Manga Review: Yona of the Dawn, Volume 20, by Mizuho Kusanagi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2019

Volumes: 31+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 19. 21.

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!

Betrayal leads to Yona and Riri being abducted by the nation of Sei! Forced to work as slaves, the two stubbornly refuse to be controlled, but their situation is dire. In order to save Yona and Riri, Hak and the Four Dragons split into two groups and sneak into enemy territory!

Review:

After that last cliffhanger, we discover that Yona and Riri haven't been taken to immediate danger, but are put to work where danger is going to come over time, whether they do or don't do what they're told.

It's interesting to see the group separate like this. Yona and Riri are apart from the rest, of course, but the dragons and Riri's guards also split up, in order to check the locations that Yona and Riri might be. And then Su-Won shows up, and we see a couple more surprise characters that might just complicate things more.

It's easy to forget that the dragons and most other characters don't know what happened to Yona, and don't know Su-Won or all the connections there. They're very separate experiences for most of the characters. But on the other hand, it's also nice to see what friendships have formed around all these events. Su-Won has made connections. But also, Hak has grown close to the dragons, despite whether he wanted to or not—they all care for each other, and it's nice to see that acknowledged, as they reassure and watch over Hak, when they're all worried about Yona.

This cliffhanger is even worse than the last. And this plot line is getting more complicated and terrible as it goes. I immediately need to read the next, because I cannot wait to find out what happens.