Saturday, November 28, 2020

#IReadsYou Review: YONA OF THE DAWN Volume 21

YONA OF THE DAWN, VOL. 21
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Mizuho Kusanagi
TRANSLATION: JN Productions
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane
LETTERS: Lys Blakeslee
EDITOR: Amy Yu
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9381-4; paperback (December 2019); Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Yona of the Dawn is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mizuho Kusanagi.  It has been serialized in Hakusensha's shojo manga magazine, Hana to Yume, since August 2009.  VIZ Media has been publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series since August 2016 under its “Shojo Beat” imprint.

Yona of the Dawn focuses on the only princess in the Kingdom of Kohka, Yona.  She lives an ideal life, and her father, King Il, dotes on her.  Her faithful guard, Son Hak of the Wind Tribe, protects her.  Yona even cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, her cousin, Lord Su-won of the Sky Tribe.  However, everything changes for Princess Yona on her 16th birthday when the king is killed, and Hak is blamed.  Soon, Yona is on the run with Hak, but she is determined to reclaim her throne.  To do so, she begins a journey to find the Four Dragon Warriors.

As Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 21 (Chapter 118 to 123) opens, King Su-Won continues his advance into the rival nation of Sei.  Yona and Princess Riri of the Water Tribe were betrayed and became prisoners of Sei, working as slave labor on one of two forts being built along Sei's border with Kohka.  After their devastating siege of Lord Hotsuma's fort, Su-Won and company move on to Lord Kishibi's fort after not finding either princess at Hotsuma.

But Yona and Princess Riri have been separated, and Yona is alone and injured in a nearby forest.  Meanwhile, Lord Kishibi prepares to execute Riri!

[This volume includes a bonus chapter, “From Good Morning to Good Night.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  I find the Yona of the Dawn manga to be a hugely-enjoyable historical shojo romance manga, which is one of my favorite genres of manga.  I also like that it uses elements of Chinese history and mythology.

Yona of the Dawn Graphic Novel Volume 21 is a typically fantastic entry in this series.  In the case of this series, I think being “typically fantastic” is just “Jim Dandy!”  Seriously, despite the action of violent battle, creator Mizuho Kusanagi takes time to delve into the relationships between her core players.  Kusanagi also takes some time to further develop the steadily growing relationship between Hak and Yona.  It's intense and hot!  Let's keep reading, dear readers.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of historical romantic adventure will want to try the “Shojo Beat” title, Yona of the Dawn.

A
9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"



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