Jaadugar: A Witch In Mongolia Ep. 8 “Great Khatun Boraqchin”: A Dangerous Game [Review]

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia has Sitara / Fatima play a very dangerous game of power and intrigue in Ep. 8 “Great Khatun Boraqchin”. All surrounding the most recent addition to the growing cast: the Empress Boraqchin. She’s elderly and quite enigmatic, but is also as sharp as a rapier. Playing political intrigue with her might be the most risky thing Sitara has done in this show, but it might also be worth the risk.

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Ep. 8 “Great Khatun Boraqchin”: Details in Brief

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Ep. 8 “Great Khatun Boraqchin” is the eighth episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1-2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, and Ep. 7 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. 8 “Great Khatun Boraqchin”: The Good

As you might be able to guess from previous episodes, the best part about Ep. 8 “Great Khatun Boraqchin” is the political drama / thriller aspects of the story. In this episode in particular though, creator Tomato Soup turns up that aspect of the story several notches as Sitara / Fatima (voiced by Akira Sekine (JP) and Cristina Vee (EN)) and her new partner in crime Töregene (voiced by Ami Koshimizu (JP) and Michelle Rojas (EN)) engaging in some very high stakes political games. All now revolving around the Empress Boraqchin (voiced by Kujira (JP)) as the one they want to manipulate into destroying the Mongol Empire. Fourth wife Möge (voiced by Ayaka Asai (JP) and Ezra Vervin (EN)) is a secondary manipulation target, but Boraqchin is the big fish they want to land.

The best thing about that attempt at manipulation is that the story makes it very clear that Boraqchin is not only extremely powerful, but highly intelligent and politically adept to boot. This creates a conflict of equals with very highly opposing goals, all set to clash against each other. It’s a perfect storm of conflict that complements the storm that Sitara and Töregene wants to stir up. Indeed, it even opens up with what looks increasingly like a false victory against Boraqchin. We don’t know just why she calls Töregene in for a meeting at the end of the episode, but the tone and scene makes it look very, very bad. We’ll have to wait until the next episode of Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia to find out just how bad though.

A Treat for History Fans

All while in between the drama, we have some very nice depictions of slice of life for the average Mongol Empire person at the time. This episode makes special note of small things like someone continuously lifting up hot milk and pouring it back into its cooking vessel in order to make urum: which is basically Mongolian clotted cream. This episode also gets very intellectual, delving into contemporary topics of alchemy that will tickle the minds of history fans. All in all, this episode is amazing for fans of history and Mongolian culture on top of politics.

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Ep. 8 “Great Khatun Boraqchin”: The Bad

Alas, if you were looking for bloody action, there’s very little of it in this episode. Yes, there is a moment where Tolui (voiced by Ryōta Suzuki (JP) and Alex Mai (EN)) and his men storm a Southern Song Dynasty border fort, complete with plenty of blood and violence. However, it lasts only a couple of seconds and mainly serves as a backdrop to the politics. It’s also much more direct and brutal compared to what shonen fans would expect. If you want stylish action sequences, this isn’t it. This is medieval warfare in all of its brutal glory, even for those few seconds.

Anime Recommendations

If you want that kind of shonen action or just bloody violence in anime in general, then you have other options. You can 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 for that. 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 politically calculating thoughts in the comments section below.

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