Now, Akatsuki No Yona is a relatively new anime. It just debuted in September 2014 and ended recently in 2015.
Now what's Akatsuki No Yona about? (Synopsis provided by MyAnimeList.net) :
"Yona is the sole princess of the kingdom, living the luxurious and carefree life as a princess should. She has it all: the finest clothes and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a loving emperor as a father, and the hottest cousin crush, Soo-won, anyone could ever hope to have. Now, if only her bodyguard, Son Hak, wasn't so annoying to her and her hair wasn't so red.
But her nearly perfect world quickly shatters as the man she loves, Soo-won, murders her father and the path to his ascension to the throne is assured. Son Hak escapes with Yona, and they lead a life on the run from that point on."
As someone who enjoys anime, I'm very picky about the anime i choose to watch. However, I decided to give this anime a shot and I loved it.
This anime has MANY great qualities about it. For example, the first episode has a freaking plot twist. I don't know about you guys, but I don't see that happen too much. Akatsuki no Yona has a plot twist within it that sets up the series and it's just awesome.
Not only does Akatsuki No Yona have an awesome plot twist, but the animation is beautiful.
Now, whenever I check out an anime, animation is one of the top factors of my decision making as to whether or not I will even bother watching the anime. I cannot name a time from watching this anime where I didn't like the animation, or recall it being shitty.
Next - Character development.
Yona, the leading lady, starts off as a pampered princess who doesn't associate herself with others problems. She is a bit selfish and doesn't think much about what is outside of her castle.
This changes.
While this Yona doesn't completely dissolve, it does change greatly. Yona starts orienting herself around protecting Hak, helping villagers, and even picks up weapons (which her father opposes).
Some of the old Yona still remains, but it's wonderful seeing how Yona progresses throughout the series. You also get to see Hak's feelings throughout the whole anime and how they change about Yona, Su-won, and the journey itself. Other characters in the anime also change as the story moves along, and the character development is great with each character.
However, along with every anime, there are some things I wish had been done differently.
About halfway through the series you figure out that Yona has to find the 4 legendary dragons in order to protect her and help her reach her goals. For the most part, the creators do a wonderful job when writing and showing the journey of finding all 4 dragons. However, only 3/4 dragons get major air time. The 4th dragon, Zeno, only gets one episode. That's bothersome because the other dragons have gotten at least 4+ episodes so the audience gets to know each dragon. However, Zeno is only shown during the season finale, and you don't learn much about him.
Another thing I did not like about this anime, is that the finale ended off on such a cliff hanger.
It wasn't sad whatsoever, and you really couldn't tell what was going to happen. There were many questions left unsolved and no one even knows if Yona is going to try to get her throne back (unless you've read the manga). Usually I wouldn't mind this, but no one knows if there will even be a second season, so the anime may just end like that. There are rumors, but nothing is confirmed for a season 2.
One last thing - I skipped an episode or two because I felt they didn't relate to what was happening with Yona whatsoever. But that's just a minor thing, really.
ANYWAYS NOW HERE IS MY FINAL CONCLUSION.
What I like about Akatsuki No Yona
-Great plot
-Amazing animation
-Character development is definitely there
-Characters are quite lovable
-The anime is not confusing and easy to understand
What I wish was different
-Air time for Zeno
-Season finale ending
OVERALL I GIVE THIS ANIME A : 9/10
This anime was very enjoyable and I do recommend to anyone that they watch this series.
Thank you for reading, and until next time!
-Shelby xoxo
