Yona of the Dawn vol 10 by Mizuho Kusanagi

Lord Tae Jun, the second son of the Fire Tribe General, has decided to go under cover to find out if the mysterious lady he heard is, in fact, Princess Yona. When he enters Katan Village, he finds sick elderly, hungry children, and some members of the bandit gang he’s after, The Hungry Bunch gang.  Tae Jun learns that the measures of his father, the general of the fire tribe, have left villages desolate, without young able bodied men to do the work of planting and harvesting, and sicknesses have ravaged the land.  His main goal is to make Yona happy and proud, so he decides to invest his men and resources into setting up a countermeasure headquarters in the village.  This brings able bodied men to fix buildings, and doctors to treat the sick.

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This volume is told entirely from Tae Jun's perspective.  It’s interesting to shift narrative focus and see the efforts of Yona and her gang through the eyes of a different character.  Tae Jun started out as a shell of a person, too depressed to remember his men's names or to get out of bed sometimes, so it’s been nice to see him transform into a man with purpose, dedicated to making the Fire Tribe a better place.  Tae Jun had to go through the same shift as Yona - coming from a place of privilege and not understanding why villagers struggle so much.

This series continues to have new depth and be enjoyable.  Illustrations are detailed and beautiful, although sometimes the details can be too much (in the case of Tae Jun's tear-covered, snotty face). This colorful cast of characters means there's someone for everyone to put their heart into and follow through the narration.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Rating: Grades 8-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7, vol 8,vol 9

Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Fantasy