Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Review — A

What a beautiful show.

The first thing I love is how it’s set in Mongolia at the time immediately following Genghis Khan, a time and place that is completely neglected by anime in favor of endless rehashings of the Sengoku era, the three kingdoms era, and generic isekai world. More interesting settings please!!! And they actually take their characters seriously as people of their own time and place. For example, I loved the fight at the end over science, where the main character is yelling at the Khan about science. But she doesn’t have a modern view of science, she has an Islamic view from her time period. The stars move about the Earth on rotating spheres according to Allah’s design. I can’t stand it when the authors just put a modern view out of nowhere into a character’s head.

Second: I love the complexity, both moral and interpersonal. So much is left open to interpretation and could clearly have multiple interpretations. So many anime treat the viewers like idiots. Is it better to avenge the past wrongs or to live the best life you can given your circumstances? Is your idyllic view of the past, in which you were a slave, even true? And don’t even get me started on Toregene and Ogedei.