Jaadugar Directors Discuss Mongolian Research and Visual Style

Crunchyroll News has published an exclusive interview with Naoko Yamada and Abel Gongora regarding their work on the anime adaptation of Tomato Soup’s manga, Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia. The series follows Sitara, a slave girl who seeks revenge after losing everything to the Mongol Empire. Science SARU produces the show, with Kenichi Yoshida handling character design and Yuri Kabasawa serving as art director.

The directors emphasized how location scouting in Mongolia influenced production details. They incorporated local rituals, such as flicking alcohol toward the sky, and adjusted visual elements like horse size and ger interiors based on firsthand observations. For Persian settings, they recorded the call to prayer at a Tokyo cultural center.

Yamada and Gongora also explained their artistic choices. They adopted a style resembling illustrated scrolls by partially removing character outlines and using flat colors. The team researched historical flora and fauna to ensure accuracy, carefully selecting specific flowers like roses for their cultural significance in Persia.