Does This Zelda Manga Hold Up? | Ocarina of Time Manga Review
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
- Akira Himekawa's legacy of Zelda manga began with their adaptation of Ocarina of Time, which has been held in relatively high regard since its release. But does it still hold up today? Let's find out in today's Zelda manga review. Happy Anniversary, everybody!
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Apologies in advance for some audio issues. I had really bad mic problems while making this.
I always thought the Ocarina of Time manga worked better as a companion piece to the game itself, rather than its own individual story. I mean, when I first played OoT I would read through the manga as a means of getting excited for what was to come later in the game. And I think to an extent, that was probably the manga's intention, being what was essentially a promotional piece for the game (Nintendo was actually a lot more involved in the various Zelda manga than people think, as the primary concept artist on OoT, Yusuke Nakano, supervised this manga; this manga debuted Link's ponytail, which was an inclusion instructed by Nakano himself). I also think that's why I never really noticed / minded the brisk pacing before, but I can definitely see what you mean in hindsight when you mentioned it in this video. Not to say that someone couldn't enjoy the manga as its own thing totally divorced from the game, of course, 'cause they definitely could... I just feel the impact isn't gonna be as strong for them that way. The Majora's Mask manga was also pretty blatantly intended as a companion piece for its respective game, with Himekawa basically saying as much in the volume release. Though I have'ta say, the newer Zelda manga by Himekawa- and the Twilight Princess manga in particular- definitely stand better on their own, which is a good thing. I'm really hoping we get a Breath of the Wild adaptation someday.
I LOVED THIS VIDEO! You beautifully summarised the highs and lows of the ocarina of time manga. I’ve not played the game or read the manga in a long time but I do have fond memories of it and your criticisms are on point. Something that I really remember was child Zelda and link playing together so it was nice to hear you talk about that. Don’t beat yourself up too much over the audio, stuff happens and the audio was still clear and understandable. Brilliant video to make for your channel anniversary considering the impact of that specific game on you and your life. I loved watching this video on my birthday and thanks for the video mention. I’m immensely proud of you and can’t wait to see how your channel evolves. Happy channel anniversary!!!
15:36 after TP volume 9 I think that this could be Malon putting on a strong face and supressing her feelings, rather than truly getting over it. It would not be the first time a personndid that, and might be setting the standard for their future works to do more of it.
Also she isn't that close to Link to get utterly devastated
TP's manga basically confirms oot zelink: tp was not born on a ranch, he simply appeared in Ordon when he was a child with Epona, the manga makes several references to Link and Zelda's relationship in Oot and Malon is never even mentioned. In the end, while TP Link and Midna are having their romantic farewell, the Hero's Shadow appears to TP Zelda and hints that he is uniting with Oot Zelda's soul (an image appears of him taking her hand and then disappearing). Another thing, Epona and Epona's song are not indicative that Link married Malon after all, Epona now belongs to Link and he could have maintained this tradition with any other wife besides Link could have taught Epona's song to your family, Malon is not necessary for these things to have happened.
I remember being addicted to this manga when I was younger and just getting into Legend of Zelda as a franchise. Went back to it recently, and while it has its flaws, I was just as engrossed into it as I was years ago.
I felt the same way, I was really excited that I found something like this because I thought Zelda was this obscure thing that existed in a bubble. That says more about how much of a dumbass kid me was than anything, but I totally understand getting really into it.
I never read the oot manga but seeing through your eyes how you remember it give me some nostalgia that i never had
In the first place That proves that you have made i vidoe with high quality congrats
Can wait for more zelda mangas to come looking forward for i
Woah-
Despite me never playing ocarina of time you made this video still very interesting to watch which I find as a win in your book. I love how you were honest when in the review and not just skimming over the faults and getting to the parts that you like which is very tricky to do with something that you love.
And dont drag yourself down because of the audio all I had to do is put my volume level a little higher so its okay.
Overall I give this review video 10/10 would watch again ;)
Oh! And happy channel anniversary and happy birthday to your gf hopefully you both have a great day!
for how well these videos are made, you are criminally underrated
Another W video bro. You summarized this video perfectly. And while you pointed out its flaws, the manga def seems like a solid manga. Also thanks so much for the shoutout bro and i'm glad you like the beat. And on another note, baby volvagia is adorable. Link bought a whole ass boss, for 70 rupees
I remember in High school, I had a photoshop class that I did so well in I'd finish most my assignments within 10 minutes of the hour class, so I spent the other 50 reading Zelda manga online. I really like what these manga add to the series, Especially Link's relationship with Volvagia, and just seeing him talk and express himself too. Though to be fair to the manga, it is only 2 volumes long so of course it'd a lil rushed. It was the prototype so of course it isn't gonna be as refined as later ones.
With the TP manga done, I think next up is Skyward Sword right?
This was a great video to watch, I agree that the volvagia bit should have had more context, but in spite of it I found it emotional and enjoyed it.
Great work, feel like you did a good job reviewing this content.
Thank you very much, I’m really glad you enjoyed it. Personally, I just prefer what the game had to offer. If there was a better setup for the manga version, it’d be easier to just enjoy it, but as is it’s just lame.
I remembered reading the managa when I was a kid, and I grew to like the artstyle as well as the dynamic between Link and Zelda despite being a tragic love story. Then when I start playing Ocarina of Time, there are parts from the manga that weren’t in the actual game like their time at castle town as kids or Nabooru being a badass Gerudo. Sure it has some flaws and people complaint about Malon being undermined because they liked she as a better love interest to Link than Zelda. But again the Ocarina of Time manga remains special to me, and I thought of it as companion piece to the game itself. I hope Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom get their adaptation since * Zelink* have become more popular nowadays. In addition, included Link’s family (as seen in the concept art), Link and Zelda’s relationship grow from a rocky start till they become lovers, establishing the connection between the events of the Imprisoning War and Calamity Ganon that kept reappearing every 10,000 years, the origins of the Zonai, Twinrova, and providing background of Ganondorf.
I didn't know Malon got cut the way she did, kindov disappointing. AH knocks TP Link and Midna's relationship out of the park in their manga... so missing out on a romance between (as you mention) the likely canon couple was a shame.
For real. The TP manga is doing so good expanding on their relationship, and here they just wasted a good opportunity for character building. Link is already so alone in his grand destiny, it'd be nice to have someone like Malon and her family to bring him down to earth and make him feel at home. I certainly would've gone that route.
@@atlasroyale5294 What's funny, is that it does wonders for Malon's character too. She won't know about Link's heroic past unless he chooses to tell her about it (which he may never do). I believe that Twilight Princess' in-game evidence canonizes the Malon/Link pairing. As such it seems that Malon traded her busy ranch life in Hyrule for a peaceful one in Ordon. The beautiful irony being Malon's childhood wish is actually granted in the process, but not in the way she imagined. A "Knight in shining armor" does indeed take her away from Lon Lon Ranch... she just has no idea how "Shining" her knight truly is. After returning from Termina, Link is basically an over-powered saver of worlds.
@@nillynush4899 Yes. All of this could've been praise for the manga if they weren't so obsessed with over validating Link and Zelda. Most Links and Zelda's aren't even couples in the games, it's just them shipping the two and inventing ways to make it work. It was cute but at the cost of the rest of the story? Nah, that's goofy.
@@atlasroyale5294 They could have so easily had the Link/Zelda romance while giving the other options(A.K.A Malon) some chance. I’m a hardcore Zelink shipper, but this is just ridiculous
I feel like the whole Malon Link thing not being explored further also stems from the fact that Nintendo doesn't seem that fond of it either. I know Aonuma stated he would like to see Zelda as Link's girlfriend in regards to OoT. And since Himekawa had to be in correspondence with Nintendo for the story to be approved, it's no wonder. Personally It's also the choice I prefer and reading this manga definitely felt nice in that regard, but I can understand why that might be a plot point that others don't like. To me it comes off a bit like, that Nintendo originally intended Link and Zelda to be the main thing, but then with Twilight Princess, they 'accidentally' created the Malon and Link being likely theory. So to them it was sort of like a chance to try and roll it back a bit? But that didn't really work out as the MaLink theory is more popular than ever.
When I first read the manga, I was under the impression that ZeLink was the obvious pairing if there ever was one. It was like common sense to me because of the obvious associations of knight and princess, Mario and Peach, that sort of thing. I had to actively be convinced of the evidence that Link and Malon were a thing because I didn't really see it. Now I get it, and I've become endeared to it. But it wasn't until I reread the manga that it became obvious that this was always a possibility and Himekawa just preferred their version of the story. They've admitted they make a lot of changes based on their personal tastes because they've been given that freedom. But like I said in the video, I don't mind that at all. I think they did the romance very well, it's clear that's where most of their time and effort was spent. But it's also hilarious how painfully obvious their biases are. I don't need Malon to be the love interest, but I really like Lon Lon Ranch and all the characters there so I'm disappointed they wasted valuable time just trying to eliminate her as a possibility. They introduced an arc that could've been meaningful and then tossed it away last minute. Same with Saria, same with Ruto, and same with Nabooru (but just to be clear, I don't count Nabooru as a love interest, she's just part of the chopping block). That's where my issue lies.
Also, any chance you can link me the source of Aonuma's quote? I really like little producer insights like that, so I'd appreciate it. Thank you!
@@atlasroyale5294 Ahhh Sorry I tried replying to you with the link to the article, but youtube doesn't like outside links, so it deleted my comment! However you can find the quote I'm talking about and other quotes you might find interesting in an article titled "THAT ROMANTIC SPARK PART VI - DEVELOPER’S INTENT" on Zelda Dungeon (type it in like that and google will probably directly show it). Also I got one thing wrong, the wanting Zelda to be Links girlfriend in OoT quote was actually from Miyamoto, but I suppose that doesn't change the point.
Also I agree strongly on the characters not being explored further. Especially Saria who effectively raised Link and Nabooru who got so little screen time in the OG game and yet Mido got more attention than her in the Manga!
I gotta mention despite me not being into the MaLink theory, I really do adore Malon and her family. Truth be told, one of the reasons why I am not partial to MaLink is also because to me it always came off like she would be a second choice to Link and I wouldn't want that for her, I'd want her to be someone's first choice! And I have had my own headcanon (fair warning, this is very fan fictiony but I'll tell you why I'm mentioning this in a bit) where Link has to break her heart because he is into Zelda, but finds Malon a more fitting lover. Eventually Malon x Lover's child and one of the children of Zelda x Link end up falling in love and the Zelink child gives up their royal duties (which is why they need multiple, so the royal bloodline continues and royals have indeed given up royal duties irl before for a normal life) which then creates the bloodline of Twilight Princess Link, being a descendant of Link, Zelda and Malon. MaLink is technically easier, but it is to show you can get the same result. Though the TP Manga does kinda retcon Link being a farmer by birth, so my theory is more based on the games.
Now why I'm mentioning this is, that I think they could have implemented a story arc like this for Malon in the manga too. Akira Himekawa is no stranger to creating original characters for the Mangas that end up being quite significant (Four Swords, A link to the past mangas for example). So here the team could have created something like a surviving knight of Hyrule as the knight in shining armor she dreams of and Link sets these two up. They could have given Link Zelda like they wanted and still given Malon a better arc with a nicer ending, one that doesn't feel like "Haha Link will never love you!" because that's neither fair to the character, nor to the story.
@@faniaria2090 loved reading your ideas outlined here
Really? I'd love to see that interview between Aonuma or Miyamoto and who ever they'd be talking to about Ocarina of Time ignoring Link and Malon and by extension her doppelgängers Cremia and Romani in Majora's Masks manga adaptation and developing the relationship between Link and Zelda in the manga. Cause from what I looked up about Akira Himekawa manga adaptations. I thought that was all them, that the manga writers chose to focus on Link and Zelda and ignore Malon, and all the game creators did was give them consent to take liberties. Not as a way to rewrite history or retcon the game events and the Hero of Times story.
Just the whole manga story and lore are all just different interpretations, and the events that happen in the manga adaptations of Ocarina, Majora and Twilight are an alternate continuity from its game counterparts. Same story but different details such as the game lore being or pointing at Malink but manga lore being or looking at Zelink. Stuff like that isn't new, DC and Marvel comics and their adaptations have done that for decades.
Regarding Malon being a second choice or even worse a rebound if Zelda was Links first the whole time in the game, thats really no different then the world we live in. Love in general is full of changes of heart and finding old interests and gaining new ones. I doubt that was intended but it was/is a relevant subject. The reason I'm not always on Zelinks side is because outside a few exceptions especially Wind Waker and Spirit Tracks, they usually get reduced to a fairy tale romance. Which might've been compelling back in the 80s but something I respect Zelda for growing out of and evolving from since the 90s.
@@francoperalta5986 Hi! It was Miyamoto (I was wrong in my first comment) and I mentioned the source in my previous comment. The article called "That Romantic Spark - Developers Intent" on Zelda dungeon. Unfortunately youtube deletes my comment if I send the link but you can find the article by googling the title.
Some things such as Miyamoto saying he'd like to see Zelda as Links girlfriend came from before the manga was released.
Edit: Im also not claiming the mangas retcon or change actual canon but Nintendo does have to approve of what is put in the mangas, even if liberties are taken.
That being said I still think they clearly leave the choice open to the player in the game, despite many fans trying to force it into canon.
Really great video! It's nice to see that AH's works aren't going unnoticed. There were a few criticisms I disagree with, but can still understand the viewpoint. Most manga series are published in a weekly or monthly magazine , giving each respected mangaka a deadline to make a single 20 (or more) page chapter, which only get their own separate book release if said series reach the required number of chapters for a single volume. OoT was released within Shougaku - 5 Nensei and Shougaku - 6 Nensei, two educational magazines for elementary students in japan. But its unclear if these magazines were released weekly or monthly, which if weekly, would at least provide an explanation to the "rushed" feeling you get when reading through it as a whole. But, regardless, I really enjoyed this video and can't wait to watch more like this if you plan on making more. ❤️
Thank you so much! I’m very happy you enjoyed and I appreciate your insight on these things. I’m not entirely aware of the release schedules of these manga, but even if it was a weekly thing I feel like there are too many story decisions that don’t make sense. And that tight a schedule makes the weird changes more annoying for me. But either way, I very much plan on making more soon enough. It’s one of my favorite type of videos to make. Stay tuned for that.
Yeah the Volvagia thing does seem really weird. I like giving him one more reason to hate Ganondorf. But the mythic recreation is really good too.
That was so super exceptional and superb :) Wonderful :)
Dude I just found your channel. I love it you touched my childhood deeply😊
Thank you, bro, I appreciate it! I've got more like this on the way!
@@atlasroyale5294 as much as I hate to admit it as it is kinda cringe, this version of link is what I aspired to be like. He almost makes me think of Judeau from berserk
@@Fernandolorian_ It's not cringe at all, childhood heroes come in all shapes and sizes and follow us wherever we go. He's an excellent role model to have and I'm happy you found that deeper meaning in this manga.
If the Zelda movie ever happens then we need it to be a movie adaptation of the oot manga
OOT is more sad than dark. The story about losing everything despite winning everything. He lost a father-figure, a friend in Saria, a brother in Darunia, a love interest in Ruta, his own childhood, then his merits as hero, then his best friend Navi. It's an extremely sad game.
My favorite part was Ganondorf picks up Saria's ocarina from Link as a child, then we later see him crushing it in frustraition that it wasn't the ocarina of time.
Except he picked it up, and didn't realize he's been duped until 7 years later! It made him look like a dumbass! XD
I find myself totally agreeing with you. The artwork is beautiful. But the story would have needed more than two volumes. It's just not fleshed out enough, way too rushed oftentimes. That's why I am so happy that the Twilight Princess manga is as long as it is. With art even more beautiful than any Zelda manga before.
Ive read all of the zelda manga and OOT and TP are the only ones i can truthfully call good, great even. The rest mostly suck especially majoras mask so rushed no heart no time to effort to try and flush out and make it feel like majoras mask but perhaps thats just what they had to do and didnt have creative freedom.
Normies: Superheroe comic's have way to disjointed of a panel layout.
Himekawa: Hold my beer.
This did Malon dirty but after watching Majorlink's stuff I am straying more towards thr Zelink side anyway.
I think MajorLink's "Hero's Purpose" shows Link and Malon eventually having a thing since a lot of it is based on commonly accepted theories. I'm not really into the whole shipping thing, I just think it's more accurate to the source material that Link and Malon have a romance. And I get the feeling Himemawa understood this, which is why they shoved her aside in such a comically on-the-nose fashion because they personally prefer ZeLink.
@@atlasroyale5294 Maybe. I mean their pen name literally has "princess" in it if I remember the translation of "Hime" right. But like Insaid they're also good at having someone repress their emotions. See Link's retcon backstory friend needle him, realize what he said was wrong, play it off as a joke, and obly once they were free did he finally break down and admit that some shameful part ofnhis soul DID mean what he said about hating Link.
This seems like Malon having a similar "Brave/friendly face" moment.
Hero's purpose meanwhile shows he does care for Malon and she for him, but most of the drama and open expressions of love and grief and guilt come from Zelda.
3:53 I'm curious about the source for the music being used in the background here, as it's a nice piano piece that I'd be interested in listening to on its own.
All music in this video was preformed by me specifically for this video. It's an improvised cover of the Song of Time/Door of Time theme. I might still have the audio file somewhere.
@@atlasroyale5294 Ooo nice, it was a very pleasant performance.
well it had it problems was its pros definity bloosomed into something greater
I liked the Manga. The only criticism I have is that Link seems to have a total personality change now that he speaks. I always kind of envisioned him as a quiet kid and a man of few words. Stoic, serious, but can be soft hearted and goofy sometimes. Akira Himekawa turned him into a loudmouth, hot-headed chaos gremlin lol. It kinda makes it hard to take him seriously, and also the overall pacing of the Manga just seems super rushed.
Now that the Mario movie is a huge success I would love to see a zelda anime like OOT or maybe TP! Either one I will accept it!
That would be awesome!
😂 so we're getting a live action
This is one of the reasons to me why Ocarina of Time needs a current gen remake like Final Fantasy 7 and Resident Evil 2/3/4.
It'll never happen. Nintendo Remakes are bare minimum.
@@atlasroyale5294 That's a shame unfortunately.
Out of curiosity, how do you do these manga videos? How do you manage to capture the manga panels without recording by camera? Do you need to have the physical copy in hand in order to showcase? How do you edit?
I'm asking because I am considering the possibility of doing a review of a manga I feel no one seriously analyzes.
For the pictures, I use either scans I find online or fan translations since they usually have high quality scans. It’s easier to get good images that way than just taking a picture of the book itself. If you aren’t comfortable with that, you can always just buy a scanner but that’s up to you.
I think It is a good adaptation, It doesn't work very well as a standalone story but as someone that played the game before reading it, it's a very enjoyable experience.
The pacing it's truly a problem but well, it is what i normally expect from a game to manga adaptation.
In the other hand i find Four Swords really good in the manga version, since the original barely has story, the manga takes a lot of liberties which makes it way better than the actual game imo
TP manga itself makes Link not a long time farmer by trade so uh, I guess they realized their own work had kinda shut down the Malon romance that thr TP game implied?
Yep, Twilight Link growing up on the boarder of Hyrule and Gerudo desert is all manga continuity.
@Franco Peralta True, but I wonder, the official translation acts like he's not descended from OoT after all, could be a mistranslation, or Nintendo didn't want to imply Mangs Link and Zelda got together but left their secret kid in that border town and from there TP link descended
I actually own this one but never realized
NO MALON IS MY GIRL NOT LINK,S
I'm going to be honest, I always felt that Ruto was more of the romance novel-minded of them. I mean this is a girl who proposes marriage to another kid after he saves her and still wants to marry him as an adult.
I’ll take skyward sword Zelda as best girl
malon reminds me of marin
malons dad is talon
marins dad is tarin
malon loves to sing
marin loves to sing
malon is marin but real
even the names malon is marin with a lon instead of rin
Because Malon is based on Marin.
Can you do twilight princess manga
I have in the past. But it's an older video, so I'll probably make an updated version.
@@atlasroyale5294 I hate how slow the official tra slation is. The final volume we've all seen the raws of in January 22 won't be out till April 2023.
"Breath of the Wild Zelda's best girl anyways" - Common Simp
I'll just be over here continuing to hold Hyrule Warrior's Queen in the highest esteem of her pupils rather than excite over the newest version as the commoners do
Lol Botw/Totk Zelda do be fun though
Valid. Hyrule Warriors Zelda is goated
@@atlasroyale5294 I think half of it for me might just be finally getting to see a Zelda fend for themself in a fight.
Like from a certain point of view I could see the argument that Possessed Zelda boss from Twilight is sorta that, and Sheik vaguely tries to hold off the Shadow in Ocarina; just gets rag dolled though.
@@ClericOfPholtusThat game had some of the best versions of a lot of legacy characters. That is still the best Impa in the entire franchise.
12:01 dude, as a dumbass little kid who barely had any experience with story focused games at the time, even *I* could tell this was bad writing. Like seriously, if you're gonna shoehorn in some weird headcanon that doesn't even make any sense you should've AT LEAST just introduced Volvagia while Link was actually still a child so there could've been some proper build up and emotional payoff.
But it's not like it would've mattered much given how this all happens in the span of 1 volume either way
You are right, the Volvagia stuff was absolutely awful.
For real
@@atlasroyale5294 Makes you wonder how it got approved.... there can't have been too much oversight if that kinda stuff was approved.
Still love the books but that part is mega-cringe 🤡
@@toxicmanbaby1069 As far as I've seen from interviews, OoT had the most restrictions from Nintendo while Majora's Masks onwards was basically all up to them to do whatever they wanted. Some of their changes have been really good, but a lot of them have been terrible. The way I tend to describe it is: I can tell that Himekawa are fangirls at heart, which makes for charming ideas that speak to us as fans, but also some really baffling stuff that proves they have poor impulse control. I'm working on a full retrospective series of the entire Zelda manga catalog, so stay tuned and I'll go much more in depth about these topics moving forward.
@@atlasroyale5294 Ok! Well, that's interesting, so I will sub so I won't miss it!
And it's baffling that they had free reigns for everything else because I don't remember anything else as outrageously bad as the Volvagia stuff!
I vaguely recall that ALTTP had some weird made-up stuff too (a female OC I think), but it's been 10+ years since I've read that one (I read it in Japanese before those books existed in English) and I don't remember it making me cringe like the Volvagia chapter did!
@@toxicmanbaby1069 Trust me, I've been glued to these books for a hot minute and there's plenty of stuff that's really... out there. As someone who's read every volume of this series, A Link to the Past is by far the most cringe worthy of the bunch. It goes beyond just changing stuff, the writing choices are egregious at certain points. It'll make you wish Volvagia was as bad as it got. It sucks too, because just before ALttP and Minish Cap was four swords which was drastically different but brilliantly done. Again, I'll go mega in depth as the retrospective series goes on.
It's interesting that you read it in JP, I wonder how many subtle nuances are lost in translation. I'll have to find a translator I can work with to figure that out. As well as other manga I can't read because they're not in English or Spanish.
I'll be honest, this Manga sounds like garbage... Talk about not being true to the source material. Its a shame, the arts quite good.
I don't blame you. I still love them, but they're not exactly peak fiction or anything. I can only count a few that even compete with the original games.