Manga Review: Yona of the Dawn, Volume 11, by Mizuho Kusanagi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2018

Volumes: 26+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 10. 12.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A red-haired princess loses her family and her kingdom... Now she must rise and fight for her throne!

Princess Yona lives an ideal life as the only princess of her kingdom. Doted on by her father, the king, and protected by her faithful guard Hak, she cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, Su-won. But everything changes on her 16th birthday when tragedy strikes her family!

Yona and her friends head out in search of a crop that can grow in barren land. On their travels, Hak becomes filled with grim determination while training Yona in swordsmanship. Yona notices that he's acting differently and tries to cheer him up, but what Hak does next leaves her stunned!

Review:

Before the group moves on to their next adventure, we get a little flashback featuring our main three. It's a cute little story where Yona first gets to see outside the palace, and Hak got to see a new side of Su-Won, even as a kid. It shows the first glimpses of how he could handle people even way back then, before all of it. Even if we want him to be awful, he is smart about what he's doing and how he's convincing people to be on his side. On the bright side, we get some cuteness of the friendship between Yona and Hak as kids.

In present time, they're on the hunt to find crops to grow in Yun's village. It's tricky, but they arrive at a village that shows some promise. During it all, Hak is struggling with his want of the Princess, along with his want to protect her and help her do as she wants. She's working hard to learn how to use a sword.

It's becoming apparent that Hak is starting to struggle to hide his feelings for Yona. He wants her, and he likes teasing her, but she's so naive towards him that that's only making it harder. And when he teases a little too much, it's starting to look like he's awakening some confusing feelings in her now too. Feelings that are only more complicated since the only guy she's ever liked betrayed her by killing her father.

This volume was so good. Yona is going through so much, and still trying to process it and grow past it all. She's matured so much, and is still pushing herself. I love seeing her with Hak, but I am also a big fan of the rest of the group, and it's nice seeing their bromance growing.

I cannot get enough of this series.