Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Trailer Reveals Queen Bee Ending Theme
The anime arrives with significant international festival recognition and a decorated source manga, positioning it as a prestige adaptation before its first episode airs.
Reporting from 2 sources: Anime News Network, Anime Corner.
The staff for the television anime adaptation of Tomato Soup's manga "A Witch's Life in Mongol" released a new promotional video on Monday, revealing that Queen Bee performs the ending theme song "Hoshi" (Star). The anime, titled "Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia," premieres on July 4 at 11:00 p.m. JST on TV Asahi's "IMAnimation W" block and 23 affiliated channels, as well as BS Asahi. The debut will be a one-hour special featuring the first two episodes. Crunchyroll will stream the series as it airs. The anime had its world premiere of the first three episodes on June 13 at United Cinemas Aqua City Odaiba and screened in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in the TV Films category. Anime Expo will host the U.S. premiere on July 3, with chief director Naoko Yamada and director Abel Góngora in attendance. The main staff includes Yamada as chief director, Góngora directing at Science SARU, Kenichi Yoshida on character design and animation chief, and Kanichi Kato on series scripts. SEKAI NO OWARI performs the opening theme "Stella." The manga, published by Yen Press in English, topped the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2023 rankings for female readers and won the grand prize in the Comic division of the 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards.
Queen Bee vocalist Avu-chan said the ending theme was inspired by the protagonist's determination. "Revenge. Amid the upheaval of the world depicted in this story, the protagonist continues to stand alone, carrying an immense weight within her. In that overwhelming strength, I saw a star," Avu-chan said in a statement.
Manga creator Tomato Soup said the song "whispers 'Don't forget'" and "carries both sorrow and profound strength."
The trailer also previewed the opening scenes of Episode 1, set in 1213 in the eastern Iranian city of Tus. The story follows Sitara after she is taken in by a family of scholars, where she learns the value of knowledge before the Mongol invasion changes her life.
The cast includes Miyu Irino as Shira, Jun Saitō as Muhammad, Akira Sekine as Shitara (also written as Sitara), Houko Kuwashima as Fatima, Ryōta Suzuki as Tolui, Kenji Nojima as Jochi, Ami Koshimizu as Töregene, Hiro Shimono as Ögedei, Daisuke Namikawa as Chagatai, Mongolian sumo wrestler Ichirō Tamawashi as Genghis Khan, and Mongolian sumo wrestler Manpei Tamashōhō as a Mongol soldier.
Kōshirō Hino is composing the music. Additional staff includes technical director chief Takuya Fujikura, art director Yuri Kabasawa, color key artist Narumi Konno, compositing director of photography Naoki Takahashi, editing by Kiyoshi Hirose, and sound director Noriyoshi Konuma.
The manga was nominated for the Manga Taisho Awards in 2023 and 2024, and was nominated in the Best New Manga category at the second American Manga Awards. It ranked #11 in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2024 rankings for female readers. The manga went on hiatus last summer for Tomato Soup's maternity leave and returned on March 25. Akita Shoten will publish the sixth compiled volume on July 15.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.