Review of Yona's Final Gaiden Chapter (part 1, will add more later on)
Overall, a 8/10 standalone chapter, but a 3.5/10 series ending. I liked Judo's monologue, the blue dragon village masks, it's always nice to see Hak on a solo trip, etc. Thematically, solid enough.
But the writing is poor. Themes are not enough to save an end. There are too many plot points and lingering threads unresolved, unaddressed, and it lacks true payoff. You may say it's open-ended, but a good ambiguous ending usually leaves one or two questions open... here, there are like 20, 30+ whole plotlines left hanging. They have been neglected, so it still feels like an incomplete work. To have answers like why the hairpin was given resolved in a fanbook footnote and not the story itself? It is a structural failure.
For those saying Hak gained independence, no. His new dream still is centered around Queen Yona, making sure "what she undertakes reaches the people". What happened to him planning to meet Mundok after the final arc? Where is that reunion? Where is his own dream unrelated to Yona?
Mundok also vowed to witness the consequences of Su-Won's rule and betrayal and one day report to Il... there was no closure here! Mundok, Tae-Jun, Lili, none of these people were in the chapter at all. Those people are more important than Mei or Val. I don't even know why Mei and Val are still in Kouka actually. Chagol is dead. Who is even the next South Kai emperor???
