Hangout Akatsuki no Yona Hangout Thread

[SamuelDean]

Finally! Thanks to chapter 152. No misunderstandings. Anymore. But unfortunately the manga will go on a break until January 20th. So the story won t progress further until then.

 

[Aniela]

Chap 152...

Long story short, Hak told yona to her face “Because i love you”.

And the rest is history.

But I'm guessing that they still needed the entire chapter to get that out? =.=

 

[Trjpyo]

Chap 152...

Long story short, Hak told yona to her face “Because i love you”.

And the rest is history.

In my opinion, that last chapter(151) took away the supposed ‘excitement’ / ‘big bang’ in this recent chap(152).
Im not squealing or jumping... all i feel is relief. Relief that this isnt another NG life ‘i love u’ ending.
Im glad this is over but i dont like how it was executed at all.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 19, 2017, Original Post Date: Dec 19, 2017 ---

But I'm guessing that they still needed the entire chapter to get that out? =.=

The last 2-3 pages

 

[Mini_kinkin]

Finally....but still so pissed about the previous chapter....and the fact that Hak had to confess first because Yona was being frustrating.

 

[Trjpyo]

Finally....but still so pissed about the previous chapter....and the fact that Hak had to confess first because Yona was being frustrating.

Right? I cant get over that chapter as well, even now.

 

[SamuelDean]

Finally....but still so pissed about the previous chapter....and the fact that Hak had to confess first because Yona was being frustrating.

What s so bad about Hak s confession? I thought it was rather well handled, that Kusanagi-sensei chose Hak and not Yona.

 

[shinobi]

Finally the confession is out!! at this point I don't really mind who says it first as long as it's said, I was afraid that this will drag even more so this is really a relief.

how did Yona respond?? or is it that Hak's confession ended the chapter??

 

[@Aylinn]

I see we will be spared the doubtful enjoyment of seeing shoujo clichés applied to slow down the romance between the main characters and something that should have happened 100 chapters ago finally happened. I agree with others that this is a relief.

A month of waiting for the next chapter. Well, I hope Kusanagi will use her time to plan something better for the plot of the next arc and that she is planning on giving a better character development to Yona this time. I also hope that Kye-Sook will be a much better antagonist than Gobi and will not be evil for the sake of being EVIL.

Now the most important thing left is a conclusion to Hak and Yona’s broken relationship with Su-won, which I suppose will be preceded by some revelations about Su-won’s reasons to start a coup.

Hopefully, it will not be something awfully clichéd like Su-won dying or worse Su-won dying by heroically protecting Yona or/and Hak with his own body and thus earning his redemption in this way. This is the thing that would completely ruin the whole manga for me.

 

[Mini_kinkin]

What s so bad about Hak s confession? I thought it was rather well handled, that Kusanagi-sensei chose Hak and not Yona.

It's frustrating because he is the one who was controlling his feelings all along, so the correct choice would have been Yona not him. I also wanted Yona to confess first to get over her cowardice when it comes to him and love. But sadly that was not meant to be....

Hopefully, it will not be something awfully clichéd like Su-won dying or worse Su-won dying by heroically protecting Yona or/and Hak with his own body and thus earning his redemption in this way. This is the thing that would completely ruin the whole manga for me.

Actually, according to the prophecy the sword and shield will protect the king, so I think the one who will be protected is Soo-Won by Yona not the other way around. Let's see how this plays out.

I don't think the three can go back to being best pals, but would hope some sort of conflict resolution for everyone's peace of mind.

 

[SamuelDean]

It's frustrating because he is the one who was controlling his feelings all along, so the correct choice would have been Yona not him. I also wanted Yona to confess first to get over her cowardice when it comes to him and love. But sadly that was not meant to be....

Wait. As far as I do see it, both were at fault for this situation. I think it wouldn t have hurt, if he had spilled it sooner. And Hak is pretty much as inactive as Yona and knew his feelings longer. That is why I think it doesn t hurt Hak to actually confess.

 

[@Aylinn]

Actually, according to the prophecy the sword and shield will protect the king, so I think the one who will be protected is Soo-Won by Yona not the other way around. Let's see how this plays out.

I don't think the three can go back to being best pals, but would hope some sort of conflict resolution for everyone's peace of mind.

Yes, I suppose that the choice is either between an open conflict, which I don’t think is likely at this point as the story is not building up to it, or them forgiving, but not forgetting and acting as if nothing happened, and getting on speaking terms with Su-won after his reasons for killing Il are revealed, which I hope is what is going to happen. It has far more potential for an emotional punch than following clichés like killing off Su-won or turning Kye-Sook or Yu-hon into evil dudes so that Su-won can see the light and turn to Yona's side/beg her for forgiveness, etc. This would be so cheap and totally disappointing.

 

[Trjpyo]

how did Yona respond?? or is it that Hak's confession ended the chapter??

Hak said it in an angry, like he was fed up manner. Yona was just stunned.

And im reading being all, well im fed up too. Thank god it happened

 

[SamuelDean]

By the way, what do you think about the theory of Yu hon being responsible for the death of Yona s mother? Or do you think it was just an unrelated event? Or do you even think that King Il was the one who killed his own wife? (Somehow I have thoughts to all three possibilities.)

 

[@Aylinn]

By the way, what do you think about the theory of Yu hon being responsible for the death of Yona s mother? Or do you think it was just an unrelated event? Or do you even think that King Il was the one who killed his own wife? (Somehow I have thoughts to all three possibilities.)

There are plenty of theories that Yu-hon is the evil dude and Su-won does not know about the horrible ways of his father.

My problem with Yu-hon being the bad guy are connected with how it affects the story and that it is poor storytelling in this case.

First of all, Su-won is not the main character and any big revelations about his father would put more focus on him. This is a poor choice of villain at the final stage of the story as at this stage you don’t make big revelations that fire at the supporting characters face. It is the time to focus on the main characters. In this case it is Yona and in a lesser degree Hak. To give an example of a story that does it right, think about Pandora Hearts.

Spoiler

Who was hit the most by revelations about Jack and the truth of what really happened in the past? Who was hit the most by what Jack knew?

Secondly, Yu-hon, as the evil dude, does not give so much potential for a dramatic climax, because of how the story was done and who is the main character the dramatic climax is simply not there if you turn Yu-hon into the bad guy. Also, Su-won issues are not connected with being ignorant. In fact, it would be really strange if it suddenly turned out that such an intelligent person has not known anything, has suspected nothing and checked nothing and guessed nothing and doubted nothing in the last 10 years. It does not sound plausible and there is no build up to it and that’s why I think that Su-won in fact knows a lot of about what happened in the past, but maybe finds the truth too horrible to speak about it to his best friends, especially to Yona whose father is one of the main actors in the whole thing.

And let us now think which characters have been clearly signalled to be ignorant about what is going on.

Thirdly, going back to what the story has been building up to. Was it about Su-won and his coming to terms with the fact that his father is not such a great person as he thought? I think we can all agree that no. This story is not about Su-won, but it is about Yona and there is the subplot where she needs to come to terms with the fact that her father was really bad for the kingdom. Making her discover that he also horribly wronged Su-won and Yu-hon has a lot of dramatic potential. Besides, there is this little scene in the Fire Tribe arc that shows that Yona does not believe Su-won’s words that her father killed Yu-hon, so Yona is rejecting this notion that her father may have done something horrible. Does she have any solid evidence other than ‘I think so’? Nope. Is it possible based on what we know about her that she lacks essential information about the past to judge? Yes.

In other words, Su-won discovering that his father is a terrible person would be a resolution to a problem that does not exist as it has not been signalled in the manga at all. Yona discovering that her father is not only a bad King, but also not so great person as well would tie much better with what has been shown so far.

Not that I think Yu-hon is a saint, but I just don’t see how turning him into a villain makes sense in this manga. It would just show that Yona has a monopoly for being right and good and that there is no way that her opponents or anyone who does not side with her may have a valid reason to oppose her or to kill her daddy.

As for whether Yu-hon killed Yona’s mother. It can be true, but I think in the light of the above it would make more sense to give it some twists like, for example, Yu-hon discovered that Il killed their father -> Yu-hon got angry and tried to kill Il -> but the cowardly Il used his wife as a shield just like Gobi used this girl in Xing arc.

 

[Mini_kinkin]

Wait. As far as I do see it, both were at fault for this situation. I think it wouldn t have hurt, if he had spilled it sooner. And Hak is pretty much as inactive as Yona and knew his feelings longer. That is why I think it doesn't hurt Hak to actually confess.

Yeah I get what you mean, but Hak is the one who suffered the most with his feelings all these years, and now he confesses out of frustration - this is just not satisfactory for me. But I will forgive this if there are some cute moments now between them without dumb misunderstandings.

Su-won discovering that his father is a terrible person would be a resolution to a problem that does not exist as it has not been signalled in the manga at all. Yona discovering that her father is not only a bad King, but also not so great person as well would tie much better with what has been shown so far.

In my opinion, both Yu-Hon and Il might turn out equally bad. Which is why the next generation is paying for their mistakes.

Soo-Won is not the main character, sure, but that doesn't mean that he won't have any revelations. I am yet to see some good character development from Soo-Won, since his growth has been static until recent chapters where he shows outright stubbornness about Yona and the how she could be a threat to the country and doesn't be rational and do anything about it. This is good development because we are seeing some of his flaws. The problem is that Soo-Won has idiolized his dad since he was a kid, and we can see he gets emotional about him.

For example, the dumping of heads wasn't seen as a big deal by Soo-Won...because he idolises his dad most likely....but for many dumping of heads was a big NO and a sign of cruelty for others. Maybe he is rationalizing his dad's actions. Even if he knows they are bad. Since Xing arc is over, and there was no explanation about the head dumping, I am assuming what Kouren thought was true.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if the reader find out that he is actually not a good person. Maybe Soo-Won will realize this too, even if he knows what Yu-Hon did all these years. This in turn would provide more character development for Soo-Won, as I don't want the manga to finish without some proper growth for his character.

About Il being bad, it won't be so unexpected. The fandom hates him already. Actually showing Il as a bad person is the most predictable. I will admit, I think he is a bad person too....but maybe not in the sense we think. Maybe he was so obsessed with Hiryuu/prophecy that he lost his marbles, leading him to do terrible things. Maybe this would make Yona hate the fact that she is Hiryuu reincarnation for a while, before she comes to terms with everything and we have a peaceful end.

Btw on another note we could see Shin-Ah's eyes in this whole chapter! Will Kusa show his eyes from now on? Does that mean he can properly control his power now or something?

 

[@Aylinn]

I too think that Su-won needs to get a character development, but I don’t think it makes any sense to give him a character development that would treat him as if he were an ignorant princess until now. His main issue so far is that he is very secretive about what he knows and those not tell his problems openly, though I would not say he was going out of himself to hide them before Hak, and yes, there is this fact that Su-won said that he would agree with such methods under certain circumstances, which was still not explained what he means by it. However, even if Su-won is trying to rationalize his father’s actions, he is aware of them, not ignorant about them. While both Su-won and Yona may deal with what kind of image they have of their father and how it fits the reality, their position is heavily implied to be different. Yona, who doesn’t know anything and rejects the idea of her father doing anything horrible, not because she has hard evidence, but just because she thinks so and cannot believe it, and Su-won, who knows what his father did, but may be trying to rationalize it.

However, the problem with Yu-hon is that Yu-hon was just a prince, he was never the ruler. This makes it very likely that Yu-hon was under his father’s orders when he dumped the heads, banished the priests. And there is no sign that Yu-hon was in conflict with his father, because if he were, people should not be so surprised that he was not chosen as the King. It would not make his action better, but it would put him in a different position than Il who had the full freedom to act as he wished after he became the King.

 

[Mini_kinkin]

While both Su-won and Yona may deal with what kind of image they have of their father and how it fits the reality, their position is heavily implied to be different. Yona, who doesn’t know anything and rejects the idea of her father doing anything horrible, not because she has hard evidence, but just because she thinks so and cannot believe it, and Su-won, who knows what his father did, but may be trying to rationalize it.

Yes I am trying to say this. Soo-Won might have known of his father's actions but is rationalizing them to suit his own internal narrative. I am thinking like this because he does get quite emotional about his dad. My thoughts about Yona are similar to what you said about Il.

However, the problem with Yu-hon is that Yu-hon was just a prince, he was never the ruler. This makes it very likely that Yu-hon was under his father’s orders when he dumped the heads, banished the priests. And there is no sign that Yu-hon was in conflict with his father, because if he were, people should not be so surprised that he was not chosen as the King. It would not make his action better, but it would put him in a different position than Il who had the full freedom to act as he wished after he became the King.

We don't know if dumping of the heads was pre-approved? Or maybe Ju-Nam just gave him unlimited authority in regards to Xing. So I don't think that Yu-Hon should be absolved from his cruel deeds, if indeed it was him who did them.

Il of course gets no free pass for his actions either.

 

[SamuelDean]

Yeah I get what you mean, but Hak is the one who suffered the most with his feelings all these years, and now he confesses out of frustration - this is just not satisfactory for me. But I will forgive this if there are some cute moments now between them without dumb misunderstandings.

Well, honestly I do not care so much, who was the first to confess. I think a relationship is different from a game, where scoring points is important. It would have been dumb to Hak, if he hadn t spoken his mind. But I think I get your point that it was maybe not very romantic. I was just relieved. No more misunderstandings and I nearly laughed, since Hak was just as frustrated with the ping-pong-games of misunderstandings.

To @ Aylinn.
Wow. just wow. You really have a lot to say to that topic.
1.To the first option: Yu hon kills Yona s mother. My question: Why would he do that? King Il would have been still King and could have easily remarried. In fact King Il had concubines, so him not remarrying again had nothing to do with his undying love for his wife. So in fact just great risks for Yu hon and this man was supposed to be a clever strategist, if we wish to believe General Geuntae.

Honestly I didn t thought about the perspective of story telling that you introduced here. Very interesting.

2. It could really be just a coincidence. So the moral: Shit happens. But that would be maybe just too good for King Il.

3. King Il killed his own wife. Somehow it would fit his previous actions. He doesn t remarry, so that Yona could become queen. If a male heir had appeared Yona would have been out of the picture and with King Il and his strong belief to the gods...let s say...It is a little fishy. Could also be that this was one major reason for Soo Won to take action. Who knows? It would even fit Soo Won s actions and previous descpription. In fact Soo Won doesn t tend to kill people.

To @Mini_kinkin
I am eagerly awaiting further progression in Soo Won s character, but I think his point of view really did change throughout the whole manga.
Not so much in his actions concerning Kouka. To tell the truth a highly determined character that just doesn t follow what he preaches...No...I think it was good that he kept his plan and didn t stray. So yea...he was statical, but I didn t really mind here.

To the change in his character. Concerning Yona and Hak there are in fact a few changes.
At first he was their friend until his father s death.
Then he tried to put some space between them and him. What is striking for me. Am I seeing things or did Soo Won really try to warn Hak (Yona) several times. It s not that he told him his plans, but somehow his actions were a little ambivalent.
Actually he told Hak that he wouldn t take care of Yona and that he should be careful. His reaction when he pushed Yona away, the moment she confessed.
Then after the murder: I think at first he more or less calculated that he would lose both Yona and Hak, maybe even considered their deaths. Then he wished for them to stay alive, but tried to precede with his plan without really taking notice of them.
In Awa and in the Water Tribe Arc he even protected Yona. I think in the Water Tribe Arc he was also a little bit perplexed of Yona s reactions and actions.
Occasionally he interacted with them, even asking for their help in Sei Arc. He actually couldn t bring himself to harm them. Despite Ju do s shouts.
The third stage was in fact that he remembered that Yona is the reincarnation of King Hiryuu. As it is his reactions to that topic are very negative.
And he even distanced himself further from them. He didn t really listen to Yona at first, when she tried to talk to him and also I think that Soo Won avoided to meet them, because this person is pretty good at postponing such matters.
So avoidance is still the measure he chooses, but he eventually has to attack, if he cannot run away any more.

Well I do not think that Yu hon is the sole "bad guy" ...to tell the truth, he won t win the price for the purest heart, that is true. But I tend to think that King Il also wasn t as pure and innocent as Yona thought he was.

 

[@Aylinn]

@Mini_kinkin Ok, I just think that if there will be juicy revelations they will/should be about Il, not Yu-hon. So far, I have not seen a good reason to turn Yu-hon into a villain or make juicy revelations about him and storywise it is not a good choice.

We don't know if dumping of the heads was pre-approved? Or maybe Ju-Nam just gave him unlimited authority in regards to Xing. So I don't think that Yu-Hon should be absolved from his cruel deeds, if indeed it was him who did them.

Yes, we don’t know if it was approved or if Yu-hon was under orders, but two most likely scenarios are that either Yu-hon got orders to dump the heads or his father gave him his consent as there are no hints or signs that they were in conflict with each other. Besides, it is unlikely that Yu-hon acted against his father’s orders or will as this can be considered to be a treason.

1.To the first option: Yu hon kills Yona s mother. My question: Why would he do that? King Il would have been still King and could have easily remarried. In fact King Il had concubines, so him not remarrying again had nothing to do with his undying love for his wife. So in fact just great risks for Yu hon and this man was supposed to be a clever strategist, if we wish to believe General Geuntae.

Yes, I agree there is no point in killing the queen.

About Il being bad, it won't be so unexpected. The fandom hates him already. Actually showing Il as a bad person is the most predictable.

My impression is that people expect Yu-hon to be the big bad, which is why I think the whole theory that Yu-hon killed Yona’s mother is so popular. To tell the truth I greatly dislike such theories that justify Il’s murder of Yu-hon. Right now, Su-won is the only character that is not siding with Yona and is not agreeing with her that is not shown as an outright bad person. If it turns out that Il had a good reason to kill Yu-hon and can be easily justified, it would mean that all Yona’s opponents are either bad or misinformed people and there is no way anyone can have a valid reason to be in opposition to her. I hope Kusanagi will not do it as it would take away a lot from the story.

As for the move to be predictable, well yes, it is rather hard to make something that cannot be predicted if there is some logic applied to the story and what happens next is connected to what happened\was shown before, so it is not a necessarily bad thing if this is this type of predictability where you can guess what will happen next from analysing what happened before and guessing what would be a logical development of the story.

I think there is a big difference between predictability that is based on the logical development of the story and a predictability based on the author going through a checklist of clichés common in the genre, never mind if they fit together and with the rest.

Also, I want some juicy revelations about Il, because such revelations have the best potential for a good dramatic final.

 

[Mini_kinkin]

@Aylinn

Yes I agree, we should get some juicy revelations about Il, but only about Il would not be all that dramatic.

According to me, the author has been giving us revelations about Il throughout the story. Actually, Yona has got the most revelations throughout the manga. This has helped her grow as a person.

Revelations:

1) Soo-Won is not who she thought he was
2) Il was a bad King
3) Kouka is in a mess
4) She is Hiryu's reincarnation

She has had several variables thrown at her already. We have already seen her react. It would be little boring if only she was being fed revelations.

Soo-Won is someone, on the other hand, who is always shown as making right and rational decisions (until recent arc) so I think it would be more interesting if we can see him look at Yu-Hon in another light. Yu-Hon need not be a typical villain, it can just be shown that his methods were wrong. He could have been doing cruel things for the sake of Kouka, but it isn't really the right way.

About who killed Yona's mom, I honestly have no idea. It could very well have been Il. But like, what will Yona as a character gain by knowing this if this happened? It seems more tragic than dramatic.

The only purpose to paint Il in a completely bad light, and not make Yu-Hon so bad after all, is to make Soo-Won seem completely right in his actions and be a "saviour" of sorts to Yona. This would be an incredibly convenient way for Yona to reconcile with him. And it would make Soo-Won look like a hero who kept all this to himself to avoid hurting his best friend's feelings. Sorry but this is not what he looks like to me, especially since on that very first night he planned to Kill Yona and only softened his stance later, and kept softening his stance after that. If Yona is the MC, not Soo-Won, it is important that author shows some influence of Yona on Soo-Won and not the other way around before the end of the manga. So yes also @SamuelDean, while his character has changed a little when it comes to Yona and Hak, it still isn't the in depth character growth I am looking out for.

Also Soo-Won didn't know Yona would come to Il's room at that night...so why would he know he would lose Yona and Hak? It's only because she witnessed the murder that all this is happening. He probably planned to keep the fact that he murdered Il a secret from the two of them, and possibly marry Yona.