13th volume ships on September 30

The official X/Twitter account for Ichijinsha‘s Ichijin Novels light novel label revealed on June 15 that Satsuki Nakamura‘s Though I Am an Inept Villainess (Futsutsuka na Akujo de wa Gozaimasu ga – Sūgū Chōso Torikae Den) light novel series will enter its final arc “Hoshi ni Negai o” (Wish Upon a Star) with the series’ 13th light novel volume on September 30.

Seven Seas publishes both the light novels and manga under the title Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, and describes the story:

In a kingdom inspired by historical China, five clans put forth their maidens as imperial consorts–but only one will be crowned empress. The frail and beautiful Kou Reirin, the so-called “butterfly” of the imperial court, is a shoo-in to marry the crown prince. But when “court rat” Shu Keigetsu lashes out at her during the glittering Lantern Festival, it’s Reirin who wakes up in the dungeons! Body-swapped by her assailant to steal her position at court, Reirin’s plight seems dire…to everyone else! Now that she’s got a robust new body, not even the looming threat of execution can stop her!

Ichijinsha launched Nakamura’s light novel series with illustrations by YukiKana in December 2020. The novels’ manga adaptation by Ei Ohitsuji simultaneously launched in Ichijinsha‘s Monthly Comic Zero-Sum magazine. Ichijinsha published the light novels’ 12th volume on March 31. Seven Seas will release the light novels’ 11th volume in English on September 22, and it released the manga’s ninth volume on August 4.

The novels are inspiring a television anime that debuted on July 12, and is ongoing. Netflix is streaming the anime in Asia. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime as it airs in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, CIS, and the Indian Subcontinent. Hulu is also streaming the series.

The anime’s premiere was delayed to July due to delays in production progress. The anime was initially announced to premiere in April.

Source: Ichijin Novels’ X/Twitter account

Series debuted in October 2023

Thank you, everyone, for your patience while I was gone on vacation. It’s now time to delve into the increasingly complicated politics of Mongolia circa the 13th century now that Sitara has gotten herself firmly placed at the side of Töregene in the hopes of working together to undermine the Mongolian Empire. While I could recount a play-by-play of the last three episodes, I think it’s far more interesting to look at the larger conflict present within Jaadugar.

Sitara and Töregene are subjugated people. They were pulled, violently, from their homes to be placed into the service of the Mongolian khan family. Their attributes: attractiveness, cleverness, and education put them into more favorable positions, at least in proximity to power. However, this did not heal their hearts. In a less layered narrative, this point of view and the bloody violence that fuels their quest for retribution would be enough for a satisfying story. However, history is not so simple. Between Sitara and Töregene’s discussions are moments with Ögedei Khan, with traveling merchants, and other visitors to the Mongolian settlements. The audience is presented with the ancient conundrum centered on any nation bent on conquest and colonization: no cultural unification exists without cultural loss. A larger “benefit” for all, such as safety (as explained by the merchants about the trade routes), is not the result of mutual bargaining and pacts; it was wrought through aggressive and deadly tactics.

We see this in Töregene’s story as a Merkit tribesmember. As one of the major tribes during the period, they had ongoing skirmishes with the Mongolian Empire before mutual betrayal led to their dissolution, absorption, and subjugation. Töregene is just another victim, originally little more than a political bargaining chip between the Naiman tribe and the Merkits. Her anger feels twofold: she resents her status as a woman, a person to be bartered with and sent as a sacrifice to appease an intruding enemy, and as the wife to the man who killed her husband.

Sitara, who previously questioned her dedication to revenge after otherwise eking out a pleasant life at camp, is now all in.
The two women, two captives, plan to use their combined cunning and access to information to orchestrate the dissolution of the Mongolian Empire entirely. They don’t seem to consider the great picture: what will the fall of the empire look like for everyone tied to it, but that doesn’t seem to be their concern. At the forefront is to show the ruling family, be it the conquest-hungry Tolui or the money-minded Ögedei, that their aspirations have a price and they’ve been untouchable for too long. The best way to achieve this is from within, but Sitara has her own thoughts as they’ll have to allow Tolui to pull off a successful campaign against the century-old Jin dynasty. A success that spells the starvation and slaughter of millions of people.

Casting turmoil between the three brothers, who all likely have their own aspirations to be the Great Khan, is a sound one. If any of my rudimentary knowledge of medieval and ancient civilizations is correct: the moment you become the ruler is the moment someone is trying to kill you. This could be father to son, uncle to nephew, brother to brother, or any other combination you can imagine. Rome was rife with familialcide and, despite more than a thousand years into the future, Mongolia seems no different.

The audience will have to decide for themselves where the pieces fall on the moral spectrum and if anyone can wholly be a hero in a time like this.

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.