I had, until I began re-reading this series, forgotten what a prick Kail could be at times. Mind you he wasn't the worst offender ever, but its kind of shitty to threaten a girl with "bedding her for real" if she tries to run away (even if you're attempting to keep her idiotic neck safe).

Though to be fair Yuri wasn't much better. The scenes (in the first couple of books at least) went something like this:

Yuri: I must go do this stupid thing!
Kail: But its stupid! And will get you killed!
Yuri: It doesn't matter! I will get home no matter what!
Kail: If you would just WAIT a couple hours I will have it taken care of SAFELY.
Yuri: No! I will endanger everyone's life by running off and doing this stupid thing against the Queen who has plotted and schemed to murder me since chapter 1 because of reasons!
Kail: Stupid girl! She will kill you!
Yuri: It won't happen! :runs off to do stupid thing: Oh no! I did that stupid thing and got caught!
Queen: Stupid harlot! Now I shall do exactly what I've been threatening to do to you since the very first chapter. Only Kail could have saved you!
Yuri: Oh why didn't I listen to him? He never told me the danger! Kail! Kail! Save me!
Kail: :bursts in somehow to save her: I save you not because I'm going to say I told you so, though I will, but because I lo....er want to foil the Queen's plots!
Queen: Curses! Foiled again by my overly elaborate plotting!
Yuri: Now on to my next stupid stunt!

Rinse, Lather, Repeat.

I'll admit she isn't USELESS, just BRAINLESS most of the time. She's a bit of a Mary Sue in that she falls into all sorts of predicaments and then untangles herself through luck, innate skill and men falling over themselves to help her. By volume 3 this mostly ends as she realizes she needs to be useful to Kail and to be useful she needs to know how to DO things like fight and such. But this first volume is mostly spent with her lamenting her fate, ignoring Kail's justifiably concerned admonishments and getting folk killed. ( )

This review is for the series as a whole. It's honestly not worth getting invested in.

Review:
I wasted too much time trying to read 28 volumes. If this story could have been condensed and stopped its repetitiveness (Nakia's evil schemes, whether or not Prince Kail and Yuri will have sex, and Yuri getting framed for some scandal, etc), I would have liked it much more. I wish almost raping the female MC would stop being used as a plot device. This shoujo is from the 90's, and I still see that in modern shoujos.

Now, I'm not saying Red River didn't have its shining moments. I liked seeing Yuri go from a confused high school girl to a somewhat capable and clever warrior. There was a great cast of characters minus the evildoers (and Ramses caused he ticked me off). The love between Prince Kail and Yuri is sweet and forever dramatic (though often cringy; those two live for PDA). And whenever someone dies you really feel for them.

I wasn't satisfied with the story, but others might think differently. ( )

Epic shoujo manga stretching over 28 volumes.

One of my all time favorites :) ( )

Read until volume 16, then got bored and parked it for a year or two. ( )

Yuri is a Japanese high school student who is transported to an ancient Middle Eastern city through a puddle of water. While trying to get her bearings, she meets Crown Prince Kail, who puts her under his protection by making her his concubine.

What starts out as a typical girl-in-another-world teen romance later becomes a story of epic proportions. As Yuri grows in her relationship with the prince, she also becomes a confident and powerful leader in war and politics in her own right. There is much stronger sexual and violent content here than in typical manga aimed at teenage girls, but it gives a more realistic picture of the sort of challenges people faced at that time. I also enjoyed the artwork, especially the loving detail given to everyone's clothes and jewelry. This is a great series for older teens/twenty-somethings looking for a capable heroine and higher-stakes conflicts. ( )