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Shoujo License Request: Akatsuki no Yona

We’re half way through the anime of Akatsuki no Yona, and I’m betting there are a lot of watchers out there that would love to pick up the manga books and continue reading this action-filled story by Mizuho Kusanagi. I think the anime has been great so far, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Yona will achieve her goal. So I’m requesting the license of Akatsuki no Yona for our shoujo fans out there.


AnY_cover1JP
What’s it about? Yona is the sole princess of the kingdom, living the luxurious and carefree life as a princess should. She has it all: the finest clothes and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a loving emperor as a father, and the hottest cousin crush, Soo-won, anyone could ever hope to have. Now, if only her bodyguard, Son Hak, wasn’t so annoying to her and her hair wasn’t so red.



But her nearly perfect world quickly shatters as the man she loves, Soo-won, murders her father and the path to his ascension to the throne is assured. Son Hak escapes with Yona, and they lead a life on the run from that point on. Along the way Yona recruits an eclectic group of bishies that have dragon powers. With the help of these individuals will Yona be able to reclaim her throne and birthright?



Yona and Hak after escaping the Fire Tribe

Yona and Hak after escaping the Fire Tribe

The “Give Me” Factor: Yona is a strong heroine that is just a little clueless about guys. Her determination makes her admirable as a female role model. She refuses to give up and always sees the best in people. Watching the boys fawn over her is funny and adorable, as she is always oblivious to their romantic intentions. I would love to own this series and be able to read the entire story. I’ve read Mizuho’s Kusanagi’s other works and really enjoy her storytelling. This has been her best and longest running series to date. Seeing the story come to life in an anime has just made me want to read it even more.



The Audience: Akatsuki no Yona has been running in Hana to Yume since 2009. It’s a perfect fantasy shoujo with plenty of action and romance. With the reverse harem aspect the fangirls are always drooling over the guys. I think this series would be very successful in our shoujo manga market.

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11 Comments

  • Looks like we’ve got our wish… Viz Media for Summer 2016

    • I know, YAY! Viz surprised me with this one – I’m glad they’re going for it! Now we have to make sure people buy it!!!
      So if you’re reading the scans be sure to BUY the books and support Kusanagi-sensei!!

  • I really want Fruits Basket to be reprinted. It did very well here and I’m not keen on paying hundreds for the series on Ebay or wherever.

    • I don’t think that will happen any time soon. It’s a bummer too. It was the best selling shoujo manga in North America. I seriously doubt Tokyopop could get the permission to republish it, even if they are going back in business. If you want to just read it there’s always a library.

    • In Japan they are republishing the series in two bind up volumes if I’m not mistaken because of the spin off the author created for it so it’s likely they will license those to be published here.

      • yeah, we actually got it picked up by Yen Press. That was announced about a week ago. So despite my pessimism we are actually getting a reprint of Fruits Basket. yay!

  • The serie has been licensed in French. I’ve just bought the first two volumes in French. Being bilingual is really useful. I also watched the anime and felt in love with the story and I really love all the characters. I’m not into shoujo mangas generally but that one is really good, with lots of adventures and humor. I also like that the villains are not one dimensional.

    http://www.pika.fr/catalogue/pika-shojo/yona-princesse-de-laube/yona-princesse-de-laube-t01-20861

    • I wish I could read French! The Pika publisher editions are always so nice! The only language I can read fluently is Spanish. That was my Foreign Language credit in college. haha. I’m still learning Japanese.

      I love Akatsuki no Yona, and I’m disappointed it’s not happening here in North America. It most likely won’t because of the length of the story now. That’s what I suspect anyway. Le sigh!

      • I live in Canada, many speak French there. Chapters Indigo often does not have mangas in French in their online store, not the ones I want anyway, so I buy them on Amazon.ca instead. I prefer mangas in English personally because they’re bigger, you see more the art, and less texts in the boxes makes them easier to read too. But when I want to buy a serie that is still not out yet in English, I’ll buy them then in French, like I did for Count/Earl Cain, Karneval, Devils and Realist and Akatsuki no Yona.

  • Just finished the anime. I NEED A SECOND SEASON!!! As much as I want this licensed, it’s volume length is risky for publishers and I honestly enjoyed everything about the anime. I hope this series gets its rightful release because it truly is a gem among shoujo.

    • The manga or the anime? I’m hoping Funimation got the rights to the anime. Don’t know though. The manga, well, it’s a long shot at this point. Back in the day, this would have been something that Viz would have licensed. Now they seem to be having trepidation because of scans. I’ll be getting it in Japanese most likely.

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