Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is the anime adaptation of Tomato Soup's manga A Witch's Life in Mongol, set in the Persian city of Tus in the early thirteenth century, where young Sitara is sold into slavery to a family of scholars who, rather than exploiting her, teach her to read and introduce her to knowledge. When the family's heir leaves to continue his studies in Nishapur, the Mongol invasion sweeps through the city: Sitara is captured by Tolui's army while her master dies protecting her, setting off a journey of personal growth against the backdrop of the era's great population movements. Produced by Science SARU, the studio behind titles like Devilman Crybaby and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the project is directed by Abel Gongora with Naoko Yamada, one of the most respected voices in contemporary Japanese animation, serving as chief director, alongside character designs by Kenichi Yoshida and a score composed by Koshiro Hino.

From its earliest episodes, international critics have highlighted the originality of its historical setting, one rarely explored by Japanese animation with this level of geographic and cultural rigor, and the delicacy with which it handles a story weaving together themes of slavery, knowledge and female emancipation without slipping into easy rhetoric. Some reviews have noted that the first episodes lean more toward world-building and establishing relationships between characters than toward a fast-moving plot, an unhurried pacing choice that demands patience but suits the show's soft, painterly visual style, which carefully renders the light and landscapes of medieval Central Asia. Hino's score, paired with a deft use of silence, quietly underscores the story's more intimate moments.

In a seasonal landscape dominated by major shonen franchises, Jaadugar stands out for choosing to tell an intimate, contained story, proving once again that Science SARU knows how to turn seemingly niche projects into genuine critical surprises, one several outlets have gone as far as naming a possible contender for Anime of the Year 2026.