Fleischer, Kiara Marie M.

September 22, 2016

XI – E (STEAM)

“Akatsuki no Yona” (Yona of the Dawn)

By Mizuho Kusanagi

“I am strong because I know my weaknesses, I am beautiful because I am aware of my

flaws, I am fearless because I learnt to recognize illusion from reality, I am wise because

I learnt from my mistakes, I am a lover because I have felt hate and I can laugh because

I’ve also known and felt sadness and pain.”

Akatsuki no Yona (Yona of the Dawn) is such a fascinating story to read. The story is

from a Japanese ‘shoujo manga’ (a shoujo manga is a style of Japanese comic book and

graphic novel that is aimed at teenage female readership or it literally means it is a

comic for girls). It is translated in English for people (like me) who cannot read in the

Japanese language. It is a fictional graphic novel that is classified to be comedic,

historical, the action and adventure type of story, fantasy, and it is especially romantic.

Yona is the female protagonist in the story. She is a princess in the kingdom of “Kouka”.

She lives the luxurious and carefree life of a princess in at the kingdom in ‘Hiryuu’

castle, being sheltered by her pacifist father, King Il, and protected by her bodyguard

and childhood friend, Son Hak, who is also known to be a former general from the

wind tribe. She has it all: the finest clothes and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a

loving emperor as a father, and the hottest cousin, and love interest, Soo-won, anyone

could ever hope to have. But her nearly perfect world quickly shatters as the man she

loves, Soo-won, murders and betrays her father and takes over the kingdom of Kouka.

He then tries to kill Yona but then Son Hak intervenes and saves her and they escape
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XI – E (STEAM)

from the castle to Hak's birthplace, the Village of the Wind. Then Princess Yona soon

discovers that Kouka is not the idyllic place she envisioned it to be. Poverty, strife, and

corruption run rampant, making reclaiming the throne nothing more than a wishful

fantasy given the kingdom's current state. Under the suggestion of Hak's grandfather

Son Mundok, Yona and Hak search for an oracle named Ik-su. Ik-su tells them the

legend of the first king of Kouka, Hiryuu, and the four dragons who unified the

kingdom. Yona and Hak, joined by Ik-su's assistant Yun, begin a journey to find the

reincarnated legendary dragons in order to survive and save the Kingdom of Kouka.

Can Yona, Son Hak, Yun and the reincarnated legendary dragons defeat the current

King, Soo-won and reclaim her kingdom from his hands? Or will she and her other

companions be killed by Soo-won’s soldiers or even Soo-won himself?

At first, the introduction and plot of the story may seem boring but as you read further

into the chapters of the manga it will not be consider as boring anymore. This manga,

Akatsuki no Yona, is one of my favorite mangas to read during my free time. I like the

plot of the story, the side stories too and I also love the main and supporting characters

in the story. The manga is well-drawn especially in drawing the details of the objects

and characters, it really is amazing to watch the beautiful backgrounds of the artwork in

this shoujo manga. I love the artwork because it is really pretty and amazing. It is also

well-written too. In almost every chapter, there will be cliff hangers and many suspense

scenes and that is what I love about this book. You will always get curious on what

happens in the next chapter. You will also read about Princess Yona and the rest of the

characters and on how they get stronger and braver every day just to reclaim her
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kingdom. I love this manga so much! I’d highly recommend this to others especially the

ones who love reading shoujo mangas. Note that this is a shoujo manga, it might

sometimes be “cheesy” but don’t let it change your mind from reading this. Also, if

you’re a fan of reading mangas then you will want to read this book.