madlax might be Actually Good

In the early 2000s Bee Train made three shows loosely connected by the theme of “girls with guns.” I only watched a few episodes of El Cazador de la Bruja because it got transphobic, but I’ve watched Noir (twice, even) and now Madlax.

Noir’s first half is a great time because it’s just vibes, a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack, and some nice little episodic stories. Then in the second half we get a Plot, and it starts to fall apart.

Madlax sort of has the opposite problem. Its first half drags because it’s more or less setting the stage for the second half, when all the characters begin to collide and the plot starts to pick up. (To be clear, the plot itself makes even less sense than Noir’s, but here it doesn’t matter because it’s all allegorical anyway. And the show understands this; in the final episode, when the central antagonist – named, unbelievably, Friday Monday – begins his grandiose speech about his vision for the world, Madlax shoots him in the face so he’ll shut up and the actually important part of the show can happen: the girls coming to terms with their trauma.)

Even then, it’s not until the last two episodes (of 26 😩) that we get to the real meat of the show. The remaining mysteries of its surface plot are solved only insofar as they serve to highlight the overarching themes of the show, which take center stage. What Madlax is about, really, is the struggle to remain human in a world that rewards cruelty and violence; about pursuing kindness even knowing that it will often go unrequited; and about accepting that even when you have hurt others, it does not mean you are no longer capable of being kind.

Also, it’s pretty gay.