History Manga / YonaOfTheDawn

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The series takes a lot of inspiration from ancient China and Korea, with some Japanese culture thrown in. Also, goes with CreatorProvincialism. In particular, the setting is loosely inspired by the Three Kingdoms of Korea period; the Kouka Kingdom is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom, while the neighbouring Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts. The Kai empire is likewise based on Ancient China (possibly Sui or Tang Dynasty). There are a few notable differences (e.g. it was Silla which unified the peninsula, with the help of the Tang), but even [[ShownTheirWork the crown Soo-Won wears during his coronation]] is a reference.

* OneTrueLove: Yona and Hak. Hak is absolutely devoted to Yona and her happiness, has never so much as looked at another woman and would plainly do ''anything'' for her. Meanwhile, Yona's own feelings gradually become more obvious as the series go on, though the first sign of her devotion to him is in the earlier chapters, where she specifically seeks out the Four Dragons so that way Hak won't die protecting her. [[spoiler:Yona's mother, Queen Kashi, [[{{Seer}} seemingly predicted]] Hak would be this for her daughter the first time they met, and asked him to protect her no matter what]].

* MayflyDecemberFriendship: It's revealed that [[spoiler:Zeno is the original Ouryuu and therefore much, much older than the rest of the gang]], this also qualifies as an IntergenerationalFriendship.

!! ''Akatsuki no Yona'' contains examples of:

The Kingdom of Kohka is a country that's said to have been founded by the Red Dragon, Hiryuu. To protect their brother, four other dragon deities gave their powers to four warriors. The White Dragon's power is incredible strength in their scaled right arm. The Blue Dragon's power is immpecable vision and to paralyze someone by looking into their heart. The Green Dragon's power is the ability to jump great distances and deliver destructive kicks with their scaled left leg. The Yellow Dragon's power lies in its an indestructible body and quick regenerative abilities.

''Yona of the Dawn''[[labelnote:*]](暁のヨナ, ''Akatsuki no Yona'')[[/labelnote]] is a {{fantasy}} [[ShoujoDemographic shōjo]] manga by Mizuho Kusanagi. It began in 2009 and is currently ongoing. Creator/VizMedia being in charge of the English release.

The Kingdom of Kohka is a country that's said to have been founded by the Red Dragon, Hiryuu. To protect their brother, four other dragon deities gave their powers to four warriors. The White Dragon's power is incredible strength in their scaled right arm. The Blue Dragon's power is the ability to see over vast distances and paralyze someone by looking into their heart. The Green Dragon's power is the ability to jump great distances and deliver destructive kicks with their scaled left leg. The Yellow Dragon's power lies in its an indestructible body and quick regenerative abilities.

None of this really matters to Yona, though. The only daughter of the current King, Yona has had a very sheltered life. King Il loves her dearly, letting her have anything she desires so long as it's not related to violence. Truth be told, Yona's only concerns are about taming her wild red hair, getting her bodyguard, Hak, to take her seriously, and one day marrying her beloved cousin, Su-won.

''Yona of the Dawn''[[labelnote:*]](暁のヨナ, ''Akatsuki no Yona'')[[/labelnote]] is a fantasy shojo manga by Mizuho Kusanagi. It began in 2009 and is currently ongoing. Viz Media is in charge of the English release.

Studio Peirrot was produced a 24-episode anime adaptation, which aired during the Fall 2014 anime season.

[[folder:Tropes #-E]]

''Yona: The Girl Standing in The Blush of Dawn'' (Japanese title: ''Akatsuki no Yona'', lit: "Yona of the Dawn") is a manga written by Mizuho Kusanagi whose previous works include ''Manga/NGLife'' and ''Mugen Spiral''. It tells the story of Princess Yona and her followers.

King Il of Kouka, a country said in legends to have been founded by dragons, has no male heir, only a young daughter named Yona. As the sole princess she is living a luxurious and carefree life as a princess should. She has it all: the finest clothes and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a loving emperor as a father, and the hottest cousin crush, Soo-Won, anyone could ever hope to have. Now, if only her bodyguard and childhood friend, Son Hak, wasn't so annoying, her hair wasn't so red and curly and her father would allow her to marry Soo-Won, everything would be just perfect.

But on the day of her sixteenth birthday, her nearly perfect world shatters. The man she loves, Soo-Won, murders her father and the path to his ascension to the throne is assured. Framed for this, Hak escapes with Yona, and they retreat to his hometown Fuuga, the capital of the Wind Tribe. A man living near those lands, a priest called Ik-Soo, tells them of a prophecy related to her and the country's future. So Yona resolves to keep on living, to fight and survive by finding the Four Dragon Warriors, those who have inherited the mythical powers from their ancestors, who helped the legendary dragon king, Hiryuu, establish the Kouka Kingdom.

An anime adaptation was produced for the Fall2014Anime season by Creator/StudioPierrot, which was licensed by Creator/FUNimation for both streaming and home video, although Crunchyroll still possesses streaming rights as well. The manga itself was licensed by Creator/VizMedia's Shojo Beat imprint, with the first volume released in August 2016.

** Shin-Ah's first appeared rescuing Yona, a stranger to him, from a kidnapper and helping her return to her friends.
** Jaeha's first appearance, is him defending a woman from getting harassed by an officer by high kicking him.

** Shin-Ah first appeared rescuing Yona, a stranger to him, from a kidnapper and helping her return to her friends.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The series takes a lot of inspiration from ancient China and Korea, with some Japanese culture thrown in. Also, goes with [[CreatorProvincialism.]] In particular, the setting is loosely inspired by the Three Kingdoms of Korea period; the Kouka Kingdom is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom, while the neighbouring Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts. The Kai empire is likewise based on Ancient China (possibly Sui or Tang Dynasty). There are a few notable differences (e.g. it was Silla which unified the peninsula, with the help of the Tang), but even [[ShownTheirWork the crown Soo-Won wears during his coronation]] is a reference.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The series takes a lot of inspiration from ancient China and Korea, with some Japanese culture thrown in. Also, goes with [[CreatorProvincialism and KoreansInJapan.]] In particular, the setting is loosely inspired by the Three Kingdoms of Korea period; the Kouka Kingdom is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom, while the neighbouring Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts. The Kai empire is likewise based on Ancient China (possibly Sui or Tang Dynasty). There are a few notable differences (e.g. it was Silla which unified the peninsula, with the help of the Tang), but even [[ShownTheirWork the crown Soo-Won wears during his coronation]] is a reference.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The series takes a lot of inspiration from ancient China and Korea, with some Japanese culture thrown in. Also, goes with [[CreatorProvincialism]] and [[KoreansInJapan.]] In particular, the setting is loosely inspired by the Three Kingdoms of Korea period; the Kouka Kingdom is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom, while the neighbouring Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts. The Kai empire is likewise based on Ancient China (possibly Sui or Tang Dynasty). There are a few notable differences (e.g. it was Silla which unified the peninsula, with the help of the Tang), but even [[ShownTheirWork the crown Soo-Won wears during his coronation]] is a reference.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The series takes a lot of inspiration from ancient China and Korea, with some Japanese culture thrown in. Also, goes with [[CreatorProvincialism and KoreansInJapan.]] In particular, the setting is loosely inspired by the Three Kingdoms of Korea period; the Kouka Kingdom is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom, while the neighbouring Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts. The Kai empire is likewise based on Ancient China (possibly Sui or Tang Dynasty). There are a few notable differences (e.g. it was Silla which unified the peninsula, with the help of the Tang), but even [[ShownTheirWork the crown Soo-Won wears during his coronation]] is a reference.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The series takes a lot of inspiration from ancient China and Korea, with some Japanese culture thrown in. Also, goes with [[CreatorProvincialism and KoreansinJapan.]] In particular, the setting is loosely inspired by the Three Kingdoms of Korea period; the Kouka Kingdom is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom, while the neighbouring Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts. The Kai empire is likewise based on Ancient China (possibly Sui or Tang Dynasty). There are a few notable differences (e.g. it was Silla which unified the peninsula, with the help of the Tang), but even [[ShownTheirWork the crown Soo-Won wears during his coronation]] is a reference.

%%** There are a few other examples, usually regarding what a given power will do, usually these are very subtle.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The series takes a lot of inspiration from ancient China and Korea, with some Japanese culture thrown in. In particular, the setting is loosely inspired by the Three Kingdoms of Korea period; the Kouka Kingdom is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom, while the neighbouring Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts. The Kai empire is likewise based on Ancient China (possibly Sui or Tang Dynasty). There are a few notable differences (e.g. it was Silla which unified the peninsula, with the help of the Tang), but even [[ShownTheirWork the crown Soo-Won wears during his coronation]] is a reference.

%%* PraetorianGuard: The four dragons serve as this to her.

%%* RedLightDistrict: It has been shown throughout the series.

%%** Yona becomes this early in her CharacterDevelopment.
%%** Both princesses of Xing are this, although in different ways.

** Though a woman, Xing’s crown princess, Kouren, falls into this trope. She is capable with both a sword and a bow, and she willingly places herself at the front lines more than once.

* ChivalrousPervert: Jae-Ha has spent a lot of his free time at brothels, and ogling women whenever he sees them but he is nothing less than a gentleman to the women there and anywhere, often going out of his way to help or save them, sometimes at his own detriment.

%%* CoolBigBro: Hak to the members of the Wind Tribe.
%%** Jaeha to The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch.

* SpoilerOpening: The anime's first opening already revealed who the Four Dragons were. The manga has this to a lesser degree by [[FirstEpisodeTwist briefly showing Yona after she]] TookALevelInBadass before commencing with the story.

** Soo-Won and Hak. Soo-Won is a [[PrinceCharming princely]], CulturedWarrior with a talent for war strategy, while Hak is a roguish, [[WorldsBestWarrior prodigy warrior]] and certified BadassNormal easily able to fight alongside the super-powered Dragon Warriors. However, neither seem terribly interested in romance or sex (with [[SingleTargetSexuality one exception]] on Hak's end).
** Kija and Jae-Ha can also fit this trope as well. Kija is a polite ShelteredAristocrat PrettyBoy while Jae-Ha is a smooth talking [[HandsomeLech womanizing]] {{Pirate}}. [[spoiler:However, somewhat subverted because at times Gija does tend to act more hot-tempered and violent in battle while Jaeha is more calm and cool who manages to keep his temper in check during tough situations. Besides, WordOfGod has stated that Gija is actually the most masculine of the dragon warriors.]] Also in terms of romance Kija is not really interested in women, but Jaeha very much interested in romance or sex.

** Kija and Jae-Ha can also fit this trope as well. Kija is a polite ShelteredAristocrat PrettyBoy while Jae-Ha is a smooth talking [[HandsomeLech womanizing]] {{Pirate}}. [[spoiler:However, somewhat subverted because at times Gija does tend to act more hot-tempered and violent in battle while Jaeha is more calm and cool who manages to keep his temper in check during tough situations. Besides, WordOfGod has stated that Gija is actually the most masculine of the dragon warriors.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Regarding Zeno, there's a lot once you backtrack. All of it points to [[spoiler:his true nature as the immortal, original Ouryuu from history, who followed Yona to see whether or not she was worthy of the Dragons' power]]. Zeno asks her point-blank what she plans to do, now that she has the power of the four dragons, whether she plans to take revenge against Soo-Won and restore herself to the throne, and when the others object that they don't have the power to do that, he's certain that they ''do''. [[spoiler:The four dragon warriors haven't been together since Hiryuu, so there would be no way for him to be so confident without having been there and witnessed their power for himself]]. He also recognizes people like Soo-Won and Tae-Jun, even though he should never have had the opportunity to meet them. [[spoiler:He's been following Yona from the very beginning]]. There's a one-off gag where he refers to an old grandmother as "young lady." [[spoiler:He's around two-thousand years old; compared to him, everyone's young]].

* ParentalMarriageVeto: King Il didn't approve and outright objected at the idea of Yona getting married to Soo-Won.

** Seriously, [[TooStupidToLive don't hurt Yona if you know what's good for you.]] Hak and the Dragons are fiercely protective of her, but it was the sweet, shy Shin-Ah who demonstrated this by viciously attacking the bandits who harmed her in chapter 50.

* BigBrotherMentor: Kija wanted to be this to Shin-Ah, claiming that he would offer guidance about being a dragon warrior and telling Shin-ah to refer to him as "big brother" right after he joins the group. WordOfGod mentioned that Hak now sees Kija and Jaeha as older brothers that he can depend on but won't never admit it. [[spoiler: Also Jaeha in general makes it his job to give others his advice and listen to their problem if they need someone.]]

* CoolBigBro: Hak to the members of the Wind Tribe.
** Jaeha to The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch.

* BigBrotherMentor: Kija wanted to be this to Shin-Ah, claiming that he would offer guidance about being a dragon warrior and telling Shin-ah to refer to him as "big brother" right after he joins the group.

* TheCharmer: Jaeha can sweet talk any woman he comes across with his looks and flamboyant personailty but still manages to treat women with respect.

** Then there's Kija and Jae-Ha, who both either [[BodyguardCrush have a crush on Yona or are starting to fall in love with her]] (possibly due, in part, to the dragon blood), however, she appears to only see them in a platonic, almost familial manner.