• Author: Akira Himekawa
• Series: The Legend of Zelda Manga #1
• Genre: Fantasy
• No. of pages: 376
• Dates read: 15.02.21 –
• Star Rating: 4 stars
• ARC: –
• Challenge: –

Plot: Based on the game of the same name by Nintendo. Young Link embarks on a perilous quest to find three spiritual stones that hold the key to the Triforce, the wielder of which will rule the world! Link’s plan is to deliver the stones to the Princess of the mystical land of Hyrule, Zelda. But obstacles abound and his long journey has only just begun! 

So, I want to start off by mentioning that certain elements of this story are non-canon to the game. Himekawa added certain expansions to characters we saw briefly in the game or added some extra back story to certain characters we didn’t know much about.

I wanted to start off, as you should with a manga, by stating that I really liked the art style of this book. I enjoyed the really cutesy art style of the first half of the book and the more serious design for the second half. The panels which were just scenery of Ganon’s Castle and Hyrule Field were stunning, beautifully designed. My one issue with the art, was at times some of the pages felt too busy. There was so much going on one page it made my eyes go a bit fuzzy at times.

In terms of the story, since I had already played the game, so I knew what was going to happen. What I did enjoy was reading some extra backstory or having some of the characters we meet get expanded upon. We got a bit more behind Princess Zelda’s back story and we learn more about what Sheik did during the seven year gap. This, while not canon, made the world seem fuller and it also gives the side characters more context for decisions they make further down the line.

What I also enjoyed was seeing the inclusions of optional elements from the game. e.g. Shops in Hyrule Castle Town, the fishing pond, the lab. Those were nice little Easter eggs as I thought they would be forgotten for the sake of the main plot.

I found that the plot was executed really well in such a different format from the game. You are really restricted to what you can include when adapting from a massive game to a book format. I found that they managed to get the most important parts of the plot without it seeming too rushed. What I would say is that I wished they had expanded more on the dungeons. Link literally takes one step into the dungeon and 2 pages later the boss is dead, it did feel underwhelming. I understand why this was needed but I was hoping to see more from the dungeons like the layout etc.

It also made me nervous when it came to the final battle against Ganondorf but thankfully that was included in it’s entirety and was designed incredibly. The final form of Ganon was genuinely terrifying looking, more so than the game version.

Overall, I think the adaptation did a good job with the restrictions they had but I wish the dungeons were explored a bit more.