Yona of the Dawn

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mizuho Kusanagi. It has been serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume since August 2009, with its chapters collected in forty-two tankōbon volumes as of October 2023. A 24-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Pierrot aired between October 2014 and March 2015. Plot 2000 years ago, the fictional nation of Kouka was founded by the Crimson Dragon God, who came down to Earth from the Heavens as a human, deemed the Crimson Dragon King. It was believed that humans were living in an era full of evil and thirst for power, where they forgot about the Gods. The Crimson Dragon King was eventually forced to fight against these humans, and just as he was about to be killed and the world was on the brink of extinction, four other Dragon Gods, imbued with the dragon blood, joined his side as human warriors, and helped him lead Kouka to prosperity. After they had cleared Kouka of evil, the Crimson Dragon King died. The four Dragon warriors mourned his death and walked separate ways from his castle, leaving the country to develop over the centuries into 5 Tribes: Sky, Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. As countless generations flew by, this history became a famous founding myth. 2000 years later, the story commences with Yona, the sole princess of Kouka, ruled by her pacifistic father King Il under the Sky Tribe. Yona lives a lavish, sheltered life from the harrowing reality outside of the walls of the Crimson Dragon Castle, her only friends being her bodyguard Hak, general of the Wind Tribe, and Su-won, her crush of 10 years and the son of King Il's brother, Yoo-hon. But contrary to this peaceful illusion, Kouka is once again on the verge of destruction and about to undergo a political upheaval.