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暁のヨナ [Akatsuki no Yona] #16

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 16

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A large fleet of ships from South Kai heads to Sensui at drug trafficker Hyo’s behest. Will Yona and her friends be able to thwart Hyo’s nefarious plans and stop these enemy forces? And what will happen to Yona when an infuriated Hyo attacks her?

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 19, 2014

73 people are currently reading
1003 people want to read

About the author

Mizuho Kusanagi

113 books872 followers
KUSANAGI Mizuho (草凪みずほ) used to work as an assistant for Yoko Matsushita.

Circle(s): JAKE

Loves: drawing and considers herself to have a 'super fetish' for voices. As such, she loves seiyuu (voice actors) but also actors with good voices.

Favorite Food: Ramen. Prefers vegetables to meat.

Favorite Movies: Anything by Miyazaki, whom she loves! Also, The Sound of Music and Lord of the Rings.

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5 stars
3,852 (70%)
4 stars
1,326 (24%)
3 stars
239 (4%)
2 stars
21 (<1%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 428 reviews
Profile Image for Ecem Yücel.
Author 3 books122 followers
July 13, 2016
Hak, you are so damn amazing. So damn amazing.
Profile Image for Dann.
425 reviews15 followers
May 13, 2023
The way Su-Won and Yona's paths keep intersecting is making me nervous. I really don't want to forgive him :(

Please don't make me.
Profile Image for DianaRose.
939 reviews216 followers
January 23, 2026
our first hak crash out! i love how complex our cast of characters has grown.

also love that yona found a friend in riri!
Profile Image for hya.
13 reviews3 followers
March 26, 2024
[reread] ; a fav arc that i always come back to


GOD like...suwon is undoubtedly just one of my favorite character of all times. i love when the villain is just as well-thought and well-written as the main characters.


you feel the same anguish and betrayal hak and yona feels, because at the end of the day, what he did can't be justified. but you get why he does it. in fact, as the story continues to progress, you just understand him and like him even more. but there's still that betrayal that lingers, that wound that won't close—the readers feel the same exact inner conflict and mix of emotions as the main character, yona does.


yona meets suwon again — STILL AS DISTRESSING AS THE FIRST TIME I READ IT. my gawdd like she's better than me because if i were in her position i would be crying and throwing up. and you could tell that she was always on the brink of a meltdown whenever she had to interact with suwon...like she was shaking and stuff oh my poor daughter I WILL SAVE YEW!!! likeee i love suwon but there's still that part of me that won't forgive him for that yk


hak finally meets suwon – "he's the focus of hak's grief and rage." the little flashback panels of their childhood together made me cry so bad like...dare i say hak was more hurt about his betrayal than anyone else because he was the closest person to the both of them, suwon especially. i can see yona forgiving suwon down the line, because despite everything, she understands and still has some love for him. but hak? that hurt and resentment is not going away anytime soon.

and you can tell that suwon was affected with the way he couldn't move in his spot when hak literally almost tried to kill him. THEY WERE FAMILY!!! oh my heart aches so bad for this three

end —"hak...it's alright. i'm alright." two men with literal GODLY dragon powers barely could contain hak's rage, but with yona's words, he stops. in the brink of losing himself, he's reminded that he doesn't carry this grief alone. he's reminded who all this is for.

"i meant to tell hak that i wouldn't stop him next time." "did doing what i did make things worse?" "he understands that you were trying to protect him." yona and hak might have lost suwon in the worst way possible but they found a new family that is with them every step of the way :((

ok thats all the yapping left in me thank yew goodreads. i wish this had a season 2 because i would have killed to watch all of that on screen and cry
Profile Image for Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer.
1,512 reviews5 followers
January 11, 2019
description
Check out more manga and graphic novel reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...


Princess Yona is the pampered daughter of her kingdom's king. Isolated and doted on she has two childhood friends, Hak, a general who also protects her and her cousin, Soo-won who helped her mourn her mother's passing and who she is crushing on big time. On her 16th birthday her entire world implodes to to a crippling betrayal... She must decide if she will fall in line or rise up and take back her kingdom.

This is a review of volumes 15-16 which I read together back to back. See the tension section for my thoughts on the individual volumes.

Yona of the Dawn vol 15-16 are some of the most powerful in the series yet... Yona fears to meet with Suwon and Hak hates that the future he envisioned as a child for the three of them can never be... and all of that back history comes to an explosive head in these two volumes! I love that this moment has not happened until this point... sure we got hints and near misses but this is the real deal!! Hak's reaction I think is the most powerful because he'd already sacrificed getting close to Yona in that way for his friend Suwon. And Suwon basically spit in his face. It's powerful. It's real. And it breaks your heart!

The art in Yona of the Dawn vol 15-16 really captures new characters quite well... We have Riri's father who has some really funny frames. And there is also the villain who is after Yona... he's hilarious! These really help break up the tension we have with these two super strong groups coming together and a large number of them being in the dark about their history. I did really enjoy the group frames where a slew of the characters were all gathered together! Yona of the Dawn art has always captured the fantasy nature of this series and in these two volumes I was even more aware of how the story is about two sovereigns!

We are in the midst of the water tribe lands... They have some series troubles with drugs and another country that wants to create a war with them. Lady Riri really has gone a long way in attempting to do something active about what it going on. I really loved seeing her flourish under Yona's example and to see in Yona of the Dawn vol 15-16 her take control of her own fate. It helps that she's humble enough to listen when a young woman and a blonde headed body guard suggest things to her. The use of Jaeha's old tactics was super fun and while pirates aren't normally my thing I just love how Mizuho Kusanagi uses them in so many different but very natural ways.

In Yona of the Dawn vol 15 I was super tense as Hak is separate from Yona and we had special quests converging on her. Relating to Hak and his concern for Yona is easy, so seeing Jaeha and oir special guest bonding... GAHHH it made me shiver in fear for what was coming. Jaeha has sacrificed his own feelings for Hak's and I don't relish anything coming between this bromance. In Yona of the Dawn vol 16 we get to see this situation explode... with our mystery guest and Jaeha. The battles Hak fights in this small section are more powerful than any other so far!! It was intense! This is hands down my favorite volume of the series so far.

Yona of the Dawn vol 15-16 ratchets up the tension... this has always been a creative and fun series, but now our opposing sides have the opportunity to stop the other... Just what goes down? Will Yona break down... Or will Hak?! Childhood friendships are always destined to change through the sheer fact of time passing, but what happens when one betrays the others?! In Yona of the Dawn vol 15 we finally see Yona's aim and its a gloriously grown up version of an empress that we get to see in action... And Yona of the Dawn vol 16 gives us the start of what has been building since Hak realized what his friend has done and it totally wrings you dry!! Both are must reads.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Authenticity
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tension
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Plot
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Art

______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my manga and graphic novel reviews in a special feature called Saturday Morning Cartoons...
Profile Image for Lucía Cafeína.
2,048 reviews222 followers
August 23, 2019
LA TENSIÓN, LOS FEELINGS, SEND HELP MADRE MÍA MADRE MÍA. Por fin ha ocurrido algo que llevo esperando desde el minuto uno (no, no es el beso, ojalá) Y BUAAA HAN SIDO UNAS ESCENAS BRUTALES.
Profile Image for Ren (A Bookish Balance).
979 reviews104 followers
February 23, 2024
May 30, 2020
5/5 stars

With the Kai Empire approaching the Water Tribe, the main cast needs to come up with a plan and the resources to stop them.

Volume 16 was one of the volumes I was most looking forward to during my reread (for the record, I’ve only actually read to volume 23) and wow, it did not disappoint. With this volume we reach the climax of the Water Tribe arc. Su-won is as clever as always, and puts together a plan to stop South Kai. The action scenes in this volume were excellent and I really enjoyed the methods used to put a stop to the Kai empire. I’m also not usually a fan of anything to do with ships or pirates, but I love it when Kusanagi integrates both these elements into the story.

But the real tension in this volume stems from Su-won’s interactions with Hak and Yona I’m not crying, you’re crying. Yona’s interactions with Su-won were so anxiety inducing for me. I know Su-won’s initial plan was not to murder Hak and Yona, but I still was so distrustful of him when it came to Yona, and seeing him still care for her and still have so much faith in Hak made me so uncomfortable. I loved the disdain on Yona’s face every time she looked at Su-won or Ju-do. I’ve also never really thought about Ju-do’s relationship with Yona until this point, and I really appreciated getting his point of view on the matter, it was unexpectedly saddening. But Su-won and Hak. How does one even talk about that scene. I’m so sorry Hak got completely blindsided like that, it’s so difficult watching a character who’s usually so calm and laid back completely lose their cool. My heart has always gone out more towards Hak than Yona when it comes to Su-won, because I’ve always thought Hak and Su-won had the deeper, more meaningful bond, and the scene between Hak and Su-won only further drove home that idea for me. I’ve never thoroughly examined what it is Hak experienced with this loss until now. Not only did he lose his king, and his best friend, but he also had to watch the one person he cares about most completely fall apart. And his memories are so full of Su-won, I can’t imagine having an entire childhood tainted by betrayal. We’ve had volumes and volumes that have allowed us to watch Yona process her feelings and her grief, and all the while Hak supported her and focused on keeping her alive. With this volume we truly see how much Hak has suppressed his own feelings towards Su-won, and I was crushed by how heartbroken Hak is over the loss of their friendship. I love that Kusanagi didn’t ignore Hak’s feelings and the exploration of them in this volume was everything. Also, this is going to sound so weird, but I loved that this scene brought about a fight between Hak with Jaeha and Kija. I don’t know why, but watching friends fight, and knowing they’re holding back and doing it out of love really makes me happy? Another example of this is the fight scene in Crooked Kingdom, it’s one of my favourite scenes from the novel. And I also love the scene between Hak and Yona that came about because of this ordeal.

As for Lili, I loved her character arc. She’s become so much stronger through this story arc and it was especially gratifying watching her friendship with Yona blossom. I’m really looking forward to what Lili’s going to accomplish next.

And lastly, while they have nothing on the HHB, being able to watch the Five-Tribe Council interact was really entertaining. I’m curious as to what other plans Su-won has in store for Kohka.

2014
4.5/5 stars

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Profile Image for Laura A. Grace.
1,997 reviews315 followers
September 18, 2022
VIDEO REVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/iT5HciwzgJw

Man what a stressful volume!!

I was truly hoping the cover didn't reflect what I was thinking, but boy did it plus a whole lot more! Even after rereading the first half, I STILL am at a lost of words. SO many different emotions and was really thankful for Zeno and his wise words to Yona. Its so incredibly complicated between these three and my heart was so heavy for Hak. It was rough no matter how you look at it.

And poor Riri! She got thrusted into all of it without even knowing, though WOW! She has grown SO much! The ending of her story made it super worth it because I was about to BE so upset at her father, but it was a good ending.

Not sure what else to say except again this was a good stressful read with everything that happens!
Profile Image for Julie.
2,659 reviews198 followers
May 4, 2021
When will I get my Zeno answers!!!

I feel like the villain in this one barely did anything. Like how did he have so much power if that's how he acts? I guess since this arc was mostly focused on Soo-won, Yona and Hak the author didn't want to focus too much on Hyo? Anyway Hak really went wild that was crazy.
Profile Image for Estíbaliz Montero Iniesta.
Author 62 books1,425 followers
April 5, 2020
4'5⭐
Me ha parecido muy interesante ver por fin el reencuentro directo de Hak y Soo-won y cómo se consigue captar la profundidad del dolor y de la traición que sufre Hak, porque Soo-won no solo hizo daño a Yona, pero a veces la gente se centra más en las traiciones de tintes amorosos que en las amistades rotas.
Profile Image for Jayda &#x1f349;.
725 reviews57 followers
April 11, 2025
This series gets better and better with each volume. (5 stars ⭐️)
Profile Image for melhara.
1,874 reviews89 followers
June 20, 2022
This volume marks the end of the Water Tribe arc, which saddens me a bit (although I did enjoy the conflict between Hak and Su-won - Hak's rage and Su-won's sorrow were very well depicted). I do wish this arc was a bit longer but tensions are rising between the Kingdoms of Kohka and South Kai so it'll be interesting to see how that story arc develops in later volumes.

I do feel the need to point out that the illustrations depicting Yona using her bow is completely inaccurate (with the string located on the wrong side)... There's no way she could have shot any arrows while holding the bow like this:
20220613_180735
20220613_180729
Profile Image for Jess | jadecanread.
1,306 reviews191 followers
September 16, 2024
THE DEPTH OF EMOTIONS, THE CUNNING, THE WAR STRATS.

This series is superb!

I was ITCHING for the Hak/Su-won interaction and holy shit that killed me. Hak's unwavering blood lust? The hyper focus with the flashes of their childhood together? MY HEART.

Seeing the palace guards recognize Yona brought me shivers too.

I just wanna know Zeno's deal.

RECAP: End of the water tribe arc. Starts with battle prep, Su-won's prowess shows with the plan he concocts. Yona is with Riri and Suwon and during that time, Suwon learns that Yona's injured. Zeno can sense an attack and protects. Su-won and Ju-do see that Yona can use a bow/arrow. The Kai forces are successfully thwarted. Hak comes when Hyo charges at Yona and gets stabbed in the arm. He knocks Hyo out and then turns on Suwon. Jaeha and Gija try to stop him and it's Yona that makes progress. Suwon leaves, the girls bond a little and during a feast, Riri and her attendants reveal they figured out who Yona is. Ends with a five council meeting declaring war.
Profile Image for Alexandra Elend Wolf.
650 reviews319 followers
May 3, 2023
“There was no longer any sign of the 16-year-old princess who knew nothing in Yona’s calm look.”


This volume destroyed me.

I knew from all the build-up that what was to come wasn't going to be a walk in the park, yes, I was aware; however, I was not ready for the heartache and pain it would be. I can't read it, let alone think of it, without breaking down into sobs. After I finished this volume, I laid there for a few seconds, chocked-up and dazed, and then broke down into painful sobs. I can still feel my heart ache for them.

A few volumes ago we had a volume that was most clearly Tae-jun's volume, this one, in comparison, is most absolutely Hak's volume.

While we have touched on Yona's burden and her feelings about this whole ordeal quite a bit we had only gotten shallow views into Hak's feelings; until a few volumes ago, when we started to delve a little bit deeper. Well, that culminates in the most heartwrenching, dispairing, gut-punching display of raw, visceral emotion that is so beautifully conveyed through Kusanagi's drawings.

My heart broke about a thousand times for him. Still does.

Of course, we did have the plot to close up; and so we can see the end of the Water Tribe arc in the most satisfying fashion. The journey Lady Lili went through was short, but touching and beautiful all the same.

As satisfying as it was to see her accomplish her goals, and it was, what touched me the most was the resolution that we saw to her complicated relationship with her father. It was very well executed.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will be rereading and revisiting this volume time and time again.

“Lili, you dive into danger yourself and I’ve had to lock you up countless times. But each time, you take off stronger. You’re like this, I’m sure. Even now. You’ve probably always been looking even further ahead than I thought. If it’s something I could do I would want to give you a world without war.”
Profile Image for Loz.
1,690 reviews22 followers
March 31, 2020
So good. Drama and realness and fantastic characters and world. I love this series.
Profile Image for Selma.
117 reviews90 followers
November 28, 2021
Shaking, crying, throwing up!!!
Two words: angry Hak
Epic and emotional, this volume really delivered!!!
Profile Image for megan.
201 reviews87 followers
May 12, 2023
5 STARS FOR HAK AND ONLY HAK
Profile Image for Queens Love Books.
423 reviews5 followers
November 5, 2025
“Whether it’s drugs, Hyo, or something else… Ultimately, I don’t think my people have a future unless they stand up against the damaging things that are invading us. So I have to do all I can to protect them.”

description

There’s a rare kind of energy in this volume that hits just right—it blends intense action, emotional payoff, and smart political movement without ever losing sight of the heart. I’ve always enjoyed Yona of the Dawn, but this one gripped me harder than usual. Every moment feels earned, and the pacing is tight without rushing. You get scenes that make you cheer, moments that break your heart, and conversations that land with surprising weight. The characters grow, the story moves, and it never feels like filler.

One thing I’ve got to mention is Hak. I’ve never been a fan of how he’s drawn—just going by his face, he’s honestly not that good-looking. But that’s part of what makes his design brilliant. There’s something magnetic about him. He’s got this rough, grounded charm that completely wins you over the longer you stick with him. The author really pulled it off—Hak doesn’t need to be pretty to be compelling, and in this volume especially, he stands out in a way that hits harder than ever.

Reading this volume left me fully pulled in and kind of wrecked in the best way. It’s packed with tension, loyalty, humor, and a depth of feeling that lingers. I kept thinking about certain scenes long after closing the book. It was one of those reads where I didn’t want it to end—and when it did, I just sat there for a second, breathing it all in.

Date Read: 2025.11.05
Profile Image for Ana Maria.
302 reviews1 follower
Read
December 22, 2024
Hak yo no te hubiera parado <3

Ha sido más duro de lo que creía, no sabía hasta que punto iba a perder el control y wow, mínimo una ostia se tendría que haber llevado el Suwoon. Btw me hace gracia que este hable de que la próxima vez acabará con el Hak because... How? Honey u will be lucky if u get out alive! Además hasta donde yo sé te va a salvar la vida sooo.
Enfin, por otro lado no se si me va a gustar lo que viene porque empiezo a temer que sea todo el rato vamos a x sitio a arreglar algo y suwoon y compañía tmb van. Más que nada porque creo que es un recurso que no se debe sobre usar y he leído de que va el siguiente tomo y me temo que van por ahí los tiros. Espero equivocarme tho!
Pd: estos paneles del Zeno...Girl es que siento que se está comunicando a través de los pájaros con el otro y yo me cgo en todo.
Profile Image for Monica Singh.
61 reviews
October 24, 2025
Again, with all the story we've had the secret identity elements seem far fetched a plot point that should've been used earlier in the story. I'm expecting a reveal with the yellow dragon at this point but my interest is waning the more they draw it out. FINALLY some anger towards Sun-Won! I have some hope that the magaka won't try to wrap their trauma up with a happy friendship bow. I love the General and his character development in this manga. I also wouldn't be mad with a Yona & Riri ship 😂
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