The recently released behind-the-scenes video for Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia offers an unprecedented look at the intricate production process at Science SARU, the acclaimed animation studio behind hits like Devilman: Crybaby and DAN DA DAN. Titled “The Making of Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia,” the video ventures deep into the creative challenges of adapting Tomato Soup’s award-winning manga A Witch’s Life in Mongol—a historical court drama set during the 13th-century Mongol Empire—and reveals how the team tackled one of the most daunting aspects of the source material: its distinctive treatment of time.
Behind the Making-Of Video: Executive Director Naoko Yamada on Adapting the Passage of Time
Executive Director Naoko Yamada, whose prior work includes K-On!, A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird, The Heike Story, and the recent The Colors Within, candidly discussed the central challenge of translating the manga’s unique narrative rhythm into animation. According to Yamada, the staff spent a considerable period deliberating over how to approach the manga’s passage of time—an element that is both subtle and structurally fundamental to the story’s emotional weight.
The making-of video features extended discussions between Yamada, Director Abel Góngora, and Character Design and Sakuga Chief Kenichi Yoshida. These conversations delve into specific visual techniques employed to solve the adaptation puzzle, including the deliberate removal of lines outside characters’ primary outlines—a method that lends a softer, more atmospheric quality to the animation and helps convey the temporal drift of the narrative. For an industry watcher, this kind of technical detail reveals how Science SARU continues to push the boundaries of 2D digital animation, blending painterly aesthetics with the precision of a period drama.
Location Scouting in Mongolia: How First-Hand Experience Shaped the Anime’s Setting
Rather than relying solely on reference materials and existing visual archives, the production team conducted location scouting trips to Mongolia. The directors experienced the country’s expansive landscapes and the nomadic lifestyle of its people first-hand. Observations from these journeys directly informed the anime’s depiction of its setting—from the texture of the steppes to the architecture of the royal court and the movement of characters through vast, open environments.
This commitment to on-site research is a hallmark of high-caliber historical anime, and it sets Jaadugar apart from fantasy series that merely borrow Mongol aesthetics. The trip allowed the team to capture authentic details that would be difficult to replicate from photographs alone: the quality of light across the plains, the way wind moves through a ger (the traditional yurt), and the physical posture of people accustomed to life on horseback. These elements are expected to ground the anime in a tangible reality, even as it weaves a tale of revenge and political intrigue.
Voice Cast Insights: Akira Sekine, Ami Koshimizu, and Jun Saito on Their Roles
The making-of video also includes interviews with key members of the voice cast. Akira Sekine, who voices the protagonist Sitara, discusses the emotional arc of a young girl who loses everything to the Mongol Empire’s expansion and survives through knowledge rather than force. Ami Koshimizu, who portrays Töregene, offers perspective on a character driven by her own deep-seated hatred of the empire. Jun Saito, who voices Muhammad, provides insight into the role of the scholar figure who guides Sitara’s intellectual awakening.
These interviews ground the technical discussion of animation in the human performances that will ultimately bring the characters to life. The casting choices reflect a deliberate effort to match voice actors who can convey the weight of historical trauma alongside the resilience of the human spirit—a balance that is central to Tomato Soup’s source material.
The Source Material: Tomato Soup’s A Witch’s Life in Mongol
To fully appreciate what Science SARU is attempting with this adaptation, it is essential to understand the source material. Tomato Soup began serializing A Witch’s Life in Mongol (Tenmaku no Jadugaru) on Akita Shoten’s Souffle website in September 2021. As of April 2025, five volumes have been released in Japan. The manga has garnered critical acclaim far beyond typical genre fare: it earned the top spot in Takarajimasha’s “This Manga is Amazing! 2023” (Women’s Edition) and ranked in the Manga Taisho Awards for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024. Yen Press holds the English-language license.
The manga’s narrative follows Sitara, a young girl sold into the slave markets of 13th-century Iran after losing her mother. Taken in by Fatima, a kind-hearted woman from a family of scholars, Sitara is taught that knowledge is the ultimate tool for survival. “If you study and become wise, no matter what trouble befalls you, you’ll know the best way forward,” she is told by Fatima’s son, Muhammad. This philosophy shapes her journey as she seeks education, only to see her peaceful life destroyed by the empire’s fourth prince, Tolui. Her vow of revenge against the all-consuming Mongol Empire sets the stage for a story that blends historical court drama with the cunning of a protagonist who must rely on intellect rather than brute force.
What Is Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia? A Comprehensive Overview
Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is an upcoming anime series produced by Science SARU, adapted from Tomato Soup’s manga A Witch’s Life in Mongol. The story is set during the 13th-century Mongol Empire and follows Sitara, a young girl who survives the empire’s expansion by relying on knowledge and infiltrates the royal court to pursue revenge. Her fate becomes intertwined with Töregene, a woman who harbors her own hatred toward the empire.
The series has already earned international recognition, having been selected for the Official Competition TV Films category at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2026—a prestigious honor that places it alongside the world’s most anticipated animated productions. The manga itself recently won the Grand Prize in the Comic Division at the 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards, underscoring the literary and artistic merit of the original work.
The Creative Team Behind the Adaptation: Staff and Roles
The talent assembled for this production is nothing short of remarkable, and the making-of video highlights the synergy between these key figures.
Executive Director: Naoko Yamada
Yamada’s reputation precedes her. From the gentle nostalgia of K-On! to the emotionally devastating A Silent Voice and the meditative historical drama The Heike Story, she has demonstrated an ability to infuse animation with profound emotional resonance. Her most recent film, The Colors Within, further refined her visual storytelling language. At Jaadugar, she serves as executive director, providing the overarching creative vision.
Director: Abel Góngora
Abel Góngora, who co-directed the second season of DAN DA DAN and previously worked on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and Star Wars: Visions – T0-B1, brings a complementary skill set. His experience with fast-paced action and energetic sequences balances Yamada’s more contemplative approach. The making-of video shows them collaborating closely, a pairing that suggests the final series will blend quiet character moments with dynamic historical drama.
Character Design and Sakuga Chief: Kenichi Yoshida
Kenichi Yoshida is a legendary figure in anime character design, best known for his work on Eureka Seven, Overman King Gainer, and The Orbital Children. In the making-of video, he discusses the visual approach to adapting the manga’s distinctive character art. His role as Sakuga Chief (animation supervisor) means he is directly responsible for maintaining consistency and quality across the series’ most important animated sequences.
Series Composition: Kanichi Kato
Kanichi Kato, whose credits include The Eminence in Shadow, Teasing Master Takagi-san, and Black Clover, is handling series composition. This role involves structuring the narrative across multiple episodes, deciding how to adapt the manga’s chapter-by-chapter pacing into a cohesive seasonal arc. Given the manga’s focus on the passage of time, Kato’s work will be critical in preserving the source material’s unique rhythm.
Music: Koshiro Hino
Koshiro Hino is making his debut as an anime composer with this series. According to the production notes, he is acclaimed for his unique musical sense and deep knowledge of traditional instruments. For a series set in the Mongol Empire, the score will likely draw on elements of Central Asian and Persian musical traditions—an area where Hino’s expertise could become a defining feature of the show’s identity.
Science SARU’s Production Process: Visual Techniques and Artistic Choices
The making-of video is particularly valuable for its glimpse into Science SARU’s technical workflow. The discussion of removing lines outside characters’ primary outlines is a seemingly small detail that speaks volumes about the studio’s approach to visual storytelling. This technique, which softens the boundary between character and background, is especially well-suited to a story about a girl who must blend into a hostile environment and navigate a world where appearances are deceptive.
Science SARU has long been known for its digital animation pipeline, which allows for fluid motion and experimental visual styles. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken celebrated the joy of animation creation itself, while Devilman: Crybaby pushed the limits of what digital tools could achieve in terms of raw energy and emotion. With Jaadugar, the studio appears to be refining its aesthetic toward something more historically grounded, yet still distinctly modern in its execution.
The studio’s recent acquisition by TOHO—one of Japan’s largest entertainment conglomerates—adds another layer of industry context. TOHO’s backing provides Science SARU with greater resources and distribution power, but it also raises expectations for commercial performance. A series like Jaadugar, with its Annecy selection and award-winning source material, is exactly the kind of prestige project that can justify a major acquisition and elevate a studio’s profile on the global stage.
Festival Recognition and Industry Impact
The selection of Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia in the Official Competition TV Films category at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2026 is a significant milestone. Annecy is widely regarded as the world’s most prestigious animation festival, and a competitive selection there often serves as a bellwether for critical and commercial success. The fact that the series earned this recognition before its broadcast debut underscores the confidence that industry insiders have in the project.
The manga’s recent Grand Prize win at the 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards further strengthens the property’s credentials. This award, one of the most respected in the manga industry, signals that the source material is not merely popular but also artistically significant. For an adaptation, such accolades provide a strong foundation for creative decisions: the staff can trust that the story has already been validated by a panel of peers.
How Does the Adaptation Handle Historical Accuracy and Fantasy?
One question that naturally arises for any historical anime is the balance between accuracy and dramatic license. The making-of video suggests that Science SARU is leaning heavily toward authenticity in its depiction of the Mongol Empire. The location scouting in Mongolia, the research into nomadic lifestyles, and the commitment to portraying the empire’s expansion as a brutal force that destroys lives all point to a production that takes its historical setting seriously.
At the same time, the story is fundamentally a work of fiction. Sitara’s journey—a young girl infiltrating the royal court and using knowledge as a weapon—contains elements of fable and empowerment fantasy. The anime’s challenge, as Yamada and Góngora appear to frame it in the video, is to make the fantasy feel grounded without losing the magic that makes the story compelling. The visual techniques being employed, including the careful treatment of linework and the atmospheric integration of Mongolian landscapes, are all in service of this balance.
What the Making-Of Video Reveals About Modern Anime Production
For those who follow the anime industry closely, the making-of video is more than a promotional tool—it is a document of how a top-tier studio operates in 2026. The collaboration between a veteran executive director like Yamada and a younger director like Góngora reflects a industry-wide trend of pairing experienced visionaries with rising talent. The reliance on digital tools for line rendering and compositing is standard for Science SARU, but the specific choices around visual style are tailored to the material in ways that reveal the studio’s creative depth.
The video also highlights the importance of cross-medium adaptation skills. Adapting a manga is never a straightforward translation of panels to frames; it requires decisions about pacing, emphasis, and structure. The staff’s prolonged consideration of how to handle the passage of time—a concept that is handled differently in static manga panels than in fluid animation—is a case study in the kind of thinking that separates a good adaptation from a great one.
Looking Beyond the Video: What to Expect from the Series Premiere
The making-of video has set expectations high. With a premiere date of July 2026, the series still has time to refine its visual and narrative approach. The inclusion of the full main staff list—from Yamada and Góngora down to the animation production team at Science SARU—gives fans and analysts a clear picture of the creative firepower behind the project.
The official synopsis from the production team paints a vivid picture of a story that is both intimate and epic: a young girl who loses her mother and her homeland, who survives through scholarship, and who vows revenge against an empire that has consumed everything she loved. It is a premise that resonates across cultures and time periods, and the historical setting in the Mongol Empire provides a rich, under-explored backdrop for an anime series.
The fact that the manga recently won the Grand Prize at the Japan Cartoonists Association Awards, combined with the Annecy festival selection, suggests that Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is poised to be one of the most talked-about anime of 2026. For Science SARU, it represents another step in the studio’s evolution from a boutique digital animation house to a major force in the global anime industry. For viewers, it promises a story that combines the intellectual rigor of a historical drama with the emotional depth of a revenge tale, all rendered with the distinctive visual flair that has become the studio’s signature. The making-of video has offered a compelling preview of that journey, and the final series will have the opportunity to deliver on the considerable promise it has shown.
