Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia

Plot

In the early 13th century, in the city of Tus, Persia, Sitara is sold as a slave to a family of scholars. Although she initially tries to run away, the family teaches her the importance of knowledge and she ends up working and studying in their home.

After the heir to the family leaves for Nishapur to further his studies, the Mongols invade Tus. Sitara is captured by Tolui's army and her master is killed while protecting her. After being taken to Mongolia, she takes on the name Fatima and begins to plot her revenge on the Mongols.

Characters

Sitara (シタラ, Shitara) / Fatima (ファーティマ, Fātima)

Voiced by: Akira Sekine (Japanese); Cristina Vee (English)

Sitara is the main protagonist. Sitara was orphaned and sold as a slave for a rich but kind family. After her master Fatima and most other members of the household are killed during the Mongol invasion, and learning that Prince Tolui came after a certain book as a wish from his wife Princess Sorghaghtani, Sitara decides to take on the name Fatima and works as high ranking servant for Sorghaghtani in order to get the book back and get revenge on the Mongols by using her knowledge and her social manipulation skills.

Fatima (ファーティマ, Fātima)

Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (Japanese); Marwa Elda (English)

A widow of a scholar family in Tus. She took Sitara from a slave trader and raised her as if she were her own daughter. She is killed protecting Sitara during the Mongol invasion.

Muhammad (ムハンマド, Muhanmado)

Voiced by: Jun Saitō (Japanese); Yussef Benelbar (English)

Fatima's son, a boy with a passion for learning. He taught Sitara the importance of knowledge. Although he went missing during the Mongol invasion and never saw Sitara again, readers are told that he survived and later became a renowned scholar.

Tolui (トルイ, Torui)

Voiced by: Ryōta Suzuki (Japanese); Alex Mai (English)

The fourth prince. He invaded Sitara's homeland and carried her off to Mongolia. He is a skilled warrior, but has no interest in scholarship. Tolui has two sons named Hulegu and Kublai. In 1232, when Ögedei got sick from poisoning like Boraqchin and during a ritual to place the sickness in a water of cup and that a blood relative have to drink it, Tolui chooses himself to drink it to save Ögedei (not knowing this is all part of Boraqchin's plan), Tolui soon perished by it.

Production

Tomato Soup originally had Töregene Khatun as the protagonist, though she felt that Fatima would be better to represent the size of the Mongol Empire. She also felt Fatima would be more interesting to write. Regarding the illustrations, Tomato Soup felt that medieval manuscripts tend to have "unrealistic" styles, so she tried to imitate that style.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Tomato Soup, A Witch's Life in Mongol began serialization on Akita Shoten's Souffle website on September 25, 2021. The series began parallel serialization in the Mystery Bonita magazine on March 6, 2025. As of July 2026, the series' individual chapters have been collected in six tankōbon volumes. On March 24, 2025, the manga series moved to a bimonthly status until the summer of 2025 and entered into a hiatus due to Soup's maternity leave.

At New York Comic Con 2024, Yen Press announced that they licensed the series for English publication.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation, titled Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, was announced on April 14, 2025. It is produced by Science Saru and directed by Abel Góngora, with Naoko Yamada serving as chief director, Kanichi Katou handling series composition, Kenichi Yoshida designing the characters and serving as chief animator, and Kōshirō Hino composing the music. The series premiered on July 4, 2026, on the IMAnimation programming block on TV Asahi and its affiliates, as well as other networks. The opening theme song is "Stella", performed by Sekai no Owari, while the ending theme song is "Hoshi" (星; Star), performed by Queen Bee. Crunchyroll is streaming the series. Plus Media Networks Asia licensed the series in Southeast Asia for broadcast on Aniplus Asia.

Reception

Yuka Furukawa of Da Vinci praised the setting and characters, particularly the villains, which Furukawa felt were realistic. Kazushi Shimada of Real Sound praised the story, particularly recommending it to fans of Hitoshi Iwaaki's Historié and Uoto's Orb: On the Movements of the Earth.

The series was nominated for the 16th Manga Taishō in 2023. It was also nominated for the 17th Manga Taishō in 2024. In the 2023 edition of the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook's list of the top manga for female readers, the series ranked first. In the 2024 edition's list, the series ranked 11th. It was nominated at the Japan Society and Anime NYC's second American Manga Awards for Best New Manga in 2025. It won the grand prize in the Comic Division at the 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards in 2026.