Among the summer 2026 anime, one show had me more curious about its "sound" than any other: Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia (Tenmaku no Jaadugar), airing since July 4 in TV Asahi's IMAnimation slot, with Naoko Yamada as chief director and Science SARU producing. Its original soundtrack finally arrives from VAP on September 30: two discs, 48 tracks, 3,850 yen tax-in (VPCG-83586). The composer is Koshiro Hino, the man behind the alternative band goat.

A Manga That Made History, Adapted by Yamada and SARU

The original manga by Tomato Soup has run on Akita Shoten's web comic site Souffle since September 2021. Set in 13th-century Iran and the ever-expanding Mongol Empire, it follows Sitara, a girl raised as a slave in a scholar's house in Tus. After her home is burned, she takes a new name, infiltrates the imperial court seeking revenge, and meets Toregene, the sixth consort of the third prince Ogedei. Her weapon is wisdom, and with it she begins to shake the empire from within. In Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2023 it became the first historical manga ever to take first place in the women's category.

The anime's staff: chief director Naoko Yamada, director Abel Góngora, series composition by Kanichi Kato, character design by Kenichi Yoshida, sound direction by Noriyoshi Onuma. The opening is "Stella" by SEKAI NO OWARI and the ending is "Hoshi" by Ziyoou-vachi. Akira Sekine voices Sitara, Ami Koshimizu plays Toregene, and Houko Kuwashima plays Fatima.

Why Koshiro Hino Is Such a Bold Choice

When you think of music in a Naoko Yamada work, the name Kensuke Ushio comes to mind first. So seeing "Koshiro Hino" in the score credit made me sit up. Based in Osaka, Hino is known for goat, a band that layers multiple meters into a single groove, as well as bonanzas and his electronic solo project YPY. Since 2019 he has collaborated repeatedly with the taiko ensemble Kodo, composed the entire score for the music film Shiver (2021), and won Best Original Score at the Estonian Film Awards for The Invisible Fight (2024). A composer who has spent years making repetition and polyrhythm act directly on the body is now painting the 13th-century steppe and court. Of all this year's anime score assignments, this is one of the most fascinating.

The Tracklist Tells You Sitara's Weapon Is Thought

What strikes me about the 48-track list is how few conventional "battle" or "romance" cue titles appear. Disc 1 opens with "Theme of Jaadugar" and moves through "Analysis 1," "Wisdom," and "Insight," titles that seem to score the inside of Sitara's head. "Analysis" runs to four parts spread across both discs. On the level of music itself, the album declares that this is a story fought with the mind, not the sword.

  • Recurring motif families: "Sorcery 1 & 2," "Steppe 1–3," "Streets of Tus 1 & 2," "Night 1 & 2," "What Was Lost 1 & 2." The approach of varying the same title again and again echoes the aesthetic of repetition and change Hino has pursued with goat.
  • Court versus steppe: political cues like "War Council," "Brothers," "Schemes," and "Crossed Intentions" alternate with lyrical ones like "Pomegranate Blossom," "Longing for Home," and "Passing Days."
  • The texture of proper nouns: Disc 2's "Otchigin" and "Jada Stone" lift vocabulary straight from Mongol history into the cue titles, a treat for readers of the manga.

Disc 2 opens with "Becoming a Witch," passes through "Presence of Death," "Hatred and Oblivion," and "Loss" toward "Future," and closes with "Streets of Tus 2," "Analysis 4," and "Steppe 3." The sequencing itself quietly hints at where a story that began in revenge might be headed.

Sounds From Outside the Score World Are Where the Action Is

In recent years, composers from bands and experimental music have been crossing over into anime scoring one after another. Hino's appointment sits at the leading edge of that movement, and the fact that Yamada chose a composer of "physical repetition" rather than returning to Ushio says a great deal about how this show's sound was designed. The series is still airing. When the soundtrack lands on September 30, try lining up "Analysis 1" through "Analysis 4" and listening in order. You should be able to hear what changed inside Sitara's mind.