Red River

(Viz, 2004-Present)
™ and © 1995 Chie Shinohara/Shogakukan
Graphic novel; Right to left reading format; B&W

A Japanese schoolgirl is dragged into a fantasy world based on ancient Egypt instead of China; otherwise it’s business as usual for this genre. Admittedly, the lead, Yuri, does have a lot more going for her than the usual heroine of this sort of thing, since she’s just been accepted to college and received a kiss from her cute boyfriend, Himuro.

Then, using nicely unsettling imagery, any time she goes near water, hands rise up from it to try to drag her down. The set-up is fine, but, sadly, things are predictable, when she actually arrives in a never–was Middle East, brought there by a standard–issue evil queen who needs her for a blood sacrifice that will ensure the death of the land’s two princes and her ascension to the throne. Naturally, Youri is saved by one of the princes, a would–be lothario with a grudge against the queen, but, unfortunately, the two don’t exactly hit it off, as she desperately tries to find her way home.

— S.A. Bennett

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