Akatsuki no Yona Episode 12: Enter the Dragon II (Blue)

Wow, what a contrast from Ki-ja’s meeting.

First of all, let me get the funnies out of the way.

That covers it. That 8-bit part had me reeling.

The group make it to the mountain village, and it’s definitely not what they expected. Where in Ki-ja’s village, they raved over Yona’s hair and were hospitable when it came to the White Dragon. Instead here everyone is scary as hell making threats and say they don’t know anyone called the Blue Dragon. Which is a complete lie because Ki-ja can sense Mr. Blue Dragon. Yona apologizes, and the group manage to stay in the village because they were actually nice enough to let them stay due to Hak’s injuries. The elder says the place is like a maze, and it’s no way his fault if anything were to happen to them. And if that doesn’t scream BAAAAD at you then you’ll just see in a bit.

The group decide in their room that they’re going to search for the Blue Dragon. They can’t, and they reach a dead end. Before they leave, Yona presses against the wall and accidentally pushes a secret rock, and a secret door opens. This really is starting to look like a dungeon game. On the other side of the door…!

It’s a really fucking cute squirrel. Yona follows it and the secret door closes with her being separated from the boys. She catches up to the squirrel and smushes it, then it runs off and the candles keeping the cave lit suddenly go out. A random guy offers to help Yona find her friends. The creeper asks for her hand, but Yona notices he’s actually taking her down deeper into the cave. She tries to escape but the creeper is too strong, but luckily, a strange man with a mask on (then again, everyone else in the village wear masks) saves her, and leads her away. He actually leads her back to Hak and the others. They’re relieved at first, and the mystery man and Ki-ja lock eyes. And the blue-haired man runs off. Ki-ja was right all along. The mystery man that saved Yona was Mr. Blue Dragon.

The contrasts between Ki-ja and Blue Dragon’s upbringing are very obvious. Ki-ja was loved, adored, respected, and his power was held in high regard. It was the complete opposite for the Blue Dragon. Ever since he was born, Blue Dragon (we don’t know his name yet) was hated, feared, and shunned. Bearing a baby with the blue dragon’s blood is a curse. Blue Dragon’s mother even killed herself when she found out her son inherited the blood. Father didn’t want it either. The village rule is that the previous generation blue dragon is responsible for taking care of the new blue dragon.

And his name is Ao. The reason why the villagers are so afraid of Ao and little Blue Dragon is because of rumors. Rumors are really terrible things, aren’t they? The rumor is that if you look at the blue dragons in the eye, you turn to stone. In actuality, the eye power is strong enough to paralyze someone, even their heart. But it’s not a curse, and it can be controlled. The thing is that little Blue Dragon doesn’t know how to really use his power, but Ao tells him that he should never use his power, and that’s why he wears a mask all the time. Little Blue Dragon slowly understands. And what pains me is that little Blue Dragon was a sweet little boy, and he still seems sweet as an 18 year old. He wanted to make friends, and he keeps asking Ao if he ever can. But the damage has been done, and they have a bad reputation. What I find funny is that the villagers are scared and hate them, but Ao still goes out and defeats anyone that tries to harm the village and look for them. I know it’s because they don’t want the secret of the blue dragon power to get out, but still. I hate these villagers so much.

Another power to Blue Dragon’s eyes is fantastic eyesight. Little Blue Dragon looks out the window and notices men outside the village around a campfire looking at them. Thing is, these guys are MILES away. WAAAAAAY FAR. Another thing mentioned was that Ao’s eyes were progressively getting worse. Day after day, he was getting more blind. Ao was the one that took out any guys that would pose a threat, and then came the day he completely became blind. He was a rather angry man, but it was understandable. Even so, he cared about little Blue Dragon. He let him hold his hand, he made him smile, taught him how to use a sword, and in the end before dying, he apologized about leaving him alone.

Being alone in their home, soldiers come and little Blue Dragon managed to kill them all using his power.

This shit made me so sad. He’s still feared, even now in the damn village. But Yona sensed the warmth from his hand when he led her out of the darkened cave, so eventually we’ll see a turnaround. It’s crazy how this show can switch from a comedy to a serious shoujo in no time, and it doesn’t feel out of place. Good job.