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15 October 2014: Akatsuki no Yona and Nanatsu no Taizai are not the same show

Hak and Yona
It ain't easy being a princess these days.

I'm watching two shows this season with fairly similar basic plots. The teenage princesses in Akatsuki no Yona and Nanatsu no Taizai are both assembling teams of skillful warriors in order to defeat usurpers. That's about it with regard to their similarities, though. The remainder of this blog entry deals with themes and elements found in the source material for both anime. Although I'll avoid explicit spoilers, readers who wish to avoid learning anything in advance about either of these shows should probably just stop reading and watch both anime to develop their own comparisons. They've got princesses gettin' the band back together! Give 'em a shot!

Yona
Yona's default expression seems a little different in this preview.

The biggest difference between the two leads is that the princess in Akatsuki no Yona is the heroine of a shoujo fantasy that focuses on development and empowerment whereas the princess in Nanatsu no Taizai appears content in her role as eyecandy for a shounen fantasy about superpowers. Yona starts out as a sheltered, weak princess who needs to be protected all the time in Akatsuki no Yona, but she continuously grows in resolve and in her strength of will. So while Yona does not (at least not through the manga chapters I've read) turn into a phenomenal warrior who spends spends all day every day kicking deadbeats in the neck, she does at least come to intimidate her enemies through the steely resolve in her eyes and conviction on her face. Y'all can't mess with a princess once she gets that good at giving you the evil eye.

Meliodas and Elizabeth
Doki doki levels appear to be adequate.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, begins Nanatsu no Taizai by taking a brave leap, but basically spends the rest of the story as fan service relief. As far as I can tell, her main function in the tale is to be there for Meliodas to fondle periodically for good luck. Incidentally, as I understand the timeline and sequence of events in the backstory, Meliodas has got to be a man at least in his 30s who just happens to look like a kid for magic plot reasons. I'm not entirely sure why, actually. Probably it's easier for young readers of shounen manga to relate to a young-looking lead character, or perhaps the mangaka reasoned the general public is more likely to support a thirty-something man who gropes a 16-year-old girl in every chapter if he looks like he's 11. I sure hope Meliodas doesn't turn out to actually be her dad.


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