The Hypernatural and Supernatural in Madlax -- Episode 17

Role casts configured in characters’ lines

Killing Moment ~reunion~: 刹那 (Setsuna)

note: 刹那
Japanese words string “刹那” means “moment”, but the character “刹” reminds of “殺”=kill. “殺那” (Satsuna) may mean “the killing moment”.

Avant shows Vanessa extremely agitated by the new experience having shot a person by her own hand. Madlax says to her, “You didn’t kill him. The man you shot isn’t dead.” Vanessa says answering her, “That’s not the point. The act of shooting someone is unforgivable.” Vanessa’s words function adding a new meaning axis that constructs the emotional norm of this anime. One of the new perspectives that is supposed to define the ethical meaning axis of the fiction is now introduced by Vanessa, who Madlax made friends for the first time after killing countless people in her life. Madlax says to Vanessa, “If you hadn’t shot him, I would have died. When people die, it’s because they’ve failed at being alive. When people fail at being alive, they die.” Madlax’s way of fighting and killing in order to survive without hatred, is going to be understood as a decisive element to configure the peculiar perspective of this anime at the end.

Madlax and Vanessa run into the forest fleeing from Enfant, where soldiers sighting their faces, identify them as murderers of their Royalty. Vanessa wonders. “Murderers of Royalty?” Madlax instantly understands what is going on. “This means that data was the real thing.” Enfant spread a false information in order to let the army search for them. Madlax shoots the soldiers without hesitation in front of Vanessa. Madlax mutters, “We’re being manipulated. You and I both”

Carrossea is receiving a report on Madlax from Limelda. “So a connection will be made between Vanessa Rene and Margaret Burton? It might be time for me to prepare for the worst.” He plays a rare role in this anime who affords the audience with explanatory monologues that describe the course of the story. There can be a particular character constructed out of other peculiarities than appearance and personality, according to the function in a directing strategy to propel the course of a story performed toward the audience. This is one of the most impressive instances of character making established out of keen awareness of the modality of fictional creation.

note:
As a peculiarly remarkable instance of a conceptualized make up of a personality, created by clever selection of the mode as a narrator of the story, we can point out the character enrolled as “author” introduced in the fantastic novel Peter and Wendy. Please refer to my paper “Fraudulent Narration: Deconstruction in Antifantasy” included in Fantasy as Antifantasy (2004), for the argument on the mode of this literary work as conceptual novel, accomplished by omnidirectionally utilizing the element of storytelling introduced in the story.

In Nafrece, Margaret and Elenore acquire the information of Vanessa and Madlax being put on the Wanted list as murderers of Royalty, watching TV broadcast. In Gazth-Sonika, Limelda is sighing in grief holding a gun. Margaret calls Badgis to halt who came to watch the situation of Vanessa’s room. “Who are you?” It seems this girl has sensed something below the threshold of consciousness, who is capable of acting following intuition free from the frame of logical inference.

Margaret’s ability to be able to share sensations with other beings manifested in several scenes in the previous episodes, has been usually understood by the words “empathy” and “telepathy”. But she was able to make a decision to invite him as one who will afford her an opportunity to determine her future actions, without knowing the relationship between Vanessa and the man she has happened to meet, following a conviction that can not be explained by perception or logical inference. This ability which supplies intuitional judgement without being aided by the power of intelligence can be explained applying the principle of the notion usually called “dowsing”.

It is a traditional technology adopted in working various kinds of divination by releasing the power of intuition that is gained out of the unconscious regions conjoining the primordial state where restrictions of time and space don’t exist, and freed from cause-and-effect chain limitation of phenomenality. Forked rod, pendulum, cards and chart, sometimes making use of Bible and small animals, everything is accommodated as medium in order to gain revelation to guide the course to be taken in the future out of unconscious region. This is a traditional technic intentionally aiming at the appearance of the occasion of “synchronicity”.

The occurrence was detected in episode 2, presumably following the similar principle, at the scene Margaret unconsciously started the computer in Vanessa’s office room and let it display the information of Gazth-Sonica. All these suggest the hidden connection between the subject of consciousness and whole body of the universe. This ability each individual is supposed to be provided with has been traditionally discussed by the word “intuition”, but after the inception of quantum physics, it is gathering attention in the argument of the holarchy of the universe, signifying the relationship between non-local structure of cosmos and “fundamental awareness” that is supposed to have given the first cause to primordial creation of everything. It is the latent core subject ruling all the storyline of Madlax hidden behind the hyper-natural directing method.

note:
The idea now discussed as the relationship between the interrelated structure of the universe and the supposed existence of all-pervading consciousness called “Fundamental Awareness”, is studied by scholars such as Dirk K F Meijer, Hans Geesink and Franco Ivaldi and others, focused on the cosmological argument on fractal system structure and pilot wave theory. The implicit premise adopted in anime Madlax is deeply related to the notions focused on these Post Quantum Mechanics arguments. Some instances are shown below.

Scale-Invariant Geometry of Consciousness: from Projection at the Planck Level to Cosmic Manifestation as a Bidirectional "Stairway to Heaven"
https://www.academia.edu/117029655/Scale_Invariant_Geometry_of_Consciousness_from_Projection_at_the_Planck_Level_to_Cosmic_Manifestation_as_a_Bidirectional_Stairway_to_Heaven_

Universal Intelligence and New Frontiers of Physics
https://www.academia.edu/102631440/Universal_Intelligence_and_New_Frontiers_of_Physics

Badgis explains, invited into Margaret’s apartment room. “Information is being deliberately manipulated. …Vanessa was trying to expose wrongdoings within her company. I helped her with that too.” Elenore asks, “In other words, Miss Vanessa was framed as a murderer by a criminal organization called Enfant?” While Carrossea takes the part of explaining the proceedings of the story, this maid undertakes the role to arrange the story actions and conceptualize them not only for Margaret to understand but also for the audience. Just as the case of Carrossea, this is an instance of a characteristic personality making, particular to a fictional world. Badgis guesses, “Probably. But she’s still alive. The fact that she’s been put on the Wanted list is the best possible proof. And there’s the other woman who’s being labeled as her accomplice. If we have her help… Most likely, she’s the agent Vanessa hired. Her bodyguard.” Badgis is referring to Madlax managing keen discernment as Madlax did. Margaret again marshals the mysterious power of her intuition. “Madlax… That woman’s name is Madlax.” Margaret declares, “I’m going to Gazth-Sonica. …I want to see her.”

Vanessa mutters, “When people fail at being alive, they die…” Driving the car, Madlax says to Vanessa, “Yes, so don’t die. Don’t die, Vanessa Rene.” This is a varied instance of her peculiar lines hitherto uttered in the words, “You’ll die.” When they return to Madlax’s room, it is already occupied by the enemy. There is a telephone call from SSS. Madlax asks, “You sold information, didn’t you?” SSS answers, “I’d prefer to stay alive, after all.” Madlax replies, “Me too.” Both of them are fully aware of their mode of living, every minute at stake of their lives. It has nothing to do with anger or hatred, in their achievement of their task. It is a judgement of sound conviction quite different from the principle that rules Vanessa’s actions. Madlax kills the minion of Enfant hiding in her room with her gun shot. Madlax and Vanessa leave the room where security is no more trusted, taking the identification tag and the piece of paper that had been pinned on the wall.

Margaret manages to fly to the dangerous conflict country with the help of Carrossea. Carrossea is riding the same airplane as Margaret has boarded. Carrossea mutters to himself. “We’re converging on one point. No… Is it that we’re being lured there?” He seems to have sensed some hidden power like destiny conjoining incidental events that have occurred by chance into some meaningful consequence. The wave convergence of perspectives establishing definite meaning may be regarded as the revelation of synchronicity for the subject of consciousness, establishing particular configuration of discrete qualia.

Madlax and Vanessa goes fleeing in a car from the enemy without any destination. But Madlax is grasping some notion on the meaning of her existence. “We’ve been targeted by the kingdom army, Enfant, and probably Galza too. But there is one thing we now know: Enfant is looking for a book. …It was a book I’d never seen before… But we have a clue. The cover of the book Friday had was exactly like the letters written here.” These lines Madlax has uttered seem to suggest the possibility of discoveries of a hidden relationship between self and universe, in a way similar to the mechanism of riddle solving presented in the form of tacit assumption manipulated in the fictional genre called mystery.

Madlax and Vanessa are caught in a surprise attack on the road. Madlax is not able to fight as usual, with Vanessa who is not used to fighting and confiscated by the enemy. But by the aid of Limelda, who suddenly came up on the scene, Madlax is able to escape from the danger.

“This isn’t like you.” Limelda says to Madlax. “Why did you do that?” Madlax asks. Limelda answers, “Because I’m going to be the one to kill you. Having someone like this dragging down doesn’t suit you.” Limelda’s lines, contrary to Carrossea’s, are charged with concrete peculiarity dismissing any explanatory element toward the audience, even making it difficult to guess the exact sentiment of the speaker. Most impressive lines in this anime are told by this person. Madlax answers, saying, “She’s not your opponent. This country’s civil war was set up. By Enfant. …You can see the truth too. Because you are that kind of person.” Madlax also, following Margaret’s example, has a mysterious conviction on the essence of the personality of Limelda.

Carrossea, not only having shared the same airplane as Margaret boarded, but also accompanies to the hotel she had reserved. Limelda is immersed in deep thought in a car with the disk handed to her by Madlax. Vanessa makes a decision having heard the words spoken by Limelda. “Madlax. …Teach me how to shoot.” “Are you sure?” Vanessa answers, “I can’t keep doing nothing but running away.” Here, this episode is going to add a perspective which defines a new axis which is able to construct another genre. Vanessa has chosen to accept battle and murder as her own actions to be taken, though they have been positive objects of her avoidance, not only as means for survival but also as proof for her affirmation of Madlax’s way of living, whom she had made friends in a foreign country. Here, this anime begins to reveal the mode of friendship achievement between girls, against the background of ethical problem concerning the act of murder.

Just then the car Margaret and Elenore are riding crosses on the other traffic line of the road where Madlax and Vanessa are riding. Though the actions of Madlax and Margaret have been depicted each juxtaposed in cutback presentations up to the episode 17, their direct contact has not been accomplished yet. Here, they have come very close to their actual encounter, but it is not gained yet. Laetitia mutters somewhere. “Don’t die. …Live.”