History Manga / AnatoliaStory

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/17c39ffa7dd3dbfd69785494776cb8f7.jpg]]


''The Sky is next to the Red River'' (''Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori''), also known as ''Anatolia Story'', is a historical fantasy shōjo manga series by Creator/ChieShinohara.

A fifteen-year old Japanese girl named [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Yuri Suzuki]] is [[TimeTravel magically transported]] to Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia (roughly 3500 years in the past). She was summoned by [[BigBad Queen Nakia]] who means to use Yuri as a [[HumanSacrifice human sacrifice]]. [[BarrierMaiden Yuri]]'s [[BloodMagic blood]] is the key element needed in placing a curse upon the princes of the land so that they will perish, leaving Nakia's son as the sole heir to the throne. She is saved by [[HandsomeLech Prince Kail]], third son of the king and second in line to the throne, who takes her into his house officially as a 'concubine'. As the story progresses, Yuri struggles against not only repeated attacks by Nakia but also becoming revered as an incarnation of the goddess [[LoveGoddess Ishtar]] and getting embroiled in political intrigue concerning the empire and surrounding nations.


Compare with ''Manga/OukeNoMonshou'', in which a 15-year-old American girl named Carol Reed is thrown into AncientEgypt and ''Manga/SengokuStrays'' where a first year high school girl named Kasane Kusanagi is transported to the [[UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod Sengoku era]].
----
!!''Anatolia Story'' contains examples of:

* HundredPercentAdorationRating:
** Yuri, naturally. When she's stung by [[spoiler:non-fatal]] scorpions as a result of a prank pulled on her [[spoiler:by some princesses who want to be made Kail's queen, ]]the news gets out and most of the town tries to stampede the palace with scorpion sting remedies for their beloved Ishtar.
** Kail too, though not always to quite the fanatical degree that Yuri inspires in subjects and strangers alike.
* AbdicateTheThrone: Towards the end of the series, [[spoiler: Prince Juda]] does this to bring a stop to Nakia's attempts at having her bloodline rule the Hittite Empire once and for all.
* ActionGirl: Tito's sisters Hadi, Ryuhi and Shala.
* ActionSurvivor: Yuri shapes up into this. [[spoiler:To the point that she's named Commander-in-Chief of the military.]]
* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: Prince Zananza initially mistakes Hadi as the infamous concubine that Kail picked up. When he's corrected and sees Yuri for the first time, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments he assumes that Kail is shacking up with a young boy]].
* AdultFear:
** Yuri gets transported into the Hittite Empire, in ancient Turkey, through a [[ItMakesSenseInContext puddle]]. The story follows her from there, but the real fear comes from thinking about the people she left behind in the present. Her boyfriend, Himuro, turned his back on her for a few seconds and then faced her again and - she's gone! [[http://i5.mangareader.net/red-river/1/red-river-619145.jpg Her bag is still hitting the ground]]! And he had just sworn to [[DeclarationOfProtection protect her]] because she was feeling scared of [[ItMakesSenseInContext water]]. You're out with your girlfriend, take your eyes off of her for a bit and then poof. She's gone and you have no idea where she is.
** Gets worse if one thinks of her family. Yuri is ''gone''. They have no idea where she is and, unlike more mundane situations, she was transported through time. Her family doesn't know this, but their daughter has been kidnapped and they won't get her back. They can't get her back, this isn't just a kidnapping where you can find out where the criminal is and get her back - who knows how many years it took them to wonder and fret and hope, wanting their little girl back.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited:
** Nakia's sister Nadia is in love with Mattiwaza, who doesn't seem to share the sentiment. Aside from running away with her because his own people began a mutiny, that is.
** Ramses is in love with Yuri, and so are Rusafa and Zananza. It's too bad [[spoiler: the latter two died]].
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins:
** Ryui and Shala can't be told apart by anyone, except by Hadi and Yuri.
** Later, Ryui and Shala [[spoiler: both give birth to two sets of identical twins. By the same guy, who couldn't tell them apart either]].
* AnchoredShip: When she was younger, Nakia begged Urhi (who was at the time, a [[SpitTake junior priest]]) to [[spoiler:marry her and run away together.]] He refused. She had a crush on him when they were younger, but there seems to be nothing going on between them now. When she was [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder testifying against him]], he hugged her from behind and said "I wish we could start over from where we first met."
* AnnoyingArrows: Averted. [[spoiler:When Yuri is shot in the back by ''one'', she nearly dies and is clearly feverish and unable to think straight when she makes it back to Kail. And when the arrow is pulled out, she goes through even more pain (not helped that she had to keep the arrow in until the skin around it hardened, for plot-related reasons).]]
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While Shinohara overall [[ShownTheirWork shows the work she put into this]], some things were altered to work with the premise and story. One of the most obvious is Nefert [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl walking around with her bosoms exposed]]. Contrary to what people might think Egyptians did in that baking-hot land, it was generally ''avoided'' to expose so much skin (especially sensitive parts like the chest) to direct sunlight.
** There's also the case of the titular Red River, which Prince Kail calls the Halys River - but the Halys River is the ANCIENT GREEK name of it. The Hittites called it the Maraššantiya.
* AttemptedRape: Odds are if Yuri gets kidnapped, this is bound to happen.
** Even if she's not kidnapped. Kail doesn't show much concern for her actual consent several times over the course of the series. More than one of their common friends are... unhappy when they find out, specially [[spoiler: Illbani]].
** Neither does Ramses, and ironically one of his attempts on her is thwarted by ''Kail'' of all people.
** After one kidnapping attempt is foiled, Urhi leaves Yuri tied up in a remote area, giving a brainwashed Rusafa orders to do all of the things he's imagined doing to her. [[spoiler:It's subverted when Yuri's found...and Rusafa was only kissing her feet. Apparently he finds her so awe-inspiring that he couldn't bring himself to touch her, even while brainwashed.]]
* BabiesEverAfter: For those who survive till the end of the story, it's almost a given. A bonus drawing hints that this ''could'' have happened for [[spoiler:Rusafa and Neferet]], had the former not died.
* BattleButler: Urhi, for Nakia.
* BetterAsFriends:
** Yuri says this to Ramses. Looks like denial ''is'' just a river in Egypt.
** Yuri ''wants'' to say this to Rusafa, but is told to pretend she doesn't know about his feelings for her.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Sure, Yuri may ''seem'' very fragile, but if pushed, she can become quite fierce. Especially noticeable during a subarc of various princesses coming to Hattusa as prospective wives and/or concubines for Kail. She is feeling inferior, as she has no social standing compared to them, but when one of their pranks goes too far, Yuri really bares her teeth at them.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: After Yuri [[YouCantGoHomeAgain gives up on idea of going back home]] she brings reinforcements to Ugarit where Kail's army was fighting Egyptians.]]
* {{Bifauxnen}}:
** Yuri was mistaken to be an attractive young boy while she was pretending to be a dancer.
** She's also mistaken for a boy when one of Kail's brothers comes to visit. This leads to a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} where [[MistakenForGay he comments that he did not think Kail was into that sort of thing]].
** A slightly more serious version happens later, when Yuri and a band of soldiers set about capturing seven towns in a land they're at war with. One of the military leaders mistakes Yuri for a very young boy, and tells his queen how a young man has been conquering town after town and must be pacified in some way. The queen's teenage daughter, Princess Alexandra, decides to sneak around [[PleaseIWillDoAnything and offer herself]] [[SexSlave to "serve" Yuri]], in a heartfelt but ''very'' misguided attempt to help her people; Ilbani clears up the misunderstanding by sending Alexandra to meet Yuri in the baths, and once it's all said and done she becomes Yuri's lady-in-waiting.
* BigBad: [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Nakia]] plans to curse the other Hittite princes so that her own son can become king, and will do so by killing Yuri. She’s also the one who [[TrappedInAnotherWorld dragged Yuri into Hattusa]] in the first place. Every conflict in the series sprouts from her plans to get rid of Yuri.
* BloodMagic: The [[{{Curse}} Katashiro]] requires Yuri's blood.
* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the original manga, Princess Alexandra offers herself to the Hitite empire as a concubine for Yuri, who had been mistaken ''again'' as a male prince (this time by Alexandra's mother). The English translation says she offered to "serve" the commander of the Hittite army (i.e. Yuri). The context is fairly obvious, yet [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar doesn't actually say it out loud]].
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Zannanza, after being drugged by Nakia's rose water, begins to act much more violently, abducting Yuri and endangering her life by taking her through the desert with no food or water. Tito also falls into this territory after being drugged by Nakia's black water, which is justified, because it was meant to make him kill Yuri.
* BrickJoke: During the war with Mitanni, Yuri told prince Zanannza to give a message to Kail that she still loves him, complete with a kiss on the cheek. ''[[InUniverse Months later]]'' in the next arc, Zanannza proceeds to kiss Kail on the cheek and said Yuri's exact words: "I love you." [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Kail's reaction was understandable for a man of his traits]].
* BrotherSisterIncest: It's strongly hinted that Mattiwaza from Mitanni had a sexual relationship with his older sister Tatukia, who [[spoiler: later became Nefertiti in Egypt]].
* CallingTheOldManOut: When Nakia's last desperate gambit ends with [[spoiler: Rusafa's death, Juda has a HeroicBSOD and tries to kill his mother. After being stopped, he deals a heartfelt and brutal TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to her, and then relinquishes his bid to the throne]].
* ChekhovsGun: Prince Mattiwaza gives Yuuri one of his sister’s earring, which he always wears around his forehead as a keepsake, so that she can leave the Mitanni’s fortress without being held back by his soldiers. Yuuri wears that earring on her neck from then on, until the day [[spoiler:she throws it toward Queen Nefertiti - Mattiwaza’s sister - to stop her from killing Ramses. The earring brings back Nefertiti’s memories of her brother and home country and holds her back for a while, which in turns saves Ramses’s life]].
* ChekhovsSkill: Kail's magic, which helps counter Nakia’s.
* ConfrontingYourImposter: When Yuri meets the fake Ishtar. Unfortunately it's a case of CassandraTruth.
* CoolBigSis: Yuri becomes this for Alexandra, who actually calls her "Sister". Yuri has a CoolBigSis of her own in the form of Ramses's sister, Hathor Nefert.
* CoolHorse: Aslan, who [[spoiler:can even survive being shot with multiple arrows]].
* CreepyChild: Juda [[spoiler:after Nakia drugs him with her magic water, to prevent him from clearing Yuri's name of a murder charge]].
* DamselInDistress: Yuri, specially at the start. What do you expect when a schoolgirl without any self-defense training lands in a warrior empire like Hattusa?
* DarkSkinnedBlond: User Ramses, and presumably most of his sisters under their wigs, like Nefert. [[spoiler: In the "what if" picture of Nefert and Rusafa, this is confirmed.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Ilbani, especially evident when Kail finally emerges from his room [[spoiler: after he and Yuri spend at least four days making love]].
--> '''Ilbani''': Oh, your Majesty. Long time no see.
--> '''Kail''': Hmph.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Hoo, boy, it might just be easier to list who doesn't fall into this category. At last count we have Hadi, Ryui, Shala, the Hatti people, Mattiwaza, the kingdom of Mitanni, Ursula, Rameses, the kingdom of Arzawa, and even ''[[TheDragon Urhi]]'' expresses some respect for Yuri.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance:
** Prince Kail tries to sleep with Yuri, even though he's legally an adult and she's hitting fifteen (and he later admits that he thought she was really 12-13). Also, the fourteen-year-old Juda has a wife and several concubines. There's also the various socio-political issues that Yuri, as a girl from the modern world, sometimes has trouble grasping [[spoiler:like how she can barely deal with Ursula's HeroicSacrifice and how Kail and his troops immediately went to battle after learning of it; Kash tells her that she might not understand since she comes from "a place free of war", and adds that he does envy her for it but she must come to terms with her new surroundings]].
** Kail is considered unusual for only wanting ''one'' legal wife and not taking any concubines after deciding [[spoiler:to marry Yuri]]. In fact, polygamy isn't considered strange at all, for most of the cast. Near the end of the series, it turns out that [[spoiler:Kikkuri thought he was only sleeping with one of the twins, but both had been taking turns going to him at night; when this comes to light, the only problem anyone has with him marrying two women is whether or not he'll be providing for the pair of them]].
** There are several points where it's mentioned that human sacrifice is considered acceptable. [[BigBad Nakia]] initially uses this as an excuse to publically execute Yuri, when she's first brought back in time, and the only grounds Kail can give to stop it is to lie that she's not a virgin. Later, [[spoiler:Kail threatens to use ''Nakia'' as a human sacrifice for the return of Yuri (who he knows full well Nakia has had kidnapped)]].
** As mentioned below, Yuri repeatedly being seen as rather plain at first sight. Back then, a beautiful woman was generally tall and curvy, maybe even with light hair - which a {{Bifauxnen}} like Yuri is the complete opposite of, although by (modern-day) Japanese standards, she definitely fits the cute type with being small, thin and having jet-black hair.
* DrivenToSuicide:
** [[spoiler:Urhi kills himself in public while claiming to be the only one behind Arnuwanda's death.]]
** Poor [[spoiler:Juda]] is as well, [[spoiler:when he comes to the conclusion that Kail and Yuri would be better off if he was dead. Thankfully, he recovers.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Tito. Yuri sees him and mistakes him for her younger sister Eimi.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome:
** [[spoiler:Rusafa, who takes a knife to the back from Nakia almost at the end, but his HeroicSacrifice allows Kail to save Yuri from being thrown into time and space as Nakia's last effort to defeat her.]]
** [[spoiler:Ursula [[FalseConfession lies and pretends that she assassinated King Aruwanda]], even though she knows that she'll be immediately executed. She happily dies knowing that by acting as a fake target, she has averted suspicion of the crime from Yuri, and thus given Kail grounds to call off Nakia's attempts to capture her.]]
** [[spoiler:Prince Mali bravely dies trying to take down Ramses, even though he knows how strong the guy is. Ramses even congratulates Mali on his courage, before mortally wounding him.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Played with. Ilbani reveals his surprise when [[spoiler:Queen Nakia uses Black Water to manipulate her own son]], he thought she'd never do ''that''.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Nakia is fully aware of how Kail and Yuri's bond works and uses it to her full advantage whenever she can. [[spoiler:She does have her moments when she realizes that Kail loves Yuri so deeply, he would have Nakia executed as a HumanSacrifice to bring Yuri back... [[OhCrap She nearly crumbles under the pressure]].]]
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Everyone's initial reaction when they come to see Yuri Ishtar, the girl that has stolen [[TheCasanova Kail's]] heart and is hailed as an incarnation of the Goddess Ishtar, to be nothing but a rather small, darkhaired and runt-y girl.
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Kail asks the people in the quarry if they ever heard of Ishtar, and they say they did. They relay stories of Ishtar being a beautiful, young woman with ravenblack hair and great personality... and then quiet down, realizing that they were describing Yuri, who had been imprisoned for [[CassandraTruth claiming to be the real Ishtar]].
* EyeScream: Urhi gets an arrow to his eye. [[EyepatchOfPower He gets one nice looking eyepatch later on]].
* EyesAlwaysShut: Kikkuri.
* FallenPrincess: [[spoiler:Urhi was a nobleman from a land that was conquered by another nation, and then he was MadeASlave as well as beaten, [[SexSlave raped]] and ''[[GroinAttack castrated]]''. ''Then'' he was brought into the Hittite Empire as a priest.]]
* TheFaceless: Urhi stays this for several chapters.
* FantasticRomance: Kail and Yuri's relationship is this. Kail points this out as one of the reasons they aren't meant to be together. [[spoiler:Of course, Yuri's IChooseToStay and the BabiesEverAfter ending indicates otherwise.]]
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Yuri is a girl from the 20th century AD stuck in the 14th century BC.
* FlayingAlive: Poor [[spoiler: Tito.]]
* FoeRomanceSubtext: The relationship between Kail and Ramses. It doesn't help that they end up fighting [[spoiler: [[HoYay naked]]]].
* ForegoneConclusion:
** Certain historical events like Tutankhamen dying young come as a surprise to no one who has studied ancient history.
** The narration also makes it clear that certain things will happen in future stories.
* FragileSpeedster: Once Yuri learns how to fight, this becomes her speciality. She fights with a light iron dagger (considered the pinnacle of metalwork development at the time) and can generally take on enemy Mooks without a problem, but the moment an enemy grapples and disarms her she's fairly helpless.
* FullFrontalAssault: At one point, [[spoiler:Kail and Ramses]] strip naked while fighting a brutal duel in the desert.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Nakia, the BigBad who will do [[TheUnfettered anything]] to get her son on the throne.
* GodivaHair: Urhi, when [[spoiler:revealing his nature as an eunuch]].
* GuileHero: Yuri has to become this if she wants to survive.
* HeroicSacrifice: More than one, but the most notorious is [[spoiler:Rusafa's]].
* HiddenWeapons: Nakia has a ring where she hides a poisoned needle.
* TheHighQueen: ''Vital'' to the plot, as being [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawananna the Tawananna]] was ''more'' than merely becoming a HotConsort to the King. [[spoiler:Kail's dead mother Queen Henti]] was this [[spoiler: until she was murdered by her sucessor, Nakia]]; years later, the struggle between the actual Tawananna and [[BigBad Queen Nakia]] vs. Kail's companion and prospect Tawananna Yuri Ishtar is one of the main driving points of the story. [[spoiler:Yuri ultimately becomes victorious and banishes Nakia away, not before openly telling her that she will be a much better Tawananna than Nakia ever was.]]
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: This is kind of a given, as this whole manga is based on actual Hittite history, including ''The Manly Deeds of Suppiluliuma'' and ''The Ten Year Annals of Mursili II'', both of which are written by Mursili II. [[spoiler: aka Prince Kail.]]
* HistoricalInJoke:
** When Ramses introduces Yuri as his fiancee to the Pharaoh, his queen and the Queen Dowager Nefertiti he gives her the name Naptera aka Nefertari. Historically Nefertari was the beloved Great Royal Wife of Ramses II.
** In the same arc, after the Queen Dowager Nefertiti is disgraced, the sculptor that was working on a [[Art/NefertitiBust bust of her]] uses the obsidian stone that was her brother's TragicKeepsake as an eye for the bust. When the sculptor complains that there is only one stone, Nefertiti retorts that given her disgrace no one will care about her statue. In modern times that bust is one of the most iconic art pieces of Ancient Egypt.
* HotWitch:
** Queen Nakia, who has powers over water and can use it to cast spells or to brainwash people.
** Henti seems to have been this, as Kail inherited her power to control the winds from her.
* IKissYourFoot: [[spoiler:Rusafa does this to Yuri when Urhi and Nakia use him to kidnap her.]] To elaborate, [[spoiler:Rusafa has been brainwashed by Nakia's magic. Kail manages to force Nakia's hand and get Urhi to release her, but before he does so, he orders Rusafa to do all the things he's dreamed about doing to Yuri. Instead of raping her, he kisses her feet because he awed by her that even while brainwashed, he can't bring himself to touch her.]]
* IfICantHaveYou: Under the influence of Nakia's rose water, Prince Zananza threatens to kill Yuri if he cannot have her as his princess.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Invoked several times. Most notably, this is why [[spoiler:Rusafa [[TakingTheBullet sacrifices himself]], ''twice'', for Yuri]].
* LettingHerHairDown: Ilbani as a "disguise" [[spoiler: when he tries to capture Urhi]].
* LivingMacGuffin: Yuri is viewed as this by Nakia, considering that her blood is the key to the curse she wants to cast.
* LongingLook:
** Zananza has given Yuri several of these. As has Rusafa.
** Urhi has given Nakia enough longing looks to last a lifetime.
* LukeIMightBeYourFather: [[spoiler:Urhi]] is rumoured to be [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe the true father of]] [[spoiler:Prince Juda, Nakia's son]], and no wonder! [[spoiler:Juda]] is his spitting image. When [[spoiler:Juda]]'s bloodline is questioned, [[spoiler:Urhi reveals that he is a eunuch, and one castrated ''before'' he met Nakia, in order to save Nakia's reputation]].
* MadonnaWhoreComplex:
** Zigzagged. The BigBad, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Nakia]], is TheVamp and a VainSorceress, but she isn't defined by sexuality; she married her husband out of political obligation and has no love for him, she gave birth to Prince Juda only for revenge (she wanted her bloodline to rule the land she was forced to live in), and the only man she seems to have any actual affection for is [[spoiler:a eunuch who was castrated ''before'' he met her, therefore they cannot have a sexual relationship]]. Yuri is young, sweet, idealistic, and hesitant about having sex with Kail. However, she doesn't hesitate to get involved with political or dangerous matters, often going into war zones to fight, is quite a GuileHero, tells her female friends to live for love if they want to, and eventually has a ''very'' sexual and passionate relationship with Kail, which is considered normal. In fact, her friends and servants considered it very strange that she waited as long as she did to sleep with him.
** Subverted with Princess Guzel. She is a sweet woman and gets along with Yuri, but was introduced both as an unwed mother and a former lover of Kail (and later turned out to have gotten pregnant through an affair with another man). No one is bothered by her sexual history, and her father is only angry because [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe she seemed to be lying about who the father of her child was]]. [[spoiler:It turns out the whole thing is a plot orchestrated by Nakia, who brainwashes her into lying about her child's parentage. When Kail releases Guzel from the brainwashing, she freely tells that her child's father was actually a WanderingMinstrel]]. Not to mention, [[spoiler:she sees the fact that Yuri managed to get Kail to sleep and stay with her as admirable, as it shows that [[LadykillerInLove Kail sees her as more than a lover]].]]
* MarriageBeforeRomance: Near the start of the series, Kail saves Yuri from being made into a HumanSacrifice by pretending he slept with her and thus making her unusable. From there, the two have to pretend she's his concubine (which pretty much means being his wife all but on paper) so he can protect her from his evil stepmother's murder attempts. The two play the part at first, but remain distant as they anticipate sending Yuri home soon. They do fall in love for real, though. After Yuri chooses to stay with Kail, the rest of the manga is about them trying to overcome obstacles so they can be married legally.
* TheMatchmaker: When Ilbani sees how well [[spoiler:Juda and Alexandra]] are getting along, he checks that [[spoiler:Juda]]'s legal wife died in the plague and then decides to arrange for the two to be married.
* MeaningfulName: "Aslan" is Turkish for "Lion", relating to Yuri as Ishtar. (Most of the Hittite empire was located where Turkey is now.)
* MightyWhitey: Inverted with Yuri, who changes the story of Anatolia but is actually Japanese instead of white.
* MorningSickness: Thrice during the course of the manga, and none of them is really during the morning, but it happens to [[spoiler:Yuri in volume 18, revealing that she is pregnant the first time]]. The second time is [[spoiler:Schala, saying it was seasickness from the ship so she wouldn't hurt Yuri's feelings over her own miscarriage]] and finally towards the end of the series [[spoiler:on the day of Kail and Yuri's wedding, Yuri learns that she is pregnant again]].
* MotherMakesYouKing: Nakia's goal is to invoke the trope on Juda no matter what.
* MrFanservice: Kail and Rameses, mostly, but arguably most of the male cast.
* NotWorthKilling: [[spoiler:Kail and Yuri decide this shall be [[BigBad Nakia's]] ultimate end. The Senate wants to force her to commit suicide, but Kail says that she's already being punished emotionally, and Yuri adds that [[CruelMercy the worst punishment for Nakia would be seeing HER succeed and be a better Queen]]. In the historical record, this is pretty much what actually happens. However, Hittites were not big on killing family members, as they believed doing so resulted in calamity, especially in regards to the royal family; really, Mursili was trying to prevent another plague when he deposed her. She also ended up with a nice villa and good food for the rest of her life... but while knowing that she owes the rest of her life to her worst enemies, which could very well be a FateWorseThanDeath for someone like her.]]
%%* OldManMarryingAChild: Seems to be what went on in regards to [[spoiler:Ay and Princess Ankhesenamen]].
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Between Kail and Ramses, to the point of [[spoiler:stopping in the middle of a war battle to duel each other, one-on-one, with GoodOldFistcuffs]].
* OurLoveIsDifferent: Yuri's and Kail's relationship, as even though Kail has been known to sleep around with lots and lots of women, he falls for Yuri hard and thereafter only has eyes for her. Played with in that it isn't Yuri who makes the claim, but one of Kail's former lovers on her behalf. When Yuri admits that she and Kail sleep together (that is to say, sleep in the same bed; at this point they weren't having sex), the woman responds that Kail has never actually slept with any of his lovers: they'd have sex and he'd go back to his own room. The fact that he's willing to show that vulnerability to Yuri she takes as proof that Kail's love for Yuri goes beyond any of his previous relationships.
* OutlawCouple[=/=]UnholyMatrimony: [[TheDragon Urhi]] and [[BigBad Nakia]], despite the latter being [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen royalty]] and the former being a [[SinisterMinister priest]].
* ThePlague: One of the subarcs in the storyline. In actual history, the plague raged in Hattusa for some 20 years and killed a large portion of the population, including [[spoiler: King Suppiluiuma, King Arnuwanda... and Queen Gassulawiya, one of the two persons that Yuri is likely based upon. Which is interesting, because at one point Yuri winds up taking care of plague victims, and discovers that she was vaccinated against whatever this particular disease is as a little girl]].
* PluckyGirl: Yuri is this, most notably when [[spoiler:she survives being shot with an arrow and stalks Ramses until he agrees to patch her up and take her back to Hattusa, going so far as to threaten to haunt him if he continues to refuse]].
* {{Polyamory}}: Since Kikkuri couldn't tell the difference between Ryui and Shala, ending up getting one pregnant while he thought it was the other one, he ended up [[TwinThreesomeFantasy marrying them both]]. Nobody makes a big deal out of this, as polyamory was pretty well accepted in the time period, and the only concern is whether Kikkuri will be able to support two wives.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Tito's sisters never thinks to ask around about how [[spoiler:their brother died]]. Instead, they immediately trust the words of a shady stranger. Thank the Gods they give up.
* PregnantBadass: While she didn't know it initially, [[spoiler:Yuri during the Beida subarc and shortly before, leading the royal army]]. Later, we have [[spoiler:Schala, who fought with the [[LaResistance rebellious Egyptians]] to overthrow their regime and rescue Ramses]].
* PuppyLove: Averted with [[spoiler:Juda and Alexandra]], who were in their later teen-years when they met.
* RedStringOfFate: A broken one in the background, when Kail and Yuri know that [[StarCrossedLovers they can't be together, no matter how much they want to]]. [[spoiler:[[IChooseToStay At first.]]]]
* RedSkyTakeWarning: When Yuuri asked Ramses to have the horse halt to look at the setting sun, she trembled at the eerie blood-red color of the sky and contemplated about the Japanese old saying "Twilight invite devils to rise", feeling anxious about the situation of Kail, Ursula and herself at the moment. Her hunch was right - back at the capital, [[spoiler:Ursula was hanged]] on the background of the very same sunset, around the same time.
* RuleOfCool: Yuri's reappearance after [[spoiler:Kail foils the kidnapping of her by holding a ceremony for everyone to pray for her return. Sure, she didn't ''have'' to come back to him by swimming through some pipes and bursting out of the prayer pool, but damned if it didn't look cool]].
* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:Ursula confesses that she killed Emperor Arnuwanda, to avert suspicion on Yuri and Ilbani uses this opportunity to deal another blow to Nakia, by having Ursula say she did it under Nakia's orders. In the end, Ursula is executed for the murder, but Nakia still avoids suspicion and nothing has really changed.]]
* SettleForSibling: In an extra chapter, we find out that [[spoiler:Satoshi, Yuri's boyfriend from her own time, eventually married her younger sister, Eimi]].
* SheCleansUpNicely: [[http://i5.mangareader.net/red-river/9/red-river-619589.jpg The general reaction whenever Yuri dresses up]].
* ShownTheirWork: With just a few changes for dramatic purposes, this otherwise sticks rather closely to the actual Hittite records, insofar as the order of kings goes.
** Yuri is likely based off the beloved wife of Mursili II, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gassulawiya Queen Gassulawiya.]] [[spoiler:Unfortunately, she died in Year 9 of Mursili II's reign from plague.]]
** Yuri is likely ''also'' based on [[http://www.tawananna.com/archives/41 Puduhepa]], the wife of King Hattusili II and thus Mursili and Gassulawiya's daughter in law. Puduhepa was not only a priestess of Ishtar (the goddess that Yuri is believed to be the incarnation of), but also [[TheHighQueen a very smart and capable lady]] who co-reigned with Hattusili, led the Hitite diplomacy back then, and was reported to have had lots of contact with Egyptian authorities -- including Ramesses II and Nefertari.
** A lot is ambiguous when it comes to concurrent Egyptian figures. Scholars are still arguing over which pharaoh Zannanza was sent to replace, as well as which queen sent a letter over requesting a husband. The pharaoh in question could be Akhenaten, Tutankhamen, Smenkare, or Horemheb.
** Other changes are made to accommodate lack of information in some places; for example, the [[BigBad Tawananna's]] name is not actually attested as Nakia in historical records. Nakia was inspired by the Babylonian princess Mal-Nikal, the successor of Kail's mother [[http://www.tawananna.com/archives/401 Henti]] and second wife of Suppilinuma.
** Henti's own role is somewhat changed as well. In history she was the mother of at least five of Suppilinuma's children [[note]](Sari Arnuwanda, Rois Telipinu, Mali Piyassili, Zannanza and Kail Mursili)[[/note]] but the manga it seems that only Arnuwanda, Piyassili and Kail are her kids (Zannanza is the son of a royal maid and Telipinu is the son of a concubine). Also, historians seem to believe that Henti was "banished away" by Suppilinuma when he married Mal-Nikal or ''might'' have been executed for the same reason, but in the manga [[spoiler:she was murdered by Mal-Nikal's {{expy}} Nakia]].
** In addition, [[spoiler: the final scenes depict the modern-day ruins of Hattusa as it appears today]].
* ShutUpKiss: When Yuri is freaking out because she realizes she just left an innocent boy behind to be skinned alive.
* SkinshipGrope: Happens to Yuri, courtesy of [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl some Egyptian women]].
* SlapSlapKiss: The first few moments between Kail and Yuri appear like this, until they fall for each other for real.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** Rusafa in particular was known as "Lucifer" in early scanlations due to the ambiguity of katakana and lack of linguistic context.
** Urhi and Ilbani were first known as Uruhi and Ilvani respectively.
** Another example is Tatukia (from the Hurrian "Tadu-Hepa", usually depicted in the Hittite histories as ''Tadukhipa''). Sure, most of these character names come straight from those same histories, but she's referenced so infrequently that the translators can be forgiven for the miss, considering [[spoiler:she disappears from history about the same time Nefertiti shows up in Egypt, though that's not 100% confirmed in real life]]. Oddly enough, called Tat''s''ukia in earlier translations, making this a literal example.
* StableTimeLoop: As it turns out, [[spoiler:Yuri's appearance in ancient times and her involvement among the Hittites ultimately leads to their history as known in real life]]. Crossed with YouAlreadyChangedThePast.
* SubordinateExcuse: Urhi is [[BattleCouple fiercely loyal]] to Nakia, to the point of attempting to bite his own tongue off when interrogated for answers. Even after countless failed attempts to kill Yuri, Nakia still keeps him around.
* TemptingFate: Probably not a good idea to say the god of death can't separate you.
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler:After Ursula's unfair execution, her boyfriend Kash wears her long braid as a headband, vowing to keep it until the true culprit of the crime she was accused of is found. When said criminal (Urhi) is revealed and kills himself, as Ursula is exonerated post-mortem, [[TearJerker he takes off the braid and gently kisses it]].]]
* TrappedInThePast: Not that Yuri doesn't try to escape back to Japan, but between Nakia's machinations and Yuri's own feelings for Kail (and arguably Anatolia itself), she has a hard time and [[spoiler:it just never ends up happening. After she marries Kail, definitely crosses the boundary into IChooseToStay.]]
* TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside:
** People are shocked when they see that Kail's concubine is such a shallow kid with no figure. Soon enough they see her true beauty in her personality and strong will.
** This often feels like a case of HollywoodHomely to a lot of readers, as Yuri is always drawn as being rather cute from the start.
** Probably more a case of DeliberateValuesDissonance, as the “ideal woman” in those times was tall and curvy.
* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: Zannanza and Rufasa are unrequitedly in love with Yuuri and [[spoiler:they both died after trying to shield her from the enemy’s attack]].
* VillainBall: The prospective concubines and wives humiliate Yuri, the only person who Kail loves, just because they can.
* WeakButSkilled: Yuri has no physical fighting skills of her own, but manages to become smart enough to dodge murder/rape attempts several times and survive in this world that she has just arrived of.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The great mystical dragon's eye disappears completely after the raid.
----

** In the same arc, after the Queen Dowager Nefertiti is disgraced, the sculptor that was working on a bust of her uses the obsidian stone that was her brother's TragicKeepsake as an eye for the bust. When the sculptor complains that there is only one stone, Nefertiti retorts that given her disgrace no one will care about her statue. In modern times that bust is one of the most iconic art pieces of Ancient Egypt.

''Red River'' (''Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori''), also known as ''Anatolia Story'', is a historical fantasy shōjo manga series by Chie Shinohara.

** Subverted with Princess Guzel. She is SpoiledSweet and gets along with Yuri, but was introduced both as an unwed mother and a former lover of Kail (and later turned out to have gotten pregnant through an affair with another man). No one is bothered by her sexual history, and her father is only angry because [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe she seemed to be lying about who the father of her child was]]. [[spoiler:It turns out the whole thing is a plot orchestrated by Nakia, who brainwashes her into lying about her child's parentage. When Kail releases Guzel from the brainwashing, she freely tells that her child's father was actually a WanderingMinstrel]]. Not to mention, [[spoiler:she sees the fact that Yuri managed to get Kail to sleep and stay with her as admirable, as it shows that [[LadykillerInLove Kail sees her as more than a lover]].]]

* TrappedInthePast: Not that Yuri doesn't try to escape back to Japan, but between Nakia's machinations and Yuri's own feelings for Kail (and arguably Anatolia itself), she has a hard time and [[spoiler:it just never ends up happening. After she marries Kail, definitely crosses the boundary into IChooseToStay.]]

* RedSky,TakeWarning: When Yuuri asked Ramses to have the horse halt to look at the setting sun, she trembled at the eerie blood-red color of the sky and contemplated about the Japanese old saying “Twilight invite devils to rise”, feeling anxious about the situation of Kail, Ursula and herself at the moment. Her hunch was right - back at the capital, [[spoiler:Ursula was hanged]] on the background of the very same sunset, around the same time.

* {{Expy}}: In terms of appearances, Princess Güzel looks an awful lot like a more grown-up Soko Kiryu, while Kail looks like Akira Saionji, but with longer hair. Both are from ''Manga/AoNoFuuin'' by the same artist.

* BigBad: [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Nakia]] plans to curse the other Hittite princes so that her own son can become king, and will do so by killing Yuri. She’s also the one who [[TrappedInAnotherWorld dragged Yuri into the Hittie Empire]] in the first place. Every conflict in the series sprouts from her plans to get rid of Yuri.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the original manga, Princess Alexandra offers herself to the Hitite empire as a concubine for Yuri, who had been mistaken ''again'' as a male prince (this time by Alexandra's mother). The English translation says she offered to "serve" the commander of the Hittite army (i.e. Yuri). The context is fairly obvious, yet [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar doesn't actually say it out loud.]]

* CallingTheOldManOut: When Nakia's last desperate gambit ends with [[spoiler: Rusafa's death, Juda has an HeroicBSOD and tries to kill his mother. After being stopped, he deals a heartfelt and brutal TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to her, and then relinquishes his bid to the throne.]]
%%* ChekhovsSkill: Kail's magic.
* ConfrontingYourImposter: when Yuri meets the fake Ishtar. Unfortunately it's a case of CassandraTruth.

* CoolHorse: Aslan, who [[spoiler:even can survive being shot with multiple arrows.]]
* CreepyChild: Juda [[spoiler:after Nakia drugs him with her magic water, to prevent him from clearing Yuri's name of a murder charge.]]

* DarkSkinnedBlond: User Ramses, and presumably most of his sisters under their wigs, like Nefert. [[spoiler: In the "what if" picture of Nefert and Rusafa, this is confirmed]].

* DefeatMeansFriendship: Hoo, boy, it might just be easier to list who doesn't fall into this category. At last count we have Hadi, Ryui, Shala, the Hatti people, Mattiwaza, the kingdom of Mitanni, Ursula, Rameses, the kingdom of Arzawa, and even Urhi expresses some respect for Yuri.

** Prince Kail tries to sleep with Yuri, even though he's legally an adult and she's hitting fifteen (and he later admits that he thought she was really 12-13). Also, the fourteen-year-old Juda has a wife and several concubines. There's also the various socio-political issues that Yuri, as a girl from the modern world, sometimes has trouble grasping [[spoiler: like how she can barely deal -with Ursula's HeroicSacrifice and how Kail and his troops immediately went to battle after learning of it; Kash tells her that she might not understand since she comes from "a place free of war", and adds that he does envy her for it but she must come to terms with her new surroundings.]]
** Kail is considered unusual for only wanting ''one'' legal wife and not taking any concubines after deciding [[spoiler:to marry Yuri]]. In fact, polygamy isn't considered strange at all, for most of the cast. Near the end of the series, it turns out that [[spoiler:Kikkuri thought he was only sleeping with one of the twins, but both had been taking turns going to him at night; when this comes to light, the only problem anyone has with him marrying two women is whether or not he'll be providing for the pair of them.]]
** There are several points where it's mentioned that human sacrifice is considered acceptable. Nakia initially uses this as an excuse to publically execute Yuri, when she's first brought back in time, and the only grounds Kail can give to stop it is to lie that she's not a virgin. Later, [[spoiler:Kail threatens to use ''Nakia'' as a human sacrifice to for the return of Yuri (who he knows full well Nakia has had kidnapped]].

** [[spoiler: Urhi kills himself in public while claiming to be the only one behind Arnuwanda's death.]]

** [[spoiler: Rusafa, who takes a knife to the back from Nakia almost at the end, but his HeroicSacrifice allows to save Yuri from being thrown into time and space as Nakia's last effort to defeat her.]]
** [[spoiler:Ursula lies and pretends that she assassinated King Aruwanda, even though she knows that she'll be immediately executed. She happily dies knowing that by acting as a fake target, she has averted suspicion of the crime from Yuri, and thus given Kail grounds to call of Nakia's attempts to capture her.]]
** [[spoiler: Prince Mali bravely dies trying to take down Ramses, even though he knows how strong the guy is. Ramses even congratulates Mali on his courage, before mortally wounding him.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Played with. Ilbani reveals his surprise when [[spoiler: Queen Nakia uses Black Water to manipulate her own son]], he thought she'd never do ''that''.

%%* EyesAlwaysShut: Kikkuri.

* FantasticRomance: Kail and Yuri's relationship is this. Kail points this out as one of the reasons they aren't meant to be together. [[spoiler: Of course, Yuri's IChooseToStay and the BabiesEverAfter ending indicates otherwise.]]

%%* FlayingAlive: Poor [[spoiler: Tito.]]

%%* FullFrontalAssault: Kail and Ramses
%%* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Nakia.
* GodivaHair: Urhi, [[spoiler: when revealing his nature as an eunuch]].

* HeroicSacrifice: More than one, but the most notorious is [[spoiler:Rusafa's.]]

* TheHighQueen: ''Vital'' to the plot, as being [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawananna the Tawananna]] was ''more'' than merely becoming a HotConsort to the King. [[spoiler: Kail's dead mother Queen Henti]] was this [[spoiler: until she was murdered by her sucessor, Nakia]]; years later, the struggle between the actual Tawananna and BigBad Nakia vs. Kail's companion and prospect Tawananna Yuri Ishtar is one of the main driving points of the story. [[spoiler: Yuri ultimately becomes victorious and banishes Nakia away, not before openly telling her that she will be a much better Tawananna than Nakia ever was.]]

** In the same arc, after the Queen Dowager Nefertiti is disgraced the sculptor that was working on a bust of her uses the obsidian stone that was her brother's TragicKeepsake as an eye for the bust. When the sculptor complains that there is only one stone, Nefertiti retorts that given her disgrace no one will care about her statue. In modern times that bust is one of the most iconic art pieces of Ancient Egypt.

** Nakia, who has powers over water and can use it to cast spells or to brainwash people.

* IKissYourFoot: [[spoiler: Rusafa does this to Yuri when Urhi and Nakia use him to kidnap her.]] To elaborate, [[spoiler:Rusafa has been brainwashed by Nakia's magic. Kail manages to force Nakia's hand and get Urhi to release her, but before he does so, he orders Rusafa to do all the things he's dreamed about doing to Yuri. Instead of raping her, he kisses her feet because he awed by her that even while brainwashed, he can't bring himself to touch her.]]

%%* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Invoked several times

* LukeIMightBeYourFather: Urhi is rumoured to be [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe the true father of Prince Juda]], Nakia's son, and no wonder! Juda is his spitting image. When Juda's bloodline is questioned, [[spoiler: Urhi reveals that he is a eunuch, and one castrated ''before'' he met Nakia, in order to save Nakia's reputation]].

* TheMatchmaker: When Ilbani sees how well [[spoiler:Juda and Alexandra]] are getting along, he checks that [[spoiler:Juda's]] legal wife died in the plague and then decides to arrange for the two to be married.

* MorningSickness: Thrice during the course of the manga, and none of them is really during the morning, but it happens to [[spoiler: Yuri in volume 18, revealing that she is pregnant the first time]]. The second time is [[spoiler: Schala, saying it was seasickness from the ship so she wouldn't hurt Yuri's feelings over her own miscarriage]] and finally towards the end of the series [[spoiler: on the day of Kail and Yuri's wedding, Yuri learns that she is pregnant again]].

* NotWorthKilling: [[spoiler: Kail and Yuri decide that shall be Nakia's ultimate end. The Senate wants to force her to commit suicide, but Kail says that she's already being punished emotionally, and Yuri adds that [[CruelMercy the worst punishment for Nakia would be seeing HER succeed and be a better Queen]]. In the historical record, this is pretty much what actually happens. However, Hittites were not big on killing family members, as they believed doing so resulted in calamity, especially in regards to the royal family; really, Mursili was trying to prevent another plague when he deposed her. She also ended up with a nice villa and good food for the rest of her life... but while knowing that she owes the rest of her life to her worst enemies, which could very well be a FateWorseThanDeath for someone like her.]]
%%* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Between Kail and Ramses.
%%* OutlawCouple: Urhi and Nakia.
* ThePlague: One of the subarcs in the storyline. In actual history, the plague raged in Hattusa for some 20 years and killed a large portion of the population, including [[spoiler: King Suppiluiuma, King Arnuwanda... and Queen Gassulawiya, one of the two persons that Yuri is likely based upon. Which is interesting, because at one point Yuri winds up taking care of plague victims, and discovers that she was vaccinated against whatever this particular disease is as a little girl.]]
* PluckyGirl: Yuri is this, most notably when [[spoiler:she survives being shot with an arrow and stalks Ramses until he agrees to patch her up and take her back to Hattusa, going so far as to threaten to haunt him if he continues to refuse.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: Tito's sisters never thinks to ask around about how their brother died. Instead, they immediately trusts the words of a shady stranger. Thank the Gods they give up.
* PregnantBadass: While she didn't know it initially, [[spoiler: Yuri during the Beida subarc and shortly before, leading the royal army]]. Later, we have [[spoiler: Schala, who fought with the rebellious egyptians to overthrow their regime and rescue Ramses]].
* PuppyLove: Averted [[spoiler: Juda and Alexandra]], who were in their later teenyears when they met.
* RedStringOfFate: A broken one in the background, when Kail and Yuri know that [[StarCrossedLovers they can't be together, no matter how much they want to]].
* RuleOfCool: Yuri's reappearance after [[spoiler:Kail foils the kidnapping of her by holding a ceremony for everyone to pray for her return. Sure, she didn't ''have'' to come back to him by swimming through some pipes and bursting out of the prayer pool, but damned if it didn't look cool!]]
* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler: Ursula confesses that she killed Emperor Arnuwanda, to avert suspicion on Yuri and Ilbani uses this opportunity to deal another blow to Nakia, by having Ursula say she did it under Nakia's orders. In the end, Ursula is executed for the murder, but Nakia still avoids suspicion and nothing has really changed.]]
* SettleForSibling: In an extra chapter, we find out that [[spoiler: Satoshi, Yuri's boyfriend from her own time, eventually married her younger sister, Eimi.]]
* SheCleansUpNicely: [[http://i5.mangareader.net/red-river/9/red-river-619589.jpg The general reaction, whenever Yuri dresses up]].

** Yuri is likely based off the beloved wife of Mursili II, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gassulawiya Queen Gassulawiya.]] Unfortunately, [[spoiler: she died in Year 9 of Mursili II's reign from plague.]]

** Other changes are made to accommodate lack of information in some places; for example, the Tawananna's name is not actually attested as Nakia in historical records. Nakia was inspired by the Babylonian princess Mal-Nikal, the successor of Kail's mother [[http://www.tawananna.com/archives/401 Henti]] and second wife of Suppilinuma.
** Henti's own role is somewhat changed as well. In history she was the mother of at least five of Suppilinuma's children [[note]](Sari Arnuwanda, Rois Telipinu, Mali Piyassili, Zannanza and Kail Mursili)[[/note]] but the manga it seems that only Arnuwanda, Piyassili and Kail are her kids (Zannanza is the son of a royal maid and Telipinu is the son of a concubine.) Also, historians seem to believe that Henti was "banished away" by Suppilinuma when he married Mal-Nikal or ''might'' have been executed for the same reason, but in the manga [[spoiler: she was murdered by Mal-Nikal's {{expy}} Nakia.]]

%%* SkinshipGrope

** Another example is Tatukia (from the Hurrian "Tadu-Hepa", usually depicted in the Hittite histories as ''Tadukhipa''). Sure, most of these character names come straight from those same histories, but she's referenced so infrequently that the translators can be forgiven for the miss. [[spoiler: Considering she disappears from history about the same time Nefertiti shows up in Egypt, though that's not 100% confirmed in real life.]] Oddly enough, called Tat''s''ukia in earlier translations, making this a literal example.

* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler: After Ursula's unfair execution, her boyfriend Kash wears her long braid as a headband, vowing to keep it until the true culprit of the crime she was accused of is found. When said criminal (Urhi) is revealed and kills himself, as Ursula is exonerated post-mortem, [[TearJerker he takes off the braid and gently kisses it]].]]
* TrappedInthePast: [[spoiler: Not that Yuri doesn't try to escape back to Japan, but between Nakia's machinations and Yuri's own feelings for Kail (and arguably Anatolia itself), this just never ends up happening. After she marries Kail, definitely crosses the boundary into IChooseToStay.]]

** Ramses is in love with Yuri, and so are Rusafa and Zananza. It's too bad [[spoiler: the latter two died.]]

** Later, Ryui and Shala [[spoiler: both give birth to two sets of identical twins. By the same guy, who couldn't tell them apart either.]]
* AnchoredShip: When she was younger, Nakia begged Urhi (who was at the time, a [[SpitTake junior priest]]) to [[spoiler: marry her and run away together.]] He refused. She had a crush on him when they were younger, but there seems to be nothing going on between them now. When she was [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder testifying against him]], he hugged her from behind and said "I wish we could start over from where we first met."

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While Shinohara overall [[ShownTheirWork shows the work she put into this]], some things were altered to work with the premise and story. One of the most obvious is Nefert walking around with her bosom exposed. Contrary to what people might think Egyptians did in that baking-hot land, it was generally ''avoided'' to expose so much skin (especially sensitive parts like the chest) to direct sunlight.

** Yuri was mistaken to be attractive young boy while she was pretending to be a dancer.
** She's also mistaken for a boy when one of Kail's brothers comes to visit. This leads to a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} where he comments that he did not think Kail was into that sort of thing.

* BigBad: Nakia. She plans to curse the Hittite princes so that her own son can become king. She will do so by killing Yuri.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Zannanza, after being drugged by Nakia's rose water, begins to act much more violently, abducting Yuri and endangering her life by taking her through the desert with no food or water. Tito also falls into this territory after being drugged by Nakia's black water, which is justified, because it was meant to make him kill Yuri.
* BrickJoke: During the war with Mitanni, Yuri told prince Zanannza to give a message to Kail that she still loves him, complete with a kiss on the cheek. ''[[InUniverse Months later]]'' in the next arc, Zanannza proceeds to kiss Kail on the cheek and said Yuri's exact words: "I love you." [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Kail's reaction was understandable for a man of his traits]].
* BrotherSisterIncest: It's strongly hinted that Mattiwaza from Mitanni had a sexual relationship with his older sister Tatukia, who [[spoiler: later became Nefertiti in Egypt]].

* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: Prince Zananza initially mistakes Hadi as the infamous concubine that Kail picked up. When he's corrected and sees Yuri for the first time, [[CrowningMomentOfFunny he assumes that Kail is shacking up with a young boy]].

* BrickJoke: During the war with Mitanni, Yuri told prince Zanannza to give a message to Kail that she still loves him, complete with a kiss on the cheek. ''[[InUniverse Months later]]'' in the next arc, Zanannza proceeds to kiss Kail on the cheek and said Yuri's exact words: "I love you." [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Kail's reaction was understandable for a man of his traits]].

** She's also mistaken for a boy when one of Kail's brothers comes to visit. This leads to a CrowningMomentOfFunny where he comments that he did not think Kail was into that sort of thing.

Compare with ''Manga/OukeNoMonshou'', in which a 15-year-old American girl named Carol Reed is thrown into AncientEgypt and ''Manga/SengokuStrays'' where a first year high school girl named Kasane Kusanagi is transported to the Sengoku era.