Yona of the Dawn

Episodes 21-22

In some ways, I am grateful that an accident prevented me from watching this last week, because Yona of the Dawn's twenty-first and twenty-second episodes could, more than any of the others, really just be one hour-long special. These two give us both the commencement and the finale of the battle with Yam Kumji, the corrupt Lord of Awa, and his mercenaries. Yona and Yun have infiltrated one of his human trafficking fleets with the goal of alerting Captain Gigan and her crew which ship the girls are on. Naturally their plan to simply sneak on deck and set off a small firework goes awry, putting Yun in real danger. This turns out to be a plus for both he and Yona, however – as Yun is watching the plan go south, he realizes that he's no longer the selfish person he once was, only looking out for number one. Now Yun is willing to sacrifice himself for others, to put Yona's safety and that of the kidnapped girls above his own. Likewise it is Yun's plight that really galvanizes Yona. When she hears the mercenaries threatening to cut off Yun's head and send it as a trophy to the pirates, she comes out of the frozen state she appeared to be in. With the help of a conveniently placed bow and arrow, Yona is able to put the plan back into action before going on to save the day.

There are probably some viewers who wonder why, when Yona got ahold of the bow and arrow in episode 21, she did not immediately kill one of the men beating Yun, particularly since she does go on to shoot someone else in episode 22. It does at first seem strange, but a reluctance to kill someone still feels perfectly reasonable. Yona has never taken a life before. Yes, this would be to save Yun, arguably her best friend, but if she can see a way around having to take a life to save a life, it still makes sense that she would take that route. Her actions in episode twenty-two, however, feel as though they serve a greater purpose. When she shoots that arrow, she is proving that she can stand up to those who oppress not just her personally, but also her kingdom as whole. It is both penance for being the ineffective King Il's daughter and a promise to right as many of the wrongs his reign caused as she can. With the end of that life (assuming he is in fact dead; one can never tell in anime), she is taking as symbolic an action as Soo-won did when he slaughtered her father – wiping out corruption in the aim of doing a better job herself. Saving Yun by killing one of the mercenaries would have saved Yun only, and while we're attached to him as a character, it would not have changed the face of Awa Port and the country in general. And given the surprise meeting at the end of episode twenty-two, her actions seem even more important.

These two episodes are also particularly effective in their use of music. Most of the action is set to drum beats, increasing the feel of urgency without screaming, “This stuff is important!” The original opening theme also plays at key moments when Yona is about to do something major, and again its use of percussion really enhances the tense mood. The end of episode 22 also gives us a little bit more of the ending theme than we usually hear, which also helps add to the scene. There's also a little something for fans of all of the main male characters, with everyone at least coming in if not kicking serious ass. In fact, these are both good episodes for Sinha devotées, with him getting pretty much the most lines he's ever had as well as proving to be ridiculously and awesomely powerful in battle. (A favorite scene would be where he just sort of reaches out and slaps a mercenary down, expending almost no effort.) Yun may get the most development, but that doesn't mean that the others don't shine as well.

Hands down, these are two of the most exciting episodes of what has been an excellent show. The last few moments have me on the edge of my seat for next week as well. The dawn is truly breaking, and it looks like the sunrise is going to be glorious.

Rating: A

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

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.