Have you seen Yona of the Dawn? It so good. I’d love to see you do a post on it sometime, it has some great characters and beautiful animation!- Mary Hannah J.

Thanks to recent reader requests, today’s post will be based on the Japanese animated series, Akatsuki no Yona (literally translated as “Yona of the Red Dawn” but also known as “Yona of the Dawn” and “Yona: the Girl Standing in the Blush of Dawn”).

Yona of the Dawn is an incredible series that does so many things right that most in its genre are unable to – and it does so with an amazing female lead supported by an equally stellar cast of male characters. It proves that the shojo (defined below)/historical combination isn’t dead, can be successful and well-done, and ultimately it’s a heartfelt series that manages to combine tragedy and comedy in an entertaining, colorful package.

sh?jo: genre aimed towards girls, literally translated as “young woman”

Table of Contents

Yona of the Dawn Crash Course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfgNlVdDnxs

What would you do if you lost everything to the one person you cared about most? Trust is easily extended when you live a sheltered life, and it makes betrayal all the more bitter of a pill to swallow. Yet it is not revenge that spurs our heroine ultimately — for the line between love and hate is thin and the subsequent balancing act is a chaotic mess of feelings too tangled to be measured in one simple word.

Princess Yona lives a life of luxury and ease, completely sheltered from the problems of the seemingly peaceful Kingdom of Kouka. She has it all. However, the sudden murder of her father, the emperor, and the betrayal of her beloved cousin, Soo-Won, shatters her near-perfect world and places Yona’s life in mortal peril.