Story:
This anime veils its true story until several episodes in, but after that point its fairly predictable and par for the course as far as I'm concerned. The major complaint I have with this anime is that it has moments of cringe-inducing melodrama that impaired my ability to enjoy the actually touching scenes.
Art:
Solidly animated at all times - a clear love project from the animation team. The eyes are expressive and reflect the intention of the characters nicely. The fighting was much more impressive than I expected, even the super-human characters movements are all animated and look natural. The backgrounds were fleshed out and I never felt that something was poorly done. I admire the amount of work that clearly was put into this.
Sound:
So normally I don't put much into this category because usually they're an after thought; however the soundtrack for this anime fits it so perfectly that it deserves special mention. Why is "Sound" rated only a 7 then? Well, if you watch the anime, you'll notice that the intro was changed midway through (as always) but I feel like they completely botched the music choice for it. They went for the most generic "anime intro song" that I can't like no matter how many times I listened to it, which is a shame really because everything else auditory was fantastic.
Character:
I am a firm believer of Chekhov's Gun (Google it) in storytelling - and some anime tend to ignore this principle entirely, making entire arcs that don't matter to the actual story in the slightest. Akatsuki no Yona is not one of those anime. All of the side characters matter well after their introductory episode(s) and more importantly events that happened previously are referenced without the heavyhanded use of flashbacks. I am extremely pleased to report that there was virtually no fan service for all of the 24 episodes (even though they even went into a brothel once). I'm so sick of pointless panty shots of characters and the sexualizing of girls well underage here in the U.S. Even though the main character is female and there are clearly several love interests, there wasn't even the slightest hint of nudity. Anything perverted with Yona would have been tasteless and completely out of character anyway; for not sinking that low the creator's of this anime have my respect.
Enjoyment:
I enjoyed Akatsuki no Yona quite a bit and will definitely be on the lookout for a potential new season in the future. With well above average character development and non-filler side characters, Akatsuki no Yona earns a very solid thumbs-up from me!
