I chose to read Red River solely because of the ancient Turkey setting. I wanted to read something that was based on an ancient, middle-eastern culture, and Red River just happened to pop up. I was pleasantly surprised that the setting included ancient Egypt as well, because it fascinates me.
I didn't really expect much from the story, since my experience of shoujo plots are mostly centered around love triangles, but I was surprised about the depth of Red River. I didn't expect so many characters to die, and the twists of the power struggles and politics caught me off guard. In that sense, Red River is more than just a romantic story.
About the art - well, it's your typical shoujo. But the artist has clearly taken the time to look up the references, because the outfits and architecture were well planned and detailed. I also liked how the characters were quite easy to tell apart from each other, because the cast is so large.
I have a bit mixed feelings about the characters. I did like them, even the protagonist, but I guess there weren't any character that was my favourite. They all had their good and bad qualities (which is good), and some characters had more screen-time while others fell to the role of forgettable background-characters. At some point towards the last third of the manga, I started to lose interest in following the events of the main couple and wanted to see more of the side-characters' affairs. But, the manga ended before I could get too bored, so I guess it was alright then. The main character was a bit Mary-Sue, but it didn't get to the point of irritating too much.
Overall I enjoyed the story very much. I suppose some who look forward to read about romance might find the politics and the warfare tiring, but I welcomed the change.
A bit of advice: Even though this manga isn't as violent as I'm used to reading, it still has scenes bordering rape, torture and other unsettling topics which might not suit the faint-hearted.
