Greetings ladies and gentlemen! And welcome to my very first anime review.
After the horrible experience I had with RWBY Volume 2 last year, as some of you might remember, I started looking around to see if there was any anime out there that I could actually like other than some of the shows I saw on Toonami as a kid such as Sailor Moon, Ronin Warriors, and Gundam Wing. I stopped watching anime years ago for numerous. Part of it was because most of them were the same, utterly stupid, poorly written, too much fan service, and just about everything else you could think of that people like me dislike about anime in general.
But every now and then there is a gem among anime here and there. Yona of the Dawn happens to be one happens to be one of them. Based on the manga of the same name and first published in 2009, Yona tells the story of a young princess with strange red hair who's simple, perfect, and luxurious life is suddenly turned upside when she finds herself in the middle of a grab for power, complete with betrayal and distrust and is soon trust into the harsh reality of the real world. The story so far ranges from a coming of age story to political intrigue, complete with dragon magic and set in a fantasy/historical setting of imperial Korea. The last anime that intrigued me this much was The Twelve Kingdoms anime back in 2002, and there is also Inuyasha and Fushigi Yuugi. Yona of the Dawn as a similar setting except that it does not involve a typical school girl from Japan as the other ones do.
The manga was very well received and in 2014 an anime was produced, first premiering on Crunchyroll on October 7th. Now, having only just started reading the manga of which this anime is based on I can't really say at the moment if the anime follows the manga closely, but based on what I have read so far and from what I've heard, the anime stays pretty close to the manga. And I appreciate that the studio, Pierrot, decided to wait until the manga was well on it's way, after five years, before starting to make this anime instead of doing it right away like a lot other studios have done in the past.
As of now, the anime has also been very well received among fans and having just caught up the latest episode I've really enjoyed it so far. I do have some gripes such as the annoying, not always, anime style humor, but this is the first time I've ever truly followed an anime in a very long time, and that is saying much. So how does it hold up? Well, let's look at the first chapter in this multipart review of Yona of the Dawn.
Episode 1: Princess Yona
We open the very first episode with a flash-forward scene of Yona, armed with a bow and arrow and overlooking a passing small enemy army going through a pass from a tall cliff. We also see six men standing behind her, two of them being boys. All of their faces are obscured in darkness except one, a tall guy wielding a traditional Korean weapon called a Woldo(correct me if I?m wrong in this). As she watching the passing army, she recalls how naïve she was before she left her castle and we cut to the opening.
I must admit, I love the opening of this anime for it actually featured a cinematic score instead of an annoying typical pop song that constantly plagues anime even today. It instantly reminded me of The Twelve Kingdoms opening, something that I very much appreciate.
After the OP we arrive at Yona?s castle, her home since she was born. Her father, King Il, is giving a ceremonial speech to the people about his daughter?s upcoming sixteenth birthday and how he kept his kingdom and neighboring ones away from war during his reign. Yona, who was supposed attending the ceremony, is actually in her room trying to figure out what kind of dress to wear because someone she has adored since childhood is arriving a short while. You can instantly tell through this scene that she?s spoiled and pampered, just what you would expect from a girl of royalty.
Her father arrives the ceremony and she complains about her hair being the shocking shade of red instead of black like her mothers. I found myself asking that same question since Koreans all have dark hair, but since Yona also has violet eyes and the other main characters have drastically different shades of eye and hair I?ll let it go since it is anime all and one of Yona?s servants has? strawberry blonde hair? These two aren?t related by any chance, are they?
We get introduced to Hak, the dark haired blue eyed hero of this series and the guy wielding the Woldo. He is one of King Il?s generals and Yona?s personal bodyguard and one of her childhood friend. As you might expect, they don?t really get along well and are always bickering at each other. Yona then learns that her other childhood friend, Prince Su-won, has arrived and she rushes through the castle to meet him. Apparently Su-won is her cousin, three years older than her, and she has a huge crush on him. Yeah, it gets a bit weird here but don?t worry, it doesn?t last long.
Prince Su-won is our golden haired Adonis, with such a charming, cheerful, and airhead attitude you would almost think he was gay. Trust me, there?s more to this guy than meets the eye. Su-won treats Yona like a little girl and a little sister, since she is his cousin after all, and this annoys her to no end since she keeps trying to impress him because she?s madly in love with him. We then see a flashback scene of Yona and Su-won as kids where Yona upset about the loss of her mother and Su-won trying to comfort her by acting as her mother that in the end involves them sleeping together in the same bed.
This scene is cute and I get that they are related and are only children but? don?t you think this is going a bit too far?
Anyway, the next ten minutes is pretty much composition for it involves Hak and Su-won, being old friends, making for lost time, Yona becoming jealous, King Il forbidding her to use weapons, Su-won teaching her how to ride a horse, and Yona almost compromising herself with Hak because she accidentally blurts out that he had offered marriage, which is not at all true.
And on the subject of marriage her father suggests that it?s time for her to start considering having suitors. She tells that she wants to marry Su-won but is informed that it is impossible due to their family relationship. While Su-won is of royal blood, it is King Il who decide who the heir to the throne is.
Yona, of course, cannot accept this. While thinking outside during a rainy evening she sees someone approaching her menacingly and runs, thinking that he out to kill her since her father had mentioned earlier that her mother had been killed by bandits and that royal line was always under threat. She barges into a room, thinks she is safe, then a pair of hands grab her and it turns out to be Su-won. It is here that Yona confesses her true feeling to him. At first, he thinks she?s in love with Hak but then realizes that it?s him that she meant. Naturally, he is shocked by this but doesn?t want their relationship to go any deeper, so they leave it at that for the time being.
Five days later, the castle celebrates Yona?s sixteenth birthday. Again there?s not much to go on here except Yona complaining about her hair again, Su-won giving her a elegant hairpin as his birthday gift, and Hak pestering her again. Then things a little interested as Hak mentions to Su-won that something?s not right within the castle. Su-won says that he's noticed it too and suggests that Hak should strengthen security as a precaution. Hak agrees and says in return for Su-won to watch over the princess.
Later on another rainy evening, Yona finds that she still can?t let go of Su-won and decides to talk to her father about it. However, she arrives just in time to see King Il being murdered? by Su-won. She obviously thinks it?s an accident before Su-won fully admits that he killed him. Shocked beyond belief, she?s then taken to courtyard and it about to be executed when Hak saves her by killing all the soldiers, apparently having realized the deception and demanding what Su-won is trying to do with this sudden and unexpected betrayal.
And that?s the end of episode one, complete with a typical anime song for the ending.
My Thoughts
Overall, it?s a good opening episode. The characters are nicely introduced and have fitting personalities, even if it is clichéd. The animation is very colorful and well drawn, even though I?ve heard that the manga had better artwork. The music is a very big plus for me since I like cinematic scores over modern rock and roll/techno influenced ones. The opening theme is the only thing really memorable, but that doesn?t drag the rest of the music down.
The story also has a very good start to it in this episode. It?s well paced and decently written. The humor from being funny to annoying but that?s expected in anime. As for the plot twist in the end, I?d be the first to admit that I saw it coming since it was pretty much given away during the opening. But overall, I like this series so far and I?m to see where it goes past the current episode, episode 14, on Crunchyroll.
So, what do you guys thinks of this series so far just be going by the first episode? Comment on the thread below so I can see your thoughts.
I?m DirectorK and until next time, stay tuned for the review of episode 2 of Yona of the Dawn.
After the horrible experience I had with RWBY Volume 2 last year, as some of you might remember, I started looking around to see if there was any anime out there that I could actually like other than some of the shows I saw on Toonami as a kid such as Sailor Moon, Ronin Warriors, and Gundam Wing. I stopped watching anime years ago for numerous. Part of it was because most of them were the same, utterly stupid, poorly written, too much fan service, and just about everything else you could think of that people like me dislike about anime in general.
But every now and then there is a gem among anime here and there. Yona of the Dawn happens to be one happens to be one of them. Based on the manga of the same name and first published in 2009, Yona tells the story of a young princess with strange red hair who's simple, perfect, and luxurious life is suddenly turned upside when she finds herself in the middle of a grab for power, complete with betrayal and distrust and is soon trust into the harsh reality of the real world. The story so far ranges from a coming of age story to political intrigue, complete with dragon magic and set in a fantasy/historical setting of imperial Korea. The last anime that intrigued me this much was The Twelve Kingdoms anime back in 2002, and there is also Inuyasha and Fushigi Yuugi. Yona of the Dawn as a similar setting except that it does not involve a typical school girl from Japan as the other ones do.
The manga was very well received and in 2014 an anime was produced, first premiering on Crunchyroll on October 7th. Now, having only just started reading the manga of which this anime is based on I can't really say at the moment if the anime follows the manga closely, but based on what I have read so far and from what I've heard, the anime stays pretty close to the manga. And I appreciate that the studio, Pierrot, decided to wait until the manga was well on it's way, after five years, before starting to make this anime instead of doing it right away like a lot other studios have done in the past.
As of now, the anime has also been very well received among fans and having just caught up the latest episode I've really enjoyed it so far. I do have some gripes such as the annoying, not always, anime style humor, but this is the first time I've ever truly followed an anime in a very long time, and that is saying much. So how does it hold up? Well, let's look at the first chapter in this multipart review of Yona of the Dawn.
Episode 1: Princess Yona
We open the very first episode with a flash-forward scene of Yona, armed with a bow and arrow and overlooking a passing small enemy army going through a pass from a tall cliff. We also see six men standing behind her, two of them being boys. All of their faces are obscured in darkness except one, a tall guy wielding a traditional Korean weapon called a Woldo(correct me if I?m wrong in this). As she watching the passing army, she recalls how naïve she was before she left her castle and we cut to the opening.
I must admit, I love the opening of this anime for it actually featured a cinematic score instead of an annoying typical pop song that constantly plagues anime even today. It instantly reminded me of The Twelve Kingdoms opening, something that I very much appreciate.
After the OP we arrive at Yona?s castle, her home since she was born. Her father, King Il, is giving a ceremonial speech to the people about his daughter?s upcoming sixteenth birthday and how he kept his kingdom and neighboring ones away from war during his reign. Yona, who was supposed attending the ceremony, is actually in her room trying to figure out what kind of dress to wear because someone she has adored since childhood is arriving a short while. You can instantly tell through this scene that she?s spoiled and pampered, just what you would expect from a girl of royalty.
Her father arrives the ceremony and she complains about her hair being the shocking shade of red instead of black like her mothers. I found myself asking that same question since Koreans all have dark hair, but since Yona also has violet eyes and the other main characters have drastically different shades of eye and hair I?ll let it go since it is anime all and one of Yona?s servants has? strawberry blonde hair? These two aren?t related by any chance, are they?
We get introduced to Hak, the dark haired blue eyed hero of this series and the guy wielding the Woldo. He is one of King Il?s generals and Yona?s personal bodyguard and one of her childhood friend. As you might expect, they don?t really get along well and are always bickering at each other. Yona then learns that her other childhood friend, Prince Su-won, has arrived and she rushes through the castle to meet him. Apparently Su-won is her cousin, three years older than her, and she has a huge crush on him. Yeah, it gets a bit weird here but don?t worry, it doesn?t last long.
Prince Su-won is our golden haired Adonis, with such a charming, cheerful, and airhead attitude you would almost think he was gay. Trust me, there?s more to this guy than meets the eye. Su-won treats Yona like a little girl and a little sister, since she is his cousin after all, and this annoys her to no end since she keeps trying to impress him because she?s madly in love with him. We then see a flashback scene of Yona and Su-won as kids where Yona upset about the loss of her mother and Su-won trying to comfort her by acting as her mother that in the end involves them sleeping together in the same bed.
This scene is cute and I get that they are related and are only children but? don?t you think this is going a bit too far?
Anyway, the next ten minutes is pretty much composition for it involves Hak and Su-won, being old friends, making for lost time, Yona becoming jealous, King Il forbidding her to use weapons, Su-won teaching her how to ride a horse, and Yona almost compromising herself with Hak because she accidentally blurts out that he had offered marriage, which is not at all true.
And on the subject of marriage her father suggests that it?s time for her to start considering having suitors. She tells that she wants to marry Su-won but is informed that it is impossible due to their family relationship. While Su-won is of royal blood, it is King Il who decide who the heir to the throne is.
Yona, of course, cannot accept this. While thinking outside during a rainy evening she sees someone approaching her menacingly and runs, thinking that he out to kill her since her father had mentioned earlier that her mother had been killed by bandits and that royal line was always under threat. She barges into a room, thinks she is safe, then a pair of hands grab her and it turns out to be Su-won. It is here that Yona confesses her true feeling to him. At first, he thinks she?s in love with Hak but then realizes that it?s him that she meant. Naturally, he is shocked by this but doesn?t want their relationship to go any deeper, so they leave it at that for the time being.
Five days later, the castle celebrates Yona?s sixteenth birthday. Again there?s not much to go on here except Yona complaining about her hair again, Su-won giving her a elegant hairpin as his birthday gift, and Hak pestering her again. Then things a little interested as Hak mentions to Su-won that something?s not right within the castle. Su-won says that he's noticed it too and suggests that Hak should strengthen security as a precaution. Hak agrees and says in return for Su-won to watch over the princess.
Later on another rainy evening, Yona finds that she still can?t let go of Su-won and decides to talk to her father about it. However, she arrives just in time to see King Il being murdered? by Su-won. She obviously thinks it?s an accident before Su-won fully admits that he killed him. Shocked beyond belief, she?s then taken to courtyard and it about to be executed when Hak saves her by killing all the soldiers, apparently having realized the deception and demanding what Su-won is trying to do with this sudden and unexpected betrayal.
And that?s the end of episode one, complete with a typical anime song for the ending.
My Thoughts
Overall, it?s a good opening episode. The characters are nicely introduced and have fitting personalities, even if it is clichéd. The animation is very colorful and well drawn, even though I?ve heard that the manga had better artwork. The music is a very big plus for me since I like cinematic scores over modern rock and roll/techno influenced ones. The opening theme is the only thing really memorable, but that doesn?t drag the rest of the music down.
The story also has a very good start to it in this episode. It?s well paced and decently written. The humor from being funny to annoying but that?s expected in anime. As for the plot twist in the end, I?d be the first to admit that I saw it coming since it was pretty much given away during the opening. But overall, I like this series so far and I?m to see where it goes past the current episode, episode 14, on Crunchyroll.
So, what do you guys thinks of this series so far just be going by the first episode? Comment on the thread below so I can see your thoughts.
I?m DirectorK and until next time, stay tuned for the review of episode 2 of Yona of the Dawn.