Yona of the Dawn: Volume 14 manga review

Yona of the Dawn Graphic Novel Volume 14 cover image

Yona lives an ideal life.  She is the only princess in the Kingdom of Kohka.  Her father, King Il, dotes on her, and her faithful guard, Son Hak of the Wind Tribe, protects her.  Yona even cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, her cousin Lord Su-won of the Sky Tribe.  However, everything changes for Princess Yona on her 16th birthday when the king is killed and Hak is blamed.  Soon, Yona is on the run with Hak, but she is determined to reclaim her throne.  To do so, she begins a journey to find the Four Dragon Warriors.

As Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 14 (Chapter 77 to 82) opens, Yona, Hak, Yun, and the Four Dragon Warriors travel to the Water Tribe's territory.  They enter the port town of “Shishen,” which they find to be in a dreary state.  A short while later, Jaeha (the “Green Dragon”) decides to visit the red light district (where the houses of prostitution are), but something terrible happens to him while in the care of a pair of special ladies.  It seems that Shishen and many of the port towns of the Water Tribe territory are beset by the plague of a powerful drug known as “nadai.”

Meanwhile, Yona suspects that she and her friends are being watched.  Who are Lady Riri, Tetra, and Ayura, and from where do they originate?

[This volume includes the bonus comics and manga.]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Yona of the Dawn manga is a romance and a romantic adventure.  It belongs to the shojo manga sub-genre that mixes Chinese historical romance and quest-adventure.

Yona of the Dawn Graphic Novel Volume 14 starts a big story arc.  In fact, this is the first arc set in the land of the Water Tribe, one of the five tribes (Sky, Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water) that comprise the Kingdom of Kohka.  Creator Mizuho Kusanagi transports her readers into a land of mystery and suspense that envelopes them like the hypnotic haze that envelopes the the port of Shishen.

JN Productions (translation) and Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane (English adaptation) capture the thrills and the intrigue that permeate Vol. 14.  Letterer Lys Blakeslee creates a rhythm that alternates between the quiet of the conspiracy and the clash of violent fights – like the one that ends this volume...  Vol. 14 is one of the series' best graphic novel entries to date, so we have to come back for more

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of historical romantic adventure will want to try the “Shojo Beat” title, Yona of the Dawn.

A+
10 out of 10