ErikaHanazono

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, likesingle 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.

Tasogare

Madlax’s similarities to Noir kind of turned some people off, and it really IS like Noir. Except I found it better, and quite different in enough aspects to make it worth watching. It’s not JUST a repeat of Noir. Trust me. Alright, so the plot started out a bit slow, and that was kind of annoying. At 26 episodes, it drags. But if it had been condensed into 13, it wouldn’t have fit. So 26 it is. It is infuriating how it takes forever for the characters to meet up, but our interest is maintained through means of some pretty cool gunfights. When things eventually dostart to happen though, Madlax begins to shine. It has a pretty interesting theme and the last few episodes were sad, but it’s good drama. It ended well and had an overall tight plot, despite the unanswered questions. Yes, it is like Noir in the sense that there’s this unsolved mystery and secret organization hanging over the whole thing and pulling the strings, but the mystery’s what kept me interested. It’s different from Noir in that while Noir focused on realism, this went the other way and tried to work on abstract imaginary premises. Madlax has some great characters. My favourite has to be Madlax herself. I like her character design, I like her voice (Sanae Kobayashi is an underrated voice actor), and I like her personality (hardened by war, but still somehow a gentle person. Go fig. That’s an impressive control of emotions). On top of all that, she likes to fight in cocktail dresses. XD That’s never really explained properly, but it’s not overboard as fanservice, and it is pretty funny to watch. Her gun-wielding skills are far above realism, but then again, the entire show deals with surrealism. Margaret is just a tad annoying, but her voice actor portrays her well, and there’s notable character development there. Vanessa and Eleanor were both characters I couldn’t care less for at the beginning, but they gained my attention as the show progressed. Nakhl (Naharu) is another personal favourite of mine, even though all she does it walk around looking cool. She DOES look cool. The antagonist is hilariously lame. Heck, in short, the cast is great. Music. It’s Kajiura, enough said. :P Okay, so while this isn’t my favourite Kajiura soundtrack, the OP is great and I love the two insert songs, “nowhere” and “I’m here”. I find it awesome how the titles are exact opposites of each other. Anyway, the sound is amazing, and a great backdrop for the dialogue and action. Watching Madlax shoot people isn’t nearly half as fun if your speakers are busted. I loved Noir, but I think it was a bit rough around the edges and clumsy with plot development. Madlax has a tighter plot, better animation, a bigger, better-rounded cast, and a stronger conclusion. Worth watching if you like Noir, Kajiura, Bee Train, or gunfights. :) Or really mild yuri implications. I don’t know. It’s a plausible reason. XD