Customer Reviews

Red River, Vol. 1

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really only write reviews for items I've thoroughly enjoyed, and RED RIVER is shamelessly, shamelessly great.

Shamelessly, shamelessly great. A friend enthusiastically endorsed it saying, "sex and violence," which always appeals to me when I need some serious escapism. I grew up on a steady diet of romance novels thanks to a mother who worked in a bookstore and collected them. This series can stand with the best of that book-world, and its own. RED RIVER is the _supreme_ shojo ("female appeal") manga series. It hits the spot where some other manga series fear to address - or just miss completely. It's overtly (and maturely) sexual, has moments of aggressiveness and a few vignettes of outright carnage, some great humor, but ultimately the RED RIVER (series) is one of the most addictive page-turners I've ever come across (Japanese serial comic or not). I would even recommend this for those that like romance novels and have never tried manga (Japanese comics).

"Addictive" is the exact word for it, because once you start, you're stuck on the couch until you finish ... I devoured the first five in an afternoon and was so eager about the series that I made the boyfriend take me out right away to buy the available next four ... and not one of them have disappointed me. I think I'm suffering serious withdrawal awaiting the next few installments. Heh, it almost hurts to think I have to wait to read all 28 volumes.

The storyline is classically 'shojo' - young girl zapped from her own time & space to another land - in this case the ancient middle east when Turkey was the Hittite empire. But don't be fooled, like I wrote, this series hits the spot where every other 'mature' shojo misses, and it never lets up. Modern teen Yuri has been marked for sacrifice by a power obsessed queen from the ancient world. Suffused with political intrigue, the RED RIVER books follow Yuri's adventures of survival in early history - and her budding romance (um, more like "burning encounters") with warrior-royal Kail Mursilis.

Interesting tidbit: a bit of digging reveals that Chie Shinohara has more than a passing interest in history - quite a lot of the story behind RED RIVER is factual. There was indeed a real a King Mursilis II of the Hittite empire, (a younger son of great King Suppiluliuma I), his brother Zannanza did suffer the same fate as the books on route to marry an Egyptian queen, and Mursilis worked to keep his kingdom united despite hostile forces. He destroyed his enemies in the Mitanni kingdom and staved off the Egyptian empire. He also battled off his evil step-mother - in particular, there are documents where he recounts how she tried to leverage a solar omen into an attempt to demote him. Despite all this, it seems he ruled faithfully for nearly 27 years, presumably as a kind and just king. Further intriguing, he kept chronicles of his life, in which he is translated as writing: "Even before I sat on my father's throne, all the enemy lands were hostile to me (...) I took up (my) hand to the goddess of Arianna, my lady, and I spoke the following "(...) O Sungoddess of Arinna, my lady, stand with me: forward (and) smite (my enemy lands)" And the Sungoddess of Arinna, my lady, heard my word, and she stood with me and while I sat on my father's throne." Which, if you read RED RIVER is this whole story and seems to take the idea of the 'Sungoddess of Arinna' (presumably Ishtar) literally as the character Yuri. Pretty neat!

Forget feeling silly, or feeling like you're 'too grown up' to read comic books! Artist Chie Shinohara has created a story and artwork that is fantastic, stylized and lovely. It's a pleasure (!!) to read, and reread, and . . . RED RIVER is a must-add to your 'mature' shojo library. It's like the best vacation you can take on a page.

This is one of the few mangas that uses the girl-in-another-world formula well. Of all the ones I've read, the only one I would put on equal standing with Red River is From Far Away.

In this first volume, Yuri, a relatively ordinary girl living in Tokyo, is transported into the ancient past where an evil queen wishes to sacrifice her in an evil ritual so as to kill off all the princes and put her own son on the thrown. Prince Kail, heir to the throne and one of the few magic-users strong enough to rival the queen, rescues Yuri during the ceremony and brings her back to his palace. Although he's well known to be a playboy, his feelings for Yuri are serious almost from the start. Yuri, on the other hand, hates his flirting and angrily rejects him. Their love story is just gorgeous, but it never dominates the plot. Instead, it's something that develops steadily and intensely in the background of all the political intrigue and battles.

Yuri is a phenomenal heroine. She's passionate, intelligent and brave. At times, she's dignified and even regal, and at others she's just cute, feisty and endearing. This first volume is only the beginning of her long adventure; having only just arrived in a new and strange place, she often requires rescuing and has little control over her situation. However, as the story progresses, she gains more and more power, until she's the one rescuing the prince and foiling the queen's evil plans. Yuri isn't a flashy heroine who uses spells or force of arms to get what she wants; although she becomes an adept fighter, usually it's her incredible intelligence and slyness that help her succeed. It was so wonderfully refreshing to read a manga like this, where the heroine isn't just incredibly kind-hearted and just, but also astoundingly SMART.

For those who start reading and get fed up with Yuri requiring rescuing, it's only natural that in the beginning, she should be somewhat vulnerable. However, she soon becomes strong enough to defend herself.

Red River by Chie Shinohara

Red River is about a girl names Yuri who just got a kiss from her childhood friend-turned boyfriend. She also just passed her high school entrance exam so she's got nothing to worry about, right? WRONG! Mysteriously hands start comming out at her from anything with water. After avoiding them for about 3 days she suddenly gets sucked into 1500 B.C. in The Hittite Empire, Anatolia. If that isn't weird enough the queen is looking to murder her, because her blood can curse the 5 princes that come before her son to succede the throne. Coincidentally while she was running away from the queen's guards that were chacing her she ran into a mysterious person who suddenly hides her. Turns out her first impression of him was that he is a pervert, but she was totally wrong. He is the 3rd prince to the throne..... prince Kail..... who saves her life A LOT in the beginning of the series. *lol* He's the best candidate for king as of now. Later on when Kail takes Yuri to war he tells his people that she is Ishtar, goddess of war and fertility, who has come to lead his people to victory (actually that was just an excuse to take her with him ). Turns out, however, that she actually turned the tide of war from bad to good! Now Kail's people worship her as Ishtar!!! Kail secretly loves Yuri and Yuri secretly loves Kail, but they both won't confess their feeling because Yuri is about to leave. What a mess it turns out to be when she actually doesn't leave, but stays to avenge a killed servant! The story gets more and more interesting with people, war tactics, and courage this is a really good series!

Ack SO rated OT!

It's hard to just glance at this manga and think it's any good at all. But since I research manga to find new and interesting reads, this one seemed odd enough to look into.

Yuri is the protagonist--she's a normal Japanese girl--who is suddenly sucked into a puddle on the street, and it magically brings her to the Ancient Middle East (Anatolia--Hittite Empire, a little history there) and blah, blah, you can read the summary. But what makes this manga better than most is the great plot and the detail in the characters. The artwork is lovely (I've seen better artwork, but not better storylines) and it keeps you moving along, wanting to know what's going to happen to Yuri and Prince Kail. I found myself thinking of what it must feel like to be in their shoes. It's just so imaginative and catchy.

I don't think many people have heard about this manga; I think it only came out in the US recently considering I'm only getting to book 3 now. But it's a really good twist from the typical shojo ("true-to-life characters...and relationships"). But I have to warn you, if you read it and want more like I do, it's a 27 (yes, TWENTY-SEVEN) volume commitment. Kinda scary, but I like a challenge if I can afford it.

As a history nut, I simply had to try out Shinohara's shojo take on Anatolia and Mursili II. I was well pleased to discover not only a thoroughly researched world rich with historical factuality and detail, but also a gripping and complex story line. The premise should be familiar to any manga reader, as it uses many conventions of the genre; average Japanese school-girl gets transported to a strange and distant land where she quickly forms a attraction-aversion relationship with the male lead while meanwhile discovering her own inner self and power. However, Shinohara throws in several delightful twists to the shojo standards and elevates the story away from the cliche.

Yuri, the protagonist, breaks from stereotype and actually possesses a sharp mind for politics and military tactics. It's truly delightful to see a shojo lead think on her feet. Prince Kail (the historical Mursili II), the requisite pretty-boy lethario, shows demension and depth as well, although I find his character more cliche-driven than some of the other cast members. Although the core cast remains more or less the same, all receive a good dose of personality from Shinohara -- the reader finds their stories nearly as fascinating as the main couple's.

One final note is on the pacing of Red River. I grow weary of reaching volume 15 of a series only to realize the characters have yet to evolve and the plot is stagnate. Not so for Red River; the pacing is phenomenal! Both Yuri and Kail go about several deep transformations of character as the plot progresses. Months and seasons pass, characters grow old, political tensions ebb and flow just like they did 3500 years ago. Shinohara is not afraid to trim the cast when necessary, either. It's refreshing for a shojo writer to get her hands bloody, so to say.

Overall, Red River is a surberb shojo manga that rejects the pink-and-angst saturated conventions of the genre in favor of a surprisingly deep story dotted with historic detail. (As an anecdote, my Ancient Mesopotamia professor caused me to supress giggles when she referred to Mursili II as "More-silly" to help us remember his name. Imagine Yuri teasing him with that moniker!)

Whether you enjoy time-travel, action, history or romance, Red River delivers. The art is classic shojo, but Shinohara renders Hattusa and its people beautifully. I heartily recommend this series.

I have been a manga reader since before the time Manga became a mainstream thing in the US. And out of all the manga that I have read, there are VERY few that I can honestly say I want to pick up and read over and over again... Red River is one of those manga. (I've already read the first 16 volumes 3 times in a row.) I like an occasional romance novel, particularly set in historical times, and if you're the kind of person who likes the same, this book is definitely for you.

The characters are wonderfully portrayed. And, while sometimes I wish I could strangle Yuri when it comes to dealing with Kail, she has some very good things going for her. She is a strong female protagonist who THINKS. She is not your typical weakling who, when thrust into impossible circumstances, can only curl into a ball and cry or hang off the neck of her man helplessly. She stands on her own two feet relatively early on in the book, determined to be more 'help' than 'hinderance' when it comes to Prince Kail, which I greatly respect about her. Of course, at the begining of the series, she has all the usual insecurities that a highschool age girl has, and it's a wonderful experience watching her grow and mature as this series progresses.

Prince Kail is pure, godly eye candy, with all the characteristics of someone you could imagine coming from this time and place. Reading about how he dodges one political intrigue and scandal after another and manages to keep his head (and Yuri's) attached will make you eat up one book after another without pausing. The experience of watching him transform from a 'girl-a-day' playboy to an 'I-only-want-this-woman' kind of man and the helpless feeling he faces with Yuri determined to return home and leave him forever, are some of the most enjoyable/heart-wrenching/hair pulling moments this series has to offer. There is not a single dull moment! Five Stars!

"Red River" has a common plot, but the setting and art are really different from most of the stuff out there.

Yuri is a Japanese high school girl who gets pulled into another world through a puddle. Nothing new there. But she ends up in the ancient Hittite empire, a place I've never seen explored in any Shoujo manga. I think this setting makes the whole series a lot more interesting.

The art is different too. I'm not sure what to compare it to. But everything is beautiful nonetheless. The characters are pretty, and the backgrounds are lush and exotic looking.

The characters are pretty good too, although I haven't gotten far enough in the series yet to be able to tell too much.

The only thing I don't like about this manga is the romance. Don't get me wrong, I like the pairing and everything, but there's just too much hugging and kissing going on for my tastes.

But other than that, this is a great manga. You should definitely check it out sometime, I'm sure you'll find something to like about it.

After her first kiss with her boy friend, Yuri found out something strange happened in the water around her. One day, on her way home, a hand from a puddle of the street pulled her in to the ancient time in the Middle East. She couldn't understand what the people were saying so she ran away. She met a stranger in an alleyway when she was running. He kissed her to rescue her from the guards( which I think there is more). After the kiss, she seems to understand their language. She then be brought back to the castle by the queen of Haiti. She is the one that capture Yuri and she wants to sacrifice Yuri to the gods( which is lies). The queen only sacrifice Yuri because she wants her son to become the next king. The stranger, which is Kail, the third prince rescued her again by saying that she had lost her virginity to him so that she can not be use to sacrifice anymore. Kail then lets Yuri stay in his castle because the quen will try to get her back. What will happen next? Read and you going to find out! Enjoy!

that you should have a few volumes on hand because so far each and every cliff hanger has left me wanting more and more. I started reading this after seeing the cover artwork one day. I was just drawn to the beautiful look and had to read it. I'm glad I did because its seriously a GREAT manga with exquisite artwork. I'm in my early twenties and most of what I find is Shoujo for younger girls, which really doesn't appeal to me much. Red River is Shoujo, but its not for the younger crowd.

Its starts off with a girl named Yuri getting her first kiss from her crush, Satoshi. She is then, later, dragged into the past when they are out on their first date. From that point on the story just gets better and better. She meets a prince named Kail, who is the Third Prince of Hittite, the place in which she "travels" to. They have a rocky start but eventually warm up to each other, and gradually begin to develop a friendship and something more. I'm only up to volume five, and I don't think there is anything more I could say that wouldn't give something away.

If you like action, fantasy, and romance all thrown together, then Red River is the series for you.

If you are a person who loves romantic anime...hot guys and even some twist and turns throughout a book. This book is the book for you.