01 May

The Hypernatural and Supernatural in Madlax -- Episode 9

Episode 9: sympathy and shared feelings in archetype

"Scent Left Behind ~scent~": (残香: Zanko)

Avant introduces the conversation between Madlax and Luciano, an agent of her acquaintance, in cut back camera work reminiscent of nouvelle vague director Jean-Luc Godard’ documentary mode. Luciano tells her that he is going to retire and leave Gaths-Sonica to live somewhere in a peaceful country after the last mission. He leaves Madlax saying parting words. The audience who is keenly aware of the fictional perspectives will be deeply interested in how this episode is going to develop and what sort of genre it will construct as a fictional work, depicting this character as an agent who undertakes the mission of assassination, and whether Luciano, who appears in this episode for the first time, is able to survive or not. Because at the first scene, peculiar situation and character’s lines that often foretell the person’s death is engaged that is often called “flagged”, suggesting the death of the character in fictional conventions.

In Nafrece, Vanessa is heading for a resort hotel managed by her company for her paid holidays together with Margaret and Elenore. They have their broken-down car repaired by Luciano who came across on a bike on the way. Luciano starts for preparations on the hill to snipe his target who is going to stay at Hotel Allium. Carrossea’s back figure is caught in the scope of the rifle Luciano took aim.

Arriving at their hotel, Margaret feels some inexplainable uneasiness. With strange misgivings, Margaret looks around the hotel and comes half-way up on the hill, where Laetitia is sitting with her doll in her hands. But it seems Margaret doesn’t notice her presence. Margaret meets Luciano again at the spot. Laetitia mutters, “Just now, someone started to come to this side.” It is not shown what her line “this side” might indicate, as no explanation is afforded whether it suggests some kind of conceptual phase space or extra hyper dimension. It is only guessed to be some peculiar kind of psychic field that may correspond to her previous words “ordinary place”.

Margaret starts talking with him confidentially. Luciano asks Margaret who suddenly appeared at the spot, “Why did you come out here? All by yourself, too.” Margaret, as always, answers in a pointless fashion. “I just had a feeling. I was just wondering about this place, somehow.” Luciano notices that her presence gives him composed feelings again, who has been getting irritated by the peaceful atmosphere of the country he has visited in order to perform his mission of assassination. Watching Margaret falling asleep during their conversation, Luciano mutters, “But I breathe easier when I’m with you.”

The screen shows the recollection of Luciano injured in a battle. When young, he had seen the figure of Laetitia holding a doll in her hands watching him fallen in a crisis. He understands Margaret has reminded him of the girl with a doll in her hands who gave him a peaceful composure of mind in danger. But their appearances must have been quite different. There is no further information afforded here about the connection between Laetitia and Margaret.

The other man who appeared in the hotel together with Carrossea was called “managing director”. Vanessa eavesdrops the conversation between Carrossea and the managing director in the hotel lounge, and finds out that Bookwald company contributes to the civil war in Gaths-Sonika. Her company is exporting weaponry to the country as Enfant. Carrossea tranquilly tells the managing director who is tortured by his conscience in performing such a malpractice, “I’ve committed heavier crimes than these.” But it is not clarified what “his heavier crimes” actually indicates here. It seems this man conceals deeper circumstances than viewers have been able to corroborate until now.

Luciano, deciding to finish his mission, sets aim at Carrossea as he had planned. Just then, Margaret passes in front of Carrossea with something in her hand. Carrossea turns his attention toward it. “There’s no mistaking it. That’s Secondari.” Luciano fails in his sniping due to the unintentional intervention of Margaret. But Carrossea is turning his attention towards the book.

Limelda, who was guarding Carrossea in hiding, figures out the spot the sniper was settled, discharges her fatal shoot. These proceedings, reflecting the episode 3 where Madlax had sniped Guen McNichol and ensuing sequences were depicted, persuasively describe the actions taking place in the story. In spite of the main strategy of disruptive fictional presentation, the directing method tactfully making use of similar scenes, has succeeded in constructing elaborate fictional reality.

Suffering a fatal wound, Luciano hears the voice of Madlax calling his name. At the same time, the figure of Madlax walking in the street of Gaths-Sonika is shown and a sound of gunshot follows on the screen. The sound of something falling on the ground ensues. This is one of the coincidental occurring of remote events this show has introduced several times, that implies the existence of a mysterious mechanism relating to telepathic effects. Cut back image directing method devoid of any explanatory narration has attained a phase of peculiar implication that is difficult to express conceptually in verbatim translation. Sometimes visual expression is able to attain the proposition of the singular archetypal phase in which many inconsistent information are suggested hiding in parallel lines, as its peculiar mode of fictional processing.

note:
I have provided an instance of the argument on the polysemy in archetypal primordial mode introduced in visual expression in “Meanings and Ambiguity in Visual Art: Pleroma Motive in Valerie and Her Week of Wonders”. (included in Existence, Phenomenon and Personality: Individuality in Figurines, Anime and Game: Bokka-sha, (2014)

Margaret comes on top of the hill in order to see Luciano again before leaving the hotel. But she is not able find him out. Luciano mutters getting the sight of her, lying in the bush some distant away from Margaret, heavily injured by Limelda’s bullet, “ I’ve finally figured out… why my heart could be at ease around her… It was her smell… She smelled like Gaths-Sonika…” In the end, Luciano also lost his life in this episode.

Nakhl comes to Quanzitta in order to make her report in the village of Dwaiho. “Lady Quanzitta, a shooting star has fallen and disappeared into pitch darkness.” Nakhl also seems to have some supernatural ability to sense remote events occurring in distant places. It is suggested that this ability is not restricted to ones who have had special teaching or training, but is to be shared among many people. As for the psychical mechanism that is supposed to be commonly displayed, it seems that we have to make deeper investigations into the principle of it.

Madlax is receiving a mission from SSS on telephone as usual. SSS, sensing something amiss, inquires her over the telephone. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Madlax answers him saying, “I don’t know…. I don’t know…” It seems that SSS also had got some gut feeling about Madlax’s abnormal state deep under the functions of perception. And Madlax also must have acquired some sort of information through the base of unconscious, reflecting the unknown power to be able to acknowledge everything in spite of distances in space or in time, representing the motif this anime bears as its background perspective.

note:
The notion “collective unconscious” Jung posited will be naturally referred to, as the most persuasive hypothesis to be able to explain this phenomenon. Presupposing an all-encompassing “psychical” field where everything is connected sharing both memory and perception, between not only each subject of consciousness but also between mind and material, merged in unified integration.