Young slave Sitara was welcomed into a home of learning,
acceptance and love. But when the
Mongolian Empire came, they tore down her home, her family and her future. Sitara survives and now finds herself serving
in the heart of the Empire that took everything from her. But Sitara isn’t an ordinary girl. She has a knack for learning and might just
be able to study her enemies close enough to be their ultimate downfall. It will take time but Sitara isnt about to
let the lessons imparted to her go to waste.
Today’s FIF comes as a recommendation from a friend and
I’ll be honest, I’m surprised this one isn’t getting a lot of buzz this
season.
This is the first of two Anime
that are set in a very not Japan region of the world we’ll be looking at over
the next couple of weeks and really, I wish more Anime were taking advantage of
that.
Jaadugar not only looks to have a
very compelling story to tell but it also shown off in one of the most beautiful
artstyles I’ve ever seen, proving that Science Saru is not a studio to ever be
underestimated.
While I did scratch my head over Clevatees having an
extended 45min intro episode a couple weeks back, I definitely think Jaadugar’s
first two episode should have been merged into one, if only to get the absolute
heartbreak of Episode 2 over and done in one fell swoop.
Sitara origin is equal parts beautiful and
devastating as we see her accepted into an actual loving family only to have
them senselessly ripped away on the orders of some punk who thinks he owns the
world cause he’s Genghis Kahn’s offspring (news flash buddy, that’s not a very
exclusive club).
You feel the joy of
Satira growing to love learning and feel levels of rage so intense for her loss
that you want to exact Jack Reacher levels of divine punishment on anyone
involved in doing the deed (yeah probably not a smart idea to watch these after
watching Reacher.
All you can think
about is payback).
It’ll make going
forward all the more compelling and exciting to see how Sitara gets her
eventual revenge.
So is Studio Saru looking to aim for the heights of
Studio Trigger or MAPPA in terms of creativity and production output?
This is the second title of 2026 I’ve learned
they’ve been working on.
And after
successfully translating Shirow Masamune’s original vision of Ghost in the
Shell to Anime form, I’m surprised they not only have lots of gas left in the
tank but they’ve produced something as visually different from not just GitS
but any Anime on the scene right now.
It’s hard for me to describe just how amazing Jaadugar looks.
It reflects the art and history of the region
and time period it’s centered in while still having those Anime
flourishes.
The character designs are
also charming and loveable, especially Sitara, man you wanna hug and protect
her and Fatima, her guardian, wow what a beauty.
It shows that Anime isn’t afraid to reach out
beyond its usual animation tropes and try it’s hand at looking more worldly and
region accurate at the same time, it’s beautiful stuff.
Between breathtaking animation and a story that punches
you right in the gut and dares you to get up and see the unjust punished,
Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is one I’m definitely going to continue checking
out.
I want Sitara to find her justice
and do so in a way that no one will see coming.
She may not be a “Witch” in the mystical sense.
But I get the feeling her little mind is
gonna eat an empire alive once she learns how things work around it.
Also, I’ll make sure to bring tissues and
maybe watch Reacher afterwards, need to keep those emotions in check.
No comments:
Post a Comment