Yona of the Dawn is one of my favorite anime I've watched in recent times. I try not to judge an anime before I finish it, but halfway through I thought "I'm going to give this a 10, aren't I?" And sure enough, upon finishing it, I was even more strongly convinced it deserved a 10 (and a second season).Link to MALGenres: Action/Adventure/Comedy/Fantasy/Romance/ShojouLength: 24 episodesPlot: Surprisingly, MAL does a pretty decent job of summing up the anime. The title also puts the emphasis on the right place (or, rather, person): Yona. What this show boils down to is Yona's journey, and her growth as a character. Everything that happens--from when she leaves the castle to her journey to gather the four legendary dragons--facilitates Yona's growth. This isn't to say the show has a weak plot; on the contrary, I found all the arcs compelling and interesting. I just appreciated them for what they did for character development, not just moving the story forward.Characters: This is one of the strongest points of the Yona of the Dawn. Yona isn't the same person in Episode 24 as she is in Episode 1--not even close. She goes from nearly insufferable (cute, but a serious brat) in the first episode to being one of my favorite female characters across any medium by the end of the show. She's a "strong" character, but not in the "emotionless robot who's a great fighter" kind of "strong" character that females often get relegated to. Yona shows that you can be frail, you can cry, but you can still be strong. And I love her for it.This isn't to disparage the other characters. I love that the antagonist is left up the air--you'll likely assume that he's entirely evil at first, but by the end you might have a different idea. Is he right? Misguided? Blinded by power? What are his true intentions? I think it's great to have an opposing power that isn't just flat-out, simplistically evil. Those people exist in real life, but they're rarer than complex people who might do bad things but justify that it's for a good purpose in their minds.Yona's "party" is also great. Each character is distinct (in both design and personality), and they have great chemistry, playing off each other to make for some great comedic moments--and some epic battles. Their character development is more subtle than Yona's, but it's definitely there. I could go on about them for ages, but I want to try keep this WT! relatively spoiler-free.Music: Another area where I really feel Yona of the Dawn excels. I mean, just give the first OP a listen; purely instrumental and incredibly beautiful and epic at the same time The second OP has vocals, and I won't link it because spoilers, but I personally love it as well. I'm not a huge fan of the first ED (it's not bad, but a little too J-popish for this kind of show), but the second ED takes a place in my "favorite openings or endings in anime" list, with its hauntingly beautiful and somewhat melancholic feeling. The OST is also incredibly; it can provide hype when needed (and does it very well) or bring a tear to your eye. Ryo Kunihiko did an excellent job.Art/animation: Personally, I enjoyed the color palette used. They went with one often using shades of red/pink/brown/etc The backgrounds aren't necessarily amazing, but they do their job well. Further, the chibi form used for some comedic moments has its own charm. The animation ranges from average and serviceable, to above average for the scenes that really count. This includes some fight scenes--there are a few of these that I can just watch again and again. The feel so epic, and the animation doesn't disappoint here.Comedy: This is more of a sidenote, but even though the primary focus of Yona of the Dawn is not on comedy, it still made me laugh more than some shows billed as such. Gotta give credit where credit is due.Watchability: I don't usually binge shows (on average, I only watch 2-3 eps of a given show in a day before I get tired of it and switch to something else), but I was able to totally binge Yona of the Dawn. I watched 8 episodes in a row without taking a break...whoops.All in all, I think Yona of the Dawn is a great anime for those who want a mix of great characters displaying growth, music that elevates the show, and a fun adventure backed by emotional moments and some pretty hype battles. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. If I can convince even one person to watch this wonderful show, I'll be happy! http://ift.tt/1Tu30im
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