Alternative titles: The Girl Standing In The Blush of Dawn
Manga Adaptation by Studio Pierrot
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Yona is a spoiled princess who is way too into her cousin. That is, until he murders her dad and takes over the throne.

Iro’s verdict: Slow but Inoffensive

Firstly, I have to say that this premiere’s similarities to the Cross Ange premiere were somewhat uncanny. Spoiled princess, 16th birthday, stripped of her kingdom and dignity, etc. I suppose they are relatively common narrative devices, but it was more than a little awkward to see such similar things going down. As for Yona itself, the best praise I can give the show is that it didn’t really do anything explicitly wrong. It’s a little cheesy and cliche, but not in a bad way; it’s just that it feels like we’ve seen this a million times, and there’s little need to see it again. Combined with the rather slow pacing, it’s just hard to get excited over anything Yona has to offer.

Marlin’s verdict: Buildup to Better Things

I get what this first episode is trying to do. Much like Cross Ange, it’s trying to show us how far steeped in her privileged royal life Yona is before seeing it mercilessly torn asunder. Where Yona gets it right and Ange failed miserably, well lets say I could spend a long time talking about that. Long explanation short, biggest difference is it actually respects its characters and its audience. I could see this first episode turning people away just because Yona is such a spoiled brat, but I’m hoping we get to see her character change as she has to adapt to being a fugitive pretender after this coup. I also like the badass spear dude. The whole affair has a Fire Emblem feel to it, what with a disenfranchised princess fighting to restore her kingdom with a ragtag militia. There’s even a human/dragon hybrid dude. I don’t think we can really judge this show until we see how the majority of the plot is going to run, but I have some high hopes it can be a good story of adventure and revenge.