Audience reviews
19 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
TheColonel
A slow, plodding mess filled with unexciting action scenes, bizarre pacing and completely pointless side characters who have no impact on anything and exit the plot with zero notice from the main protagonists. It takes over half the show for either of the leads to ever meet or interact in the most remote sense and the ending is strange and nonsensical, discarding any semblance of logic for a purely emotional answer to its main conflict. It has gorgeous music and is one of my favorite anime of all time, I have never stopped thinking about it since I watched it.
Read at the sourceLionasad
Madlax is a bizarre show. Being the second entry in Studio Bee Train's girls-with-guns trilogy, it does little to differentiate itself from Noir, the first in the series. Their premises are similar, as are many plot points and characters. Even the shoddy action with girls flipping gracefully through the air, firing with their airs closed and forlorn expressions, getting hit by none of the other characters, even that's basically the same thing as Noir. I mention this because I think if you were able to put up with the many pitfalls of Noir, you will be able to put up with the same in Madlax, and as such, it is a series worth trying for you.
If you haven't watched Noir, then Madlax is a much tougher sell. The pacing of the story is awful, the action is pretty underwhelming, the characters a…
Read at the sourcektulu007
I've already reviewed Bee Train's other two girls with guns classics, El Cazador de la Bruja and Noir. Now, it's time to finish the trilogy with a look at Madlax. This was the second one released coming out in 2004. Is it as amazing as the other two? Let's have a look.
Story:
Our tale takes place in two different countries. The first is Gazth-Sonika where a long civil war is taking place and where the mercenary, Madlax, makes her home. The second is the peaceful Nafrece where our second protagonist, Margaret Burton, lives. Little do the two women suspect that the criminal organisation, Enfant, is going to bring them together while trying to obtain an old book that's in Margaret's possession.
There are two pretty significant flaws with the writing in this series. The first is that its…
Read at the sourceJoe_Devaney
Overview:
"Madlax" is the second in a trio of similar but unrelated anime created by studio Bee Train (the other two being "Noir" and "El Cazador de la Bruja"). Collectively known as the "Girls with Guns" trilogy, these three anime were moderately successful upon release but these days are almost never talked about, which is quite a shame since they ultimately helped to popularize the very genre they're named after. Out of the three of them, "Madlax" is the first one that I watched, and as far as first impressions go, it's a pretty damn good one, even if it does fall short in a few areas.
Story (8/10):
The events of "Madlax" take in place two fictional countries- the civil war-torn jungles of Gazth-Sonika and the peaceful urban country Narfrece. Within these two countries reside two young…
Read at the sourceVValkyr
Honestly for the first half of it you will feel like playing 14D multiverse chess trying to figure out whats going on, what does the symbolism mean, and who are even the characters that appear. Once you start figuring it out you will feel like your brain starts to expand and glow.
But action towards the end kept me really tense, so theres that. Overall I liked it, but in all honesty I wonder if I will remember it by the next month. In the end, its a obscure anime from really long ago, and seeing how little people gave it attention, it only makes me sad because the anime is good, really good, but definitely a hard to watch one
Read at the sourceAnarchyB52
Like most animes the ending (last episode) is terrible. The pacing of the show is not amazing, and frankly could have been done in 12 episodes.
Watch it once for the story which is actually quite good and never come back.
To meet the stupid minimum review length here is: the song that never ends it just goes on and on my friend some people started singing it not knowing what it was and then continued singing it forever just because this is the song that never ends it just goes on and on my friend some people started singing it not knowing what it was and then continued singing it forever just because this is the song that never ends it just goes on and on my friend some people started singing it not knowing what it was and then continued singing it forever just because this is the song t…
Read at the sourceilluminatibg
"I'm confused!"
If you are looking for a good thriller with a solid amount of mystery watch Noir, not this anime. This anime has the potential to be a masterpiece with its ideas, however you will be lost in unnecessary vagueness, unfinished sentences, unrealistic action and mystery build on something that looks supernatural until the second part of the final episode where everything finally makes sense. The feelings I was left after watching this anime is sadness, not for the story, but for anime itself. Once I got the idea, I realized, that if implemented properly this anime had the chance to bring me to tears, but unfortunately the way the story developed in the first 25 episodes negates everything.
Story: 3
The story explores a normal rich girl, its maid, and an assassin, that looks l…
Read at the sourceSleepingAyumu
Although a seasoned otaku, I have only seen two war-related animes. And by war I mean an actual war, not the holy one—the concept not-so-rare and rather overused. The first one was Grave of the Fireflies, the movie that sent me sobbing. The second, First Squad: The Moment of Truth, also made me cry, although for very different reasons. (Hint: read the existing reviews.)
In other words, it's a genre I'm unfamiliar with and experience conflicted feelings about. To say I had any expectations or preferences would be incorrect, so my mind was completely open.
The only thing I was aware of is that it's another creation of people that made El Cazador de la Bruja, one of my all-time favourites. The similarities have been spotted at once.
First of all, I could not help but notice drawing style a…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
The second title made in Bee Train's well-known "girls with guns" trilogy, Madlax mixes supernatural mystery with its gun-action when a professional assassin and the daughter of a wealthy family become entangled in a conspiracy by a secret organization called Enfant having their own diabolical plans involving the two. First appearances can be deceiving with this title, as there have been cases of folks dropping it after the first several episodes and dismissing it as a Noir ripoff with the similar characters, premise and dynamic involved in the series. The slow pacing of the series also doesn't help matters in early perceptions of the series which hint to more to come while introducing the characters and its premise.
However if you are able to press through Madlax's first half, then you w…
Read at the sourceHybridMedia
As part 2 of the “girls-with-guns” trilogy by Bee Train, Madlax (which seems like the name of a laxative) alternates storylines between the two leads, the title character Madlax, an efficient special ops agent for hire in the country of war-torn Gazth-Sonika and is mainly similar to Mirelle with a dash of Kirika of Noir. Yeah, there are similarities between this & Noir like the other main character Margaret Burton, a clumsy amnesiac (see?) living in Nafrece, a France-styled country and yes, her parents are dead as well and similar to another character on the fore-mentioned show. But Margaret has a few people looking after her, such as Vanessa Rene, her former tutor whose parents died in the Gazth-Sonikan war and found out that her employer supplying weapons for both sides of the war and ap…
Read at the sourceMikoto321
I found this anime to be enjoyable. The whole time I was wondering what was the connection between the main characters, Madlax and Margret. This is for the most part action filled, with the exceptions of scenes with Margret as she is only a school student. I really recommend this anime, I've seen it twice and i still probably will watch it again!
Read at the sourceBishounen_Hunter
I'm not too crazy about this anime, it is a test of one's patience. A huge chunk of this anime is boring...very boring and everyone lacks a personality. Because of this, over half of the anime was unbearable to watch because it was just so slow and boring and everyone was practically emotionless, they all speak as if they are all on Valium. This anime is a bit vague and pointless yet the biggest thing I dislike about this series is the fact it sets out as a “normal” story and then ends as science fiction.
~art/animation
The art and animation aren't bad, but it's not as if it's anything noteworthy enough to be an attraction to watch the series.
~sound
The music for this series is on the mediocre side. The OP was very generic sounding....not bad, not good, not worth listening to more than…
Read at the sourceMurbella
Madlax is in many ways quite similar to Noir, so if you hated Noir and think it is an abomination (i'd tend to disagree but to each their own), you will NOT like Madlax, at all.
Story: 8
Madlax follows the same general story structure of Noir. The first 2/3 of Madlax is sort of a slow daily life type thing that builds up the characters and gets you attached to them. During this time the overall plot is only visible out of the corner of your eye, although it is tied in to everything discreetly to keep the viewer thinking about it.
The last 1/3 of madlax is when the story really picks up and all of the story elements in the first 2/3 that you thought were filler lock in to place causing an "oh wow so that is what it is" moment. While the first 2/3 has a lot of moments when you really have…
Read at the sourcealstore
this anime was done by the same people as noir. so i had to watch. let me to you it was well worth! the story may be a little hard to follow but once you seen it once. it well flow like water. all the series had in it was used! not one single part was "pushed" aside and forgotten. witch was great to see. the art was great too. the close up on the faces had a lot of detail as well. sound could have been a little better.the charaters was the best part! can not could on to detail.( you know spoilers) I bought the whole series and could not but it down. man, was i tired at work lol. so give it a watch!
Read at the sourceTasogare
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 do start 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 unanswere…
Read at the sourceKaworutheProphet
This is by no means as good as Noir, (which came before it), however, the conversations with SSS that ADV added in the extras make the single packs worth buying. The show itself, you still get the same great action that you did with Noir.
Read at the sourceMrSanjuro
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…
Read at the sourceErikaHanazono
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 eve…
Read at the sourcemaxliuu
Well this series is a little confusing...its like talking about this girl for a eps then that girl for a eps...you really start to understand the content at the end...witch does sux..anyways the songs is very good
Read at the source