The 2,000-year-old dragon.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Mizuho Kusanagi
Translation: JN Productions
Adaptation: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane
What They Say
A Kai Empire soldier fatally strikes Zeno, but he doesn’t die! Yona and her friends are shocked by the Yellow Dragon’s power as well as what he reveals about both his past and the Crimson Dragon King…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When Zeno walked into the story he seemed so out-of-place. He was the last dragon to join Yona on her journey. He seemed like a frivolous young man with few worries or cares. The others accept him right away because they know he’s a dragon, but he was a mysterious, childish figure. He was eager to throw himself in front of Yona as a human shield and seemingly had a death wish. Yet now we know the truth.
He simply can’t die. He is the original yellow dragon.
The opening of this volume is brutal in its depiction of how the others learn this. Zeno is cut down, only to stand up again. The soldier attacking him cuts off both of Zeno’s arms, only for Zeno to reattach them in a body-horror moment. Zeno takes up a sword proving that he can fight, and he’s very adept at it, only to lose his head. Yet that reattachs as well.
After the battle, the group flees back over the border to recover. Zeno admits his identity and tells the others that he had been watching over Yona’s progress. He was watching the others too, from back when they were children struggling with their powers. He has been watching over the country for hundreds of years. Thousands of years. Forever trapped in a 17-year-old body forced to watch those around him grow old and die, because he can’t.
When Zeno heard the voice of the yellow dragon he made a pledge to do whatever he could for his country to make people happy. He walked alongside the Red Dragon King and the other first dragon warriors. He was protected by them and stood by his dying ruler, eventually parting from his companions because he couldn’t bear to watch them grow old. A young man with a gentle heart, he carried on his King’s will.
Zeno’s struggle is the pain and insanity that comes with realizing he couldn’t die. The existential terror of watching his wounds heal, of never suffering sickness or aging, eventually takes a mental toll. For one who loves so deeply, he had to keep on the move, so that he wouldn’t get attached. The death of the other dragons, death of his king, it all wore him down. Eventually, he met a young woman whose life was tragically short, and he loved her deeply too. The scene at the end of that chapter is dark in its implications.
And throughout the only thing driving Zeno is his faith. He realizes that there must be a reason he is still alive. The token his King gave him cannot leave his side. He watches as new dragons are born. They were all waiting for the Red Dragon to return, to fulfill their purpose. Yet Zeno struggles when his prayers go unanswered, and he never hears the voice of God.
This volume ends on a lighter note, but one full of questions. Where does Yona’s group go now?
In Summary
Zeno always seemed so tacked on to the group as the latecomer, but his past reveals that he’s one of the most crucial figures in the story thus far. For as tragic as Sinha’s upbringing was, it can’t begin to touch the tragedy in Zeno’s life. Loyalty, love, and faith, Zeno has lived it all and been through several lifetimes of joy and pain. He is a guardian in every sense, and perhaps the strongest of all the dragons. He won’t even burden the others with his past. Now, where will the group head next?
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B +
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A –
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 4, 2019
MSRP: $9.99 US / $12.99 CN / £6.99 UK
