Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia – Episode 1 – 2

Content warning: war and invasion, on-screen character deaths, slavery

What’s it about? In 13th century Persia, Sitara is an orphaned slave girl in the city of Tus. When the recently-widowed Lady Fatima buys her at a discount, Sitara find herself in a household of scholars, learning theology, literature, and mathematics and opening up her world despite her circumstances. But Sitara’s life takes a grim turn when the Mongols attack Tus. Can she snatch back control of her fate, even as the darkness of war and conquest threaten to steal away everything she holds dear?

To put it mildly, this series comes highly-anticipated. Based on an award-winning manga, this adaptation comes to us from Naoko Yamada directing at Science SARU. While both of those names have a lot of their own individual prestige attached, they also collaborated to bring us 2021’s fantastic The Heike Story, a visually inventive historical series that explored the often unsung stories of women while managing to feel both personal and epic in scope. From a glance at its promo material, Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia seemed to be playing in a similar space. So hopes were high and the hype was real, but I also deliberately kept the series somewhat at arm’s length, going into this double premiere knowing as little as possible and with my expectations tempered so I didn’t risk overselling it to myself.

The good news is, these opening episodes absolutely do not disappoint. A genuine chill went down my spine multiple times as I let this story wash over me: its gorgeous visuals, the lush, lived-in details of its historical setting, and the tenderness of its character relationships all left me reeling in the best way. It’s always fun to see anime playing in different art styles, and Jaadugar’s aesthetic is executed wonderfully, from its stylized-but-not-too-cute character designs to the texture and color of its backgrounds and how they’re used to bring the world to life. It’s also incredibly refreshing to see this kind of setting: how often do you get to see Muslim characters in anime, or the Islamic Golden Age as a backdrop?

However, as beautiful as this show is, it’s a difficult watch, and perhaps I should have rescinded my “the less I know the better” stance in favor of some content warnings. The double premiere serves as a heartbreaking study in contrasts: Episode 1 sets up the rich, bright tapestry of Sitara’s life in Tus only for Episode 2 to tear it to shreds. The city we saw rendered in such lovely detail is reduced to rubble, the characters we came to know and love are killed off one by one, and all the hope and color drains out of the story.

Not to say that this is a grim-and-edgy spectacle—there’s a grain of hope and forward momentum for poor Sitara right at the cliffhanger of Episode 2, and all the imagery in the opening and ending credits seems to point towards this being a tale of resilience and perhaps even revenge for her. But it does hurt to watch, a poignant and keenly-rendered reminder of the tragedy and horror of war, invasion, and genocide. The loss of life, but also the loss of culture, knowledge, and peace, is a tangible ache throughout Episode 2. The villain of the piece—Genghis Khan’s son, with a character design that makes him look young, smug, and appropriately awful—nicely embodies the kind of reckless greed and entitlement that has fuelled these so-called conflicts throughout history and into our current era.

Sitara, as our focal point, embodies his opposite: curious and kind, yet terribly vulnerable, not in control of her own life. Despite the benevolence of Lady Fatima and her family, the storytelling still makes a point of Sitara’s shaky status as a slave. Even with her education and the sense of camaraderie between her and her mistress, structurally she’s not even considered fully human, not “worth” the equivalent of a full life. And yet here she is, cut loose from her context as a slave girl and presented, perhaps, with a tragic yet unique opportunity to reinvent herself and take some agency back.

I’m excited to see what she does next, though I feel like her journey will be a harrowing one. These premiere episodes were distressing to watch, but that’s a sign of their artistry: the fully-realized setting, the efficiency of the character writing, the emotional core of the story. Will Sitara triumph and give the audience some catharsis after all this tragedy? I can only hope so. I’ll be watching to find out, though I’ll try to be a little more emotionally prepared next week. It’s a tough time to tell a story about the horrors of war, but that also means shows like this are more important than ever.