Sofie’s Reviews > Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 9 > Status Update

gija i ADORE you!!!!! he can be pushy and judgy at times but everyone knows that it’s because he wants the dragons to be their best. he really is the glue that keeps them together and i hope we do get to see him mentoring sinha more

sinha's little "i can be here...?" just ripped my heart out of my chest thanks for asking
"i'm allowed to exist? i'm allowed to have family and be understood and cared for by them? i'm allowed to keep living despite everything i've done? despite everything i've endured? i'm allowed to live?"

YES YONA YES YES YES THAT IS THE SOLUTION THATS WHAT I JUST FUCKING SAID
this breakthrough is so beautifully done as an allegory for trauma and abandonment issues. sinha needs to accept the pain he's been put through and the pain that he is in turn capable of inflicting on others, cause if he keeps hiding it all away it's only going to overwhelm him and twist him into the monster he's convinced he already is

this arc has put me through the wringer but i fear my last straw is pu-kyu nuzzling against sinha's fingers when he's paralyzed. that's it, that fucking moment right there. kusanagi when i find you

i really haven't read much media involving dragons but isn't a core feature of their characterization usually greed? so as sinha is tapping into his power, he can't help but want more more more more. i wonder if that'll manifest in the other dragons at some point too.....we've seen it a bit already with jaeha saying that he physically cannot help himself from jumping for a long period of time. corruption arc tease?

i have more to gush about with this sinha sequence bc my heart BREAKS for this child who has been forced into the darkness since the moment he opened his eyes. OF COURSE the power is so enticing and hard to snap out of bc he can finally see!!!!! i hope moving forward the solution is for him to abandon the mask and learn how to better control the power. the all or nothing tactic is clearly dangerous for his psyche

oh.
my jaw is on the FLOOR at this sequence oh my god??????? seeing sinha's power from both his and the bandit's perspective is brilliant, and it makes sense why it might be cursed. his power allows him to embody the MINDSET of the dragon, while the others embody it in a physical sense (at least for now?). of course that comes with a price, and it might be his very humanity. this is INCREDIBLE

she literally just shot one of the men but as soon as they realize she's a girl, they start calling her "honey" and telling her to calm down
yona i think you should redirect your nonlethal shots to aim for the groin instead

i was starting to worry that sinha was being overshadowed by the other dragons bc he doesn't talk much and has stayed in the background to deliver on more comedic moments, but kusanagi flexes her writing skills yet again by highlighting him right when those fears started to manifest. i cannot WAIT to see what's in store for him in this arc and how he'll continue to come out of his shell and heal more and more

okay cool so i'm tearing up already this certainly bodes well
these characters are just so incredibly endearing and lovely and their chemistry together jumps off the page and SPARKLES. these in-between moments set the tone for the entire manga and really cement it as a comfort read for me