Magatsu Wahrheit Zuest: Anime Thoughts and Review

Genre	Dark Fantasy, Political Intrigue, Game Adaptation
Recommend	Recommend!

Just finished “Magatsu Wahrheit Zuest” (MWZ) 「禍つヴァールハイト -ZUERST-」and I have to say, for an anime adapted from a game, I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting and intricate the plot is.

Ended up getting pretty invested in the characters (more than 1) and genuinely became interested in the entire world-building and politics of the series. I do really recommend a watch if you are looking for a short anime series to watch in between your shows.

But as with all game related anime, you don’t really get a complete ending for the anime, because the main purpose is to make you want to pick up the game and play. It’s nevertheless a rather interesting ride and actually pretty dark at times, all things considered.

Page Contents

What is Magatsu Wahrheit Zuest (MWZ) about?

Magatsu Wahrhiet Zuest 「禍つヴァールハイト -ZUERST-」tells the story of two young men living in the Imperial City of Wahrhiet whose lives gets forever intertwined with each other after a chance encounter in the city, and in doing so, sets off a chain of events that affects the future of the Empire and their destinies.

Wahrhiet, an Empire where Science and Magic co-exists, has been plagued by a sharp rise in Monsters and a mysterious disease , “Thunder” ravaging the villages and outskirts of the Imperial City. Troubled by an ancient prophecy of an impending destruction by ‘Lights’, the King has been secretly planning to shift the capital to another city and doing all that he can to contain the impending destruction while ensuring the survival of what remains of his Empire with his son.

At the same time, someone in the Empire is orchestrating a series of events from behind the scenes, sowing seeds of discords and destruction, all in a bid to gain power. A subsequent ban on weapons, along with the practice of abandoning affected villagers to their own fates, has also led to the rise and popularity of a criminal organization “Headkeepers” that specializes in the smuggling of illegal weaponry.

Inumael was an ordinary citizen working as a delivery guy in the transportation industry. Leocadio was a teenager who joined the Imperial Army to provide a better life for his family. A random act of kindness unwittingly pulled the two deeper and deeper into the dangerous secrets surrounding the Empire as the skirmishes and tensions among the “Headkeepers”, the “Imperial Army” and the “Council” finally reaches a breaking point.

My Thoughts on Magatsu Wahrheit Zuest

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really have high hopes for this anime when I first read the synopsis.

I was initially just looking for a short anime to watch while waiting for the latest episodes of some of the current 2021 anime I am watching (Highly recommend “Odd Taxi” and “Mashiro no Oto”). I didn’t have much hopes for this series because many of the anime adapted from games are frankly really just bits and elements of the games stitched together as a form of introduction to the game, so I was frankly really surprised to see how dark and intriguing MWZ is.

Compared to many of the run-of-the-mill anime adapted from games in recent years, Magatsu Wahrheit Zuest is honestly one of the better ones, with a decent plot and some nice character developments. I think the fact that the original game was a MMORPG mobile game rather than a gaccha type mobile game also worked in its favor.

Another positive factor was that the anime team had the absolute free creative reign from the game-makers to do up the story. (Check out the Bonus Trivia Section for more information)

Overall, the pace of the anime series was pretty good and in just 12 episodes, you really start to care if the characters live or die, which is honestly some pretty good writing.

The stakes in the Magatsu Wahrheit Zuest are pretty high. You genuinely have no idea if the characters will survive or not. There’s a great deal of foreshadowing in the events of the episodes and it keeps you constantly guessing on the direction of the story. The conspiracies and political intrigue was also pretty well-thought out and no one is what they seemed to be on the surface.

I also rather like the titles of each episode. Very chapter like. Makes me feel like I’m reading a book. 🙂

The main problem with MWZ is that for most viewers, the ‘ending’ of the anime really leaves you wanting more, which I guess was the aim of the anime, since its to get you interested in playing the MMORPG game.

Nevertheless, the ‘ride’ to the end is pretty interesting and engaging, so I do recommend you all get on board with it.

Magatsu Wahrhiet Zuest is definitely one of the more engaging and interesting anime adapted from games that came out in the 2020 list of anime. Recommend!

MWZ Characters

As mentioned earlier, despite the short episode run, Magatsu Waheheit Zuest, has several memorable characters, with decent character developments and backstory. Nevertheless, the short episode run also meant that some of the more interesting backstories doesn’t get fully fleshed out, which was a pity.

I particularly liked the 2 “main character” double protagonist storylines in MWZ.

Leocadio Wohler and Inumael Grauner Magatsu Wahrheir Zuest anime review — *Images from MWZ official anime website*

I was honestly a little confused in the beginning as to who the main character was because we were actually following the events and P.O.V of two characters; Leocardio and Inumael, on opposite sides. However, in the end, you will realize that “Inumael” is the actual main character in the anime.

Fun Fact: It seems that if we went by events of the game, Leocardio should have been the main protagonist but KLab Games allowed the anime team to “freely create a story” connected to the game. As such, the team went with an original character Inumael, who’s slightly older than Leocardio, in the anime time-line which actually made the anime more interesting. (Check out the section on “Bonus Trivia Information” for more Information)

Inumael, in particular, is really a breath of fresh air from all the MCs in recent anime dominated by adaptations of mobile games and visual novels. He isn’t particular dashing or have features of a main character (that’s not to say he’s ugly, he’s actually quite easy on the eyes), he’s really more like you and me watching the anime and playing the game.

He’s just so relatable as a character and was simply someone who happened to be caught in a bad situation at the wrong place at the wrong time (or actually the right place at the right time, since he helped to uncover many of the political intrigue and mysteries in the process).

Inumael’s someone who’s just trying to do the right thing in a bad situation. He doesn’t see himself as a hero or a resistance fighter. He acts really human and constantly struggles between his fear and trying to do the right thing. I really got invested in Inumael and I hope to see his story unfold further, especially with the events of the last episode.

Leeocadio, MWZ, Magatsu Wahrheit Zuest — *Image from MWZ official anime website*

Leocardio, on the other hand, has all the qualities of a Main Protagonist of an anime. A main character in the actual game, he’s really young in the anime, about 15 years old. Nevertheless, despite his young age, he’s pretty serious and has a good sense of morality and justice.

It was honestly a little sad to see how he started out in the anime as a bright-eyed and hopeful youth, who genuinely believed in the ‘good’ that the Imperial Army does in protecting the Empire, to someone who would go on to be ‘betrayed’ by the Army.

However, what is so impressive about Leocardio (and why he’s MC material) is that despite faced with the loss of his beloved ‘brother’ during his very first army assignment, and confronted with the brutal secrets of the Empire and the Imperial Army, Leocadio never lost his way. Even when he’s face-to-face with the killer of his ‘brother’, he would still seek to give the other the benefit of the doubt. While Leocadio would never forgive him, he could understand why the other did what he did. They were on opposite sides after all.

Leocadio’s moral compass and innate kindness sets him on a path of truths and in doing so, he becomes of the keys in unlocking the mysteries and conspiracies surrounding the Wahrheit Empire.

To find out more about Inumael and Leocadio, as well as some of the other key players in Magatsu Wahrheit Zuest, check out their “interviews” here.

I do hope we get a season 2 that bridges the next 20 years, simply because I got really invested in Inumael and Leocardio, as well as the rest of the main HeadKeepers. There’s so much potential for a sequel!

Plus you know… I really want to know how Leocardio went from this to this in 20 years. ^ ^

Bonus Trivia

I found out after that the anime was actually the “prologue” of the game and was set 20 years before the events of the game! As a prologue, MWZ really did its job and sets the story up really well.

The team had the free reign and creative to do a prologue story and it was probably why it is one of the better anime adapted from a game out there. The MWZ anime website shared a series of comments from the staff which is quite interesting. I recommend using google translate for a read.

SPOILERS AHEAD!! Please do not read if you haven’t watched the anime yet!

In a nutshell, the anime director Naoto Hosoda (細田直人)was asked to share his thoughts about the MWZ anime. He shared that the anime was set 20 years before the events of the game. The concept was to create a stand-alone story that is connected to the game and yet can be viewed on its own. As a fan of overseas crime and suspense drama shows, he drew inspirations from these shows when creating the tone and direction of the anime. He goes on to share about why he created Inumael for the anime series, instead of centering the anime around Leocadio, who was an actual character in the game.

The staff comments are actually quite insightful and definitely worth a read.

For more of the staff comments, please check it out here ^ ^

Magatsu Wahrheit: Game

The Game itself is set 20 years after the events of the anime (Note: The Game came out first) where the world has been destroyed by the ‘Lights’ (光). The story unfolds with the player joining the mobile corps, a research organization created by those who had gained power from the “lights”.

The smartphone game is created by KLAB Games.

Note: The Japan Server for the game has closed in 2021. However the Global Server seems to still be opened.

More Information

Official Anime Website: https://www.magatsu-wahrheit-zuerst.com/
Official Anime Twitter: https://twitter.com/magatsu_anime
Game Website: https://www.magatsu-wahrheit.com/

Check out my other Anime Reviews

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I’ve also done up a few guides on purchasing anime goods/figurines and the list will continue to expand. Do check them out as they might be useful for your own fan- collection journeys!

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