「天命」 (Tenmei)
“God’s Will”

PSA: So apparently certain website filters crash if you turn the computer off when it’s still running, and can end up blocking your internet access way longer than you asked it to.

And worse, it was one of those filters that won’t go away even if you uninstall because I have no self control.

Long story short, I’ve been having papers and exams all week and with my technology issues on top of that, so I apologize for the long wait.

Though not as beautifully choreographed as the last episode, this week’s offering was pretty good for mythology and setting up where the story will be heading from now on. By now it should be pretty obvious that Yona is the descendant, and possibly even reincarnation, of the Red Dragon Hiryuu. One of my readers earlier in the season commented that the Korean mythological canon didn’t include these types of dragons, and they’re right, but that’s because this particular myth is fictional and part of Yona’s universe. The dragons are based on the style of Asian dragon mythology, but the story itself is original to the mangaka. Hiryuu was a god who decided to become human, and in doing so he became a ruler of a human kingdom, Kouka. Unfortunately, his kingdom became involved in wars and eventually Hiryuu himself was nearly executed. When all seemed lost, four dragons descended from heaven and pledged themselves to Hiryuu, creating human warriors who carried their blood who would serve Hiryuu to the end. When the king died, the warriors did not lose their blood, but instead continued to pass it down through the generations.

This is the story that Ik-soo tells Yona and Hak, and it’s also a story that highlights the similarities between this series and Fushigi Yuugi. Like the latter, Yona’s task is to find and ally with all four dragons, in the hope that by doing so she will walk the path that God wills of her, a path that Ik-soo claims is full of hardship and sorrow. Though it’s unclear if Yona wants to take back her throne, her current desire to follow Ik-soo’s advice stems from her relationship to Hak, not to her bloodline. After nearly losing Hak once already, Yona is done being protected one-sidedly. She wants to be able to protect him just as much as he protects her, and for good reason. Hak is the only one she has left from her past life, the one thread that is letting her live on through her grief and shock. Though she doesn’t understand Hak’s romantic advances (why should she; she’s busy with survival on the brain, and she’s never seen Hak that way before so she just assumes he’s joking as usual), she nevertheless cares for him more than anyone else at the moment, or at least, that’s what she’d like to tell herself.

Hak too, though frustrated, has given everything up for the princess, and though he’s wary of her learning to fight and of going off in search for these fabled dragons, he can see her clinging to this hope and he won’t take that away from her. It’s an understandable contextual urge to keep her from any and all danger, but it’s also great that he realizes she needs to follow her own path, and even better, that he vows to support her and stay at her side while she walks it.

As to Yoon and Ik-soo, the former is a kindhearted but slightly tsundere boy who watches over the clumsy priest. Ik-soo himself is mysterious; he’s sweet and silly, but he’s also wise and clearly very powerful; powerful enough that he was kicked out by Yona’s uncle, who feared the threat he posed to the King. Nevertheless, he clearly cares about Yona, and it looks like he cares for Yoon very much as well, from what we can guess the favor he asks of Yona will be.

 

Preview

73 Comments

  1. What a big… ‘hand’ you have white dragon.

    If this were real life, I’d recommend Hak get a real girlfriend. Akatsuki is too busy ‘finding herself’ with four other dudes, and the current idol king– but this is pretty much shoujo so Hak is stuck with her and her indecisiveness as a female harem lead.

    Drasca
    1. Or you know, it could be that he actually cares about Yona?

      Though the real issue here is, just because he likes her doesn’t mean she has to reciprocate you know. Romance isn’t exactly high on her priority list at the moment and even if it was she doesn’t owe Hak romantic feelings even if he protects her. And Hak isn’t interested in monopolizing her like that anyway (he just teases about it but he knows she doesn’t take him seriously, they’re childhood friends after all).

      Also how is she being indecisive? She can’t let Soo-won go because the situation is complicated beyond belief. Where exactly has all the indecisiveness toward Hak been? She’s been clear on how she’s felt about him all along, and it wasn’t romantically.

      1. @Kairi

        You need to chill. Hope you have no plans of being a teacher bec you’d be a terrible one. You always shut down anyone who has a different opinion than yours. Varying views & beliefs may cause conflict but they also make our world more interesting.

        kayiee
      2. Debate/argument =/= “shutting down”

        Shoujo is a pretty stigmatized medium, it garners debate. Now, if you’re gonna personally insult me on teaching skills, I really don’t care. I’m not teaching here. I’m more than happy to see different viewpoints; that was my whole point a few weeks ago and I did not have an issue with people disagreeing. I have problems with people not empathizing, or seeing why something that seems natural to them might be a bother to someone else. That’s an entirely different thing. It has nothing to do with opinion and everything to do with respecting the fact that there ARE different opinions, whether you personally agree or not.

        Here we see a person only seeing from Hak’s friendzoned perspective, which I find more than a little sexist, which is why I’m being sharp. That’s it.

      3. Fantasy’s great for one true pairs, and dramatized shipping but, taking the premise of real life, I cannot recommend a one sided relationship. That’s just pandering to her feelings while neglecting his. Reverse the sexes and it is the bachelor that doesn’t want to marry, but the woman who isn’t willing to break off (and wants to marry). Totally unhealthy.

        Hypothetically, if one of your friends confessed being interested in you romantically but you were not (and / or not ready), how would you respond? I am betting the answer isn’t to hem and haw indefinitely. If I am wrong, I would be very sad.

        While Hak does care, Yona does not or cannot, and she isn’t a good outlet for romantic feelings. She is not a good match at this phase in her life– and maybe never be. I’ve had buddies pining over girls that were just not right for them (especially not returning feelings, while quite willing to ‘hang out’), just frustrating them. As with my friends, if Hak were mine, I’ve encourage him to move on instead of pining away at girls that don’t appreciate him.

        Honestly even with mature adults that love each other, they may recognize they may amicably part ways, realizing they’re not be right for each other due to– wrong phase of life, moving different directions, different life goals, (real reasons) However, Hak isn’t even certain Akatsuki even likes him romantically (let alone have mutural respect & appreciation– Yona takes Hak for granted, Hak’s just a sucker for the selfish princess). So why put himself in pain, and deny himself opportunity to be happy? Fate exists in fiction, but in real life, I would recommend keeping Yona at a professional distance and dating other people.

        So, I don’t recommend one sided relationships. Confess and move on whether it is reciprocated or not– only the direction matters. Hak, enter a new phase of life or a romance a new girl. Yona’s got some growing up to do, and just isn’t interested.

        Yona is not interested is all that’s required for me to tell Hak to move on.

        Drasca
      4. The Soo-Won situation is pretty clear. Soo-Won killed her dad in unrepentent cold murder, and has ordered her dead. It doesn’t get more clear than that. Yona’s personal feelings may be confused (primarily because she’s a young girl that doesn’t know better), but the situation is very clear.

        Just because Soo-Won may feel guilty about killing Yona, doesn’t mean his supporters won’t kill her. Whatever feelings Yona has for Soo-Won doesn’t mean much in the face of spears, swords and arrows out to cut her down. Despite fiction, weapons have no feelings. The only ‘complicated’ issue is that Yona lets her feelings interfere with her survival.

        Good, Bad, or Ugly, Soo-Won has ordered Yona dead. That doesn’t get more undeniable, forgiving, as a clear danger-to-life situation.

        Drasca
      5. I knoooow you Kairi-haters all got your panties in a wad over Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso but come on everybody…..think about love man before you vengefully click that thumbs down….think about that smilin’ face of someone who’s been checking their comment for hours till that thing finally gets that green box around it mmmmmm don’t it feel nice….that was you at one point…posting love on the screen…when did you change?…..when did your heart grow cold?…..don’t we all just want to be a green box?….don’t we all just want to feel that we are appreciated….you may thumbs down, but deep inside you don’t want to be a hater….you’re still that gigglin’ lil’ animu fan that just got your first green box……and you feel all that weight gently float away…cause now your heart has thawed man…and you want to fill that green box full of love, baby.

        Let’s all show a little peace and understanding 🙂 awwww yeahhh feel that stuff

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80VI8r52uT0

        peace, babies
      6. Kairi, I agree with ur opinions on this show & Shigatsu but u shouldn’t always make it a point to prove that u are right & everyone who disagrees is wrong. IMO, what ur doing is like censorship.

        cj
      7. The votes in the comments confuse me so, yes.

        Soo-won never ordered anyone to kill Yona or Hak. He requested that they be captured unharmed, then after a short search, let them go to live freely. It was Tae-jun that wanted to harm Hak. It was Kye-sook who advised Soo-won to kill Yona who witnessed her father’s murder. (Granted, that would have been what he had to do regardless, but Hak and Yona finding out he was the one who killed Il wasn’t in his original plan.)
        It’s true that he’s the antagonist, the enemy, the villain, but Yona and Hak aren’t in any danger from Soo-won anymore, who believes they are dead and never wanted them hurt in the first place.

        Kiseki
      8. Okay I feel that people here need to understand what context Kairi’s comment was coming from. As she said above, its been a hard week in terms of computer problems and end of term exams in addition to formulating a episode review post so that we, as readers can look at and comment in a inclusive manner. Sure, maybe the manner some points are brought up in a forceful way that could otherwise be said, but still blogging here at RandomC is all voluntary , so cut Kairi a little slack and look at the bigger picture.

        Stripes
    2. I think the show itself does a fine job of averting the “friendzone” nonsense because of how nuanced the relationship between Hak and Yona is. We’re shown how Hak genuinely wants Yona to stand for herself. Even if he loves her romantically, he doesn’t feel entitled to any romantic love from her. And I think that’s a very good-hearted position to take – more guys could probably learn from his example.

      So yeah. As viewers, I don’t think it’s fair to blame Yona or call her indecisive for not reciprocating Hak’s feelings. He’s not blaming her for only seeing him as a friend, and I don’t see why we should either.

      Frog
      1. Whoops, I don’t know how to use the quote tags.
        I realize I was replying without understanding the context and I apologize for that.

        Frog has it down though. Hak just wants a close childhood friend to survive, and will stay with her regardless of whether she reciprocates his feelings and regardless of whether he has fallen for another person who is unable to travel with them.

        Kiseki
    3. She’s been childhood friends with him and in love with Soo-Won for her entire life. Why would she suddenly fall in love? Why would she even be comfortable with that? He’s been her bodyguard. He’s teased her and treated her like a child. Their relationship has never had romantic undertones and suddenly she’s supposed to jump in his pants after her entire life falls apart?

      This show has other male characters, but it’s hardly a reverse harem. There’s very little, if any, romance between her and the other characters. Why does everything have to boil down to be so simple?

      All I can guess is that the RandomC audience is mostly young males who aren’t interested in a shoujo series, much less a reverse harem (which it’s not, but what whatever, shallow perceptions). If it was a male harem show then the userbase would be all over it.

      The whole anime world doesn’t have to be centered on 15-25 year old males who want varying degrees of animated masturbation time. It’s OK to have different types of shows for different audiences.

      Tabscotch
    4. This anime is about more than Hak and Yona’s relationship and you are projecting entirely too much onto these characters.

      Their relationship isn’t nearly as simple as saying “I love you” and riding off into the sunset. She’s a deposed ruler and he’s a former servant who have both gone through a very tragic parting of ways. This show is also not a reverse harem as there isn’t any romance between her or the traveling companions. I don’t even know why this is a discussion point. People are really trying to lower this to the lowest possible denominator which I feel is grossly unfair to the series.

      This isn’t a dating sim and it’s not your way to vent your real life dating frustrations, either.

      This is the same site where half the userbase goes nuts over male harem shows because that’s just so awesome and realistic. More bouncing boobs! More fun! More pantsu!

      Honfrein
    1. @Ichigo

      Oooooh I didn’t know image links did that. That’s cool. 😀
      Non-spoiler, just manga detail
      Good catch! Manga chapter 12, page 13, says that it is indeed Soowon’s dad Yu-Hon in that image and it say he was the one who drove out the priests from the palace because he feared their check and balancing power. Yu-Hon gained the influence to do so when Yona’s grandpa waged an expansion war and Yu-hon distinguished himself in the military.

      Hair-related SPOILER
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Chloesong
  2. KAIRI! I was so worried. No problem about the longer wait, I thought you might have gotten sick or something. It sounds like you had a tough time, but I’m glad you’re okay. I hope your papers and exams went well! I’ve been looking forward to your AnY post. 🙂

    In regards to the episode itself, I’m still amazed at how accurately its adapted. Literally there are sequences that are just like the manga, only animated, and that’s awesome. I was a little disappointed with the “Voice of God” conveying, because for some reason I thought there would be a Morgan Freeman-esque overvoice reading the prophecy (also, I don’t know why but I imagined the prophecy would rhyme too lol :P). The storytelling with Yona and her dad more than made up for it. They are so precious ;_;.

    AnK is the anime I’m enjoying most consistantly this season. I love all the little jokes and details (like Yoon poking Hak’s ribs, Ik-soo getting tired from prophecyiing, Hak stealing food off Yoon, Hak perking up when Yona said she wants him not to die, Yona’s dad rustling her hair, Hak not wanting Yona to touch him carelessly, etc). I feel like it adds a lot of characterization in tiny ways.

    I’m a little confused by how the OP has the scene when King Hiryuu died and the 4 dragons are mourning. It looks like Yona is on the alter (based on my guess that the four near the altar in the OP are the current dragons), but that makes no sense to me, since it’s not a ceremonial altar. I follow the manga, but I don’t remember anything similar to “Yona on the altar with four mourning dragons” foreshadowing. Is it King Hiyruu or Yona in the OP?

    Glad your tech issues got solved. ^^

    Chloesong
    1. My apologizes to everyone. m(_ _;;;)m

      The part after “I’m a little confused by how …” up above was supposed to have a spoiler tag.
      For some reason the spoiler tag ( [spoiler] [/spoiler] using <><> instead of [] ) is not working for me (even when I use preview comment. Any suggestions?

      Chloesong
  3. Well, I can see the Hak’s train of thought here:
    “We can’t stay in one place for long, even in those mountains eventually the castle soldiers or Fire Tribe will find us. So if Yona wants to search for those mythical warriors so it be, after all it will be me picking the trails we will follow and I would be at least able to protect her…”
    He is also smart enough to see Yona actually having some combat skills would be helpful to him. Because for now his ego was writing checks his body was barely able to pay off…
    On the Yona side, I think she wants to find a new purpose in life, her previous one being shattered. So she grabbed the quest for the 4 dragon warriors as something that could drive her forward. I don’t think she’s even planning for what to do once she gaters all those individuals, but I presume that once she becomes a power to be reckoned with, destiny will find her anyway…
    Re; romantic stuff – forget it for now, Yona is working in “emergency mode” and her previous love just ended in a betrayal of highst magnitude, it will be some time before she even realizes why she really cares so much about Hak…

    https://randomc.net/image/Akatsuki%20no%20Yona/Akatsuki%20no%20Yona%20-%2007%20-%20Large%20Preview%2001.jpg
    in other news, want to cheer up a girl? get her some new clothes!

    ewok40k
      1. See it like my Naruto example. Naruto know how to use his normal Chi. But with the Fox inside him, and knowing of control Fox mana, he grown to the Boy we loved

        So, without teachings from someone, the power is just Raw force without guidance. So these decent of the Dragon bloodlines, must have been teaching from Father/Mother to Son/Girl of the bloodline. So they still need guidance. it is not a miracle “it is all hidden in the blood-cells!!” we saw in the past of other Animes so far. Even Hinata need her Daddy to teach her the Family secrets, like Sasuke’s Brother

        A Lion born outside of his Clan, do not know that he is a Lion. Someone has to show him to be one

        WorldwideDepp
      2. But if i give it a deeper thought, then they still can be there. These Dragon Warriors have infinity Lifespan, and can manipulate her/his aging to stay Young forever.

        That also can be a resolution, if they do not want Hawk to be a Hero Dragon Warrior.

        Play the immortal Card Senpai’s would be a good solution here

        WorldwideDepp
  4. I have to say – until now this has got to be one of the best adaptations I have seen. I dont mean the story – that has some flaws here and there, although I still like it very much and the characters are just awesome – but the adaptation itself.
    I have read the chapters until now in the manga, and every scene they added was actually an improvement – comparing Soo-Won and Hak in shooting arrows, the fire in the room of Yonas father, how Yona was taking as “hostage”, the battle-scene last episode, how she tried to throw away Soo-Wons present in this episode, the father reading the story of King Hiryuu and the way the prophecy was told by the priest…I normally dont like anime original stuff, but here someone really knows what they are doing. The music, the voices, the little “comic-scenes”, I really think it all fits. And they even improved the OP for this episode.

    Libélula
    1. Why would anyone downvote this? Is this just a pissing context because you don’t like the blogger?

      Hey, this guy likes the series. Let’s bury him in downvotes for the lulz. I mean, come on, how bitter can you get?

      Yota
  5. Wow…the hate in this post is really high, and most of it is pretty unjustified. I don’t see why this post and many others deserve so many down-votes, most of it just stems from hate for the show or kairi’s post, etc. Just because you don’t share the same opinion or dislike someone doesn’t mean you should indiscriminately downvote everything for no good reason. I’m pretty sure I’ll get downvoted for this to but whatever.

    On the other hand, these posts are making me pretty interesting in watching akatsuki no yona, seems like a solid shoujo adaptation with good storytelling, something that’s pretty rare to find, so I may give this a chance.

    chromenova
    1. I wouldn’t call it ”hate.” People simply want the right to freely express their opinions about the show w/out being made to feel like an idiot. Other RandomC bloggers don’t make a big deal about it. Kairi on the other had, turns into this big huge argument. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

      blue
      1. Nope, dont get me wrong. I am completely with you, that you have to be able to express your opinion. You know those “then dont watch it”-comments on Youtube? Everyone has his own opinion and is allowed to express it. But the downvotes concerning Kairis posts are getting waaaay ouf of hand. I never use the word -NEVER, but here, its just “hate”. And its not like Kairi has censored anything, but honestly? With this, Id really think about doing just that – thats also addressed to you, Kairi, the numbers especially in the first few comments seem strange to me. Its not that I like this kinda stuff, and Im always for hearing everyones opinion. But this is contraproductive, you cant talk about the show itself anymore because like chromenova said the hate is really high and some? people who appearently dont even watch the show are blowing the rating-system out of proportion – look at chloesongs comment.

        Ichnutzdieanonymitätumüberzeugenderzusein
      2. Hehe, yes I thought so;) And you probably arent the only one. And honestly – thats annoying. I dont mind you guys arguing against drama mode, but could you do so in the posts for a show I dont give a crap about? Maybe in Shigatsu blablabla? Or some of you guys make your own blog and use that to write about how annoying Kairis drama mode is. You can freely express yourself there.
        My name is f** stupid. Thats why I chose it. I just invented it right now to take part in this equally stupid argument. And ’cause I didnt want to invest too much time in thinking about a stupid name I could use to answer to stupid comments I simply chose a sentence. Ill change it as soon as all the hate crap is gone.
        Now dont get me wrong: I think your’re partly correct with your first comment and I like the honesty of your second one XD But this whole argument here is just annoying. I dont know if Kairis generally suppressing other opinions. But here, she just stated what she thought – although in a brusque way. And then people who apprearently cant stand not being talked to in a not so nice way and who cant jugde whos right or wrong are all about “meehmeeh other opinions are valid, too, you know?” Like I said I dont know if she does something you described regularly but here she didnt do it. So dont talk about it here but at those places where she actually does it. And some shouldnt upvote comments who say “other opinions are valid” and then downvote others because they were nice to Kairi. That behaviour is just so fuc*** dumb – in its literal sense. I dont think I should address the last bit to you though, since your comments actually made some sense.

        Ichnutzdieanonymitätumüberzeugenderzusein
      3. Yeah, I totally get where you’re coming from, Kairi does start a lot of arguments and I can see that it does get on one’s nerves after a while. However, it’s gotten to the point where nearly EVERY comment that tries to side or sympathize with kairi will get downvoted like crazy. Even comments where they are just genuinely praising the show or thanking kairi for posting will get downvoted…which is pretty unjustified.

        chromenova
      4. It’s fine to not like the blogger covering the series or whatever, but the comment section for AnY is never like this and it’s clear people are here on a vendetta against her. Just because this is the only series she’s blogging right now doesn’t mean we want to read all her hatemail on the weekly posts. Can’t you find a private way to harass her? One that doesn’t involve downvoting and harassing all the people who post on the show’s weekly recaps?

        I mean, I’m not talking to you in particular but the entirety of people who are here just to hate on Kairi. Even benign comments are sitting at multiple downvotes and people starting shit just to start shit.

        I like the show and I like discussing the show. Is it OK to make my experience miserable so guys can circlejerk over how much you hate Kairi?

        Well, miserable is a bit of an overstatement, but there’s virtually no reason to come here if all it’s going to be is shit talking.

        Also, this is a private website and the more likely outcome for all this trashtalking is a more censored comments section and less freedom to discuss things. RandomC doesn’t mind the drama because it brings in more pageviews, but they need their writers to do it and writers will be less willing to work if they’re going to be put out at the slaughterhouse every episode.

        GermanGirl
  6. My my, now they are on a Vendetta. Why not they let it slip? because she is a Bloger here and her name has more weight as ours? or because we know she is a proven Girl, and no Boy want to get scolded from a girl?

    How knows, there are many silly points. But as you can see. the troll free times of randomc is definitely over. Now we have here Swarm wannabe Cops, that ask 4chan buddy’s to fight for them

    Germanguy
    1. I think Hawk is playing with her, to show her the Real World of Emotions. Not the tempered Emotions in her Golden Cage, she know. No the real Emotions of Love, fear and resolution

      i do not think, he has a ill meaning behind his teasing of her. it is just to prepare her and give her a taste of new emotions for her, to avoid the outer world shock

      But i do think, that both share more then just childhood friends. but it is not easy to get out of this childhood love trap

      anyway, seems like hawk is there to keep her back save, so that she can focus on the way in front of her, she must walk. to save the peoples that are suffering, in the War that will come

      Short story. He is giving her little by little new emotions. Trust, Resolution, Admiration (for now), Leader skills. he is more then a Bodyguard now. A person she can depend now

      WorldwideDepp
    2. ^ Shoujo reasons. Story ‘reasons’ aside*, Guy and girl can’t get together– all the romance and interesting conflict comes from not being together, longing, and third party distractions getting together / breaking up ad nauseum.

      Once they’re together… that appeal is lost, and it isn’t a story about young people in their bloom, but adults dealing with adult issues (like babies, and diaper changes, and family conflicts, etc). They cannot get together because the medium would lose their targetted audience.

      *These reasons are made up to support the bigger issue of telling a specific story and retaining an audience type in order to stay in business. Sometimes they work well within the framework of the overall story, and sometimes they’re ass-pulls.

      Drasca
      1. Maybe .. just maybe … It’s because not long ago the love of her life murdered her father and was going to kill her as well and she had to run for her life? Don’t you think that would put a damper on wanting a romantic relationship!

        Scruffy
  7. Thank you for the review, Kairi! (*^_^*) Akatsuki no Yona is my favorite of this season, so I’m really happy to see that it has been picked up by several reviewers I follow, including you. As a manga reader, I’ve seen my fair share of comments about how Yona is dense and doesn’t deserve Hak’s affection, since she doesn’t understand/reciprocate his advances. I agree wholeheartedly with your comment that she’s too busy thinking about survival (which is more important than anything else right now) to wonder about the meaning behind Hak’s actions, and I really don’t think it’s realistic to expect her to return his feelings anytime soon (even if she realizes it), especially after the traumatic incident at the castle. Yona has considered Hak a close friend ever since childhood, and he has never shown any sign that he was romantically interested in her until now, so I’m not surprised that she thought he was just kidding.
    Yona just needs more time to get her own feelings sorted out. Once her life becomes steadier and she grows more mature, I think she’ll be ready to move on to a new romance. Hak’s not expecting Yona to return his love right now because he understands that she’s still conflicted (or at least, that’s what I think). So I don’t see why part of the audience feels like Yona needs to accept him immediately.
    (Ugh English is not my first language and I’m not too good at expressing myself with it, so I hope I got my point across?)

    Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading your post for the next episode, Kairi! ^^

    Hiyori
  8. Hollly crap, the comments sections just went to hell.

    I will admit, I find it amusing that apparently harem shows are drooled at on RandomC’s other show threads, but heavens forfend there’s the slightest hint of a reversal – even though, I do realize Akatsuki isn’t a bonafide reverse harem. It just loves to toe the line, in my opinion.

    As to the episode – definitely slower after last week’s, but still staying very true to the manga. Loved the teasing scene. It felt a bit stiff/stilted though, compared to when reading it…but that could be more just me, I will admit.

    Sekaya
  9. Wow the comment section is so ugh… I don’t understand where people are getting you are trying to enforce your opinion onto others -_- We are simply having a conversation where we disagree with what someone else has said about the series I don’t understand why people are seriously attacking you these days especially after shi gatsu wa kimi no uso incident.

    But your right Kairi, Yona does not owe Hak to reciprocate his feelings even though its clear as day that he has been in love with her for years!!!! Plus Yona first love has ended in the most horrible way imaginable it will take time for her to even consider falling in love again. Right now I’m happy she is taking the initiative to fight for both Hak and her lives by looking for the dragons. Also I want to bring up the prophecy Ik-soo mentioned that after the four dragons are gathered the sword and the shield shall appear to assist the king and the red dragon will rise again. I wonder if the sword and the shield are either objects or living beings?

    I seriously love all the things that the anime is adding to the series like Yona struggle with the hair clip, her father telling the story of the dragons, etc let’s keep this rhythm going!!

    As for Hak there are times that I seriously want to give him a bro hug lol but I find it so admirable that putting his love for Yona aside Hak is an extremely kind person, strong, witty, loyal, and will always have your back when shit gets real. It is rare to see a character these days so sure of himself~~~~

    hoshi
    1. @Petit Orengi,
      I’m going to assume you aren’t a troll and answer seriously (since I like talking about AnY anyway 🙂 )

      When I first started following AnY, to be honest I didn’t have high expectations for it. It looked like a typical harem story, and with the cliched plot of the damsel in distress toughening up by cutting her hair. However, even though there were cliches, I felt that it was done stylishly and effectively. Yona started out as a damsel (and arguably she still is one for the most part), but it made sense. Her personality isn’t all that rotten for a helplesss princecess. Rather as someone once put it, she’s pampered and ignorant, but not spoiled. You can see the start of her growth in this episode when she talks to Yoon and realizes that she didn’t even know what was going on within the palace where she spent her whole life. You can sense that she feels her own limitations and is frustrated by them, and not satisfied with being just helpless and reliant. She wants to change.

      AnK in a way is a coming-of-age story, comparable to a typical shonen RPG. Yona’s been like a frog living in a well. She’s unwillingly put into a situation where she’s forced out of her small safe priviliged world and confronted by betrayals, politics, and harsh conditions. In terms of progression I guess it’s kinda like how in a RPG, the normal boy leaves his small hometown, collects friends, and later faces the Big Bad. AnK has that kinda of feeling for me, except (and this could be argued) its a little questionable whether Soo-won is the final boss since Yona loves/has a big crush on him so much.

      I’m not saying AnK is perfect. It has its flaws, like being too predicatable, a little convenient, and overall conventional. But I enjoy the rich fantasy historical-setting, emphathic and rememberable characters, stylish art, and dramatic moments.

      For me I follow AnK because it’s like wheat bread. For the most part, I know what I’m getting, it’s a little ordinary, but it’ll fulfilling and satisying. Other anime/mangas I follow are more like spicy curry, it’s thrilling, fantasic, addicting, but sometimes I get tired of it or when it’s not as good, sorely disappointed. I’m interested in what happens to Yona, finding out why Soo-won threw everything away, if Hak gets a happy ending, etc. I feel invested the Wind Tribe and sorry that Yona’s dad was killed (he seemed like a good guy).

      Sorry TLDR; post here haha. Conclusion: To quote Korra from this week ““It’s just a mover, don’t overthink it, it’s like a ride”. I follow it because I enjoy it. if you don’t enjoy this ride after giving it a chance, you don’t have to force yourself to stay on. 🙂

      Ps. Last note about the reverse harem, for me personally, I don’t really feel that AnK’s main draw is the reverse harem. As long the Soo-won, Hak, and Yona triangle remained the same , I feel that the story would have been equally interesting if Yoon had been a girl for example. Animanga like Ouran for example, if the Host Club included (more) girls, that would have significantly changed the plot which is really geared toward “lots of guys and one girl”. I feel that AnK’s draw is different from that, but that’s my own opinion and I might unintentionally have just burned some BL ships while saying this. I guess for fujoshi the male to female ratio would matter @_@

      Again, apologizes for the wall of text. I would use a spoiler cut to save room. Spoller tags seem to be broken for me. m( _ _) m

      Chloesong
      1. About reverse-harem:
        Pointing it out directly made me realize there are literally no other young women in this story besides Yona. They don’t exist. There are old women, and there are children, but no other young women besides Yona. No teenagers, no cousins, nothing. She’s the only one.

        I would’ve argued slightly against reverse-harem, like you.. but considering no other women exist in the story (at all)… it is definitely a female led harem. AnY isn’t only a harem show, it has other elements, but I think it is definitely a harem show. Other harems have other elements too, fantasy or science fiction, with action and plot (sometimes). . . but since Yona’s the only girl in existence right now she’s definitely a harem lead.

        Drasca
      2. To continue the conversation AnK is also very well written compared to its predecessors (Fushigi Yugi for example) the story is not introducing fully defined characters and instead were giving the treat of watching them grow as characters and becoming better individuals then when we first met them. I would argue that Yona is a unique character in the sense that she realizes her limitations which absolutely frustrates her because she wants to be able to stand on equal ground with Hak in order to be able to protect him. All the characters in the series are complex and have multi-facets to their personalities that you as the audience are not entirely aware what they are thinking but to an extent can understand why they have made certain decisions in the series.

        As for the flaws in the series to be honest I can’t say if they are any because so far we have been introduced to one puzzle piece that the series keeps hinting at will solve the riddle. As for the manga to be frank I have absolutely no idea how this series will end considering the current situations in the manga. The beauty about the series is that it always drops hints to the bigger pictures which makes you want to come back for more.

        So I respectfully disagree with you Chloesong but I’m all about a good hearted discussion for this series.

        hoshi
      3. @Drasca
        Well you certainly wanted to drive home this harem thing didnt you? XD
        And you’re right, but until now, I dont see that as the main focus of the show. Id say fantasy/adventure is more the more important part than the harem thing. So imo its the
        other way round – its a fantasy with harem elements not a harem with fantasy elements;)

        Libélula
      4. @Drasca
        Hmmm wow! Until you mentioned it, I didn’t realize there are (so far any way) no other young women whatsoever. That blows my mind. Although we didn’t meet many characters yet, it is really surprising. So I would completely agree with you that AnK is and can only be considered, as you said, “a female led harem.” I would even joke that it is a female-led harem because there is literally no competition. xD;;

        And I also agree with Libélula that AnK “is a fantasy with harem elements, not a harem with fantasy elements”.

        But to be honest, I would say it has enough reverse-harem elements to make AnK not everyone’s cup of tea. I recommended AnK to my brother, but he hesitated saying it reminded him of Fushigi Yugi ^^;

        Chloesong
    2. Maybe because it’s a great series with interesting characters and a nice story?

      If you don’t like the series, why are you trashtalking in the comment section? I feel like RandomC’s userbase is the absolute worst here lately. Young angry men who want more shounen or ecchi shows and anything but that is just constantly complained about.

      This show isn’t a harem anime and anyone who thinks so clearly hasn’t read the manga or paid much attention to any of the story other than they saw multiple guys and a girl on the cover art. It’s really sad that people’s attention spans are so low that they can’t appreciate a series that’s not moe moe kawaii sugoi girls or Sword Art Online VIII-2.

      SweetTacks
  10. so, can we now leave the Trolling and personal attacks on the Posters here aside, and talk about the things we all enjoy? About Anime?

    It would be awesome, if all our hearts would fell again the Joy from our bellowed Animes.

    Let us make it happen, mina-san. And let the dark needels not eat our ray of Joy inside our hearts

    WorldwideDepp
  11. Man, this comment section sucks.

    AnY is not a harem show. There is romance between three characters which is Yona, Hak, and Soo-Won. That’s it.

    You can’t define it as a harem show just because there’s not a lot of young women in this show. In fact, there’s not a lot of characters period outside of Yona and the crew. You meet very few characters you care about or notice throughout the manga as it is currently focused more on finding the dragons. If the show was all men, would it be a gay harem? If Yona was romancing up some of the other dragons, it would be different. This isn’t that type of story and people who allude to it being so either haven’t read the manga or read a totally different manga than I did.

    Even so, this comment section is godawful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much anger and downvotes on any RC post. What’s up with that?

    If you don’t like the show, just don’t visit the weekly posts. There’s anime out there for everyone, and maybe AnY isn’t your thing. That’s fine. But honestly, some of you are just being total jerks for no reason.

    YouGuysAreAwful
  12. Good god. This is not the appropriate place to vent your friendzone anger issues or your hatred towards the blogger. There’s no point and it’s annoying to those of us who actually follow and enjoy the show.

    People feel like they have the right to say anything and everything wherever they go on the internet, but that’s not the case. The whole internet is not 4chunz. In some places, you are expected to behave with a reasonable amount of courtesy and not be a total jerkaround whenever you feel like it. This is a great way to make RandomC more censored, not less. You’re like overworked children who have no idea how to express themselves in an appropriate way so you just rant and rave and hope someone listens.

    Bring on the downvotes, they tickle me in a special place.

    FemtKampft
  13. So I’m pretty sure your voting system is being abused/manipulated as I’ve seen several comments jump 15+ votes at a time, all at once, at random parts of the night. To add to the suspicious behavior, the votes are jumping by the same amount across multiple comments.

    Congratulations! If you actually care enough to use a downvote script on an anime blog website, congratulations, you really have no life.

    Sletch
    1. You do realize that RandomC has an international audience? I know some here who are from Germany and other parts of Europe, and also from various places in Asia. Your ”random parts of the night” is a morning or afternoon to others. Just wanted to point that out.

      lesley
      1. Sure, but for the past three nights I saw several comments jump the exact same amount of votes every night at around the same time which is highly unlikely. Vote manipulation on this website is extremely easy. It’s not the first time that it’s happened but it’s one of the most noticeable.

        Sletch
  14. Allow me to write this down.

    Akatsuki no Yona, when i found you here on RandomC.net, with Episode 5. I am now happy to walking the same path as you. I want to see your (the) World

    (Episode 8 insider)

    Please entertain me from now on

    p.s. How many Episodes is there? From the pacing i guess around 24. Right?

    WorldwideDepp
    1. @Kairi

      Do not worry, you still have your trustful AnimeBlog Fans. Please continue to write for us. With your Bloggin i found this unpolished Gem, and make it my own. Thank you for your free time to bring me this enjoyment

      WorldwideDepp

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