By Chie Shinohara
Viz, 189 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

In a hostile Egyptian court, Hittite expat princess Yuri finds herself embroiled in a struggle to the death for domination over the Egyptian throne. Engaged [but secretly not] to the Egyptian General Ramses, Yuri spends her time apart from actual fiance Prince Kail conspiring right along to overthrow the nefarious queen dowagers of both the Hittite and Egyptian empires. But Egypt’s Queen Nerfertiti isn’t going down without a fight, and she’s determined to drag Ramses along with her!

Miscarriages! Evil queens! Faux marriages! Court intrigue! Red River may have historic aim, but it seems to have cribbed plot staples from quite a few soap operas along the way. The title’s latest installment cranks up the royal intrigues to high burn, determined to wring as much angsty politicking as can be had from an ancient Egyptian power struggle. There’s some genuinely interesting power playing going on, but it’s hard to keep from laughing as the title plows staunchly into the land of ultra cheese; the result is a book that takes itself very seriously even if you don’t. Perhaps this installment’s biggest offense is its attempt to plug the characters presupposed noble intentions directly into large monologues that outline each [future] king’s commitment to the pillars of Freedom, Democracy and The Rights of Man. Paging Red River; it’s all in good fun, so don’t bother trying to lend some legitimacy in the interim.

The character list reads like a best hits collection of nineteenth dynasty Egypt, although how Ramses I or Mursili II would feel about his manga doppelganger is questionable. Perhaps the series’ strongest point is its lead character, Yuri, who manages to avoid the weak-willed typecasting that befalls far too many shoujo heroines. (Bonus points for being a brilliant tactician and using the phrase “a brutal portent of economic and social disaster.”) The twenty-first volume’s intent focus upon the political scene pushes character drama to the backseat, perhaps a welcome choice in a series that seems like it could get easily carried away if it ever forgot to ground itself via the mangled remains of a few Near Eastern studies textbooks.

Chie Shinohara’s Egypt is meticulously detailed, although if you’re not a main character, be prepared for relegation to Stock Character Look #532. It’s clear that both time and effort when in providing at least some semblance of historical accuracy and continuity, creating a carefully wrought structure used to contain Shinohara’s distinctly late 1990s character designs. Perhaps my biggest gripe with the series comes not from its art, but from the way it’s packaged by Viz. Where’s the logic in shrinkwrapping a book and slamming it with a “mature content” sticker when the first hour of The Ten Commandments looks racy by comparison? Safe to assume it’s a carryover from past, more risque installments–but why then drive away potential readers?

All marketing anger aside, Red River is an indulgent, if corny romp through the ancient Middle East. Readers who go for the melodrama–safe to say, probably female–won’t be won over by the laughably bad monologues, but may find themselves charmed by a shojo heroine just a little more competent than the other girls. Come for the heroine; stay for the show.

Volume 21 of Red River is available now.