Ranked #715

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Manga)

Ah, the Legend of Zelda series. When people typically hear that particular name being said in any conversation, usually the first few thoughts that enters one's mind are Link, Zelda, Nintendo, epic and Ocarina of Time. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released in 1998 for the N64 system and was quickly hailed as one of the best games in video game history. It received many perfect and near-perfect scores on gaming sites and was known for its well told plot and the use of time travel, where you were able to play as young and adult Link.

For all the Zelda fans out there, this information is pretty much as standard as knowing your own name. It comes hand in hand. That's why when I first saw that the game was going to be ported over to manga format, I will admit that I was one of the skeptics out there. For starters, Link does not talk. How would they incorporate Link's muteness in a manga that would inevitably be centralized around him? As I will explain, as far as manga adapted video games go, they did a fine job with it.

Since the story is pretty much the same as from the game, there was no way that I could give it any less than a nine. Because of a few changes within the storyline that they presented in the manga (some changes for better and some for worse), I avoided giving it that perfect score in that department. For example, some negative changes that they incorporated were some of the events in the manga occur a tad bit out of order than what you would have encountered in the game. However, a positive change was that they adapted a history behind Link's earing. We are given a legitimate reason as to why he wears them on his ears, and suffice to say, its a pretty neat thing to read up on.

The art is very well done. All of the characters look like themselves and are pretty close to what the official game art drew them as. However, there are at times throughout the chapters that some of the characters will look a tad bit odd and make you wonder what kind of body proportions did the mangaka use. A lot of the environments are well detailed while others are plain as rice. So it varies and I scored it as such.

The big question mark revolving around the manga is how they were able to pin down the characters and their personalities, especially with the case of Link. Let me say that the mangaka did a wonderful job on Link's personality. He is portrayed as a young, innocent and curious youth who gets flustered easily but holds an enviable about of courage for a ten-year old lad. In his adult self, long gone are the days of his cute youth, replaced by a hardened, steel-faced hero of time, yet still remain are the innocence and curiosity that defined him as a young child. Zelda and Link are shown to have a close bond of friendship when they meet each other while in their childhood and still hold onto that bond as adults, but clearly, there is something more between them that's hinted on but never clearly expressed. All the sages are well done as well and stick to their personalities of what was portrayed in the game, so you never have the sense of "what the hell - that's not what they were in the game" feeling. And that is something that is needed when making this kind of transition.

If you enjoyed playing the game Ocarina of Time and are one of the supporters out there that would love to see Link talk in an upcoming Zelda game, there is almost an inevitable chance that you'll love this manga to pieces. A close resemblance of the storyline in the game and a great personality of Link, Zelda and the sages will almost make you breathe a sigh of relief that they did not mess this up completely, which could have easily been done (i.e., the Legend of Zelda cartoon).

However, a big part of what the game is all about is the epic story-telling of the plot and as you read this manga, you get a different feel of it from when you played the game. For me, the story felt much more epic in the game than in the manga. In addition, the puzzle-ridden dungeons that Link traverses are really overlooked and not included as much in the manga.

It is these above criteria that hold the manga from receiving that perfect ten-point-zero score, but then again, if there was anything that could emulate the feeling of playing through Ocarina of Time, we wouldn't still be talking about the game to this very day, eh? read more

I have been a fan of The Legend of Zelda series for a long time, and Ocarina of Time was always my favorite of the games by far.
I was pretty excited to read this manga and it actually wasn't horrible.
I really liked the development of the characters and the new interactions they had that weren't in the game.
They were something fresh, but they were still believable and seemed to me that they could have just as easily been a true part of the game.
At first I did find it weird that Link could just go through an entire dungeon in the turn of a page, but I don't think the manga would have been too interesting if it was Link solving puzzles throughout the whole thing.
I was glad that it still mostly stuck true to the game's plot.
Overall, it was pretty good. I'm not sure whether or not I'd read it again, but anyone who hasn't read it yet should at least give it a shot. read more