Akatsuki no Yona

It might be a bit late, but I just realized that Yona and Soo-won are cousins. Suddenly the fact of how incredibly oblivious Soo-won was to Yona's crush seems a lot more plausible. This manga just went to a weird place for me...(But hey, legal in Japan, right?)

It's not only something that is legal in japan (and actually big parts of the world) it was also completely common many historic in royal / noble families to marry inside the extended family to preserve the bloodline.

Zeno's one of my favorites. To be able to still smile & appreciate life after everything he's seen and experienced takes guts. This might sound strange out of context, but I hope he finally gets to die by the end of this series (or at least doesn't have to live alone for years every time the other dragons pass; I wonder if the cycle of reincarnation for the dragons will be broken?). 

Smol Hak appears! It's the wind tribe's time to shine!

@kendama: I'm going to start by apologizing.  The last time I had this discussion I remember the other guy putting forward the point that Soo-Won is Totally Evil and also Incompetent and that Yona was wrong for no longer wanting Revenge, and I unfairly projected that argument on to you.  With your new post, I think you're correct in that we're on (mostly) the same page and kinda just arguing about Details.

Also thanks for not going point by point.  Because that post I wrote was a terribly rambling mess that doesn't adequately put forward the more literary-theory point I was originally trying to make and if you went point by point this thing would be like 9309520390+ pages long.

The Game of Thrones universe is not actually very realistic. Yes, there's a fair amount of treachery in the real world, but alliances are generally much more lasting than in GoT, partly because everyone knows as soon as they get a reputation for going back on their allies, nobody will want to ally with them.  It's rare for a single scheme to carry such great advantage as to be worth all the future disadvantages.  Side-switching in medieval times tended to be done with a lot of disclaimers and self-righteous bluster and seizing on excuses, and relatively little suddenly killing brother monarchs/nobles at the feast.  Massacres were what you did to peasants; fellow nobles you took prisoner, wined and dined, and ransomed back to their relatives.  Can't have the game getting too dangerous for people who matter!

I would also add that mediaeval wars were comparatively less bloody. They were mostly aristocratic affairs. If I remember right, William the Conqueror took about a thousand soldiers to the Battle of Hastings.

Men of combat age would be forced to kill and die for their feudal lords, but for most of the other people, life simply went on. Shakespeare deliciously mocks mediaeval war draft in King Henry IV part II. The wars of religion after the Reformation changed that, and the consolidation of the nation-state in the Westphalian system resulted in the large conscripted armies and large-scale wars where civilians would suffer even more than the combatants.

For a mediaeval peasant, so long as they enjoyed peace, they could care less which "country" they belonged to.

This universe looks a lot like that, with the added benefit that they all speak the same language and have more or less the same culture. All these countries are artificial constructs. No need to go to war for nothing. Soo-Won has gotten it all wrong. His going to war to preserve Kouka's integrity is very similar to "We had to destroy the village to save it."

Damn i really cant get myself to like yona.She's way too naive and idealistic if this was game of thrones universe ,she would be dead after like 3 episodes.The dragons are way more likable imo. It frustrates me even more to know that she will definitely succeed in this kind of manga.Tho i would be pleasantly surprised if one of the dragons or hak gets killed because of her idealistic mindset which will give her the kind of character development she needs.

The Game of Thrones universe is not actually very realistic. Yes, there's a fair amount of treachery in the real world, but alliances are generally much more lasting than in GoT, partly because everyone knows as soon as they get a reputation for going back on their allies, nobody will want to ally with them.  It's rare for a single scheme to carry such great advantage as to be worth all the future disadvantages.  Side-switching in medieval times tended to be done with a lot of disclaimers and self-righteous bluster and seizing on excuses, and relatively little suddenly killing brother monarchs/nobles at the feast.  Massacres were what you did to peasants; fellow nobles you took prisoner, wined and dined, and ransomed back to their relatives.  Can't have the game getting too dangerous for people who matter!

God, I wish this was a weekly release.

@JCVocke:

I was going to go point by point, but it's not necessary.

Rest assured, I'm not Manichaean in my views and I don't care for revenge. My hopes for Soo-Won's death are grounded on a perception of his being an impediment for peace. And on a longing for dramatic irony. Killing him will be Yona's coming of age, in my view.

@kendama: Time for another round of "Everyone's insistence on fitting characters into a Binary Good/Evil matrix is a disservice to the Manga, misses its central theme, and completely Ruin's all of Yona's Character Development as she studies all of the available philosophies and ideas and puts together her own ethical framework taking bits from each and becoming a stronger whole."

Thanks for the update!! It was an awesome cap!!! Ahora a esperar leerlo en español jaja

His power is basically Illusion. He makes them think they lost a body part with all the pain that accompanies it.

It's pretty cool

Spoiler

finally seeing shinahs powers used with some proficiency, although I can't quite tell if he's killing the attackers or making them pass out from fear. Either way glad everyone (barring poor neguro :c) seems relatively safe.

Yonas table block was cool as heck as well. Sweet girl growing up to be a little bad ass.<3

We haven't seen zeno, Yoon, or kija yet so perhaps they'll play a part in stopping the anti war faction puppet master.

His power is basically Illusion. He makes them think they lost a body part with all the pain that accompanies it.

https://vatoto.com/reader#eacd9df1c300ff22_21

きゃああああ

ヨナがかっこいい

Srsly though, I need more of her kicking things, like when she Chuck Norris'd that addict going after Lili.  Actually, I need to see her action sequences animated.

The GoT part is pretty irrelevant to all the rest I have written. But it's true, I shouldn't have barged into that part without knowledge. I have removed it from my original post and you can see nothing changes in the main argument. If someone is curious by my silly mistake, they can still check it out in your quotation of it.

 

Now, if you can enlighten me, show me how I am wrong, and so is Yona, and how Soo-Won is right.

There's been an implication from near the beginning that there is a things that everyone needs to unite against, actually; the prophecy says darkness has/will fall upon the land, and the ending line of the Red Dragon restoring the dawn.  The first page of the manga has Yona posing with a sword talking about how the mountains are cold and she never knew cold in the palace or something similar (She had long hair so we're probably 1/2-2/3 there), and the Kai Empire has been having to focus it's army in fighting off the people from the northern mountains, so my guess is something around there is Bad.  But that's just my speculation.

You wrote up an essay without even knowing what you're talking about. You honestly couldn't be more wrong about GoT even if you tried. And I would say Khaleesi's story is plenty comparable to this one.

The GoT part is pretty irrelevant to all the rest I have written. But it's true, I shouldn't have barged into that part without knowledge. I have removed it from my original post and you can see nothing changes in the main argument. If someone is curious by my silly mistake, they can still check it out in your quotation of it.

Now, if you can enlighten me, show me how I am wrong, and so is Yona, and how Soo-Won is right.

Actually, even from a pragmatic point of view, Yona's ideals are the best for the preservation of peace.

 

Spoiler

I have never read Game of Thrones, but from what I have heard, the problem in that book series is that "winter is coming", or something like that, and everyone must unite below a king because they won't be able to survive winter if they remain divided and lost in petty wars, losing precious time of peace they need to prepare for the cold.

 

This is completely different from Yona of the dawn. In this world, nobody is coming, and the secret for peace is not Soo-Won's stupid drive to unify everyone else to prepare against an invasion (that doesn't seem to be coming anyway) by the Kai Empire.

 

Actually, the more I think of it, the more convinced I am that the four-country stand-off King Il preserved for 17 years is the best way to keep long-term peace.

 

We have:

 

i. A large country, Kai, that's torn by geographical overreach and facing trouble from nomadic tribes raiding from the North. At the same time, it buffers the three smaller countries from the nomads.

 

ii. A medium country, Kouka, which is not big enough to present a threat to Kai, and not small enough to be invaded by it without putting up a fight. It also buffers the two small countries from Kai, which does not border them.

 

iii. Two small countries, Xing and Sei, which border each other and Kouka. They seem to be strong enough to not be invaded by Kouka without putting up a fight, but not big enough to be able to invade it even if they formed an alliance.

 

That combination is simply perfect for preserving peace. I'm no game theorist, but the proof is in the fact that after King Joo-Nam's era and Yu-hon's murder by Il (which I fully applaud if it's true), Kouka was peaceful for 17 years. No matter how poor Il's domestic policy was, nothing is worse than war.

 

Consider how the stand-off works:

 

i. If Kai tries to invade Kouka, it will have to remove troops from the Northern border, making itself vulnerable to invasion by the nomads. It will also need to unify the two thrones, North and South Kai, and suppress provincial upstarts like Li Hazara. Even if it accomplishes all that, the moment it tries to invade, it will drive Xing and Sei into Kouka's arms because the two countries know that if they don't back Kouka up, they will be next.

 

ii. Sei and Xing cannot try to gang up on Kouka because even a weakened Kai is probably strong enough to seize the opportunity and gobble up the three of them while they weaken each other fighting.

 

iii. Kai could try to entice Sei and Xing into an alliance against Kouka, but Sei and Xing would have to be very stupid not to know they would be overridden the moment Kouka was suppressed.

 

In the Il Era stand-off, Kouka had only to remain still and the peace would go on for the foreseeable future.

 

But no, Soo-Won had to seize the throne, mistake strength for belligerence and begin an ill-fated quest to unify the peninsula against Kai.

 

He thinks this will prevent an invasion by Kai, but he's so blinded by the idea that he fails to see that the moment Kai notices Kouka has grown strong by annexing the two smaller countries, of course they will assume Kouka is gathering strength to invade Kai. And then, they will see no option other than to unify North and South Kai to attack Kouka first.

 

By trying to make Kouka strong to prevent war, Soo-Won is about to accomplish the opposite, that is, to invite a Kai pre-emptive invasion. That's the fallacy of unification: once you become big enough (normally by means of war), you either overreach and crumbles down from within (as happened so many times with China) or you freak out your neighbours, who attempt to invade.

 

Of course, large countries do have formed over history, but that is not a vindication of expansionist war. Actually, the most peaceful regions of the world are places where a large country is somehow counterbalanced by several smaller countries. South America is a good example, no wars since the Chaco War in the 30's.

 

What exactly is Soo-Won preparing against? He knows a defensive strategy is more than enough (see the outcome of the Nadai episode - Kai didn't try to invade, threw the merchants under the bus and accepted status quo). He knows Kai is ridden with internal troubles and threatened by nomads and has no condition of invading. And yet, there has already been a war against Kai for no discernible reason other than recover a province that was faring pretty well in Kai just because it had belonged to his father. And people still think he makes a good king!

 

I really hope Soo-Won ends up six feet under, by an arrow from Yona or Hak's glaive.

You wrote up an essay without even knowing what you're talking about. You honestly couldn't be more wrong about GoT even if you tried. And I would say Khaleesi's story is plenty comparable to this one.

If this was GOT universe I wouldn't be here. Just because there's a lot of muck in the world doesn't follow clean things shouldn't be sought after. Without our ideals we're just a bunch of animals following our base instincts. Have you read this from the beginning, or just jumped into the end? Because Hak HAS been hurt by her idealism, and she HAS thought about the consequences of her actions. She's sticking by her ideals and I for one, applaud her for that. Go read about your favored angst-ridden, jaded protagonists somewhere else and leave us in peace please.

Actually, even from a pragmatic point of view, Yona's ideals are the best for the preservation of peace.

I really hope Soo-Won ends up six feet under, by an arrow from Yona or Hak's glaive.

Damn i really cant get myself to like yona.She's way too naive and idealistic if this was game of thrones universe ,she would be dead after like 3 episodes.The dragons are way more likable imo. It frustrates me even more to know that she will definitely succeed in this kind of manga.Tho i would be pleasantly surprised if one of the dragons or hak gets killed because of her idealistic mindset which will give her the kind of character development she needs.

If this was GOT universe I wouldn't be here. Just because there's a lot of muck in the world doesn't follow clean things shouldn't be sought after. Without our ideals we're just a bunch of animals following our base instincts. Have you read this from the beginning, or just jumped into the end? Because Hak HAS been hurt by her idealism, and she HAS thought about the consequences of her actions. She's sticking by her ideals and I for one, applaud her for that. Go read about your favored angst-ridden, jaded protagonists somewhere else and leave us in peace please.

Damn i really cant get myself to like yona.She's way too naive and idealistic if this was game of thrones universe ,she would be dead after like 3 episodes.The dragons are way more likable imo. It frustrates me even more to know that she will definitely succeed in this kind of manga.Tho i would be pleasantly surprised if one of the dragons or hak gets killed because of her idealistic mindset which will give her the kind of character development she needs.

Reckon it'll be more so next chapter.

I don't doubt it.

Update about Impatient Scans: "Change of plans, everyone. We are no longer partnered up with Mangastream. We love them, and we hope they love us, but things just didn't work out, lol.

WHAT THIS MEANS:
- We will only post DDLs.
- We are working on finding a provider for the Japanese raws.
- We are recruiting again.
- No 2nd version of Yona 142 will be released. (Perhaps Titania or some other Yona group will release a better version in the future, but that Yona DDL is the only version you're going to get of our 142 [sorry for typos and stuff].)
- You are free to post it on Batoto, but we will not be handling that.

Recruitment:
- Typesetter for Skip Beat, helper for Namaikizakari, and Bambi to Dhole.
- Cleaner with lots of free time to LEARN and also to HELP during the SB and Yona days.
- (UPDATE: We have a few options now. Thanks all!) Raw provider. We're poking around to see if anyone can help, if they already buy the magazine and stuff.

If interested just send us a message. Fluency in English is required."

Update about Impatient Scans: "Change of plans, everyone. We are no longer partnered up with Mangastream. We love them, and we hope they love us, but things just didn't work out, lol.

WHAT THIS MEANS:
- We will only post DDLs.
- We are working on finding a provider for the Japanese raws.
- We are recruiting again.
- No 2nd version of Yona 142 will be released. (Perhaps Titania or some other Yona group will release a better version in the future, but that Yona DDL is the only version you're going to get of our 142 [sorry for typos and stuff].)
- You are free to post it on Batoto, but we will not be handling that.

Recruitment:
- Typesetter for Skip Beat, helper for Namaikizakari, and Bambi to Dhole.
- Cleaner with lots of free time to LEARN and also to HELP during the SB and Yona days.
- (UPDATE: We have a few options now. Thanks all!) Raw provider. We're poking around to see if anyone can help, if they already buy the magazine and stuff.

If interested just send us a message. Fluency in English is required."

I guess you guys were to impatient

*da dum tiss