Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia delves deep into the backstory of Töregene and why she hates the Mongols in Ep. 6 “The Mergen People”. Honestly, after seeing all of that, you can easily see why Sitara / Fatima empathizes with her so much. Their respective backstories have similar beats, and each creates a similar hatred for the Mongol Empire for them. Honestly, the way they emphasize each other so much is already giving me potential yuri vibes between them.
Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Ep. 6 “The Mergen People”: Details in Brief
Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Ep. 6 “The Mergen People” is the sixth episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1-2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, and Ep. 5 here) of this historical drama anime series. Said anime series is the anime adaptation of the manga A Witch’s Life in Mongol by Tomato Soup.
Science SARU (Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Star Wars: Visions “Akakiri” and “T0-B1“, Dandadan) is the animation studio behind this anime. Naoko Yamada is the chief director for this anime, with Abel Góngora as the co-director, Kanichi Katou as the writer, and Kōshirō Hino as the composer for the music we hear in this anime.
Speaking of the music: the opening theme song of Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is “Stella” by Sekai no Owari. Meanwhile, “Hoshi” by QUEEN BEE is the ending theme song.
Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Ep. 6 “The Mergen People”: The Good
As you might expect, the highlight of Ep. 6 “The Mergen People” is Töregene (voiced by Ami Koshimizu (JP) and Michelle Rojas (EN)) getting to reveal her backstory to Sitara / Fatima (voiced by Akira Sekine (JP) and Cristina Vee (EN)), and by extension us as the audience. As you might also expect, it’s a pretty dramatic and tragic backstory that somehow starts off fairly lighthearted and fluffy. It has similar parallels to Sitara’s story, with Töregene also being depicted as being quite happy in her life with the Mergen people, who were also known as the Merkit people. They were a real life confederation of Mongol and / or Turkic tribes that were one of five different tribal confederations who opposed the Mongol Empire. As you might be able to tell from real life history, they all eventually lost, but a lot of them also ended up merging themselves into the Mongol Empire, losing their identity in exchange for being able to live period. Those bits of real life history finds its way into the episode as central themes, showing off just how much research Tomato Soup did for her story.
And with Science SARU’s animators showing off their own skill with the stylish animation of this episode. In particular, the vision quest that Töregene’s first husband Dayir Usun (voiced by Akira Ishida (JP)) goes on is a work of art. I’m not kidding. It looks like an Impressionist painting given life in a highly abstract form, emphasizing the magical nature of the vision quest and making us feel like we’re going on that quest with him.
A Yuri-ful Alliance?
All of it leads up to Töregene’s story moving Sitara / Fatima enough for her to offer an alliance with Töregene. Even right down to giving Töregene her true name of Sitara, which she has not done with anyone. None, at all, now save for Töregene. It’s a pretty big declaration of an alliance alongside the offer of her own bezoar stone to replace Töregene’s lost stone. In fact, speaking of that, there’s something oddly…intimate about Sitara pressing that stone into Töregene’s hand and then gently cupping those hands in her own. I may be imagining things, but doesn’t this look oddly romantic? Like, if one of them was male, then that scene would certainly look romantic. Thus, yuri feels like a possible option here. It may be an age gap yuri situation, but I’m definitely sensing yuri potential here. All amidst quite a bit of political drama that will almost certain see new heights in the next episode of Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia.
Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Ep. 6 “The Mergen People”: The Bad
I have to admit: Ep. 6 “The Mergen People” has been exceptionally bloody and violent compared to recent previous episodes. It recalls the first few episodes of Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia in terms of violence, really, even if reduced in scale from the razing of a city to the death of a tribe. However, it’s all action in the most brutal and realistic sense of real-life medieval warfare. If you want the kind of stylish action you would find in a shonen anime, then this is not it. You’re going to have to look elsewhere for that.
Anime Recommendations
If you want that kind of stylish and stylized action, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, TRIGUN STARGAZE, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, and / or Kagurabachi. However, if you want more story-focused anime like this one, then you might also like watching Spy x Family, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, My Dress-Up Darling, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Hana-Kimi, Journal with Witch, and/or Witch Hat Atelier.
What do you all think of this week’s episode of Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia? Tell us your allied thoughts in the comments section below.
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