers head and refused to shoot!
That is true character!** ** ***********************END Spoiler******************So do I recommend this Anime?
You bet, if you love Action, pretty girls, adventure, mystery, and a beautiful original score, MADLAX is for you!
Excellent, truly excellent.
The most amazing and intriguing mystery I have seen..
Great "girls with guns" anime.
Having enjoyed Noir I decided to watch the second series in the "girls and guns" trilogy even though it sounded fairly similar from the description I read.
While the two series do look outwardly similar there are are plenty of differences.
The two leading ladies; Madlax and Margaret Burton do not meet until late in the series even though it is clear that they are some how linked by something that happened twelve years previously.This series had plenty of great characters, as well as the two protagonists we have Elenore, Margaret's faithful maid, Vanessa Rene a friend of Margaret's who hires Madlax when she goes to the wore torn nation of Gazth-Sonika, Limelda Jorg, a sniper who is hunting Madlax and Carrossea Doon a suspicious man who is after a book that Margaret possesses.
As well as having many more primary characters the series is less episodic; the main plot starts early on and continues until the end...
an ending which I would never have guessed.
The series has a sense of danger and not all of the characters survive till the end.I liked to look of the characters and the animation was of a high standard making the action scenes genuinely exciting.
Even though some of the action is not realistic it is easier to accept in an animation than it would have been in a live action story.
I'd certainly recommend this to anybody who enjoyed Noir or action anime in general.These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.