It may have taken a thousand years for the dragon warriors to reunite, but it only took us a couple of weeks! We still had so much more to explore in the world of Yona of the Dawn that we knew we had to return to answer the questions of the people! We’re once again rejoined by our own Happy Hungry Bunch, the Dragon Warriors of the Yona fandom; Marion, host of the Good Friends Anime Club, MHA Podcast, Shaman King Podcast, & The View From the Top!, Caitlin, editor for Anime Feminist and writer for Anime News Network and her own blog I Have a Heroine Problem, and Olive St. Sauver, writer for ButWhyTho?!
We discuss several thoughtful questions curious about what we think sets Yona apart from other series, as well as the strengths of its titular protagonist and her growth throughout the story. In the process, we also interrogate questions that attempt to pedestalize Yona above other shojo manga as we challenge broad assumptions about what shojo manga are like and female protagonists should be that come from perspectives seemingly formed through either innocent inexperience or myopic misogyny. We also delve deeper into themes and motifs that define the series, including various forms of symbolism in the manga and the conflicts between divinity and humanity, destiny and free will. We also speculate on the past and futures of various characters and what we may have yet to learn about them, and the development of their relationships with one another. All the while we laugh, cry, rage, and rave as we share the good word about Yona and a bunch of things it does well that makes us happy and hungry to read more!
PODCAST BREAKDOWN:
00:22 – Intro & Podcast Overview
02:10 – Yona of the Dawn Q&A Extravaganza!!
03:02 – Guest Introductions & Show Plan
05:21 – Thoughts on Yona’s Character Development and Yona’s Strong Female Characters?
15:00 – Thoughts on Whether Kusanagi’s Writing is Feminist?
18:25 – Thoughts on the Dragon Warriors’ Relationship with Yona?
19:12 – Thoughts on Yona’s Fierce Looks
20:26 – Stray Thoughts on What Makes Yona a Great Story
21:14 – Is Yona too OP?
41:45 – What Drew us to the Characters in the Series?
55:04 – Do we Hate Su-won?
1:00:42 – Will we See More of Hak’s Backstory?
1:03:55 – Will Yun Have More to Do in the Story?
1:08:20 – Thoughts on Hak as a Bodyguard?
1:19:32 – Thoughts on the Yona/Hak Romance?
1:26:00 – Thoughts on Symbolism in Yona?
1:31:53 – What Sets Yona Apart from “Typical” Shojo?
1:39:45 – Thoughts on the Dragons’ Relationship to Yona and their Free Will?
1:47:45 – Thoughts on the “Gods vs. Humans” Debate?
1:55:09 – Guest Plugs
2:06:35 – Community Shout-Outs:
- The Yona Pod
- Read Right to Left on Yona of the Dawn
- MommaLuvsManga on Yona
- RosieVision on Yona
- The Happy Poly Bunch
- Colleen’s Manga Recs
- Erica on Girl Gangs in Anime and Manga
- Weekly Manga Recap’s Romantic Couples in Manga Guessing Game
- The Tomato Box on Dune’s Shojo Manga Vibes
- Caitlin Moore’s review of My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders
- Caitlin Donovan on Women’s Agency in MHA vs FMA
- Ashley McDonnell on How Shojo Manga Helped Her with Internalized Misogny
- AniFem’s 2022 Abortion Access Resources
2:26:42 – Episode 200 Plans
2:30:48 – Wrap-Up
Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @manga_mavericks, on tumblr at mangamavericks.tumblr.com, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon and receive some awesome rewards like our Patreon-exclusive Bonus pods! If one-time donations are more your speed you can donate to Colton’s Ko-fi here and LumRanmaYasha’s Ko-fi here, and if you want to support LumRanmaYasha’s art and other projects you can follow them @siddartworks on Instagram and Twitter and donate to their personal Patreon. Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and iTunes and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content!
Music Featured:
“Akatsuki no Hana” by Cyntia
“Akatsuki” by Akiko Shikata
LINKS:
- Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!
- Support us on Patreon!
- Check out our Patreon Bonus Pod on Shojo Manga Magazines
- Listen to Our Previous Yona Podcast
- Follow Caitlin, Marion, and Olive on Twitter!
- Yona Q&A Thread on Reddit
- Read Marion’s Kentaro Miura article on Toonami Faithful
- Check out Caitlin on AniFem’s Fushigi Yugi Podcasts & Articles and Shojo & Tell’s Fushigi Yugi Podcasts
- Check out But Why Tho’s Roundtable on Manga Localization
Abortion Access Resources:
