A SLOW BUILD SERIES ~ politics, action, found family, romance ~Yona of the Dawn non-spoiler review

[@TheBookCure]

It makes me so sad that the anime stalled out after one season 😭 I needed this reminder to continue on. Thanks for the fantastic review 😊

[@jamiewillands8883]

So excited to see you reading this! I've been a fan for almost a decade now and I love it so much!!

[@fullmetaanalysis]

It’s been such a fun series to get into :D

[@kiamosky4340]

I literally just started reading it and boom this video, ugh perfection

[@fullmetaanalysis]

Ohh, what perfect timing!

[@gilasantos2477]

As much as I love this story, I do agree that the beginning could be a bit cringey at times. But once that’s over , it picks and flies high! Hak is my favorite character. Yeah I know, but some of my favorite panels of all time involve him. & I would also love to get into detail of other things that make me love him but then we’d get into spoiler territory, so I won’t. But it’s a great series! My favorite dragon is Zeno of course. 🙏🏽

[@fullmetaanalysis]

He does get some awesome panels. Sinha too; every time he does basically anything, he looks awesome 😂

[@krlovn]

So UNDERRATED IM CRYING 😭

[@DragonHeart29]

Oh I'm so happy you got to check Yona and even read the whole thing !! This is probably my favourite shoujo manga ❤ I've been reading since 2015 😅 and I still have hope for a second season of the anime 🤞 As for my experience with the story, I'd say that when you start reading this manga, you'd want to beat some sense into that spoiled little brat. She's almost insufferable. Up to the wind tribe arc I literally wanted to beat her. But then, she grows, and that growth is one of the best I've seen in fiction. I keep telling people this manga gets better and better wirh every volume please don't give up on it !! They all grow and the story grows with them. Even between the "flirting" and whatnot in the beginning, there are moments that make you realise this is a way for some of them to cope. These people with different life experiences, are suddenly "forcefully" put together and they have to find their way through that situation. Some have a particular belief how things "should be" while some have no idea at all. They are all very endearing. Some got me really emotional. They all have a more or less tragic past, but I cried my heart out for Shinah. The psychology is very interesting. Oh and my all time favourite character is the 🐿️ can't resist that level of cuteness 🥰

[@rebekahpolanco3017]

So happy to see you reviewing Yona! Currently I haven't read a lot of mangas, but it has shot to the top as one of my favorites. I was absolutely thrilled when the plot started expanding and we got to experience more kingdoms and ways of life in this world. I've especially appreciated the character development. It's been truly fascinating to view Su-won at different angles and it's amazing how the author can make you realize that this may be a good thing, even if executed in a poor way. My favorite character is Sinha/Shinha followed by Zeno. I think the development we get with Zeno was just excellent.

[@gilasantos2477]

One of my favorites! Very happy to see someone I respect review it. :)

[@fullmetaanalysis]

Ah, that’s so nice!

[@readingwithrebeccanicole]

This is a series I want to get into. I've heard so much about how the story builds and becomes deeper as it progresses, and it sounds like something I would like

[@Dina-ow9jr]

Happy to find this channel! And your video review has inspired me to re-watch the Yona anime, which I'd viewed when it was originally broadcast. I'd forgotten a great deal (like about how she started on the quest to collect dragons). Also read much of the manga but once I caught up with releases, I lost track. Definitely disappointed the anime didn't get additional seasons. I'm actually somewhat older than you, but have been a fan of anime since middle school! More recently I've been gratified to see it's become more widely available via streaming & simulcasts. Oh and my fave character is Jae-ha. Because his Japanese VA is Junichi Suwabe, who has THE most sinfully sexy voice in anime.😘

[@thefictionalscholar]

I absolutely love Yona of the Dawn! I'm glad to see more people getting into it. I love your review and your thoughts on it. There are so many great aspects to the story and many things I think it handles well. However, I think Yona handles the characters and character growth the best. Seeing Yona grow from the start of the series to where she is now is such a treat, and the other characters we get, from the main group to the side characters, are really great. I love the dragons and their connection to Yona and how they continue to get fleshed out over the course of the series. Su Won has some of the best development in the series as well. Personally, favorite character wise, I will say Zeno has a very special place in my heart. I love him so much. Jae-ha is right up there with him for me lol.

[@daniellebourret4685]

I absolutely love this series. I feel like it’s a very under hyped one and I can’t understand why; it delivers so much both character and story line wise. I think people misjudge it as a flirty romance when really the romance plays a very small part in the overall story. Also hoping someone picks the anime back up now that the manga is much further along then when the anime came out.

[@danamytereads5304]

This video popping up as I'm waiting for my pre-ordered volume 39 to show up! 😁😁😁 I agree with everything you said. But also, the fight scenes and battles are so well drawn!! There have been so many mangas that the action has been hard to follow. Haven't had that issue with Yona. I don't think it's the case, but my head canon is Hak's cringiness and flirting at the beginning was him avoiding his feelings about Soo-Won. A very poor coping mechanism and just not coming to terms with what happened. Because you see later on just how much it has effected him. But I like how you start the series thinking it'll be a revenge plot and it doesn't go that way. Yona could have easily been a Thorfinn, and while I love Vinland Saga, this complicated mess of politics, relationships and such has been way more intriguing. I also like the fact that Yun, who doesn't like violence and refuses to fight still has a place in the group and sticks to his views/morals. He'll defend himself of he has to, but in general doesn't want to or like fighting. Some say the arcs can be repetitive (go here, make allies, go to another place, make allies) but I say it's all been needed and makes sense and all comes together towards the end.

[@mariyalevchenko100]

super great review! I've started the series, 4 volumes in only and I am really enjoying it, excited to continue with this story :)

[@ejderhaz]

My favorite character is Zeno 😭❤️

[@catIing]

The main issue I have with the series is that (like most manga tbh) it just meanders so much without a real sense of an endgame. Fullmetal Alchemist blew my mind largely because it had a clear sense of progression almost from beginning to end, and I honestly can't think of any other manga that has that - and Yona of the Dawn is no exception. That being said, I've stuck with the series for years because past those first few chapters, the characters get really endearing and their relationships are on the whole are pretty mature, in that there's not a whole lot of unnecessary drama. You really get the sense that Yona's friends genuinely do enjoy each other's company, they aren't in it just for the plot and the life and death situations. They care about one another at all times, not just when they're threatened. So you get them actually cracking jokes and being laid back and just having fun, which makes their relationship very believable. And you even get that for the romance, which I think is (or was, it's gotten pretty angsty lately) a breath of fresh air. Also I really want to see where the prophecies are going, although I do get the feeling that the author has mostly forgotten about them lol. And it's also super funny that literally every main-ish character is like, super good at fighting, the most bestest fighter ever, could annihilate an entire army on their own 😂 But in a genuinely entertaining way and not just "lol this is so dumb I have to laugh" (although sometimes that too). I don't think it's the best manga ever or anything, but it's sincere without being cheesy most of the time, and I really like that. Plus the art is very pretty and that never hurts.

[@saundramonette4137]

Honestly I would agree with you but at the point we're at there is no way anyone in good consciousness can say that the story isn't very focused on an endgame. Like everything is coming together if you're caught up in the manga.

[@catIing]

@@saundramonette4137 Well I can say in good conscience that I don't see it. There is obviously going to be an end to the story, but I don't think you get a strong sense of the story going towards that end throughout the manga, not even throughout the latest volumes. The only thing that makes the latest war arc different is the dragon business. Otherwise it could literally be any other arc in the series. There's no real difference between any of them: barely any level-up, very little additional lore uncovered, and absolutely no sense that the mystery is being revealed. Mostly I think for it to feel like we're building up to the endgame, the prophecy would have to be brought up a lot more often. At this point I'm honestly not sure it's even going to be relevant at all, when it should be since we get it so early on and it's part of what spurs Yona's journey. Good for you if this works for you, but I don't think there's no reason whatsoever to be a bit skeptical of where this is going. I do very much like the manga, I think it's one of the best currently ongoing manga. I just don't think the overall story is very strong, or the real draw.

[@leonie7754]

I understand your take, but I felt the whole journey was focussed; I understood at the start that the journey needed to go to all the realms of Kouka to solve their issues and it would have to go back to the castle to tie together the endgame, which is basically what it's done. It was a long story, but it is an epic fantasy in that regard and it's nice to see it's finally wrapping up with minimal filler (so far at least as I'm all caught up on the latest episodes). Each part was progressing the story politically and romantically. I could see how she was building the characters to where she needed them to be and really appreciated the character development along the way because the time was taken to do so. My only fears for the end are that either Kusenagi drags out the end too long leaving it bloated, reverts to the anime/manga cliche of an overly complicated plot twist/reveal/solution, ruins the end like S8 of Game of Thrones, or kills off hak and yona (or worse - only one of them). But we shall see!

[@lauralagana9141]

Hello! greetings from Italy, I really love Yona of Down but here it has never become very popular until now. I do agree that the beginning is really fast. It’s creepy and also seems a little bit superficial, like some kind of harem story for girls.I suppose these problems come from the editorial context of the publication: the chapters are serialized in a shojo magazine, so the first volumes feels more like a shojo than a fantasy. When the serialization became stable, the artist also had the chance to develop her story. I believe the evolution of the drawing style is a natural progression that comes with the opportunity to improve through a long-running series. I think, instead, that the plot was like that from the beginning in the mangaka's mind: everything is too well-connected and logical to have been made up along the way. The beginning as a shojo didn’t seem to promise much, but I’m happy and congratulate myself for having persevered through the start because the evolution of the story is truly magnificent: the attention to character development and, as you rightly point out, the care for the relationships between characters is one of its main strengths. The political aspect is sensible, coherent, and extremely human and truthful. The military part is gripping (even if sometimes not very realistic or humane, haha). SPOILER: I like almost all the characters, especially the 'ambivalent' ones (SPOILER SPOILER: like Zeno or Sonwon), but if I had to choose my favorite character, I would say it's Taejun because he makes me feel a lot of tenderness and I find him very human and courageous despite everything. Thanks for reading! I’m really looking forward to the release of the new chapter

[@Marie45610]

I love this manga. I've been reading them through my library. I want to buy them. But I want to see if they eventually release some kind of omnibus or something.

[@fullmetaanalysis]

I bet as soon as I own all of them, they will 😂

[@sydneyfurio3668]

I’ve fallen in love with this Manga. ❤️ I’ve read until chapter 246? Does anyone know if there are more chapters out? Or when the next release will be? ❤

[@ashthepotato3172]

I think the 248th chapter has been released I'm sure you can find it online if need be! ❤

[@sandbun7348]

I don't know, maybe I should give this another try. A lot of it sounds fun and something I'd enjoy. But I just really struggled with the relationship drama nonsense early on. I like Yona. I think she's a good protagonist. What I couldn't handle was how every guy responded to her. If she managed to walk without tripping over her own feet they all swoon at how impressive she is. "I've never met anyone like her before! She's the most amazing girl I've ever met in my life!" Dude, you serve under a female pirate captain fighting against a corrupt government official. Tone it down a hair.

[@fullmetaanalysis]

Hahaha, you’re not wrong. I do think the beginning has a LOT of what you’re describing, and I get not wanting to push through, but if you do pick it back up, that stuff does get toned down (I feel you though!)

[@saundramonette4137]

Just saying, originally it feels as though by some reactions Yona is kind of being treated as above everyone else, however the further you go in the manga you see her earning more and more of that admiration and praise. I had the same opinion when I started and I was blown away by the feats she was accomplishing which felt so EARNED as the story progresses. Just give it time, the story really gets going after a certain point.

[@saundramonette4137]

Also way to throw shade on Jaeha... Tho ur not wrong 😅

[@adacoz]

I love this series but I agree the beginning isn't the strongest which, I think, is what ultimately hurt the anime adaptation.

[@fullmetaanalysis]

I haven’t watched the anime, but I’d definitely be down with them redoing it!

[@leonie7754]

@@fullmetaanalysis I recommend it - i watched the anime then picked up the manga from where it left off. It sounds like the anime toned down the 'yona is awesome' thing from other characters. Imo, the anime at the start showed her to be a naieve, obnoxious idiot that gets her world turned upside down - but that's like the first episode and it moves onto the world very quick. No one says yona is awesome, but they are kind to her as she's processing the trauma, and she realises she's been sheltered and knows nothing, and starts to work on herself.

[@kimmyjohnny31]

I’m mixed on this series but it’s primarily due to my family My father is a huge anime fan (putting it lightly) but he was immediately turned off by this one in particular, and actually refused to watch it past a few episodes. He didn’t really seem to appreciate Japan trying to do a take on Korean historical fiction dramas since he said it would be ridiculous as a Korean studio attempting to do a Japanese/Inuyasha-seque story while not having the inherent understanding of the actual background. He gave it another try (reluctantly) and still couldn’t find interest since it felt like a slobbering take of the three kingdoms in Korea (Silla, Baekje, Gogoryeu) and a generic romance story with a ‘few twists.’ Imo I think it’s a fine series, I found some parts genuinely funny or slightly enduring. I am apprehensive due to the series origin from Japan but Japan has also done a shit ton of manga series on cultures like China, but I understand why some people like my father may not find this series interesting from the get-go. I’m still conflicted but I can say it wasn’t a bad series.

[@John14.6OuO]

God LOVED YOU so MUCH that He sent His only begotten son to die in YOUR PLACE so you won't have to die under Gods judgement but live forever IF you fully trust in Jesus, now that he's risen. Please repent. We all broke God's law, we sinned, but Jesus paid our fine. Romans 3:23, Revelations 21:8, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 10:8-10. Put ur trust in Jesus now, the only way to heaven. a lot of religions say Jesus is a way, a good teacher, Jesus said he's the only way John 14:6 none of us are good Mark 10:17-27, but when we put our faith in Christ we pass from death to life John 5:24 John 11:25-26. We're clothed in his righteousness Isaiah 61:10-11 2 Corinthians 5:4 it's good to trust in him and not how we perceive things, he'll direct our paths, and it's also good to turn from evil n follow him too. Proverbs 3:5-10 2 Corinthians 5:7 Mark 8:34-38

[@himotrybiswas1101]

I'm broke but I wanna read this manga can someone help me🥲🥲

[@leonie7754]

the whole lot is online, just google it. I read it online then bought the mangas in bits because I loved it so much,