Akatsuki no Yona - Vol. 34 Ch. 197 - Unsteady Handwriting

[monozuki]

@copperhead
Yeah, he's not a psycho. He's broken. Deeply so. On the very surface he's a reliable king, a jester, a happy-go-lucky, clever schemer who can outsmart his enemies and lead his friends by the nose, be the model king and an inspiring monarch. Underneath that, there's his lonliness, his feelings for Yona and for Hak, which he tries so hard to suppress and discard. The problem with Soo-Won is that underneath even that, there lies, well, insanity. Steming from what happened wen he was a child, from what that did when coupled with his vast inteligence.
Soo-Won is not evil, he is not an unfeeling psychopath. But he is broken. Insane.
You can see glimpses of that at times, just for a panel or two. Like way back when, in the port arc, after the conclusi0on when he met Yona by accident and protected her identity. There was a moment when he said (when she reached for the sword on his belt) that he cannot die yet, because there's things he must still do. And for a single panel, you saw something in his eyes. There, and gone again the next second.
That's the unstable core of Soo-Won churning deep within, that we only get to see glimpses of.

I simply adore him as a character. I hate him, I pity him and I love him. He's fascinating.

 

[canigetauhh]

😭😭😭

Also the translation and fonts were beautiful, thank you

 

[pip25]

@Kendama

I feel the question of how to defy a prophecy becomes irrelevant if one does not even try, which seems to be the case here.

Il became paranoic about protecting Yona and avoiding being backstabbed after his own brother betrayed him. Who wouldn't?

Yona herself? I think it's important to contrast how she, as she gained more power and allies, became increasingly reluctant to seek revenge, while the brothers basically destroyed each other, and worse still, passed their cycle of violence to the next generation. Yet Yona can still see the good in people, Soo-won included, his betrayal notwithstanding.

Il and Yu-hon seem like two sides of the same coin with their flaws. Yu-hon mostly said and did what he wanted or thought was right, and he did not shy away from brutality, to put it mildly. On the other hand, Il had trouble expressing himself to the point that even his wife thought he only loved her because of their daughter, and abhorred violence to an extent that kept him from protecting the country he was entrusted with. Even their obsession with religion appears similar - Il seemed to have loved the cult of the Crimson Dragon as much as Yu-hon hated it and everything it represented.
Considering this, if Yu-hon had become king, I think he would have messed up Kouka to a similar extent as his brother did. (As in, pretty badly.) Both could have done better, but neither really tried.

 

[hitsuchan]

This is one of the best manga i ever read. The deep emotion, story line, art, words, translation team amazing! Tq so much! I am so gonna buy this manga as my collection

 

[joykn]

WHO CUT THESE DARN ONIONS 😭😭

 

[Kendama]

@notdani It's a metaphor used in the previous chapter. Soo-won's talking about how he distributes everything he has to reflect on in mental boxes. Not putting up means Yona's isn't going to place high in the mental shelves where he keeps the boxes. Soo-won appears to think his decisions are binary choices and that murdering and betraying are justified to achieve the goals in the boxes he puts up first. Pretty much like his Dad. He isn't as far-sighted as he's played up to be, ironically.

 

[raineight]

""Soo-won said he will not put Yona's box up" what does that mean?"

It's from the previous chapter. He values Yona, but not above saving the kingdom/avenging his father.

"I think he did have feeling for Yona"

That should be pretty obvious from his behavior when he ran into her in Awa, and since then. He wasn't happy about 'having' to kill her, he was shocked and happy to find her alive, he seemed happy to go with "well, if Hak and Yona aren't causing trouble for me by stirring up rebellion or making accusations, I won't make trouble for them".

I don't see how he's insane. He's been pretty rational, given some highly conflicting goals.

"Il and Yu-hon seem like two sides of the same coin with their flaws."

Heh, good point. Yu-hon was Mr. Assertive, pretty much no delay between Will and Action; Il could barely act at all. One worshipped the gods, one saw no use for them (and was offended by the presumption of priests being over him.)

 

[Dudette]

utterly beautiful. I am wowed.

 

[shionlee]

I’m crying this is too emotional😭😭

 

[bonjourcecile]

Thank you for the amazing scanlations! The translated words that were used made this chapter even more beautiful and emotionally engaging to read

 

[Otaku713]

😢Freaking ninja cutting onions for the last few chapters 😭
Joou No Hana was one of my favorite mangas because the author was able to get the romance, friendship, palace intrigue and story pacing right.....the story (not to mention the ending) left a deep impression on me and I thought that was the only historical/fantasy manga I would ever like. But Akatuski no Yona has slowly become one of the best stories out there- each chapter has been amazing; there have been some incredible and gut wrenching twists (all the dragons' backstories Especially the undying dragons' story) . While the premise may have started as a cliche (death of family members- heroine running away and cutting her long hair symbolizing she is done being a princess in the tower) what followed was anything but a kitsch. LOVE LOVE LOVE the mangaka, the art and the story. 😍

On a side note: I really REALLY hope there will be more anime seasons- I loved the original anime but there are sooooo many more chapters after the anime ended that i think they have enough source material to have another season.....
And a big thank you to the scanalation team for translating this gem!

 

[Binary10011]

It seems to me like this whole situation was inevitable - I could say, as a secular person - that it was because of irreconcilable differences in personality, and all the feelings between the brothers.
Or, someone might say it was how fate worked.
Either way, what a well-written story - nothing feels contrived. It's a great tragedy.

 

[Stoner]

Get fucking wrecked lord Il haters.

 

[PKMNTrainerEevs]

Man this cut deep.

 

[jujuli97]

Damn, I'm crying. So sorry for have doubt you Ill!
All I wanted it's the whole world to read those two memories. And scrub on Sun Yoon face that things weren't so simple as he made appear between those two brothers

 

[microwavey]

what a great fucking flashback

 

[VelvetedFaith]

bruh the emotions! great chapter

 

[helloharuuu]

this is FANTASTIC

 

[Yan_g]

Place someone beside her that will treasure her more than anyone else and will never betray her 😭 I love Hak and Yona so much

 

[meyounmycat]

this is terrific