The Hypernatural and Supernatural in Madlax -- Episode 16

Episode 16: War zone and gunfight in a stage set

"Gun Rhyme ~moment~": 銃韻 (Juin)

note: "銃韻"
This is a coined set of words string. “銃”=gun, and “韻”=rhyme.

In avant, Vanessa is talking about the content of the data displayed on the monitor. “Enfant is supplying weapons not only to Gazth-Sonika’s kingdom army, but also to the Galza armed resistance group. They are deliberately perpetuating the war.” Madlax responds. “People whose business is death often do that.” Vanessa corrects. “That’s not it. According to the data, Enfant is mass-purchasing weapons from the military industries, and then providing them to both sides free of charge.” Against the scenes of sanguinary warfare, the conversation between Vanessa and Madlax continues. “That’s not all. The leading bigwigs in the kingdom army and in Galza have all been put in power by Enfant. Why do you think they’ve gone to the trouble, of providing arms and personnel for free in order to prolong this war?” “There’s no meaning behind it.” “I don’t think that’s true. I don’t know what it is, but there’s a reason Enfant is making this war continue.” “There really isn’t any, I don’t think. What I’ve been doing….” Madlax is recalling of Pete, Guen McNichol and Eric Gillain she had hitherto made acquaintance with.

Madlax is talking to SSS on a telephone. “Did you know this country’s civil war was orchestrated by Enfant?” Tremendously large, mysterious power rules over everything. This is the eerie sensation felt as if one is looking into the abyss that Commander Guen McNichol had harbored who requested his own assassination to Madlax in the episode 3. Here, this anime is going to disclose a new phase loaded with the elements of a metaphysical fiction where absurdity and ominous presentiment pervades the psychical world, shifting the central axis from the one in which pursuit for a socialistic motif constructed meanings in the connection between human obligation and political affair. The element of psycho horror that had dominated the episode 4 in which detective Marini was faced with the purposeless murder case seems to be emerging again.

In Nafrece, Margaret has called up Carrossea to have a talk with him. Carrossea asks, “I never even imagined that you would contact me.” Margaret answers, “I’m sorry I called you away from things. …I have dreams. …When I sleep with the picture book under my pillow, I sometimes have strange dreams. …That place …the place in my dream is full of junk, … and it’s like it’s in ruins. I’m all alone there … And I’m really, really lonely.” Carrossea says, “Margaret. You’ve lost your memories of your past. …Perhaps that dream is your past. …I’d like to see your dream too. With you.” Margaret answers, “Then let’s meet in our dreams.” It seems Carrossea has something to do with the vision of the ruins Margaret had shared with Madlax.

There, Elenore jumps up over them riding a helicopter from under the cliff, in search for Margaret who has gone out alone. This astonishing behavior of the maid furnishes an interesting instance showing her abnormal trait like a sort of a stalker. It is one of hyper-realistic depictions testifying the girl’s deviant behavior straying away from the norm of a faithful maid, that cannot be easily classified as a gag expression usually introduced in many anime works. It forms an innovative conceptual perspective utilized peculiarly in manga and anime, that novel has abandoned as not fitting for the fictional standard based on the description of natural laws that novel is supposed to observe as the genre’s definition as scientific production. Carrossea mutters to himself, left alone with Margaret taken away in Elenore’s helicopter. “If I suppose that her dream is the influence of Secondary…She is infinitely closer to that place than I am.”

Vanessa and Madlax are consulting about the measures to be dealt with the data. Vanessa says, “If I go public with these fact, Gazth-Sonika’s civil war will…” “Madlax answers, “Not possible. You’re up against Enfant. They control all the information channels. But there is a way. I talked to SSS and asked him to fix it so we could contact Nafrece’s intelligent service.” Vanessa accepts her proposal. “We’re going to hand this data over to them, then?”

A man is waiting for them at the meeting spot. “Let’s have the goods.” Vanessa gives the disk that contains the data to the man, saying, “What do you intend to do with this data? If you won’t tell us, I won’t tell you the password to open it.” But the man casts it away in the gutter. The contact with the intelligence agency was a trap set by Enfant. Both Madlax and Vanessa are arrested by them.

Nakhl is reporting to Quanzitta. “I’ve received a report that Enfant’s operatives are making a move in Gazth-Sonika.” Quanzitta answers, “Is that so? ---He’s still seeking it as well.” It seems that this woman possesses some knowledge as to the identity of the mysterious man, but ample information is not to be disclosed to the audience yet.

Enfant’s henchmen shoves Madlax and Vanessa into a car and carries them somewhere. Inspecting Madlax’s gun, the leader of Enfant’s soldiers asks. “Looks like you’ve been using it a long time. How many people have you killed?” Madlax answers, “I don’t keep count.” Those were the nearest people to Madlax in their way of living. Madlax is forced to lose her consciousness and recover it in a place like a spot in ruins. The insert song “I’m here” is running behind the background of the eerie space. “Where am I?” Madlax sees the girl who called herself Laetitia running with her doll in her arms. Laetitia speaks to Madlax, “You’re different.” Madlax is now wearing a dress. Her hair is also dressed in a different shape from before. “A red shoe.” There is the red book that was lying on the ground of the battle zone. “This is … This book.” A small girl appears in the scene with a gun in her hand. She mutters, “Dad.”

Laetitia mutters, “Eluda Taluta.” There is a man speaking to Madlax from behind. “That way of feeling…You’re the real thing. I’m glad to meet you, Madlax. It’s been a full twelve years since I last uttered the word.” Madlax asks, “Who are you?” “Friday Monday.” “What is this place?” “The place you used to be.” “That’s right. I was here, wasn’t I? What… what did I do here?” The man who calls himself Friday answers, “You touched the essence here. The essence of yourself as a person. Yes, you’re seeing it.” “Elda Taluta… That scene is from my past.” Madlax has recalled something out of the past. “If you want to know the truth, you have to remember. You heard the words of awakening. But that alone is not enough. You need even more words. You know. You know where another book is. You know where secondary is. …What a good way of feeling you have. You’re getting close to my domain.” Friday knows something that Madlax doesn’t know. And with some unfathomable intention he is trying to retrieve her memory. The word “essence” he had uttered in several scenes seems to have deep connection with the secret Madlax is laden. But Madlax answers, “I don’t know. I wanted to be normal.” It is supposed that those words “essence” and “normal”, each of them spoken by Friday and Madlax respectively, may indicate some complimentary idea, forming a peculiar perspective on both sides of an axis in the fictional phase space.

Madlax continues, saying, “I wanted to be normal. I just wanted to be normal, and you, you stole it. You stole my existence.” Friday says, as if these words were unexpected to hear. “You renounced it? Why?” Madlax asks him. “Why do you continue a meaningless war?” Friday answers, “I’m disappointed in you, Madlax. I see, so you desire a day-to-day life with no value? You are nowhere near my idea. That’s why you were different.” “I’m different?” “You’re different!” Madlax’s existence has been completely denied not only by Laetitia but also by Friday. Friday goes away leaving Madlax alone. Then, Vanessa comes to the spot. “Is this a set? Madlax, who was that man who was just here?” Everything was a disguise prepared for the recovery of Madlax’s memory. Madlax answers, “The man who orchestrated this war”. There, the leader of Enfant soldiers appears. “It looks like he didn’t take a fancy to you.” This man intends to kill Madlax. But Madlax has already regained her composure. “Hide, Vanessa.” “But…” “I’m fine. Things are very normal right now.” It seems her “normal” state means a battlefield where survival for the present is staked for her.

Together with the insert song “nowhere”, with its impressive refrain “yammani”, Madlax’s battle scene commences. Madlax snatches a gun away from one of the soldiers, and effortlessly overcomes the enemy force. But the commander of the group succeeds in hitting the gun off Madlax’s hand. Madlax is unable to move behind the coverage. Just then, Vanessa picks up a gun on the ground and shoots the man who was aiming at Madlax. The man gets the bullet and collapses.

The scene shifts. Margaret wakes up in her bedroom. Though an exciting fighting scene was introduced in this episode, Madlax was forced to enact an absurd puppet play, and was sentenced the decision utterly denying her existence. And what finally concluded the action scene was a gun shoot performed by Vanessa who was supposed to have been outside of the battle. This anime seems to set its core axis in the manipulation of these trivial incidents that have been given detailed depiction abandoning the norm of typical anime expression.

The ruins were all no other than a stage set built by Friday in order to induce Madlax regain her past memory. But what is especially interesting is that there was not any explanation given, concerning the appearance of Laetitia, Madlax happened to detect there. As this episode comes to its end affording no explanation whether she was brought here by Friday’s working or it was an accidental occurrence, there is utter vacancy of information left. The audience is expected to judge what sort of consideration the peculiar manipulation of perspectives adopted in this anime demands, on the nature of the meaning axis that forms the fictional background setting revealed in the encounter of Madlax and Laetitia, after Laetitia’s true identity has been disclosed.