Yona of the Dawn

Episode 11

Ah, there's nothing like a little rivalry to spice things up in a story. Not that Yona of the Dawn really needed help, but Ki-ja and Hak's adversarial relationship is a nice addition to the group dynamic – especially since Ki-ja hasn't quite figured out the full extent of why he so dislikes Hak. He starts to get a clue at the end of the episode when Yona holds his dragon hand for a moment, although in typical anime fashion, he has no idea what his increased heart rate means.

Regardless, some of the best moments this week are when Ki-ja and Hak pick at each other – Hak insists on calling Ki-ja “White Snake,” which naturally the other tells him not to do. We can all see what reaction Hak is going to have, and their mutual antagonism continues to build, aided by the fact that the group is attacked by bandits. Hak and Ki-ja take them on after sending Yun and Yona to hide in the bushes. At this point I would like to mention that both of them are incredibly bad at hiding – the bandits spot them right away, so there wasn't much point to sending them off. It ultimately is a display of their ingrained need to protect Yona from harm. She's getting pretty good with her bow and arrow, and Hak, at least, knows just how much she's been practicing. He still can't help himself from trying to keep her out of the fight, however. When we look at it from his perspective, that really does make a lot of sense: she's the princess, and if anything happens to her, he might as well have just handed Su-won the kingdom on a silver platter garnished with her blood. But Yona doesn't want to be safe. She wants to protect her friends and herself, to really deserve the throne she's trying to reclaim. Yun, at this point, seems to be the only one who understands that, possibly because of his own relationship with Ik-su. In any event, he wins major points when he points out to Yona that this really is what she's been training for, and there's no denying that her actions are useful. That she has to be helped afterwards is less indicative of her helplessness and more a display of the fact that she's been at this for weeks, whereas Hak and Ki-ja have been training most of their lives. That gap won't be an easy one to close, and I almost hope that it never does. The show has done a nice job of showing that Yona won't become She-Ra overnight, and if she suddenly progresses too quickly, all of the care that has been taken with her skills thus far will feel extraneous.

The major character development this episode goes to Ki-ja, who begins to realize that even though he is the White Dragon and has been made much of his entire life, that doesn't mean that he is the best in the group by default. He's no frail rich boy, like Yun assumes, but as the episode goes on he realizes that Hak has great strength, not just in fighting, but of will as well. He also comes to see that Yun isn't just a pretty face – his knowledge is vast when it comes to food and health, and he is able to easily lead them through the forest using his map. Hak also is more knowledgeable than Ki-ja, which may be the biggest blow to his ego, especially since he can't give any more specific instructions on how to find the Blue Dragon than “over there.” Watching Ki-ja become a fully integrated part of the group looks like it will prove to be rewarding, and it will be interesting to see how Hak reacts to each new potential rival, since, as Yona says, his passtime is teasing people, AKA being a jerk.

The Blue Dragon, despite Ki-ja's vague directions, appears to be just a week away, along with that cute squirrel thing that's been in the opening theme all along. I hope that the Blue Dragon can help Yun with Hak's not-quite-healed chest wound, because I suspect that it could be a problem if he gets too stubborn about it. Yona's almost halfway done with gathering her warriors – Su-won had better start watching his back.

Rating: A-

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

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.