Rare is the series that introduces a seemingly weak and sheltered female lead, who undergoes great tragedy only to come out fierce and respectable at the end after the most well-paced development I have had the pleasure of viewing. Were that not enough, we are also blessed with a delightful supporting cast of varied and sometimes unexpected characters. While it’s not without some flaws, Yona is absolutely amazing as a historical shoujo series.
Although this season only acts as a starting point for what is to come, it introduces our cast and it develops our heroine. One of the strongest points about the plot is that it begins with a bang – we first establish a background and we are quickly endeared to the characters before it successfully guts us with the promise our premise gave. Betrayal.
One of the weakest points of many series is that while our protagonist may be likeable and receive depth and development, our antagonist is lacking in all areas – not so for Su-won. While he may be easy to despise for his hand in essentially ruining Yona’s life, we quickly learn his motivation and while at first it may be easy to dismiss him as your stereotypical bad guy, episodes down the road clue us in to his real intentions.
The plot isn’t without its flaws; it follows the stereotypical pattern of our hero finding a “wiseman” who presents her with a mission which includes the collection of certain “items,” or in this case, the dragons. The backstory is not necessarily uninteresting but not entirely original either. In this way, Yona follows a lot of mythological stories as inspiration but that doesn’t make it unlikeable – in fact it’s because it follows a pattern we are used to that it grips us and carries us with it every step of the way.
Our cast is comprised primarily of Yona, Hak, Yun, and the four dragons. For Yona’s part, she makes the biggest impact as an initially “weak” (but come on the girl wants to handle weapons and stuff she has the makings for bad assery from the start) but most certainly sheltered princess. She grows quickly as the loss of her status and family, coupled with Su-won’s betrayal, takes a huge toll on her. Not to mention the wilderness which she is completely unaccustomed to, which requires her to eat food she may never have thought edible before, to sleep outside without proper shelter, and to deal with all sorts of wild animals and insects. She doesn’t deal with it flawlessly – she struggles, like a real human being, and she gradually recovers then proceed to fight tooth and nail.
Hak admittedly starts out as a fierce defender that initially makes decisions based on his aim to protect Yona, but eventually he grows to respect her strength and determination and defers to her judgment the majority of the time. He even softens a bit over time, but in the end he goes from just wanting to keep Yona alive to having a more vested interest in protecting the kingdom with her.
I won’t provide extraneous details about the rest of the cast; suffice to say that introductions are by and large the biggest priority for the series when it comes to the dragons so the time period for development for their characters is rather minimal. Granted they do certainly receive it as Yona’s presence impacts their lives, but I suspect additional development is in store for them in a coming season.
For the part of the animation, Yona is nothing if not consistent with a muted palette that at times is vibrant but always vivid in the detail of the characters and the landscape. Most enjoyable are the detailed character designs for each of them, thoroughly nuanced and symbolic. The action scenes are exciting, suspenseful and by and large, as realistic as one can expect for a fantasy series.
The sound is probably a bit more on the average front for the series, but is not necessarily a weakness. The initial opening fits the mood of the anime and the addition of lyrics halfway through makes it a catchy song that really foreshadows what is to come in the rest of the series and represents the development of our heroine. Although not particularly memorable, the insert songs match the general mood of the scenes that they accompany. All of the voice acting is solid, but as always the stars of the show are Saito Chiwa and Maeno Tomoaki who respectively as Yona and Hak really flesh out and bring their characters to life.
For all of my praise, I have to mention several drawbacks that bring down the rating a bit for this series. Make no mistake that it is stand-out, but its biggest issue is slow pacing near the beginning of the series. This can put off some potential viewership, but more than anything there are some episodes that just drag a bit. This happens at the beginning and at one point in the middle of the series. On the whole it’s fairly well-paced but it’s not perfect.
The other issue is that the series is advertised as romance – problem being, where is it? There is certainly romantic tension between characters but there is minimal development on that front even by the end of the series. If you are looking for a series about love, Yona focuses far more heavily on action and adventure – and it seems unfair to classify it as romance, as that’s only a peripheral aspect of the story.
Akatsuki no Yona is an incredible series that does so many things right that most are unable to – and it does it with an amazing female lead supported by an equally stellar cast of male characters. It proves that the shoujo/historical combination isn’t dead, can be successful and well-done, and ultimately it’s a heartfelt series manages to combine tragedy and comedy in an entertaining, colorful package.
