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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think a 3.5 is in order.
It was really nice to revisit the game in this form. Since I've played oot more times than I have fingers, I was worried this would be boring, but there was enough of a fresh story to keep things interesting. Ultimately tho I didn't agree with some of the decisions the author made about the characters in terms of alliances, drives, relationships, etc., which kind of took me out of it.
However, some good Zelda/Sheik gender fluidity is all I need in this world, so bless.
It was really nice to revisit the game in this form. Since I've played oot more times than I have fingers, I was worried this would be boring, but there was enough of a fresh story to keep things interesting. Ultimately tho I didn't agree with some of the decisions the author made about the characters in terms of alliances, drives, relationships, etc., which kind of took me out of it.
However, some good Zelda/Sheik gender fluidity is all I need in this world, so bless.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
NO SPOILERS
We follow Link, who is, to the people of the magical forest, an odd Kokiri because he doesn’t have a fairy companion. Eventually something threatens the forest and he needs to venture forth to find Princess Zelda and save the world.
From the start, it is obvious this is a chosen one, secret heritage, odd-one-out type of story who wants to explore the world and has a heart of courage. Plenty of fun, lovable moments contrasted with the action-packed stakes and adventure. It is clear who is good and who is bad, but Link isn’t perfect in everything as he’s a child and still makes mistakes. For the first part of the book, Ocarina of Time, it was fun to read. Nothing mind blowing or largely different from common heroic, adventure fantasies. However, the part two, Hero of Time, diverted away from some of those familiarities. It still keeps the spirit of the book with plenty recognizable tropes, but there were enough differences for it to be refreshing for me to power through.
I kind of miss this sort of fantasy story, so it was a nice refresher. There were a couple of moments where things don’t turn out the way you nor the character wanted, such as in Chapter 3 of Hero of Time (specifically page 214 for those who’ve read it) where I surprisingly had a few silent tears fall.
Loved the highly fantastical worldbuilding such as no humans in this world and the Kokiri never growing up beyond children. Although, I think there were a couple of inconsistencies as a few things were related more to our world, like a ping-pong ball metaphor or certain phrases. In addition, there is cliche-type dialogue, mainly in part one Ocarina of Time, but regardless, this was still a nice, fun read.
Link is very chivalric, caring and tenacious, and he does develop by the end of the book to an extent but it isn’t a new kind of heroic development. The other characters are very likable and different but the plot does predominate as this manga’s purpose isn’t a deep character analysis or the like, and this goes for the villains as well as they are portrayed as evil without much depth.
Favourite Line
‘You have to take risks in order to make progress.’ | Link
This isn’t anything new, but I still like it.
Conclusion
Read this manga if you love classic heroic, adventurous epic fantasy stories, with good vs evil, likable characters you’ll whole heartedly support, and beautiful artwork. There’s only five books in the legendary edition, so it’s also not a huge commitment like something ridiculously long as One Piece. It’s a simple and uncomplicated read. A very clean, wholesome, relaxing, palate cleanser of a manga.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I'd give it 5/5 easily!
Absolutely love this series, video game and manga versions!
There's not a whole lot to really discuss about this manga other than the passion that was put into the work and the love for the fantastic video game series. The first time I read this manga, not the Legendary Edition, was when it was just online. I would go through the Ocarina of Time mangas then go straight into the Majora's Mask manga.
What I really love about this manga series is that the original material is pretty fleshed out as it is and now the writers can add a bit of their own flare without damaging the entire series. These games were meant to put the player in Link's position, and with the mangas it just gives Link a bit more personality, which I love. He's more of his own person! It reminds of me of the thousands of fan-fictions I've read on Legend of Zelda were they're retelling one of the games and Link's personality blossoms.
One thing that I don't necessarily like about the mangas, at least when comparing them to the video games, is the lack of work there seems to be in the "dungeons". Instead of the various corridors and puzzles, Link tends to immediately get involved with the "boss" and defeat them then and there. The sense of time passing and "trials" that Link goes through seems smaller than in the games, but that makes sense. It's just a personal thing that wouldn't actually fit well in a manga version anyway, but fan-fictions could expand on the "dungeon" areas without writing the game bit-by-bit.
Overall, Akira Himekawa did an amazing job on the story. He kept the general theme of the game in place and then developed the world and filled it with people, which is better than the game did in some locations. We also see more of Link as a person rather than just an empty shell. The artwork is something else that Himekawa did such a beautiful job with. Link looks handsome but in a way that's not overbearing, if that makes sense... he's still young but he's strong where/when he needs to be.
Loved it and I can't wait to get into future Legend of Zelda mangas. I saw that they were about to come out with the Twilight Princess mangas, early next year (March 14, 2017)! After reading this I just want to sit back and put this game in...which I just might do!
Absolutely love this series, video game and manga versions!
There's not a whole lot to really discuss about this manga other than the passion that was put into the work and the love for the fantastic video game series. The first time I read this manga, not the Legendary Edition, was when it was just online. I would go through the Ocarina of Time mangas then go straight into the Majora's Mask manga.
What I really love about this manga series is that the original material is pretty fleshed out as it is and now the writers can add a bit of their own flare without damaging the entire series. These games were meant to put the player in Link's position, and with the mangas it just gives Link a bit more personality, which I love. He's more of his own person! It reminds of me of the thousands of fan-fictions I've read on Legend of Zelda were they're retelling one of the games and Link's personality blossoms.
One thing that I don't necessarily like about the mangas, at least when comparing them to the video games, is the lack of work there seems to be in the "dungeons". Instead of the various corridors and puzzles, Link tends to immediately get involved with the "boss" and defeat them then and there. The sense of time passing and "trials" that Link goes through seems smaller than in the games, but that makes sense. It's just a personal thing that wouldn't actually fit well in a manga version anyway, but fan-fictions could expand on the "dungeon" areas without writing the game bit-by-bit.
Overall, Akira Himekawa did an amazing job on the story. He kept the general theme of the game in place and then developed the world and filled it with people, which is better than the game did in some locations. We also see more of Link as a person rather than just an empty shell. The artwork is something else that Himekawa did such a beautiful job with. Link looks handsome but in a way that's not overbearing, if that makes sense... he's still young but he's strong where/when he needs to be.
Loved it and I can't wait to get into future Legend of Zelda mangas. I saw that they were about to come out with the Twilight Princess mangas, early next year (March 14, 2017)! After reading this I just want to sit back and put this game in...which I just might do!
I went into this with very little knowledge of the world The Legend of Zelda games have crafted. Having only played a portion of Breath of the Wild so far, but loving my experience I wanted to give the manga a go since I've missed out on many of the stories from previous games. With that being said I absolutely loved this story. Link is such a sweet and loving character and I adored seeing his adventure start in Kokiri forest living amongst the Kokiri children. The rest of the lands in Hyrule that we see illustrated are just as beautifully crafted and gave me a better idea of Hyrule's history and people.
The only issue is that at times the story does feel a bit rushed, but that can be expected with trying to fit a whole video game arc into a two manga collection. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of the games, even if you're like me and know little to nothing about the series (plus you may even catch yourself gasping at some of the what should be known plot twists like me lol).
4/5
The only issue is that at times the story does feel a bit rushed, but that can be expected with trying to fit a whole video game arc into a two manga collection. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of the games, even if you're like me and know little to nothing about the series (plus you may even catch yourself gasping at some of the what should be known plot twists like me lol).
4/5