Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is a historical drama set in the early 1200s, when the Mongol Empire was spreading across Asia at great speed. It is based on the manga (Japanese comic) by the artist Tomato Soup, which began in 2021 on Akita Shoten's Souffle website. The anime was made by the studio Science SARU and directed by Naoko Yamada, who also directed the film A Silent Voice. It ran for 12 episodes from July to September 2026 on TV Asahi. Its opening song, "Stella", is by the band Sekai no Owari. The title word jaadugar means a witch or magician.

The story begins in the city of Tus, part of the Khwarazmian Empire, a Muslim state in Central Asia and Persia. Our heroine is Sitara, a girl born into slavery. Her life is harsh, and she loses her mother and the only home she has known. But her sadness turns into a fierce will to learn. She is taken in by a household of scholars, people who study books, science, and ideas. There, she soaks up everything she can. For Sitara, knowledge is not just interesting. It is a kind of power that no one can take away from her.

Meanwhile, the armies of Genghis Khan are conquering one country after another, and they are getting close to Sitara's new home. When the Mongols arrive, her world is torn apart once more. Tolui, the fourth son of Genghis Khan, leads the attack, and Sitara becomes his prisoner. From this moment, a burning wish for revenge takes hold of her.

Sitara does not have a sword or an army. What she has is her mind. She later takes the name Fatima and makes her way into the Mongol court. There she uses her intelligence, patience, and skill with people to gain influence among the rulers. She meets Toregene, a noblewoman who has also suffered at the Mongols' hands, and who becomes an important ally. Ogedei, a son of Genghis Khan and a future ruler, also plays a key part in the court's power struggles.

The story is loosely inspired by real history and real people from this period. It gives a view of the Mongol world from the side of those they conquered, with special focus on women who had little official power. Its main themes are the power of knowledge, survival, revenge, and how politics works behind the scenes. The tone is serious and often sad, but also thoughtful and gripping.

The manga has been praised a lot. It topped the list for female readers in the 2023 edition of Kono Manga ga Sugoi!, a famous yearly manga guide. It won the Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 2026, and by August 2026 it had more than one million copies in print. Fans of historical drama and clever, strong heroines should give this one a try.