This is one of the worst manga I've ever come across. An utterly annoying Mary Sue heroine, no personality whatsoever for the rest of the characters, plain, plain, plain plot - evil queen and blah blah blah - TERRIBLE politics, the romance is ridiculous and unrealistic - not to mention all the abuse that takes place, and yet this is viewed as "one of the best manga ever" or a "rare shoujo with a strong heroine"! This is so overly clichéd and utterly stupid that it's not even funny! A total waste of time. Try Basara instead. Basara is a true epic shoujo.

... Last updated on May 3rd, 2010, 4:25pm

Good one for shoujo lovers and there are many soft porn scenes in this comic too.... To me the best thing is that some part of this manga is from reality. You know, "based on true story" will always attract customers although 70% of it is actually fiction. XD


But it's good, really. Worth reading for shoujo lovers <3

One of the better drawn shoujos. I like the art style, much better than the usual lousy shoujo drawings.
It feels more like an adventure than a typical shoujo which is a good thing.

... Last updated on March 14th, 2009, 3:15am

WAY too smutty. the heroine is too perfect, but at the same time she completely stupid. the male lead is also a pervert who pretends to care about the female lead, but we all know what he's really looking for. EVERYONE either loves or hates the female lead with a passion. my point? What is with this story?

i only read chapter one and its a nicely drawn manga but the girl....she pisses me right off. her character is just so freaking dumb! she doesnt do what anyone tells her even if its to save her own life she just gets other people into trouble!! if anyone can tell me a good reason why i should keep reading tel me now. if her personality doesnt change much then i am through with it.

It's one of those series where you wish you could erase your memory of it so you could read it all over again, haha.

Red River kept me engrossed throughout the entire series.
Which is really quite an accomplishment, since I have the attention span of a four-year old, lol.
This series has amazing art, and a creative but historically congruent plot.
I loved ALL of the characters, and the way they developed.
This manga had everything-- action, mystery, romance-- and it was done well, in a way that kept me interested the entire time.
This manga does contain smut, but in my opinion, it was done tastefully and spaced well, in a way that only added to its awesomeness.
By far my favorite manga. I don't think I will ever find a manga that I love as much as this, and I would recommend it to ANYONE.

This manga starts off with a killer punch. The artwork is great and the plotwork grips you the moment it begins. Throughout most of the earlier volumes, I loved every bit of this manga.

There is a great integration of ancient historical fact with fantasy. Many of the Egyptian and Hitite characters are real life characters and the events that occur happened in real life. The costumes are beautifully drawn, there is a gradual romantic relationship that builds up but is nevertheless very passionate and tender. Also, the smut panels are great.

However, the manga tends to lag after a while, with some of the plot becoming redundant and repetitive. It does lose a bit of its sparkle but I found it an addictive read nevertheless. At times, the main female lead was annoying and whiny. The males tend to all fall in love with her.

Regardless of its flaws though, Red River was a great read and one that I like to go back to ever so often. There is a feeling of epic and climatic appeasement when you reach the ending and it's a work that stands out on its own quite well.

I really don't remember how I came across this manga, but I must say, I'm glad I had a chance to read this, because this is one TERRIFIC manga! From the very beginning till the very end, this series had me mesmerized and hooked- I couldn't stop until I got to the very end, and I'm sorry that there was no more to read when I finished it. You can tell from the illustrations that it's pretty old manga (I think it was done in maybe the 90s?), but you get used to it and maybe even fall in love with it.
The storyline is very fantastic and realistic in the sense that if I didn't know it, I would actually have believed it to be true (okay.. maybe I'm pushing it a bit...)
I kinda wish Shinohara would do a side/after story on this, because I would definitely read it!!

I personally am not a fan of old style art-work manga (except Inuyasha, Doraemon, and a few other classics). So I was particularly hesitant in starting this. Once I finish the first 3 volumes though, I couldn't wait to get the next one. I am now almost finish with the series and my views on it still haven't changed.

The positives:

The story plot is highly developed and entertaining to a fault. The main plot (modern Japanese teen stuck in ancient Hittite empire) is interwoven with intricate side plots about the supporting characters and interesting historical details about the time period. This makes it refreshing because you're not just given a mere narrow scope on only 2 main characters and the problems they face throughout the storyline. Chie Shinohara does a wonderful job of creating a sweeping scope of the ancient world, not only of the Hittite empire, but also of Ancient Egypt and small kingdoms often overlooked in history texts. (This is great if you're interested in history, but even if you're not, the fiction Shinohara employs to make her storyline flows is very creative and enjoyable.)

The negatives:

The cliche, soap-opera moments and redudant battle plots did turn me off at times.
It also seems that many people bash about the whole mary-sue heroine thing, but understand that this is a fantasy/historical fiction manga. If you're looking for a story with a more realistic, relatable main character, then you should look in the slice-of-life category (hana yori dango and the likes).


Despite its flaws, this manga is a must-read.

Ah i finished reading the series and It was wonderful! The ending ended perfectly
the way i believe everyone wants it to be! I thought it was worth reading from beginning to the very end. I give this series are 10 out of 10