[Manga] Red River by Chie Shinohara

Image is from VIZ

Red River aka Anatolia Story is 28 volumes long and written by Chie Shinohara. This is one of my all time favorite, so good I read the series 3 times now. This series is the first and only manga that I have bought entirely, all 28 volumes, only to sell it for not even a quarter of the price I paid (which I regret because now I want to read it again -.-). Anyways this series is one that I strongly recommend for a few reasons. 

1. Red River is an amazing historical fiction following the main heroine Yuri. She is brought into the past by the evil queen dowager Nakia of the Hittite empire. There she meets Prince Kail and begins her adventure for survival as the Goddess Of War, Ishtar. It only sounds like a cheesy plot because I am being very vague. Chie Shinohara has successfully created a fictional story set perfectly to fit the background of some historical facts. (Go to Google or Wikipedia for a better plot summary)
2. Yuri, the main character shows amazing growth and strength. Although Yuri never starts off as a typical crybaby who needs her knight in shining armor to save her, she shows enormous growth as an individual. Pulled into an unknown time period she is unfamiliar with the customs and rule that govern the empire she learns to adjust to her new life. Never hiding behind Kail, who saved her from being killed, she accepts her position as the Goddess Ishtar using her status to aid Kail and help the unfortunate. She learns to ride a horse, basic fighting skill, lead an army, outwit the enemy with little to no bloodshed when possible and much more.
3. Romance. The love between Yuri and Kail doesn't occur automatically like other stories but starts off like a flower bud that blooms throughout the story.  Chie Shinohara was really good with the timing of Yuri and Kail's romance. As a reader I enjoyed the fact that they did not fall in love so fast, but rather it progressed with the timing of the story. 

I have not given all the reasons why I liked the story but those were the big three that really made the story amazing for me. There were some things that I did not really like but it is like that for every story and I rather just go over the positive.

I highly recommend reading this series now - and lucky you its finished so there are no cliffhangers. You can read each volume immediately following the previous. (On the side note there are three side stories in the last volume, which wasn't all that interesting to me but still good) And if you have finished reading the series, did you enjoy it as much as I did?

Happy Reading!!