Ranked #1337

Madlax

Story:: The story is quite slow paced, as it is in all of Bee-Train's "Girls with Guns" anime, but once the plot picks up...it REALLY picks up. I, personally, was sort of confused with the plot and had to re-watch the last few episodes to really understand what was going on. It is quite good though, and keeps you interested with its twists and turns, especially for the last six episodes or so.

Art:: The animation for the most part is smooth and flows quite well, especially during action sequences. There were a few episodes where some things just looked out of place though, like single strands of 3-D hair flowing from 2-D character's faces. Other then these sorts of little things though, the art is quite good.

Sound:: The soundtrack of Madlax is one of the best anime soundtracks I've ever heard. With vocals, chanting, techno-esque beats and more, the tracks are a blast to listen to, used in the correct places, and really enhance the mood. The seiyuu's make the characters sound good and quite believable, but I personally favoured the English dub over the original Japanese cast. You can shoot me for that if you want. The English VA's just made the characters of the show feel more realistic and believable then most dubs do.

Character:: The main characters in this show are quite likable and well developed, and it feels easy to relate to some of them. We see most of the main character's pasts, what drives them on to do what they do, their relationships with other characters, things like that. Another plus is that none of the characters in this show are really annoying, the exception being the main villain, Monday Friday. His way of doing things just really bothered me for some reason. So overall, the characters are pretty good.

Enjoyment:: As I said before, this show starts out slow, so you may find it boring in between plot points. But the action sequences that are in this show, although they're sort of exaggerated, are very entertaining to watch. Overall though, it was a very entertaining series, which I could probably re-watch a few more times before getting bored with it.

Overall:: This show is definitely not for everyone because of it's slow pace, but once you get past that, it really is a good anime with mostly good points, that'll have you wanting more in the end. read more

Before reading this recommendation, I want to notify that I have been quite rough in setting out the points. This is because of if I would set out the points the way I saw Madlax on, they would all be 10. But then again, not everyone have my taste of anime, since I'm a dramaholic and like these kinds of slow animes. Therefore, I set out these points the way I think an average watcher would rate it. But still, ofcourse there will be my own opinions in it.

Story; 7
Yes, the story is a bit confusing from time to times. And it proceed slowly, showing lots of their personal life and repeating memories often. But still, it's a quite interesting story showing from a normal life to a supernatural journey. The two protagonists lives in totally different countries, living completely different lives but are connected to each other in a quite complicated way.

Art; 7
Yes, the art has not anything specific. It looks like any average anime. Can't really tell so much, but you know what I mean if you have watched anime from 2000 or something. Actionsequences looks cool, but there are things in some episodes that shouldnt be where they are.

Sound; 10
This is one of the mainreasons why this is one of my favorite animes. Just as from Noir, Yuki Kajiura is the composer for the soundtrack. And all those who like Yuki Kajiura, yeah you get a picture of it. It's lovely, and it fits really much. Even though they may repeat some songs often, I couldn't care less since I love the soundtrack. Just hearing it makes me feel like a new human.

Characters; 8
The characters are interesting just like in any of Bee Train's animes. All of their animes have at least one of those calm and complicated protagonists, which I tend to like. Madlax is kind of hot, and the rest are quite enjoyable to watch.

Enjoyment; 6
Yes. It's a 6. As I wrote in the beginning, I tend to like these kinds of slow animes who makes you want to think a bit for understanding the plot, their feelings and such stuff. But I know that not everyone like this, in fact this anime is FREAKINGLY slow and I know many who have dropped this because of that. Also, there are really many repeats in memories and such stuff, which could get on your nerves. Neverless, IF you liked Noir I think Madlax could be something for you. But be aware, it's even deeper then Noir.

Overall; 7
Most of the points comes from the soundtrack and the characters. I wouldn't recommend this anime to people who didn't liked Noir or El Cazado or doesn't like drama at all. This anime got so much drama that the humans ego couldn't even be compared to it. But I loved it, and if you like drama here is the anime for you. It got beauty in it too.

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