, 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 of 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 progress, 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 The main character of the story. Only fifteen at the start of the series, Yuri is willing to take up any charitable cause. As she possesses knowledge far greater than any woman of the time (such as recognition of iron and knowledge of 20th century hygiene), and often seems to find herself in situations that "prove" she is Ishtar, she is often considered to have divine powers and is thought by most to be the living incarnation of the goddess of love and war, Ishtar; as such, she is often referred to as . Despite this, Yuri is insecure and a tomboy; she generally prefers to dress in men's clothing for the sake of practicality, much to the consternation and dismay of her handmaids. Much is made of the general opinion that she is "not strikingly beautiful"