Things really start taking shape in the fourth volume of Madlax.  This is one of those pivotal volumes where the plot starts to become clearer, but a lot of mysteries are still left.  We get to learn about Madlax's background; what her name means and how she became a mercenary.  Margaret's book, the Secondari, becomes more important and more mysterious, and someone changes sides.  A great anime series that just keeps getting better.

Series recap:

Madlax is a mercenary, a gun for hire, who is reputed to be the best there is.  This assassin doesn't look like a hired killer though, she's a delicate looking young lady.  Looks can be deceiving thought as she is quite competent and deadly.  She shoots her victims with her eyes shut, but with pin point accuracy.   Caught up in the middle of the Gazth-Sonika civil war where the Galza resistance is fighting the government, Madlax has more than enough work.

This is also the story of Margaret Burton, an odd young girl.  She lives in Nafrece, alone with her maid Elenore, and it's rumored that she's very wealthy.  Margaret marches to the tune of a different drummer.  She will spend a long time staring at shoes in a store's window display, or leave school early because she's afraid that it will rain, even though there isn't a cloud in the sky.  When she looks at the world, it's almost like she's seeing something different from what everybody else sees.  In addition to her maid, Margaret spends a lot of time with her adult friend Vanessa, a woman who works at a large corporation.  Vanessa has traveled to  Gazth-Sonika, where she has retrieved some very important data that will show who really started the civil war and who is profiting from it.  There are many powerful people who want to kill her for the data, and she's hired a bodyguard:  Madlax.

Margaret also has a book, the Secondari, a very special tome that may have mystical powers.  Many people are looking for this book.  People who are willing to kill for it.

This volume:
 
In Gazth-Sonika, Madlax is doing her best to keep Vanessa alive, but it's not easy.    The crime syndicate, Enfant, is after her, but Madlax has started a rumor that she was the one who stole the data, not Vanessa.  At least that way they'll come gunning for her.

Vanessa works on opening the encrypted file of data, but when she thinks she's done it, Madlax pushes her away from the screen.  The data was trapped, and Madlax takes the brunt of it.  Though the trap just consists of a screen full of the same nonsense term repeated over and over, it causes Madlax's personality to change drastically.  She becomes just like Margaret, simple minded and interested in trivial things.  How can this person hope to save herself, much less her client from Enfant?

Back in Nafrece, Margaret meets Carrossea Doon, one of the people who is after her book.  He looks at it and is effected strongly, and not in a good way.  Margaret doesn't have a similar reaction when she looks at it, implying that she has some power others don't.  Doon seems to have a change of heart, and no longer plans to take the Secondari from the young girl.  But what the book means is still a mystery.

This was an excellent volume.  The series keeps getting better and better.  It's hard to talk about this disc without giving any spoilers, but suffice to say that a lot is learned in these episodes.  The link between Margaret and Madlax gets clearer, we find out a good deal about Madlax's origin, and learn some about the other world that is all in rubble.  A really engrossing volume.  I can't wait to see the next one.

Madlax above your average anime is the unique way the story is laid out.  This seems to be a tightly plotted show, and I'm sure that small events in these opening shows will have a great impact latter on.  I'm very interesting in seeing how this all works out.

Audio:

ADV provides the original stereo Japanese track to this DVD as well as a 5.1 English dub.  I alternated tracks between shows, and both of the audio tracks sounded very good.  The English dub was a little more full and robust, but the Japanese track reproduced the sound well.  The voices seemed to fit the characters a little better in the original language, but that's just my opinion.  The only problem I had with the dub was that the music level was a little high in places, making it hard to hear the dialog.  There were no audio defects.

Video:

The anamorphically enhanced widescreen image is very good.  The lines were very crisp, and the colors were reproduced well.  The color reproduction is important, since They used a wide palate, with both the jungle scenes and the urban settings having distinct looks created by the colors that were employed.  Digital defects were practically nonexistent.  A great looking DVD.

Extras:

This disc has a good number of bonus features.  In addition to the standard clean opening and closing, there are Japanese promo spots and a two-minute reel of design sketches.  My favorite bonus feature though was Conversations With SSS, a 7-minute reel of outtakes where the English voice actors come up with some pretty humorous lines for the scenes they are dubbing.  Some funny stuff.

Final Thoughts:

This is definitely one of those above-average shows that really pull you into the story.  This isn't a simple girl-with-a-gun show, it is much deeper than that.  This is a program with many layers, they are slowly being pealed away, but at a good pace.  You learn something every volume but each one raises more questions too.  A show you should be following.  Highly Recommended.