Red River

Anatolia Story or Red River is one of the few manga that transcends the boundaries of time. It is indeed a timeless classic that is bound to captivate the reader’s attention. It is certainly one of the best manga out there who can cope up with the fast paced innovation in the manga industry. Plot/Story: The story starts with a simple girl named Yuri, she is transported to the Hittites Empire by the evil queen because her blood is needed as a sacrifice in order to kill the other remaining prince. She was constantly saved by Prince Kail, a handsome and smart young man. Prince Kailis capable of inheriting the position of his father and is bound to be the next king. The two of them together are destined for greatness as they conquer the obstructions set by Queen Nakia and other villains! CHARACTERS: I personally believe that what makes this story different from any usual historical manga is the uniqueness of the characters. Without a doubt the heroine of the story is one of the bravest and strongest women in the history of manga in the sense of keen observations, perspectives, beliefs, principles and tactics. Commoners and nobles are captivated by Yuri “Ishtar” through her willingness and eagerness to help. What I admire the most is the evolution of the characteristics of the heroine “Yuri”. At first Yuri is a naïve, stupid and a helpless girl but as the story unfolds you can see the evolution of a goddess within… Words are really not enough to define the characteristics of each character because uniqueness is apparent throughout the series. You’ll unconsciously love the characters as they respond to the challenges that awaits them. The romance in story is unlike the typical cliché in the manga because you’ll be drawn to the characteristics of Prince Kail. His unique attributes that complements the heroine brings out the incomparable passion that is bound to be tested. Enjoyment: The manga Anatolia Story is a classic manga that will never bore a reader. This is the only manga that I constantly read and the essence and glow of the story is still apparent. The drawing may not complement the usual modern era but I assure you that it complements the traditional innocent charm of each characters. The sequence of the story unfolds the boundary of love and governance. There are tragic moments and unexpected twist that will captivate the reader’s mind. It is one of the few manga out there who possess the undeniably complement of the genre like shoujo, historical, romance, adventure, action and drama. *** I’m not that good in writing a review so kindly spare me.

In the 10 years of my life of reading manga, I have never encountered one with such absolutely pathetic characters. Don't get me wrong, the idea was good, but the characters were so underdeveloped and the obstacles the heroin had to face were so horribly thought out, that at one point you have to think "What obstacle will they throw at use now? Will it be that the girl can't be with the guy of her dreams because he's a blonde? Oh, the horror! Society shall never approve!" I'm one to complete my manga's, since I've learned through the years that sometimes manga's get betteras you read one, but this one only got worse and it actually became excruciatingly painful to complete it. Unfortunately, I had trusted the reviews I had seen here and decided to read it. I read it after completing Fushigi Yuugi, a fellow "girl gets sucked into another world" themed manga, so I'll admit, expectations were high. But for it to have been such an epic fail...oh my. The female lead was unlikeable. She made obstacles for herself to not be with the guy she loved most, which was annoying since it was so obvious it was just so that the series could drag out longer. What I hated most of all was the main villain, the evil queen. Her character was the worst underdeveloped character with the most pathetic evil-schemes I have yet to encounter. You would've easily thought they took her out of a Disney classic film like "Snow White" and even then, it would be an insult to Snow White. All in all, I must say that this manga is pathetic. Do not be fooled by these reviews! It would only be enjoyable for possibly an manga newb, and even they deserve better. I mean, jeez, even Inuyasha's "Naraku" had a semi-thought out past that led him to be "evil" (was sick-fell for kikyo-gave up his body to demons to be stronger to be able to BE with kikyo-was only a half demon-wanted to become a full demon to find his place in the world-did evil things to obtain the one thing that could MAKE him a full demon)

I discovered Red River about last year- a friend of mine had it, told me it was worth a read, and she, myself, and another friend all decided to read it. The story is this: Yuri Suzuki is an everygirl who is transported back through time and space to the Hittite Empire, summoned by the Empress who wants to use her as a blood sacrifice to ensure her son inherits the throne. Yuri manages to escape and falls in with Prince Kail Mursili, third in line to the throne. She joins his court, and, through a series of odd coincidences, becomes mistaken forthe war goddess Ishtar and becomes a commander in the Hittie Empire's war against Egypt. Throughout her adventures in the war, Yuri must avoid the Empress's schemes while struggling with her own feelings for Kail. If you find this intriguing, I feel I must warn you: Red River is not good. Red Rive is not bad. Red River is TERRIBLE. Oh, the story is interesting, to be sure, and the artwork is top-notch, no complaints there. But the writing and characters are just so laughably BAD, and the love story central to the plot is no better than dime store romance novel trite, that anything that could have been good is just crushed under the mountain of terribleness. Kail has little to no personality, switching between "Playboy," "Serious Business," and "YURI!!!!" (You remember that commercial parodying InuYasha, where all Kagome and InuYasha do is shout each other's names the whole time? It's like that, but serious). Yuri herself is a pathetic heroine, if you can even call her that. For a commander in a legendary war, she sure is useless. Yuri is kidnapped at least once a book, cries so often she comes off as whiny instead of empathetic, and threatened with rape so often that it stops being serious and dramatic and starts being a drinking game. The interesting characters are killed off, evil, or both (with the exception of Ramsses). There are huge gaps in characters' logic, making them look like idiots. It's just... it's just BAD. Red River isn't completely irredeemable, though: if you've been looking for a good manga to sit around, have a couple laughs, and MST with some friends, look no further than Red River (Chie Shinohara's other stuff is good for this, too). But if you're looking for a historical fiction manga that is well-written and tugs at the heartstrings... well, I hear Rose of Versailles is pretty good.

I will never not respect the decision to base your historical epic romance in an empire that, prior to the late 19th century, we weren't completely sure existed and that we still know very little about. I love the Hittites and anything to do with them, and really I'm just jealous deep down that I can't use the technique Yuri did to learn the oldest Indo-European language that we have written record of. It's possible I'm a bit of a historical linguistics nerd. Anyway... I can't pretend that I am unbiased. I am so incredibly biased. This is one of the first manga I ever read,so it has a nostalgia bonus to its score from me for sure. I should probably give it an 8, maybe a 7, but each time I reach to change it I just can't make myself do it. To be fair, I am allowed to have a biased opinion about a manga, it's not the end of the world. But it doesn't much make for a helpful review. I repeat, this is a biased review and I love this manga. I have reread this entire manga twice, three total reads, and I love both the characters and the historic elements to the story. I'm not sure I can really recommend it, but I guess if you're looking for a manga to read with really beautiful art, try this one. If you still like it after the first few chapters, you will like the whole thing. On the other hand, if you don't like it after the first few chapters, you probably won't. Other than introducing a few new characters, it pretty much sticks to form for the duration. Editing to add (3-16-25): Just re-read this again, and everything I wrote above is still true, more than a decade on from when I first read it. I did actually end up recommending this one to a friend irl, because she was curious about manga and remembered me describing the plot of this one to her. So far, she's enjoying it, though it's exactly her cup of tea, to be fair. I still don't think I can recommend this one to everyone broadly, as many people will likely grow somewhat annoyed with its pacing and drama, and there is certainly some cringe to be had. BUT, if you know someone who loves reading YA fantasy/romance, they are definitely more likely to enjoy this as well. Oh, and my rating is still a biased yet confident 10/10.