Yona of the Dawn

Episode 13

After a brief hiatus, Yona of the Dawn is back...with an episode that, while it has its emotional moments, also uses far too many filters and treads the fine line between “important backstory/world-building” and “taking it just a little too slow. When we last saw the princess and her attractive band of young men, she had just met the Blue Dragon, and we learned about his miserably ostracized childhood and the time he used his power to kill a bunch of very bad men. That, we now find out for certain, marked the end of any tentative trust his villagers had in him, and now he is kept in an underground labyrinth, like a beautiful, misunderstood minotaur. That the villagers who guard him are afraid of him to the point where it almost isn't reasonable anymore is abundantly clear, even before they threaten to kill Yona, Gija, and Yun for finding him. But the side effect for the Blue Dragon – who does not, in fact, have a real name – is that he sees himself as being just as evil as the villagers tell him he is. He speaks in not-quite-broken sentences, as if each word is difficult to form from lack of practice. His body language is that of a cornered feral animal who perhaps once was domestic – he wants to trust, and in fact is slightly pulled towards someone being kind and unafraid, but his conditioning and past experiences tell him that no matter what, no one can really be trusted. Perhaps his lack of self-esteem and willingness to believe the worst is best shown when Yona tells him that “Ao” doesn't seem like a good name for his chubby squirrel friend. The Blue Dragon immediately goes into meltdown mode, thinking how he knew it was a terrible name, and how could he have given it to his furry pal. Looked at one way, it is kind of amusing; put in context of how he sees himself and how others' harsh words have shaped his world and self view, it's really very sad: he can't even name his pet in memory of the only man to ever take care of him without thinking he's done something bad.

Among other successful moments in this episode is when Yona tells Hak that he must stay behind and watch the corridor while they go in search of the Blue Dragon. His shock when she stands up for herself, and in fact goes against what he had just told the others, is palpable, and when a cave-in cuts him off from Yona, his despair is equally evident. Judging from the preview, this may push things to some sort of head next week, as even Yun and Gija are starting to see what Yona is so ignorant of: Hak's feelings for her. (Although at this point, you have to wonder if there isn't a willful aspect of her ignorance...) Unfortunately the pacing feels a bit jerky this week, with an uneven balance of events either dragging (interactions with the villagers) or flying by, and the overuse of fancy filters to show the Blue Dragon's view or despair takes away from their overall effect. There also isn't very much actual animation this time, with most scenes being either flashbacks of that one time the Blue Dragon killed all of the soldiers or people standing around in dimly lit rock tunnels talking. There are also a few too many shots focusing on Ao the squirrel chewing, which is adorable, but doesn't really contribute to anything other than the fact that he is adorable. That repetitive sensation you got from the previous sentence mimics the feel of watching some of his scenes in this episode.

Despite these problems, Yona of the Dawn's thirteenth episode remains engaging. Seeing how she helps the Blue Dragon come to terms with himself promises to be rewarding, and hopefully those ignorant villagers will be taught a lesson along the way. This is very much a “getting there” episode – good enough, but also largely designed to move the plot along so that we can get to the bigger things in the future.

Rating: B

Yona of the Dawn is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.com.

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.