Game Adaptation by Yokohama Animation Lab
Streaming on Funimation

Premise

Years after a magical cataclysm summoned monsters into the empire, a fresh-faced cadet in the Imperial Army and an unassuming delivery man get wrapped up in smuggling illegal firearms to rebellious elements.

Iro’s verdict: High Hopes, Low Expectations

This isn’t what I expected, especially since it’s based on a mobile game. It’s a game I know next to nothing about, but it looks like your bog-standard swords-and-sorcery-and-monsters type stuff, and thus I was caught off guard (in a good way!) by the tone and setting of the anime version. “Imperial soldiers” wearing fantasy uniforms and going sword-and-board walk next to people dressed like 1940s longshoremen, who are driving normal cars and trucks. The plot of the episode revolves around smuggling dangerous contraband, which consists of… a machine gun placement and a break-action grenade launcher. Less encouraging is the quality of the battle scene, which has some downright goofy choreography and iffy animation. Still, Magatsu Wahrheit has an intriguing mix of elements, and I’m curious to watch another episode or two to see how the plot develops and whether the production picks up.

Artemis’ verdict: Even Writing This Much Was A Struggle

I don’t have any major complaints to make about this premiere. I also don’t have any major compliments. I feel like it’s the kind of show I should probably like, or at the very least should watch a second episode of, yet the thought of actually doing so is already tiring, even though I can’t quite pinpoint why. The story in itself is fine. The characters are fine. The artwork is fine. Everything’s just monumentally okay, and maybe that’s why it failed to make much of an impression on me either way – it was neither good nor bad enough to make me sit up and pay attention, so my brain simply switched off and went to sleep instead. Now, despite my best efforts, I can’t be bothered to prod myself awake enough to properly engage with any more of it.