Red River (Japanese: 天は赤い河のほとり, Hepburn: Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori; lit. "The Sky Is on the Banks of the Red River"), also known as Anatolia Story, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chie Shinohara. The series was published by Shōgakukan in their Sho-Comi magazine from January 1995 to June 2002 and was collected in 28 book volumes. It is published in English in North America by Viz Media. An anime television series adaptation produced by Tatsunoko Production is planned to premiere in July 2026.
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
The story happens during the rule of King Suppiluliuma I, when the Hittite Empire was very strong, competing mainly with Egypt, which was then led by the young Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Many people and events in the story are based on real history, including Prince Kail Mursili, Prince Sari Arnuwanda, Prince Zannanza, and battles between the Hittites and the neighboring Mitanni kingdom near the town of Kizzuwatna.
Red River is a story about a 15-year-old Japanese girl named Yuri Suzuki, who travels through time to Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia. She is called by Queen Nakia, who plans to use Yuri as a human sacrifice. Yuri’s blood is needed to cast a curse on the princes of the land, causing them to die and leaving Nakia’s son as the only heir to the throne. As the story continues, Yuri avoids Queen Nakia’s plans and is later seen as a representation of the goddess Ishtar. She also develops feelings for Prince Kail.
Media
The manga series was written and illustrated by Chie Shinohara. Its chapters were published in parts in the bimonthly manga anthology Shōjo Comic from January 5, 1995, to June 5, 2002. These chapters 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 would release the series in English in North America, with volume 1 scheduled for a second-quarter release. Viz released volume 1 on June 23, 2004, and volume 28 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.
The series was adapted into a series of 8 drama CDs released in two "seasons" between 1997 and 2003. The cast for the drama CD series is as follows:
- Yuri Ishtar: Minami Takayama
- Kail Mursili: Kazuhiko Inoue
- Queen Nakia: Yuriko Yamaguchi, later Misa Watanabe
- Urhi Shalma: Katsumi Toriumi, later Takahiro Sakurai
- Prince Mattiwaza: Kenyuu Horiuchi
- Juda Haspasrupi: Ikue Ohtani
- Tito: Hiro Yuuki
- Ilbani: Haruki Sayama
- Hadi: Ai Orikasa
- Ryuhi: Chiemi Chiba, later Machiko Toyoshima
- Shala: Yukiko Fujikawa
- Ramses: Toshihiko Seki, later Takehito Koyasu
- Kikkuri: Tomokazu Seki
- Ursula: Yuko Nagashima
- Kash: Koji Yusa, later Hideo Ishikawa
- Zannanza: Hikaru Midorikawa
- Guzel: Miyuki Ishizuka
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).
Five novels based on the manga have been released, written and illustrated by Shinohara.
An anime television series adaptation was announced on February 15, 2026. It is produced by Tatsunoko Production and directed by Kōsuke Kobayashi, with series composition by Yoriko Tomita, characters designed by Kenji Fujisaki, and music composed by Yoshihisa Hirano. The series is set to premiere in July 2026 on Nippon TV and BS NTV.
Reception
Red River received the Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōjo category in the year 2001. By May 2006, more than 16 million copies of the manga had been sold. By March 2019, the number of copies sold had increased to over 20 million.