Red River

Author: Chie Shinohara

Volumes: 28

Status: Complete

Year: 1995

The story is about Yuri Suzuki, a modern Japanese girl magically transported to the city of Hattusa, in the 13th Century (BC) Middle East. She did not travel on her own since the Queen of the Hittie Empire at that time (Queen Nakia) needed her blood in order to create a potion deadly to all the heirs to the throne. By escaping the Queen, Yuri met Kail, one of the princes of Hattusa that fell completly in love with her. The story evolves around their love and their struggle to stay together while Yuri encarnates the Goddess of War Ishtar to comand the Hittie empire to it's greatest epoch.

About character development I have to say it is probably one of the best I have seen in a long, long time. I absolutely adore the development of Yuri and how she stops being a normal school girl to become an Icon in such an hard time. The development of her character becomes so deep that sometimes you actually forget she was a Japanese girl to start with, being the transition so gradual that's almost real.

The artwork is a typical 90's drawing, I wouldn't expect much more. It follows the line of Escaflowne with the big hairs and expressive eyes. The lines are clean and atractive while the backgrounds or full page images are incredibly detailed and you actually feel like in a movie, since you can see the places so clearly.

About the story itself I would also like to add my 2 cents: it is amazing. Even though the mangaka knows little about the history of the countries she mentions, she manages to make it believeable enough to make you travel to wikipedia to check the veracity of the words and drawings. The characters are very well placed and the story evolves on an ambiance that will make you want to read it over and over again. There is a lot of sexual tension and smut so I wouldn't recoment it to people that aren't into that but I really recomend if you're looking for a well balanced and sense story with passionate men and eternal love. I mean, most of the times I am so focused on the story of the country itself or the quest of Ishtar that the romance even goes to second plan, being present constantly.

I believe that, a manga that makes you read it repeatedly is a good one. I know few mangas that I actually repeat reading from chapter 1 till the end more than once. It is a catchy story with a great foundation, historical background and captivating artwork that will make you want to repeat and repeat reading the moments that you've already fallen in love. You hardly remember this is a 90's manga and most importantly you'll want to know more about Ishtar and the king Kail. You'll feel interested in the history of this faraway empire that has long perished in the sands of time. You'll always remind yourself that Yuki became an icon and that she managed to find the love of her life in a time where there was no love. You'll read a great, great story and you'll hardly forget it. I will recomend it forever, since I am a sucker for romances made of images, a great plot and a great story.

This is a manga dated from 1995 till 2002 by Chie Shinohara and it has been released by Shogakukan Inc (in Japanese), Viz Media (in English), Editions Stars Comics (in Italian), EMA (in German and Tong Li Publishing Co (in Chinese). If you want to read it online just type Anatolia Story/ Red river + read online.

Final thoughts?

Storyline - 5

Artwork - 5

Love development - Mature romance and violence

Final Grade - 5