The way the AkaYona Gaiden chapters were framed almost made me believe that there are indeed some spin-off ideas being thrown around. Nene, for example. A character who only appeared very briefly and already had my gears turning. Introducing Lili's MOM at this point? And she knew Gigan? Girl, come back here, where you going?
Nene operates in the merchant line of work. She's obviously able to move freely around, gets updates on what's happening, is able to attend big matters like coronations due to her actual status, isn't necessarily disliked by her daughter, is greatly missed by her estranged cheating husband, and she's still far removed from everything. When Lili was on the gallows, her mother didn't cross her mind at all.
Lili can't forgive her father for treating Nene the way he did, but in the end she wasn't allowed to follow her mom as the child of their union. Perhaps it was the obvious choice, given the path Nene chose. She may or may not have swung by to visit Lili during her exile from the Water capital, and we may never know. What complicated feelings Lili has for Nene may forever be left to the imagination.
There's the Earth Clan dynamic. Geuntae's successor was given just enough life that you could see him as being a regular part of the supporting cast. Talgu made one more cameo appearance as Geuntae left on a final note with Suwon hoping he could live long enough to bring him up as a strong young man. Which just screamed "AkaYona: Next Gen" to me.
There's the reformation of administrative governance that Yona, Keishuk, and Suwon are sorting through. There's the future role that Hak is, at present, unknowingly setting the precedent for. There's Zeno who never got to reunite with Kaya above the skies. Northern nomads are still threatening Kai, and with South Kai previously being the more stable of the two fragments of the empire now being considerably weaker, they're even more vulnerable now. Which means Kouka's going to be all the more vulnerable while they rebuild as well.
A spin-off wouldn't have the fantastical element of the dragons and gods to help carry it, but I always thought the main story could take or leave this aspect for like 1/3 of the story anyway.



















