So, I have an odd habit. I don’t like starting works that are still in the process of being published. My AO3 (Archive Of Our Own) filters are always set to ‘Completed Works Only’, I don’t touch manga that are between volumes, and I definitely don’t start anime that got taken off air in the middle for a ‘hiatus’. This is why when fans of popular Shojo, Yona Of The Dawn, got confirmation of the manga continuing, they were extremely hyped.

The mangaka, Mizuho Kusanagi, has revealed that while it is not finished yet, the manga is nearly 70% complete, which is remarkable, considering how it has been in publication for more than a decade now. Yona Of The Dawn started in 2009 and had been consistent in its serialization up until 2011 when the Japanese earthquakes happened. The artist was one of the people affected most by them and she revealed that it was a ‘major setback’ to the story. However, we now have a timeline to go by and consider a definitive ending.

Often manga ends up peaking and then never getting to completion because of a host of issues. The artist could’ve found themselves lacking the inspiration to continue the story. Or they might’ve gotten sick, therefore being incapable of working on the story. This isn’t exactly a unique issue; a lot of extremely popular manga never got a conclusive ending due to one reason or another. Hell, I’ve suffered this pain firsthand when my favorite manga series, Nana, never got a new chapter. Other popular examples of this include works such as Highschool Of The Dead, World Trigger, and Noragami: Stray God.

But thankfully, that isn’t the case with Yona Of The Dawn. We are definitely inching towards an ending with this one, even if it’s been a long time in the making. It’s just a matter of patience and letting the story run its own end. Sure, only the mangaka knows how many more chapters are left before we reach a conclusion, but we can take an educated guess. So, let’s see where the story is right now and how much longer we have left to a definitive end.

Yona Of The Dawn: What’s The Story So Far?

So, for a Shojo, there is a lot of world-building in Yona Of The Dawn. It basically revolves around Yona, who is the beloved princess of a kingdom known as Kouka. She is very endearing, with her innocence and naiveté being the biggest draws. This is why she was pretty sheltered growing up and didn’t really have much contact with people outside of the royal palace. And that’s when things came crashing down; it was a shock.

Someone around her betrays the royal family, directly threatening her birthright as the rightful heir to the throne. And considering she really hadn’t dealt with something so severe, with people only looking to please her, she has no idea what she’s doing. Yona quickly realizes that she can’t trust the people around her, except her bodyguard, Son Hak, who was also her childhood friend. With his help, she flees the palace, knowing full well the danger she has propelled herself into.

Now that she’s gotten a pretty rude wake-up call, Yona vows to get stronger and return to her place as the leader of her country. And it turns out that the best way into the future is to look to the past. Hak and her stumble upon an ancient legend that just might be the key to toppling the regime that took her kingdom from her.

When Can We Expect The Finale To Happen?

So, if the manga had been going on since 2009, and in 2019 we got confirmation that we are 3/4^th of the way to an ending? It is easy to assume that we have about 40 to 50 more chapters to go before a conclusion.

Usually, a Shojo goes on for maybe 200+ chapters, give or take. By that design, we can expect the story to land at 250 chapters in total, leaving us with maybe 3 to 4 more years of serialization.

Again, none of this is set in stone. Sometimes writers claim they are close to an ending and then end up publishing 300 more chapters. I mean, this frequently happens with Eiichiro Oda of One Piece fame.

What About The Anime Adaptation?

So, there was an anime adaptation that came out in late 2014. Yona Of The Dawn was an animation project by Studio Pierrot, and only a single season could be made with how much source material was available to them. Fans have hoped for a renewed season since it was so well received.

But at the time, there just wasn’t enough story to warrant another season of the anime.

However, fans have hoped that now that there are significantly more chapters being published, a season 2 announcement could be on the horizon!