Yona catches herself a blue-eyed white dragon.
What They Say:
Episode #10: “Anticipation”
“This person… This person is the master I have been hoping for…” Yona and her friends arrive in the village where the White Dragon lives. The proud villagers who have protected the power of the White Dragon and passed it down through generations of White Dragons believe Yona may be the descendant of the Hiryuu King who employed the first White Dragon when they see her red hair.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
They’ve subtly changed the opening animation again, adding in some new background characters and expanding the cast out even more. Which isn’t surprising considering we’ve just met our first dragon, or at least the young man with the powers of one.
When Hak and Yona arrive in the hidden village they find Yun locked up in a cage. It’s amusing to watch him attempt to plot an escape until the guests of honor casually arrive. Yona is treated like a celebrity because of her red hair. She never liked her hair much, and hasn’t really made the connection that she too might be a descendent of the red dragon even after what the priest said.
The young man named Ki-ja who inherited the power of the white dragon has lived a sheltered life in the village, treated as royalty himself. The village elder is keen on continuing the white dragon’s bloodline, and most of the villagers have some sort of shade of white hair. Only one inherited the actual gift of power, held in a monstrous clawed right hand of the young dragon lord. This is all revealed in what has to be the clunkiest bit of exposition in the series thus far. Yona and Hak are filled in on the history of the village as well.
Ki-ja doesn’t like the idea of outsiders in the village and decides to deal with them on his own until he sees Yona and his dragon blood awakens in a surprisingly violent way. That confirms Yona as the rightful heir of the red dragon, and Ki-ja is reduced to a blubbering mess.
I wasn’t surprised to see Ki-ja take an immediate disliking to Hak. He tries to pay Hak off and claims he doesn’t need his help in protecting Yona. Yona immediately tells Ki-ja that Hak is important to her and gives the money back, but the tension between Hak and Ki-ja is a hilarious bit. Ki-ja certainly has been spoiled by his village, he is haughty and regal in a way that Yona has long since shaken off.
The village holds a banquet for their guests, who decide to leave the next day. Ki-ja says a long and heartfelt goodbye to his grandmother before the quartet departs on their journey. One dragon down, three more to go!
In Summary:
In a mostly lighthearted episode, we meet our first dragon descendent Ki-ja. It looks like he’s going to have a friendly rivalry with Hak over serving the princess. Once she made up her mind Yona hasn’t wavered in her quest at all, no matter how daunting it seems. With Ki-ja able to point the way to the next dragon it looks like the journey will continue on in the next episode. Hopefully we get a good look at what a dragon’s power is capable of next week.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll & Funimation
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.9.5, via Safari 7.0.6, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
