Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Anime Sets July 4 One-Hour Premiere, Reveals New PV, Cast, and SEKAI NO OWARI Opening

We open a heavy palace door and step into the 13th century. Wind, dust, and politics rush in at once. Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia has dropped its second promotional video, a new main visual, and more names for the growing court. And yes, we also get a clear date for when this journey properly begins.

A one-hour start on July 4 (with a song that aims for the stars)

The TV anime will premiere on July 4 at 11:00 p.m. JST in TV Asahi’s IMAnimation W block, across TV Asahi and 23 affiliate channels, plus BS Asahi. The first broadcast arrives as a one-hour special featuring episodes 1 and 2. Two episodes in one bite. Like ordering “just a snack” in Madrid and getting a full plate.

The new video also announces and previews the opening theme: “Stella” by SEKAI NO OWARI. A title like “Stella” tends to promise big skies. That fits, because this story plays on an empire-sized stage.

New faces in the Mongol court

We watch the cast list expand, and the family tree of power gets thicker. Four additional cast members have been revealed:

• Kenji Nojima as Jochi, the eldest son of Emperor Genghis Khan
• Ami Koshimizu as Töregene, Ögedei’s sixth wife, carrying deep hatred toward the Mongol Empire and seeing her husband as an enemy
• Hiro Shimono as Ögedei, the third son of Emperor Genghis Khan
• Daisuke Namikawa as Chagatai, the second son of Emperor Genghis Khan

We can almost hear the corridor whispers already. When people this close to the throne enter the room, every sentence becomes a chess move. Do we smile? Do we bow? Do we hide the knife behind the compliment? (We vote for the compliment. Less paperwork.)

The core cast we already know

Alongside the newly announced characters, the series also features:

• Miyu Irino as Shira, a boy living as a captive of the Mongol Empire
• Jun Saitō as Muhammad, Fatima’s son and a brilliant young boy
• Akira Sekine as Shitara (also written as Sitara), a lonely girl torn far from her homeland after losing her mother
• Houko Kuwashima as Fatima, Muhammad’s mother and kind-hearted lady of the house
• Ryōta Suzuki as Tolui, son of Emperor Genghis Khan and fourth prince of the Mongol Empire

It’s a lineup built for tension: captives, nobles, survivors, and strategists. We don’t just follow battles. We follow decisions.

Staff update: sound joins the spellbook

We also get one newly revealed staff role: Noriyoshi Konuma is joining as Sound Director. It sounds simple on paper. In practice, it’s the difference between a palace feeling like a museum and a palace feeling like a living animal—footsteps, fabric, breath, doors, silence.

Previously announced main staff includes:

• Chief Director: Naoko Yamada
• Director: Abel Góngora (at Science SARU)
• Character Design / Animation Chief: Kenichi Yoshida
• Series Scripts: Kanichi Katō
• Music: Kōshirō Hino

We’re looking at a team used to mixing intimacy with scale. That matters here. Because the story is huge, but the turning points can be small: a private conversation, a shared secret, a favor that costs too much.

What story are we walking into?

We set the scene clearly: the 13th century, inside Yeke Mongol Ulus, the greatest empire the world has ever known. Our axis is Fatima, a woman from Persia, where medical technique and scientific knowledge have been refined beyond precedent. She wants a place to use what she knows. That desire pulls her into the Mongol palace.

There, she comes under the wing of Töregene, the sixth wife of Ögedei, the second Great Khan. Töregene is powerful and complicated, with strong feelings about the empire’s direction. Put the two together, and we get a hinge that swings entire rooms: palace politics, shifting alliances, and consequences that don’t stay indoors.

We can picture it with an example. A new medical method might save a life. That saved life might change a succession plan. That plan might change a war. And suddenly a “small” skill becomes a world lever. That’s the kind of chain reaction this premise invites.

Screenings before broadcast: Japan, France, and the U.S.

Before the July TV premiere, the anime is taking a brief tour:

• June 13: world premiere screening of the first three episodes at United Cinemas Aqua City Odaiba
• Annecy International Animation Film Festival (France): screening in competition in the TV Films category
• July 3: U.S. premiere at Anime Expo, with Naoko Yamada and Abel Góngora attending

We love when a series does this. It tells us the production wants a big room and a big screen before it settles into weekly life.

The manga’s path: volumes, hiatus, and awards

The original manga, A Witch's Life in Mongol (Tenmaku no Jādūgar) by Tomato Soup, began in September 2021 on Akita Shoten’s Souffle website. Akita Shoten will publish the sixth compiled volume on July 15. The series also began simultaneous publication in Mystery Bonita in March 2025.

Its schedule has had real-life pauses too: it ran bimonthly until last summer, then went on hiatus for the creator’s maternity leave, and returned on March 25. The title has also been recognized widely, including topping Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2023 rankings for female readers, ranking #11 in the 2024 list for female readers, receiving multiple Manga Taisho Awards nominations (2023 and 2024), earning a nomination at the American Manga Awards, and winning the grand prize in the Comic division of the 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards.

So yes, we’re not arriving to a quiet corner of the bookstore. We’re arriving to a title with a trophy shelf.

Now we pass the question to you: are we more excited for the palace politics, the historical setting, or the Naoko Yamada + Science SARU combination? Tell us what detail sold you—and if you’re planning to watch on July 4 or hunt down an early screening.