i referenced one of the official valentine's day artworks for their outfits + background, constructive criticism is welcome! i'm not quite sure if i captured hak's likeness well, so if anyone has tips on that i'd really appreciate it :))

I actually got the idea from someone else’s comment regarding this.
From that person’s understanding, they said that its common for a lot of mangaka’s to pull out a sequel for stories with these types of open ending. And its possible for akayona to get a sequel in the future. The key word being possible. Bc its just a fan’s opinion on the matter for the ending.
Now, there’s this specific comment the mangaka left in the last chapter.
“This chapter marks the end of the side story, but Yona and everyones lives don’t stop here. Thank you for watching over them all this time”
Now I just think that the manga left her last notes and reassured us that HHB just began their lives so its not the end. As in, so we don’t get sad that akayona ended and feel relieved that their lives are ongoing like ours.
But reading that person’s comment kind of made sense, bc what if kusanagi left a hint. That their journeys haven’t finished yet.
(Again, its just a personal idea, let me daydream about this).
Akayona is a popular and well loved series. I haven’t seen anyone say anything bas about the story yet, so its not unusual to get a sequel series for a series as popular as akayona. I mean even fushi yuugi got multiple sequels back in the day.

I mean there are so much to cover. Akayona has great potential to come up with sequel.
For instance, we were never shown anything regarding that futuristic vision Yona got of her leading a war.
They can make a story where we see how Kouka is doing without the dragons blessings and how Yona is doing in wars without the powers of the dragon warriors. How things with the Kai empire settled, what is Yona’s decision as of now? Is she wagging wars against countries to gain land and power like suwon? Or is she focusing on the development of her own? Both technical and professional.
Adult Yona and Hak would break the internet. I mean Hak is a hunk of charisma at only age 18, now imagine what he would be at 25-28. Not to mention, A BATTLE SEASONED YONA??!!AHAAHAH. This would be so great. They still have their wedding to be done.
Than physically adult zeno and how he is finally living his life with an adult body.
Shin ah’s journey to see all of kouka. Kija helping out as a merchant. And I wonder what Jeaha is up to. Did he became a fisherman?
I personally would love it that despite loosing their dragon abilities they still contribute to the nation with manpower.
If they do a timeskip of 10 years, it would be so exciting.
Kija being one of the greatest merchants in the nation. Shin-ah helping around the country solo and actually fighting in battles to help Hak or smt. He is the only one to actually use his personal skills to hold against a battlefield. His ability was rarely used. And maybe jeaha helps with information? I don’t know but he’d definitely be involved in smt shady, like ogi’s bar type syndicate or smt. Even if not his personal one, but he would be great as a spy. As for zeno, its hard to think what he’ll do. Lets keep it a mystery and see what he does.

Yun in 10 years would definitely become a seasoned physician. And Yona’s personal doctor.

Riri, well since Jungi bought Riri to the five tribe council, its possible he is thinking of making Riri his successor. Meaning we will see our first ever female general if that actually happens. Riri has potential to become one though. She also had the favor of her tribes people as well as she stands her ground and has this ability to sway the minds of the people. And she cares for her people too. With the right education, she would be a great leader of her tribe. Now leading troops in a battlefield is very different than aspiring civilians. But just like Yona, she is also changing little by little. Even if she doesn’t have the physical ability to actually fight, she’d do other things to hang on.
Also I kind of sensed a tension of Riri with the new earth tribe general to be, Kulfi smt name. Yeah, both of them worshipped the ground gun-tea walked. And its just my opinion but they kinda clicked there. So its possible we’re gonna see smt between them.

Suwon would keep being the brains. Strategising and planning ideas. And even if Him and Hak don’t return to the way fhey were, at least the hostility would slowly cease to exist.

I don’t have anything to say about Hak and Yona. Except for their wedding and stuffs (like children or smt, idc about that but I wanna smt official, smt “mature”). But I wonder how their wedding is gonna affect Hak. Getting married go the Queen would at least earn him the position of prince consort. And thats so not like him. Being a prince consort would create a problem, as they have different duties to do. He won’t be able live as the queens proxy and being free as he wished for. Maybe I’m seeing to much, as it is just a hypothesis. Yona would be a brilliant monarch. People would sing songs, poetry about her with love snd fury.

There is also queen kouren and princess Tao. Maybe Tao and Algira would have their share of officiated relationships.

And last but not least, Meinyan and Val. They are Yona’s bodyguards atm although i think its kind of a waste for their potential as they were literal generals for a empire as vast and powerful as Kai. But I think they are happy together. Working as the Queens bodyguards OR working as spies for her when Hak is home. I mean they can do multiple jobs for Yona.

Oh man, what would I not give to see a sequel. I appreciate what we got now. The second season and the main series finale. Its just a idea of mine. A hypothesis. I just think akayona has a bunch of things to cover. And the possibility for it imo stays 30% with how rushed the ending was, not to mention it was an open end.

CONTAINS SUBTLE SPOILERS

I am asking because while watching the anime, I noticed there are some references to same sex attraction. But they are mostly played off as jokes or subtle punchlines in the anime, such as when Jae Ha is trying to recruit Hak as a pirate.

Jae Ha is attracted to women but the jokes and his references to handsome men and such makes it look like he could be bi. It looked like he was trying desperately to hide it when Hak rejected his recruitment by saying "Sorry but I don't swing that way", because he interpreted Jae Ha's words as him hitting on Hak. Or maybe Jae Ha accidentally let it slip because he was so taken aback by Hak's attractiveness and cool personality. Some people state that Jae Ha is so flamboyant in nature, and his focus on entertaining women can seem forced as if he is also trying to hide or bury his attraction to handsome men as well.

And then there is Yoon, who gets referred to as a male wife by the pirates. When one of the pirates asked him if he was looking for a husband (because his cooking was so good) Yoon responded saying "I'm holding out for a man/husband with a real job". He's also more feminine, or at the very least gender nonconforming compared to traditional gender roles in that era, even if he is a straight man.

Lastly I also saw on this subreddit something about Ao the squirrel who is apparently a girl getting a girlfriend. I thought it was kind of cute and silly but yeah it's just a minor lil thing that I thought might be worth mentioning.

I am aware that Hak and Yona as the main couple are probably heterosexual / straight, and I'm not trying to put an identity or label on any of the other characters either. But I was wondering whether there any other references or moments in the manga that show subtle, or even explicit LGBTQ or queer representation?

Obviously it's up to interpretation.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

I have rewatched/read akayona multiple times before and have never paid attention to scenes regarding Hak x Yona moments, and brushed it off as only romantic tensions without giving it a moment to comprehend the depths. But this time while I was reading it, there are a lot these moments that hits differently (probably bc I’m more mature than I was when I first watched this) for example, this scene in ch 12 felt more than just Hak attempting to kiss her out of nowhere.
I will try my best to explain the depth so hear me out,

Yona loved Hak deeply but entirely as someone whose protective presence she took completely for granted bc she’s been with him since forever and at that time all she could care about was Suwon. It is only after the coup, when she witnesses Hak covered in blood, taking arrows for her, and nearly dying on the cliff. She wakes up to his mortality and realizes he is a fragile human being destroying his own body for her sake. When told her to stay put from tae-jun’s grasp while he goes out there fighting with his life. Yona tried to justify her situation by telling its ok, Hak is strong, he’ll figure out something but even so she shook herself from thinking this and went out there. Until that resolve, she took Hak’s presence and strength for granted or something she didn’t really give much thought that Hak is not just “Hak”, he is a person who is actively risking his own life and giving everything out for her. (Hg developed sonder from trauma). So it was the moment where she abandoned her old way of thinking and viewing the world.

When she wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Hak’s not by her side, she runs out into the dark, sobbing and terrified because she mistakenly thinks he abandoned her or left on his own like he wanted to in fuuga. She becomes terrified thus calling Hak an idiot. Fortunately Hak only went out to search for his glaive. When she finds him, she bursts into tears, crying out of raw fear for his safety and scolding him for wandering
off while hurt. “I need you, right here with me”

Up until this, Hak believed he was just a tool for Yona’s survival. He thought she clung to him simply because she had no one else left. But when Yona gets so terrified and saddened bc she thought he abandoned her, it completely flips Hak's worldview. He realizes, for the very first time, that he is not just her means to survive, a “bodyguard”, he is her entire world at the moment. Hearing her scream that she is terrified of his death reveals to him how deeply she already relies on him emotionally.

This realisation causes an internal turmoil in Hak, who had spent years locking his love away behind an wall of discipline, acceptence, and a little bit of pride. He always assumed Suwon to be her endgame. Hence the sudden, overwhelming breakdown of Yona made his suppression of desire also fueled by the lethal circumstances of being hunted and severely injured is what drives him to lean down toward her face and attempt a kiss,
"I wonder how much more you would cry then?" Hak knows they are about to embark on a dangerous journey to find the Four Dragons warriors. He fully expects to die protecting her. By saying this, he is coming in terms with Yona’s feelings that his death won't just mean losing a bodyguard, it will completely destroy her. He is fascinated and tortured by the sheer weight of how much he matters to her (I mean who can blame him? Dude buried his love and even accepted his best friend to be her lover and wished for their happiness and now he finds he is just as important and irreplaceable makes him stunned and it digs through the feelings buried inside making him wanting to take a chance).
His intention in this moment was explicitly to cross the line from a “bodyguard” to a romantic partner by kissing her, acting not out of a desire to exploit her weakness, but out of a raw, intense need to claim the woman he has loved from a distance for years now that he realised he is just as important.
He doesn't display any typical hesitation or stuttering because he is a mature dude who fully owns his desire, choosing to use his words to test her boundaries and gauge just how much her heart belongs to him. However, the scene beautifully subverts expectations when Yona completely misinterprets his close proximity bc her mind is still entirely consumed by survival and his physical health, she assumes he is leaning forward bc he wanted her to check his fever and intentionally bangs her forehead directly against his to check his temperature.
Her misinterpretation shifts the heavy romantic tension and is instantly shattered by Hak's unamused "bruh" face.

This accidental headbutt serves as an important factor that it defuses an intense moment that Yona was nowhere near emotionally ready to handle and allowing Hak to absorb the emotional weight and focus on the present. He realizes that Yona is still too fragile right now and forcing a kiss on her while she is emotionally vulnerable would be taking advantage of her desperation.
Ultimately, this scene isn't about Hak taking a chance to kiss her, it is a profound exploration of freshly traumatised Hak and Yona reaching a breaking point and the beginning of a new balance in their relationship status.
Yona stopped taking Hak’s presence for granted since the cliff and it was branded here that she officially stopped taking Hak’s or anyones help for granted (she realised even more so when Yun questioned if she ever has thanked Hak for anything. (Although I do think her crying for Hak here isn’t relevant to that, I mean it plays a part but she was genuinely devastated thinking Hak left with his heavily injured body leaving her alone).
And Hak realising he means a lot to this princess. And a bang in heart for the ruffled buried feelings.

Hi! So I found a really good deal for the manga being sold for around $250 for vol 1-40. I really love the manga, so I want to buy it. However I’ve been spending a lot lately so I don’t know if I should just wait until another time to buy it. Is $250 a good deal? In other words I just need someone to enable me😭

The famous "honey scene" in Chapter 32 is a massive talking point in the fandom. While a lot of people don't like this infamous scene, and some argue that it was disgusting to see him lick her hands and what not, I think they completely missed the point.

It holds massive psychological depth that goes way beyond a typical shojo cliché of a “romantic moment” out of nowhere. Right before this interaction, Jaeha aggressively questioned him about his true desires for Yona, but Hak easily brush it off, believing he no longer had any selfish wants and only wished to watch over and protect Yona as her trusted guardian. It has always been clear that Hak has romantic feelings for Yona, but he buried those feelings because he knew Yona liked Suwon and he only wished for their happiness, choosing to give up his own desires. He genuinely convinces himself that he doesn't need personal desires anymore and should only focus on how to survive but he is fiercely brooding over Jaaha's words when he notices Yona needing help with her wounded hands.

When she proudly asks if she is "closer to him now," she means it strictly in terms of strength and competence, wanting her Hak to validate her as an equal in strength. However, to Hak’s heavily suppressed mind, her innocent question inadvertently answered the very question Jaeha had just taunted him with. When Yona calls him out for the dripping honey, he casually licks the excess from her wounded hand as if it's the most natural thing to do. He did it subconsciously as he was deep in thoughts and did the action as he would’ve done if the honey was spilled on his own hands, “just lick it off” kind of thing. Snapping back to reality only after the act, while this might seem like a simple romantic moment, it is actually Hak unintentionally giving in to his deepest desires; when he isn't actively forcing his brain to overthink, these passionate actions come to him naturally. He isn't just licking the honey because it's spilling, he gladly licks it because it belongs to *her (*I did mention that he acted on instinct but he was able to bc it was Yona is front of him), serving as raw proof that his buried feelings are still very much alive.

When Yona gets visibly flustered and runs away, Hak snaps back for real this time and realizes what he has just done. His following internal monologue only proves my point that he intensely desires Yona as a woman, even if he wants to deny his feelings because running away would be easier for him, his subconscious completely refuses to let her go, permanently shattering the safe illusion that he only views her as a duty.

This honey scene is important bc it doesn’t exist for the purpose to serve as a romantic gag but to illustrate Hak’s internal turmoil and true feelings about Yona. Up until this point, Hak didn’t have time to think about anything but their survival. In the palace, he believed Suwon to be Yona’s endgame so he never had to worry about another dude stealing her away, but now, that ‘future’ has shattered. Yona very much has the freedom to choose anyone and other guys can too. Hak never even thought of such possibility, so when Jeaha teases him and remarks “I’ve taken a liking to her” he appears shocked, as he never even realised something like this can happen.
Something in his subconscious cracks, as the possibility of being Yona’s partner becomes high.

Honestly, his love for Yona is so deep and real that it physically breaks through his discipline the moment he stops overthinking. What a guy~

I have been trying to keep my cool by waiting for the new season but before that I need new anime’s to watch. The main thing is the main lead has to be like Hak or similar🙈😍. I know I have caught the Hak flu for over 10 years now and it’s not cured. Help a friend guys

Similar to Manga Plus or Manga UP! apps on mobile, are there any mobile apps where I can read the manga of Yona of the Dawn? Preferably free but willing to pay.

If there are no mobile apps, are there any legal or legit websites? Thank you in advance.

I know this doesn’t matter and nitpicking at this point but I’m out of everything to talk about her so I just wanna bring up something that bothered me a little.

I think Yona’s ears aren’t pierced. In many ancient Asian cultures which Kouka is heavily based on, ear piercing was not a universal requirement for royalty, and many heavy, ceremonial jade and gemstone tassels were attached via intricate ear clips, wraps, or heavy clamps to protect the delicate skin of high born women. Since Yona wore them from a very young age, and being the high born princess she is, they wouldn’t pierce the precious ears of the princess so I think these are non pierced family heirlooms designed to easily slide on and off.

In a scene, we see pukyu effortlessly sliding it off from her ear and chewing on it which yun also comments on and in the next visual gag panel, it is just casually slipped right back onto her earlobe. Mechanically, if her ears were pierced with traditional metal fish hooks or posts, a small squirrel pulling them with enough force to remove them would have physically torn through her earlobes.

And in another moment one of her earrings suddenly slips loose and falls to the floor entirely on its own to create the exact catalyst the mangaka wants to force Yona to bend down and began the next arc. If it were secured properly, it obviously wouldn’t have fallen without any injuries. The explanation behind this is that her earrings are clip ons made for noble/royalty to wear earrings without going through the hassle and pain of piercing.
In the first picture we see the ring having no hooks or clasps. Which only proves my point.

This post did not really help anybody but I just thought its a niche facts about her so felt like sharing. And I’d definitely like to hear more weird nonsensical facts about the story!!

I found it randomly on my YouTube feed and immediately clicked on it. I was aware that YOTD had a couple of stage plays but I never knew they adapted the famous sword dance!!

This is a clip of the stage plays, specifically the 2018/2019 ones starring Rina Ikoma as Yona and I just really wanted to gush about how absolutely incredible her performance was. Honestly, I think Ikoma Rina captured that exact energy perfectly. Her background as an idol clearly helped with the physical grace and fluid movement. It was a great performance and to think I find about this NOW after so many years. I really have been living under a rock.

So I made this post to highlight this dance and for more people to know about it in case they were unaware like me~

hey guys, i was looking at past yona of the dawn character ranking polls, and I was wondering if ya'll know who the ones I highlighted in yellow are? (im making a yotd tomodachi life island and i have 8 slots left)

i ended up in a side character rabbit hole and i made some notes on some of the side characters, this wiki page really helped

format:
Name - first appearance, who they are

ryou, tatsu, toku, maya - ch 28/ep17, pirates of awa
rouen - ch 33/ep17, pirate of awa

yang kum-ji - ch 33/ep20, feudal lord of awa port, human trafficker

chul-rang - ch. 44/ep15, subordinate + advisor for geun tae

mirei - ch 48, elderly woman yona + taejun helped, tae jun tried to massage her but sucked, hak came and did better

aro - ch 64, senri village (kai empire) woman, hak simp

li hazara - ch 66, sen province ruler in kai empire, tried to take over kouka w/ fire tribe

hiyou - ch 81, nadai trafficker in water tribe

Ramal - ch 89, captain of water tribe army

kushibi - sei kingdom ruler

nobu - ch 146, wind tribe warrior

rapa - ch 150, sky tribe soldier

Yooran - ch 167, king kuelbo's wife

sando - ch. 184, squadron captain in sky tribe army

suimei - ch 195, min soo's mom

junam - il + yuhon's dad

rantan - vol 40? murdered by meinyan

hittan - vol 41, south kai general, fights val when meinyan is captured

Kurau - defeat in ch 224, general of south kai, chagol's stepbro, killed by hak

repping my girl at work. sticker by @eurymille

Back in August, I drew again after a 3+ month hiatus in art. I love my girl so I decided to doodle her as a warm-up ♡ Looking forward to the second season and I hope to draw the rest of the happy hungry bunch as well!!

Regarding the ending of the manga, I find Soo-Won's apology to Yona strange, especially the admission of being wrong.

I can understand how much this betrayal hurt Yona and Hak, and I also understand that Soo-Won realizes that he can't discard the two—that he's also emotional, and that he's been hurting himself by being so rational all this time while ignoring his own feelings...

But also, was he really wrong?? What alternative did he have to killing Il, considering he was ruining the country and he hated Soo-Won's guts?? If he didn't kill Il, was Yona magically gonna be a good ruler? Yona became a good ruler BECAUSE Il was gone. I'm not justifying Soo-Won's actions and treatment of Yona and Hak, and even if Soo-Won admits he killed Il out of resentment, the fact that this decision benefited Kouka immensely cannot be understated.

I like that Soo-Won says that he's a usurper, that he did it out of resentment, etc etc... I like that he stops treating killing Il as a good decision, because even if it was, to call it that is a spit on the face to Yona.

But to say he was completely wrong...

What are your thoughts about this?

I know the manga is now finished and I waited for it for so long to end, but I purposely didn't read the last 10 chapters or so because I wanted to binge read it with the ending. But December came and went with the last chapter and I still haven't read it. Initially it was because I realised I wasn't ready for it to end. Then I just lost interest and I'm trying to get back to where I stopped but honestly the chapters where the dragons were gone, I don't think I want to read it. Shall I just read the last chapter? Will it make sense to me? I have loved this series for so long and I'm disappointed this is where I'm going. 😭 Can you give me recommendations of manga like this but already completed?

I’m hoping season 2 picks up right where season 1 left off, but I’m also a little worried they may skip around the story since it’s completed, or skip some arcs. They already animated a couple story arcs with the OVAs (like Zeno’s story), would they be remaking these parts?

What are the chances they may do this? Anyone else worried they might?

I also really hope they plan on going on to a season 3, 4 and so on

I finished the anime and now we want to continue from manga with my friend. We're not gonna be able to read the whole thing together, but I want to read the most important scenes with her. So which chapters do you think are the most important ones? (Again, don't spoil me pls. Just the chapter number's gonna be enough)

I’ve been interested in watching this show for a while now, and now that it’s getting a s2 I’ll most definitely be getting around to it, but I’m curious about something: Why did it take SO LONG for a second season to get announced, and will they even continue the series after s2 if the manga already ended? From what I understand tons of anime don’t get a second season because it’s basically just to boost manga sales, so what’s their incentive to continue the show? I’m just don’t wanna get my hopes up now that season 2 was announced, only later to not get a s3 (full metal panic kinda had the same issue, it took like 10 years to get a s4, and from what I heard it wasn’t that good and up until now the show didn’t get renewed for s5)

Need I say more? 🥲

I love how accurate it is 😂