Red River (天は赤い河のほとり), also known as Anatolia Story, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chie Shinohara. It was published by Shōgakukan in their Sho-Comi magazine from January 1995 to June 2002. It was collected in 28 tankōbon volumes. It is published in English in North America by Viz Media. As of March 2019, the manga had over 20 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series. In 2001, Red River won the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōjo category.

Synopsis

Setting

The story takes place during the reign of King Suppiluliuma I, at a time when the Hittite Empire was near its peak in power, rivaled only by Egypt, which was then ruled by the young Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Many of the people and events in the story are drawn from actual history, from Princes Kail Mursili, Sari Arnuwanda, and Zannanza, to battles with the neighboring Mitanni kingdom around the town of Kizzuwatna.

Plot

Red River is about a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl named Yuri Suzuki, who time travels to Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia. She was summoned by Queen Nakia who means to use Yuri as a human sacrifice. Yuri's blood is the key element needed in placing a curse upon the princes of the land so that they will perish, leaving Nakia's son as the sole heir to the throne. As the story progresses, 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.

Characters

Main

Enemies

Queen Nakia (ナキア皇妃（皇太后）) Urhi Shalma (ウルヒ　シャルマ) Prince Mattiwaza (Kuro, The Prince of Darkness or Shattiwaza) (マッティワザ（黒太子）) Nefertiti (Tatukia or Tadukhipa) Zuwa

Royalty

King Suppililiuma Queen Hinti Sari Arnuwanda Zannanza Hattusili Juda Haspasrupi Rois Telipinu Mali Piyasili Nepis Ilra

Servants

Tito Hadi Ryui and Shala Kikkuri Ilbani Ursula

Hittite generals and military leaders

Rusafa Kash Mittannamuwa Shubas Zora

Egyptians

User Ramses Hathor Nefert Ankhesenamen Horemheb Ay

Animals

Aslan Shimshek

Characters from Yuri’s time

Yuri's family Satoshi Himuro

Others

Talos Nadia Guzel Alexandra

Media

Manga

The manga series was written and illustrated by Chie Shinohara. Its chapters were serialized in the bimonthly manga anthology Shōjo Comic from January 5, 1995 to June 5, 2002. They were then collected and published in 28 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan, and later republished in 16 bunkobon volumes. Viz Media announced on February 13, 2004 that they had acquired the series for an English-language release in North America, with volume 1 scheduled for a second-quarter release. Viz released volume 1 on June 23, 2004, and volume 28 was released on January 12, 2010. On February 2, 2024, Viz Media announced that they would begin releasing 3-in-1 omnibus versions of the manga in Q4 2024. Red River is also published in Vietnam by Tre Publishing House, in Germany by Egmont Manga & Anime, and in Italy by Star Comics.

Drama CDs

The series was adapted as a series of 8 drama CDs released in two "seasons" between 1997 and 2003. The cast for said drama CD series is as follows:

Books

An art book for Red River was released on February 24, 1999 (ISBN 4-09-199613-2) and a fan-book on July 26, 2002 (ISBN 4-09-135782-2). Two novels based on the manga have been released, written and illustrated by Shinohara:

Reception

Red River won the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōjo category in 2001. As of May 2006, the manga had over 16 million copies in circulation. As of March 2019, the manga had over 20 million copies in circulation.