Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori

*READ IN CAUTION AS THERE ARE SPOILERS*

I'm someone who's a huge fan of shoujo and romance mangas. I especially love the ones that actually make my heart jump as if i'm in the manga myself. Even now, I somewhat like reading mangas about a prince and damsel in distress falling in love. I think it could be because of the fact that in reality, there's no prince. But fiction makes our imagination go wild and that makes it all the more exhilarating.

However, one thing I hate the most are characters that are brave but at the same time, they are constantly degraded when the (opposite) gender is involved. And I'm disappointed to say that Yuri (the heroine) is that person. Maybe it's because this manga is set in the past, but the fact that she is always ALMOST raped does not justify the horror. The men in the manga has no respect whatsoever for Yuri's opinion and they can only think of sexual intercourse. As a woman, I feel humiliated and disgusted by each character's huge flaw. Even so more, the heroine is weak against men and never learns what dignity is. She presents herself well in front of the public, but I am constantly surprised by how accepting she is whenever she is sexually assaulted. Kail isn't much better since in one chapter he almost rapes Yuri although she was yelling at him to stop. He only halted when the servants went in between. What type of man tries to rape the person he really loves... I absolutely loved Kail before but once he began to sexually assault Yuri my jaws dropped. Pls. No.

Additionally, there is no development in the characters at all... Especially the queen that's hella evil. First, she never learns her mistakes. She constantly kills people but can never kill the ones who she really wants to. She's stupid and she should've died a long time ago... The king is stupid for not seeing how evil his wife is. Also, her "never happened" love story does not make me pity her... at all...

Overall, this manga was a disappointment. Each character disappointed me. :)

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 Kail is 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.

Well, I needed to write a review about my favorite shoujo manga...

OK, I'm a guy, but, despite this, shoujo/drama/romance is the genre that mostly I like; but I was surprising for me to consider this as my favorite manga, I didn't hope it. But something about it makes it a very special, and very touching story for me.

First of all, this manga should be appreciated as a coming-of-age story about the female lead. I can understand the complaints about certain aspects of the manga, such as the art, and the sometimes cliche premises and actions. However, those aren't the drivers behind the manga: the character evolution is the true gem here. The range of emotions Yuri goes through throughout the story is amazing, and to see her overcome her obstacles is the ultimate prize. Her character is outstanding: she is strong in spirit, and yet fragile at heart; she is cunning at times, impulsive at others; she stands out as a godlike figure, and yet it is the human in her that is her most endearing feature. The 28 volumes in this manga are really just about her, and her only.

Anatolia Story is also one of the the most touching love stories I have read to date. As the manga progresses, it becomes obvious that the strength of the love shared between the main characters is unbreakable, almost to the point of envy. Is it cliche? Perhaps. But all love stories are, because the vehicle behind them is the same. The only difference is in how it is told, and Anatolia Story does it best.

Aside from the romance, there are so many other emotions involved in the journey that it amazes me. Yuri's character is the ultimate story vehicle, because the numerous choices that she makes, right or wrong, never fails to bring her to a new place, to a new meeting, and of course, to new emotions. The readers are taken along for the ride, and for a surprisingly short 28 volumes, we are there with her, facing her obstacles, experiencing her love, and living her adventure.

While there are many mangas I like, this is the only one that I have read and re-read several times. I would certainly recommend giving this a shot, for 5 volumes at least. Then you can decide whether or not it is, as I believe it, one of the most charming and captivating stories you have ever read.

I like to read violent seinen manga, but sometimes I want to read something light-hearted for a change, so I turn to shoujo. Thus, this review is from someone who doesn't usually read that much shoujo, so it has affected this review and scoring.

I chose to read Red River solely because of the ancient Turkey setting. I wanted to read something that was based on an ancient, middle-eastern culture, and Red River just happened to pop up. I was pleasantly surprised that the setting included ancient Egypt as well, because it fascinates me.

I didn't really expect much from the story, since my experience of shoujo plots are mostly centered around love triangles, but I was surprised about the depth of Red River. I didn't expect so many characters to die, and the twists of the power struggles and politics caught me off guard. In that sense, Red River is more than just a romantic story.

About the art - well, it's your typical shoujo. But the artist has clearly taken the time to look up the references, because the outfits and architecture were well planned and detailed. I also liked how the characters were quite easy to tell apart from each other, because the cast is so large.

I have a bit mixed feelings about the characters. I did like them, even the protagonist, but I guess there weren't any character that was my favourite. They all had their good and bad qualities (which is good), and some characters had more screen-time while others fell to the role of forgettable background-characters. At some point towards the last third of the manga, I started to lose interest in following the events of the main couple and wanted to see more of the side-characters' affairs. But, the manga ended before I could get too bored, so I guess it was alright then. The main character was a bit Mary-Sue, but it didn't get to the point of irritating too much.

Overall I enjoyed the story very much. I suppose some who look forward to read about romance might find the politics and the warfare tiring, but I welcomed the change.

A bit of advice: Even though this manga isn't as violent as I'm used to reading, it still has scenes bordering rape, torture and other unsettling topics which might not suit the faint-hearted.

The reason i like this manga is multiple reasons, which i will give you a few know.

The general story line is one that takes your breath away. Once you pick it up you do not wont to put it down. That is the one thing i like about good books. Also it deals abet in Egypt and around there. So even if you don't know much about Egypt it gives you a brief history of it. There are somethings that the book actual can teach you, like trust which i have so long forgotten about, and still do.

This manga is amazing. At first, i was skeptical. I mean, a girl being dragged back in time- pretty overused- but it isn't your typical story. I'm always wondering what will happen next, and what the queen will scheme of next, and whether or not the love between Yuri and the Prince will bear fruit... it's never boring.

I Luv this manga. I've been sending messages to Viz Media and other anime networks to debut this as an anime for months! The characters have depth and some are just so dispicable, you pity them a little. What I love the most is how you watch the heroine grow from a scared little girl in a time and place not of her own to a well-worthy queen. They REALLY get into the politics and warfare but the heroine isn't just sitting at home for her man to return. No! She's leading the frontlines and shares her compassion with everyone she meets, even the ones tring to kill her. She's no pushover, she has her limits, but she's just so well put together and so are ALL of the other characters. And the story will trhow you for some real loops. this is a deffinate MUST READ!!! I usually see something once and don't touch it again, but THIS ONE...I've read it over too many times. It is PERFECTION!!!

Red River also known as Anatolia Story, is a historical fantasy shōjo manga series by Chie Shinohara.

Story:
The story is about a 15 year old girl named Yuri Suzuki who is transported through water from Japan to the Hittite Empire by the evil queen Nakia who means to use Yuri as a human sacrifice to kill the crown princes and put her son Juda on the throne.As the story progress, however, Yuri not only repeatedly manages to escape Nakia's scheming, she also becomes revered as an incarnation of the goddess Ishtar and falls in love with prince Kail.

Art:
The art of this manga is fairly simple and yet very intriguing. You can tell that this manga was made in the 1990's.


Characters:
I loved the characters in this story. Although a little annoying at times, Yuri was my favorite by far. She went from being a weak, very annoying character to a strong willed, kindhearted fascinating character.


Enjoyment:
I enjoyed this manga very much. I loved how Chie Shinohara works a love story into the historical point of view.
It was fascinating and wonderful. I would definitely read this manga again.

Overall I would rate this a 9 but if the story had been slightly better it would have been a 10.

An extremely fantastic manga, if I may say so myself.

I absolutely adore this manga and i'm honestly shocked that there are not many other reviews for this. I found this manga to be brilliant, not to mention thoroughly entertaining.

The story is basically about a girl who is brought back in time to the ancient Egyptian time by an evil queen. Sounds pretty bland and cheesy, but surprisingly it was rather fresh. Red River is a wonderful combination of genres wrapped all in one single manga and presented in a way that will, without a doubt, keep you entertained. Action, romance (definitely!), drama, evil sadistic ness- this manga dipped into a lot of genres. This manga did a wonderful job pulling readers into their plots. Reading Red River, at times, made me develop a passionate desire to punch some characters, kiss them, hug them, cry for them, pull their hair, cheer for them, throw my oversized textbooks at them (and let me tell you, they’re big and heavy enough to knock a bear out), and many more.

The art of Red River was pretty old school, but still was very charming and definitely not so old school that it may repulse people who can get easily distracted by awful art (haha, i'm one). Actually, to the contrary, I thought the art was really good looking most of the times. In the beginning of the manga, where the background was still in modern day Japan, I probably would've found the art to be just satisfactory. But when the background of the story changed to Ancient Egypt, the art did a 180 and turned absolutely gorgeous. The ancient Egyptian clothes were everything that I wished it to be and more. The artist was wonderful in drawing the clothing since it was clear in the manga that the artist knew how to draw peasant clothes, flashy clothes, plain clothes, beautiful clothes, all those types, with the same charming style. Not to mention, all the characters were drawn rather well and, at many times, there were characters that were so good looking, I swooned a bit.

The characters. My goodness, I cannot even describe how much I enjoyed the characters of this manga. They were all wonderfully unique and realistic in their own way, with the addition of each having their own charm. Character development was clear in this manga and it was done extremely well, in my opinion. The main protagonist of this manga developed from a feeble young girl to somebody who could be reckoned with and I loved it! At the dark and dramatic times of this manga, it was quite surprising who was revealed to be the evil character. I mean, there were quite a number of times new evil characters popped up, and I must admit I was suspicious of everybody and to my delight and surprise, characters I didn’t expect to be evil were evil and the characters I did were not (with the exception of the main antagonists)! The main male character I found to be incredible sweet. Such a love sick puppy I found him to be, yet still strong and upholding as any character I’ve met (read about) thus making such a wonderful character to favor. Honestly, I really can’t describe how much I enjoyed this manga’s characters so I apologize that this section probably just consists of relatively useless blabber.

Maybe I’m at a lost for words, or maybe I’m just having a writer’s block, so please do your best to not judge this manga on the fact that my review is both choppy and probably not that great. But despite what my lack of writing skill may present to you, I really, honestly and purely, definitely recommend this manga; if not for the wonderful and relatively unique plot, or the gorgeous art, or the fantabulous characters, then for the pure and simple fact that this manga is such a sweet romance story, it can give you both an achy tooth and swell your heart up full of love.

When reading the first chapters, you think it's the story of a girl in trouble and get saved by her hero and they live happily ever after. Which is surprisingly WRONG in fact it's beyond your expectations, the heroine of this Manga isn't your typical heroine. She's more then just a heroine, even how tomboyish, stubborn , insecure and scared she is , she overcomes any problem her path meets in this oldest Era. Not only the main characters are the heroes but also side characters that even have the smallest role.
The surprising turns in this story makes you keep reading and makes you travel through many genres : from war to romance, from tragedy to fantasy in a historical theme and so on.
The art may be a little off, but the story is so nice and good that you look through that all.

Red River is one the best historical stories there's been made so far. It's absolutely a recommendation to read other stories by this fantastic author.