A review by kthedestroyer
Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 14 by Mizuho Kusanagi
adventurous
dark
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The pit of SPOILERS awaits beyond this point!
This volume was pretty damn good, guys. It’s centered around the water tribe and the drug dealing business going around there and the story is very good, even if the humor is tuned down a bit (especially in the last two chapters).
Still, this volume has a lot of the plot going around Jae-ha who wants to go to a brothel with Hak (and Hak of course declines his offer) and then he lets those girls drug him even though he freaking knows they’re drugging him. But then we just get the most wholesome moment when Jae-ha is under the influence of drugs and Hak doesn’t let Yona or Yun in the room because he knows that Jae-ha wouldn’t want them to see him in this condition. Also Hak punched Jae-ha because he wanted him to vomit out the poison and I just think that’s hilarious. Oh, and I’m not done talking about Jae-ha. When he wakes up the others literally knock him out again and tie him up so he wouldn’t make trouble for them. Comedy gold.
There is also a new character in this volume named Riri who is the daughter of the water tribe general and she’s really cool. I like how she wants to help her tribe by coming to this village and wanting to find out what’s going on with that drug. This also leads to some great moments she shares with Yona, one of which being when Yona punches the person who was trying to hurt Riri and then Hak accuses Jae-ha that it was his fault because he’s a terrible influence. There are also other compelling moments that steam from their friendship, such as Hak telling Yona to learn how to be more feminine from Riri, the girls having a bath together and also Yona fighting that dealer dude with self-esteem issues and inspiring Riri to be more like her in the process.
Even though the comedy is turned down a notch in this volume, I think the story is too strong for me not to give it 5 stars. It’s not like comedy is completely absent because just look at all the hilarious moments we get from Jae-ha but the plot is definitely the priority here.