Manga Review マンガレビュー: Anatolia Story, Red River 天は赤い河のほとり;天是红河;天(そら)は赤い河のほとり Volume 1 Chapter 1


Anatolia Story/Red River

Author: Shinohara Chie

Genres: Romance, Historical, Supernatural, Action, Adventure, Drama, Magic, Travel To Another World, Shoujo, Fantasy, Goddesses, Rich Man Poor Girl

Current Number of Chapters: 96

Completed Manga


This manga is amazing! I finished reading the whole manga, so you know that it was a big hit for me! I love world history, so the fact that the author combines ancient history, mythological goddesses (The goddess Ishtar is a common theme throughout this manga), magic, and intense romance, all makes this manga a big hit for me; this is one of those mangas that just drew me in, and which I found to be very fascinating. 

The setting, backdrop of this manga is based on the ancient Hittites, so it combines Persian, Arabic, Egyptian, Babylonian, Mesopotamian, and Semitic culture and gods. 

This manga originally starts as most normal shoujos do with the focus being on a young girl in modern Japan. The girl, Yuuri Suzuki, is currently in 1995 Japan. Yuuri is a normal girl; she is in middle school, and like most young girls, she has a boy crush. Yuuri has a family of 3 sisters, a mom, and a dad; she is about to enter high school. 

Yuuri's normal life suddenly starts to change; she becomes aware of these changes when she starts to notice water moving on its own around her. 



Yuuri writes this new situation off as a figment of her imagination, so she goes to school the next day as she normally would. While looking for something in one of the classrooms for her teacher, she has another incident that is far worse than the first one. This time, hands reach out of the fish tank next to Yuuri and grab her roughly.



Yuuri is not harmed or captured, and the arms release her, but she is very scared at this point. The fish that were in the fish tank died as a result of what just happened. The strangeness of this incident stays with Yuuri all day, even long after she returns home.

At home, Yuuri takes a bath, and the same thing happens again, except this time, the hands manage to take Yuuri into some other realm momentarily.



The hands fail to fully take Yuuri once again, and Yuuri realizes that the hands only come when she is around water, so she starts to avoid water. Yuuri even skipped school when it rained.

Yuuri is able to avoid the hands for a while by avoiding contact with large bodies of water, however, Yuuri does go out with her crush, Himuro, on a day that is snowing. The snow melted some on the ground so that there are water puddles; when Yuuri steps into one, the hands reach for her again. This time, they are successful. Yuuri suddenly disappears into thin air. 




Yuuri is a fighter though, she starts to fight off the hands as they are dragging her through this new space. Yuuri kicks the hands off of her and exits through a hole that she sees above her. When she surfaces through the hole, she finds herself in an ancient civilization where the people look very foreign and speak a language that Yuuri does not understand.



Lastly, we see the woman who summoned Yuuri into this world. This woman may have failed to bring Yuuri directly to her, but she knows where she might be, so she sends out soldiers to retrieve her. This woman seems to wish Yuuri harm since she said she needs her blood. 

The first chapter of this manga ends by explaining the country that Yuuri is in, which will be the main setting and background of this manga. Yuuri is now in 14th century BC in the city Hattusa, which is the capital of the Hittite empire. Today, this area is known as Anatolia, which is in Turkey. Anatolia makes up most of Turkey. The location is where the title of this manga comes from. 


Review: Is This Manga Worth Reading?


You all probably realize this, but I think this is an amazing manga! I have always been fascinated with mythology and ancient civilizations, so I tend to have a preference for and favoritism for mangas and books of this genre. I particularly love ancient Egypt, so this manga has all of the features that I love most in books. I also love the design of the characters, especially Yuuri; she is a beautiful manga character. This author is very skilled at drawing the female form, especially the eyes and bare body. Yuuri has a very feminine, soft, gentle look to her that is adorable.

The romance in this manga is also one of the best that I have come across. There is a lot of intense love, passion, and power between Yuuri and her love interest; that alone makes this manga worth reading. 

If you are someone who likes gods and goddesses, magic, intense romance, and historical backdrops, you will love this manga. I personally really love this manga, and I see it as a classic; it is one of the best, so I highly highly recommend it!




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