Episode 21 of Yona of the Dawn, titled “Spark,” is currently streaming on Hulu, Crunchyroll, and FUNimation for paid subscribers. Free subscribers can watch the same episode six days from now on March 10th. This episode continues where the previous episode had left off as Yona and Yun disguised themselves to infiltrate a slave ship.
The covert ops mission becomes incredibly dangerous when Yona’s cover is almost compromised by a surprise visit by Yan Kumji, the story arc’s primary antagonist. It is apparent that Yona’s hair color almost gives her away as Kumji did not waste time in manhandling her.
This obviously shows that Kumji is a lowdown piece of s—t that deserves to be put into the ground.
It shows that Yona stands out too much, but I was shocked that Yun stepped him and “offered himself” to Kumji in her place. This still surprises me that Yun can effectively do a female voice and look the part, too.
Unfortunately, it fails as Kumji shows his true brutish nature when it comes to females.
This reflects upon the reality of the human trafficking industry as people are tricked into slavery under the pretense of finding work. It is ultimately forced sexual slavery for these unfortunate young women and it is saddening to watch.
The sausage fest, which is the Awa Pirate ship, is filled with humor as Jae-Ha tells Hak to get some sleep. It is funny when Gi-Ja acts paranoid when he nods off, but Shin-ha takes the cake when he pops up from behind and bluntly tells Jae-Ha that he has rings under his eyes.
I laughed when Hak and Gi-Ja teamed up to force Jae-Ha to show the rings under his eyes, but I laughed harder when Jae-Ha gave a homosexual innuendo.
Yona and Yun catch a big break as one of the slaves, Yuri, reveals to have intimate knowledge of ships because of her dad’s job as a shipwright.
The raid on Kumji and the rescue of the trafficked women shows that Kumji’s men are not soldiers, but vermin, as care nothing about the citizens of Awa. They care about keeping the Awa citizens oppressed and would not hesitate to to kill their own people.
The episode’s name, “Spark,” comes from the ending part as Yona finally develops it. It was awesome to see Yona grow into a warrior as she glares at Kumji’s men as she aims a bow at them.
She is no longer the weakling since the beginning of the story. Yona has found something to truly fight for and is not willing to back down. It is obvious that the Red Dragon’s blood is coursing through Yona’s veins now after she has learned how ugly the country has become let alone under her father’s weak policies.
I look forward to the ultimate showdown in the next episode.
