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The Legend of Zelda #10
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Dazel, una ragazza alla guida di una banda di pirati, viene rapita da una nave fantasma. Link prova a salvarla ma cade nell'oceano e i due finiscono per separarsi... Trasportato dalla corrente, Link finisce su un'isola, dove incontra la fata Sciela e il capitano Lineback. Alla ricerca della nave fantasma, i tre salpano per una nuova avventura!
Una delle epopee videoludiche più amate della storia diventa un manga dedicato a tutti gli amanti dell'avbventura, che porta la magia della saga di THE LEGEND OF ZELDA in un mondo di carta e inchiostro.
Una delle epopee videoludiche più amate della storia diventa un manga dedicato a tutti gli amanti dell'avbventura, che porta la magia della saga di THE LEGEND OF ZELDA in un mondo di carta e inchiostro.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 3, 2009
37 people are currently reading
1336 people want to read
About the author
Akira Himekawa
110 books543 followersAkira Himekawa is the collaboration of two women, A. Honda and S. Nagano. Together they have created nine manga adventures featuring Link and the popular video game world of The Legend of Zelda, including Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons and Four Swords. Their most recent work, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, was serialized in Shogaku Rokunensei.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
October 11, 2018
It is really adventurous
March 13, 2025
7.5/10
The Phantom Hourglass was one of the very few Zelda games that I started at launch and couldn't motivate myself to continue playing past the second or third dungeon. The repetitiveness of the central labyrinth and the touch controls just couldn't keep me engaged. The manga retells the same story, oddly enough, without mentioning The Wind Waker at no point in the story at all (hints besides). Odd, since even the game goes through lengths to roughly explain who Link and Tetra are to the story. Still, Link works on a ship with Tetra and as she disappears boarding the mysterious Ghost Ship, Link sets out to save her. On his journey he meets the Fairy Ciela and the pirate Linebeck, two characters that are central to the game and the manga, and not in the best ways. Linebeck in particular was annoying in the game and still is (for the most part) in the manga, so that I can hardly come to like him as a person who accompanies Link on his rescue mission. Ciela had almost no personality in the game, but has a lot more of it in the manga and becomes half-way okay. The manga manages to still tell the same story, in a better more character and location focussed way than the game, but has all of the short comings of the previous Zelda-to-manga adaptions: not enough pages to tell a story, and not enough story to really put meat on those bones. It is a nice, cute experience for fans of the game, and that's it. The coolest part of the manga are clearly the side stories.
Still, worth a read for fans, but only for those.
The Phantom Hourglass was one of the very few Zelda games that I started at launch and couldn't motivate myself to continue playing past the second or third dungeon. The repetitiveness of the central labyrinth and the touch controls just couldn't keep me engaged. The manga retells the same story, oddly enough, without mentioning The Wind Waker at no point in the story at all (hints besides). Odd, since even the game goes through lengths to roughly explain who Link and Tetra are to the story. Still, Link works on a ship with Tetra and as she disappears boarding the mysterious Ghost Ship, Link sets out to save her. On his journey he meets the Fairy Ciela and the pirate Linebeck, two characters that are central to the game and the manga, and not in the best ways. Linebeck in particular was annoying in the game and still is (for the most part) in the manga, so that I can hardly come to like him as a person who accompanies Link on his rescue mission. Ciela had almost no personality in the game, but has a lot more of it in the manga and becomes half-way okay. The manga manages to still tell the same story, in a better more character and location focussed way than the game, but has all of the short comings of the previous Zelda-to-manga adaptions: not enough pages to tell a story, and not enough story to really put meat on those bones. It is a nice, cute experience for fans of the game, and that's it. The coolest part of the manga are clearly the side stories.
Still, worth a read for fans, but only for those.
January 23, 2025
I need to play this game again!😎
January 5, 2024
When I read this, I thought, " Now I want to play this! Why does this always happen when I read these books?" Akira Himekawa is one of my favorite authors. This book is great for people who love the DS.
February 25, 2022
[3.5] It felt a bit rushed in places but I did enjoy the story overall. I have no experience with the game but I do with Wind Waker. If you havent played Wind Waker there are spoilers for the ending (Phantom Hourglass is a sequel to Wind Waker).
September 27, 2023
Ah well, I want to play the game now xD
February 12, 2024
Not as fun as the Pokémon manga but still made me want to play again
Read
March 9, 2025Grabbed from free bin outside of Molasses
March 20, 2025
they so cute,,,,
July 14, 2023
cute fun!
The action scenes were really well-drawn.
A bit rushed but you can only tell so much of a 20-something hour game in a 200-page manga.
I grew up with the Zelda series, and I swear I'd read all of them except for this one. It's too bad they never made a Spirit Tracks volume -- that was my favorite game.
The action scenes were really well-drawn.
A bit rushed but you can only tell so much of a 20-something hour game in a 200-page manga.
I grew up with the Zelda series, and I swear I'd read all of them except for this one. It's too bad they never made a Spirit Tracks volume -- that was my favorite game.
December 28, 2025
After going through a set of moderately solid adaptations of The Legend of Zelda games through their respective manga, each one either properly representing the games that they are meant to be based on or have their own unique spin on the source material to where it makes for a more interesting read, along with having a bunch of other good qualities that help them out in the end, we had unfortunately reached our first disappointment for the series with the manga adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I wouldn't say that the manga was downright terrible, as it did have a lot of the great elements that we had come to expect from the series, such as some pretty solid art, some great action and it was faithful enough to its source material, but that didn't matter so much when everything else about the manga was not up to par with what we had before, what with the story being so incredibly rushed and bland to the point where it ends up becoming bad, skipping over plenty of parts to be found in the original game, along with the characters and writing being some of the weakest that the series has ever had at that point, even if it wasn't anything all that terrible. It was quite a disappointment, to be sure, especially since I do remember really enjoying that manga back when I was a kid, but regardless of how good or bad that one adaptation did turn out, that didn't mean that these adaptations were going to be stopping anytime soon, as now we have reached the eighth and final adaptation of this particular series, that being that manga adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.
Going into this manga was a bit of a different experience for me, because before I did read and review all of the other manga adaptations in this series so far, I was entirely familiar with all of the games that they were all based on, and thus, knew how solid these adaptations were when it came to bringing in and changing stuff up from their respective games. However, this time around is different, since I have never played Phantom Hourglass before, meaning that I was going into this manga completely blind, along with the fact that I wasn't going to be able to properly judge it as an adaptation of the game since I don't know much about it. Honestly though, I wasn't really too worried about that when going into the manga, considering the fact that this is still Zelda we are talking about here: these games have never had the unique stories out there, especially when you compare one to the other, so I'm pretty sure I knew what I was getting into when it came to this manga, and now that I have read it, I can say for certain that I got pretty much what I expected, but that doesn't matter, because I ended up having a really good time with this thing! Once again, it isn't a perfect manga by any means, as it does have some issues holding it back at the end of the day, but not only is this a MASSIVE improvement over what we had with the Link to the Past adaptation, it also turned out to be a really good manga in general, doing a great job of bringing the story of the DS game into manga form while also retaining a lot of the same great elements from the previous adaptations that made them so great to read in the first place.
The story is more or less what you would expect, of course not being one-to-one with the story from the game (from what I can tell), but it does go about pretty much the exact way that you would expect it to, and it does end up being pretty solid and fun throughout the whole thing, even if there are some minor gripes that I have with it that I will get into later, the characters are great, where Link is just as great as ever here, with him once again having a lot more personality this time and being more goofy, which ends up making him more likable as a result, and a lot of the other characters that we see here like Cielia, Linebek and Oshus also end up being pretty likable in their own way too, the writing is pretty solid, to where it isn't anything too great compared to what we have had before, but it still manages to be relatively solid and fun enough to read through, while also fitting the correct tone that this manga is trying to go for, the art is great, with this adaptation once again changing art styles to something more fun and goofy, to fit right alongside the game it is based on, and it works incredibly well and manages to look great from start to finish, even if it isn't my personal favorite style that the series has had so far, and the action is good too, to where there isn't too much of it in this manga, as it does focus a lot more on comedy once again, but what we do get does manage to look solid and be an exciting change of pace for whenever the manga needs it as you go through it.
With all of that being said though, there are still some problems that do hold this back from being anything spectacular, even from the perspective of someone like me who hasn't played the original game this is based on. For one thing, if you are expecting anything too new to find in this adaptation, then you will probably be left disappointed: sure, the whole setting of being out on the water and the more pirate-y motif is new for the series, but at the same time, when it comes to the story structure and the things that all of the characters get into, it is all the same as ever before from all of these other adaptations. That doesn't make this one worse, obviously, but it does make it so that those who aren't huge fans of the previous adaptations, or those who don't like these kinds of manga in general, probably wouldn't end up liking this one either. Not only that, but even as someone who has never played Phantom Hourglass before, I can certainly tell that this manga does skip over a good amount of content to be found from the original game, which may not be too much of an issue, because what we do get from the manga does end up being solid enough to read that it makes up for it, but that is still something to keep in mind for those that are huge fans of the original game. And finally, there is also the fact that some of the plot elements in this manga, while still being decent enough for what they are, can be a bit rushed and lackluster. For example, there is this whole thing about Ciela having lost her memory at some point before the events of the manga, and they keep bringing this up multiple times throughout the manga, but they don't put that much proper focus on it until she ends up actually recovering her memory. Like, cool, great, glad we got that situation taken care of...... ANYWAYS, we should get back to the actually important stuff that matters now instead of that.
Overall though, despite not featuring anything too new for the series, lacking some elements from the original game and having some rushed plotlines here or there, the Phantom Hourglass manga adaptations does manage to be a pretty solid way to end off this pretty solid series, still having a lot of the great stuff that a lot of the other previous manga adaptations have had while also featuring a good amount of unique elements and mix-ups of the original source material that make it fun to read through, especially from someone like me who hasn't played the original game, which ended up making it a pretty solid read all around, what with its simple, yet still fun, enjoyable and well put-together story, a set of great characters mixed up with some really solid writing, some great art that definitely captures the proper tone and feeling that this entire story is meant to give off, and action that may not be as plentiful as in other manga adaptations, but we still do get enough of it to where it ends up being a memorable part of the whole experience. I would recommend it for those that were huge fans of the original game this is based on, as well as for those who are huge fans of the other manga adaptations or of Zelda in general, as while this still isn't anything too phenomenal or game changing for these stories, there is still a lot to love and appreciate about this adaptation that still makes it worth reading when all is said and done, which is all anyone can ask from it at the end of the day. And yes, you weren't mistaken with what you read earlier on, as this is unfortunately the last entry in this series, which means we won't be able to see any of these characters in manga form ever again..... *womp womp*. Although, with that being said, there is a series of manga based on Twilight Princess that I suppose I could read as well, but uh...... I don't want to do that just yet. Don't worry, I will get around to it eventually, but I'm gonna need about, say, a couple of months in order to prepare for it...... don't hold that to me either, because who knows: I may not even read it at all!
Book #33
Going into this manga was a bit of a different experience for me, because before I did read and review all of the other manga adaptations in this series so far, I was entirely familiar with all of the games that they were all based on, and thus, knew how solid these adaptations were when it came to bringing in and changing stuff up from their respective games. However, this time around is different, since I have never played Phantom Hourglass before, meaning that I was going into this manga completely blind, along with the fact that I wasn't going to be able to properly judge it as an adaptation of the game since I don't know much about it. Honestly though, I wasn't really too worried about that when going into the manga, considering the fact that this is still Zelda we are talking about here: these games have never had the unique stories out there, especially when you compare one to the other, so I'm pretty sure I knew what I was getting into when it came to this manga, and now that I have read it, I can say for certain that I got pretty much what I expected, but that doesn't matter, because I ended up having a really good time with this thing! Once again, it isn't a perfect manga by any means, as it does have some issues holding it back at the end of the day, but not only is this a MASSIVE improvement over what we had with the Link to the Past adaptation, it also turned out to be a really good manga in general, doing a great job of bringing the story of the DS game into manga form while also retaining a lot of the same great elements from the previous adaptations that made them so great to read in the first place.
The story is more or less what you would expect, of course not being one-to-one with the story from the game (from what I can tell), but it does go about pretty much the exact way that you would expect it to, and it does end up being pretty solid and fun throughout the whole thing, even if there are some minor gripes that I have with it that I will get into later, the characters are great, where Link is just as great as ever here, with him once again having a lot more personality this time and being more goofy, which ends up making him more likable as a result, and a lot of the other characters that we see here like Cielia, Linebek and Oshus also end up being pretty likable in their own way too, the writing is pretty solid, to where it isn't anything too great compared to what we have had before, but it still manages to be relatively solid and fun enough to read through, while also fitting the correct tone that this manga is trying to go for, the art is great, with this adaptation once again changing art styles to something more fun and goofy, to fit right alongside the game it is based on, and it works incredibly well and manages to look great from start to finish, even if it isn't my personal favorite style that the series has had so far, and the action is good too, to where there isn't too much of it in this manga, as it does focus a lot more on comedy once again, but what we do get does manage to look solid and be an exciting change of pace for whenever the manga needs it as you go through it.
With all of that being said though, there are still some problems that do hold this back from being anything spectacular, even from the perspective of someone like me who hasn't played the original game this is based on. For one thing, if you are expecting anything too new to find in this adaptation, then you will probably be left disappointed: sure, the whole setting of being out on the water and the more pirate-y motif is new for the series, but at the same time, when it comes to the story structure and the things that all of the characters get into, it is all the same as ever before from all of these other adaptations. That doesn't make this one worse, obviously, but it does make it so that those who aren't huge fans of the previous adaptations, or those who don't like these kinds of manga in general, probably wouldn't end up liking this one either. Not only that, but even as someone who has never played Phantom Hourglass before, I can certainly tell that this manga does skip over a good amount of content to be found from the original game, which may not be too much of an issue, because what we do get from the manga does end up being solid enough to read that it makes up for it, but that is still something to keep in mind for those that are huge fans of the original game. And finally, there is also the fact that some of the plot elements in this manga, while still being decent enough for what they are, can be a bit rushed and lackluster. For example, there is this whole thing about Ciela having lost her memory at some point before the events of the manga, and they keep bringing this up multiple times throughout the manga, but they don't put that much proper focus on it until she ends up actually recovering her memory. Like, cool, great, glad we got that situation taken care of...... ANYWAYS, we should get back to the actually important stuff that matters now instead of that.
Overall though, despite not featuring anything too new for the series, lacking some elements from the original game and having some rushed plotlines here or there, the Phantom Hourglass manga adaptations does manage to be a pretty solid way to end off this pretty solid series, still having a lot of the great stuff that a lot of the other previous manga adaptations have had while also featuring a good amount of unique elements and mix-ups of the original source material that make it fun to read through, especially from someone like me who hasn't played the original game, which ended up making it a pretty solid read all around, what with its simple, yet still fun, enjoyable and well put-together story, a set of great characters mixed up with some really solid writing, some great art that definitely captures the proper tone and feeling that this entire story is meant to give off, and action that may not be as plentiful as in other manga adaptations, but we still do get enough of it to where it ends up being a memorable part of the whole experience. I would recommend it for those that were huge fans of the original game this is based on, as well as for those who are huge fans of the other manga adaptations or of Zelda in general, as while this still isn't anything too phenomenal or game changing for these stories, there is still a lot to love and appreciate about this adaptation that still makes it worth reading when all is said and done, which is all anyone can ask from it at the end of the day. And yes, you weren't mistaken with what you read earlier on, as this is unfortunately the last entry in this series, which means we won't be able to see any of these characters in manga form ever again..... *womp womp*. Although, with that being said, there is a series of manga based on Twilight Princess that I suppose I could read as well, but uh...... I don't want to do that just yet. Don't worry, I will get around to it eventually, but I'm gonna need about, say, a couple of months in order to prepare for it...... don't hold that to me either, because who knows: I may not even read it at all!
Book #33
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2025
Schönes Abenteuer, auch ohne Zelda-Vorkenntnisse! 🏴☠️
Ich kenne die Zelda-Spiele selbst nicht, mein Boyfriend ist großer Fan und hat mir den Manga empfohlen. Ich war echt positiv überrascht! Die Geschichte folgt dem jungen Helden Link, der sich mutig auf die Suche nach seiner Freundin Tetra macht, die von einem Geisterschiff entführt wurde. Dabei trifft er auf schräge Figuren, löst Rätsel, und muss mit einem eher feigen Kapitän zusammenarbeiten, was für viele lustige Momente sorgt (wenn auch teilweise hervorrsehbar).
Auch ohne Vorwissen bin ich super in die Handlung reingekommen. Die Zeichnungen sind liebevoll, und die Mischung aus Humor, Abenteuer und Herz hat mich wirklich mitgerissen. Ein tolles Fantasy-Erlebnis, was zu einer ersten geschriebenen Review geführt hat!😁⚔️
May 5, 2022
A nice end to the series, and even though it's far from perfect, it was still really cute and fun. After so many run-of-the-mill quests across Hyrule and other lands, it was nice to spice it up with a fun pirate adventure. I thought the characters were fun, the story was a good mix between serious and goofy, and the setting was fun and interesting. One thing that I did really like about this story was how believable Link's drive to save the day was. In most of the other LOZ stories, there isn't that much of a driving force for Link other than because he's a morally good person who wants to help everyone. Of course that isn't true for every story, such as with A Link to the Past, in which he is driven by the death of his uncle and the memory of his parents to save everyone. But with this book we didn't have to see Link and Tetra interact to know that they were close and that he would do anything for her. Sure, story wise that connection is built up in Wind Waker, but for the purpose of the story the book could have started with Tetra already missing and I would be like "oh shoot, Link. Go after her!"
The story itself was fine; I really liked how we got to go inside and explore the temple in Mercay Island, although I found it a bit funny how there happened to be a treasure chest just laying around that *conveniently * had the Phantom Hourglass laying around. That made me think of a comic I saw online not too long ago, and I think it's brilliant.
Other than that funny thing, I thought that that part of the book was great. We got to meet Linebeck, who hands down was my favorite character in the book. He reminded me of Varrick, from The Legend of Korra, and we all know how much I love him. They are both snarky, slightly immoral, charming, and clever, but they both learn to become braver people and turn out to be great allies in the end. Not to mention that they literally look the same.
Tell me I'm wrong.
++Potential spoilers ahead++
The Phantom Hourglass itself was a weird item because I don't fully understand why it was necessary to save Tetra in the first place. I understand it was used to prevent Link from aging in the temple, but besides that it didn't really do much except extend the story by having Link run around and collect sand from various places. I'm sure there's some grand reason, but it was not fully explained, and even though people who might be familiar with the game might get it, it still should be made clear to people who don't know the game or understand anything about the Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks lore. Building off of that, I could see why some people might be really confused with the whole "Tetra is Zelda" reveal, because it's explained in Wind Waker. I understand that Wind Waker is a larger story and would have probably taken multiple books to tell, I still think we would have benefited from seeing that story, so then everyone would start this one on equal footing. I'm not *that* familiar with Wind Waker, so I had to run over to trusty Reddit to figure out what was going on. So if I'm correct Tetra is a descendant of Princess Zelda, and she is a reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia, but when she "turns into" Zelda, her ancestor Princess Zelda is acting through her. Am I right? Or am I completely off. And then we have Link, and I'm not sure if he is actually the chosen hero, or if he was sort of in the right place at the right time. Because Link didn't have the triforce or it powers from birth, he obtained it later. So I guess he's a hero who used the triforce, but not THE hero. Again, am I right?
Sorry for the tangent, I just had to get it off my chest. I swear LOZ lore is so confusing for no reason.
Before I talk about Bellum and the final fight, I want to talk about Exposition Grandpa. It was so obvious from the start that he was not all he said he was. He kept popping up everywhere Link was and he conveniently knew the answer to everything. When he was revealed to be the Ocean King I was not shocked in the slightest, and even though he was a calming presence in the story, I could not ignore how strange he was story wise. In fact, when we saw his final form, I couldn't help but think about our other whale friend, Levias, from Skyward Sword. Man they should do a Skyword Sword manga, and can they please draw Ghirahimwith rock solid abs. ANYway, then we have Bellum, who was such a strange villain in this book. If you actually think about it, he's really terrifying and has the capabilities to cause so much harm, but in this book he just seemed cartoonishly evil. I mean, I know he's toonish in art style, but also in demeanor, and even though the entire story is supposed to feel like that, it was just weird in this book. Visually he looked so dumb with the flailing tentacle things and his goofy eyeball. I've played enough LOZ games to know that one poke to the eye will knock him out. I actually counted- the final fight against Bellum, once Exposition Grandpa becomes Exposition Whale, and Tetra is saved- takes six pages, four if you cut out the beginning before Link & crew actually attack. There's some cannonballs thrown at him, and a good old spin attack... and that's it. Dang.
You know who should have been the real villain of this story? That phantom thing on the ghost ship pretending to be that child. Now that was creepy, and it was also obvious from the beginning that it was not a friend, but Link, who has proven that he doesn't always stop and think, fell for it. Link needs to learn about stranger danger istg.
This was a cute story, with my favorite scene being Link pleading for the canon at the canon shop so loudly that the building collapsed. I would love to play this game, but I don't know if that will ever happen. At the very least I want to play Wind Waker, and I'm hoping that it will be adapted for the switch in the future just like what Nintendo did with Skyward Sword, and same goes for Twilight Princess, obviously. Spirit Tracks on the other hand... let's just say that trains aren't as exciting as boats. I had a fun time reading this series, and it hurts my heart that I've read them all, and one day I would like the complete collection. Even though I still prefer the Twilight Princess books more, I liked how this series was goofier, more cartoonish, included more stories, and had more varied art styles. It just goes to show how versatile Himekawa is. I have to applaud them on all that they've done; they clearly love LOZ so much and have been willing to dedicate so many years to all of these fantastic books. From one fan to another- thank you.
The story itself was fine; I really liked how we got to go inside and explore the temple in Mercay Island, although I found it a bit funny how there happened to be a treasure chest just laying around that *conveniently * had the Phantom Hourglass laying around. That made me think of a comic I saw online not too long ago, and I think it's brilliant.
Other than that funny thing, I thought that that part of the book was great. We got to meet Linebeck, who hands down was my favorite character in the book. He reminded me of Varrick, from The Legend of Korra, and we all know how much I love him. They are both snarky, slightly immoral, charming, and clever, but they both learn to become braver people and turn out to be great allies in the end. Not to mention that they literally look the same.
Tell me I'm wrong.
++Potential spoilers ahead++
The Phantom Hourglass itself was a weird item because I don't fully understand why it was necessary to save Tetra in the first place. I understand it was used to prevent Link from aging in the temple, but besides that it didn't really do much except extend the story by having Link run around and collect sand from various places. I'm sure there's some grand reason, but it was not fully explained, and even though people who might be familiar with the game might get it, it still should be made clear to people who don't know the game or understand anything about the Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks lore. Building off of that, I could see why some people might be really confused with the whole "Tetra is Zelda" reveal, because it's explained in Wind Waker. I understand that Wind Waker is a larger story and would have probably taken multiple books to tell, I still think we would have benefited from seeing that story, so then everyone would start this one on equal footing. I'm not *that* familiar with Wind Waker, so I had to run over to trusty Reddit to figure out what was going on. So if I'm correct Tetra is a descendant of Princess Zelda, and she is a reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia, but when she "turns into" Zelda, her ancestor Princess Zelda is acting through her. Am I right? Or am I completely off. And then we have Link, and I'm not sure if he is actually the chosen hero, or if he was sort of in the right place at the right time. Because Link didn't have the triforce or it powers from birth, he obtained it later. So I guess he's a hero who used the triforce, but not THE hero. Again, am I right?
Sorry for the tangent, I just had to get it off my chest. I swear LOZ lore is so confusing for no reason.
Before I talk about Bellum and the final fight, I want to talk about Exposition Grandpa. It was so obvious from the start that he was not all he said he was. He kept popping up everywhere Link was and he conveniently knew the answer to everything. When he was revealed to be the Ocean King I was not shocked in the slightest, and even though he was a calming presence in the story, I could not ignore how strange he was story wise. In fact, when we saw his final form, I couldn't help but think about our other whale friend, Levias, from Skyward Sword. Man they should do a Skyword Sword manga, and can they please draw Ghirahim
You know who should have been the real villain of this story? That phantom thing on the ghost ship pretending to be that child. Now that was creepy, and it was also obvious from the beginning that it was not a friend, but Link, who has proven that he doesn't always stop and think, fell for it. Link needs to learn about stranger danger istg.
This was a cute story, with my favorite scene being Link pleading for the canon at the canon shop so loudly that the building collapsed. I would love to play this game, but I don't know if that will ever happen. At the very least I want to play Wind Waker, and I'm hoping that it will be adapted for the switch in the future just like what Nintendo did with Skyward Sword, and same goes for Twilight Princess, obviously. Spirit Tracks on the other hand... let's just say that trains aren't as exciting as boats. I had a fun time reading this series, and it hurts my heart that I've read them all, and one day I would like the complete collection. Even though I still prefer the Twilight Princess books more, I liked how this series was goofier, more cartoonish, included more stories, and had more varied art styles. It just goes to show how versatile Himekawa is. I have to applaud them on all that they've done; they clearly love LOZ so much and have been willing to dedicate so many years to all of these fantastic books. From one fan to another- thank you.
June 14, 2017
Summary: Link and Tetra are on their boat when a ghost ship appears and takes Tetra. Link falls into the water when he tries to save her. Link washes up on a beach somewhere where he's greeted by old man Oshus and a fairy named Ciela who has lost her memory. Link tells them he needs to save Tetra and Oshus tells him to find the Phantom Hourglass in the Temple of the Ocean King.
Link and Ciela go to the temple; it's cursed, and Link's life force starts to drain as soon as he enters it. Inside, he sees a man named Linebeck who was trapped while trying to get to a treasure chest. Link rescues him and gets the Phantom Hourglass. It turns out that Linebeck is the captain of his own ship, so he, Link, and Ciela strike out to find Tetra--though Linebeck is ostensibly only interested in finding treasure.
They fight some monster, and when they're killed, they turn into grains of sand for the hourglass. Each also releases a fairy, of which there are 3 total: the spirits of Wisdom, Power, and Courage.
Eventually they wind up on an island where they find a young girl that seems to only be a shell of a person; she's immediately kidnapped by a giant octopus. Link hunts the octopus down and kills it--gaining more sand for the hourglass--but then Oshus shows up and tells them that the girl is actually Ciela's severed memories and that he is the Ocean King; Ciela is revealed to be the spirit of Courage. Knowing that Bellum was taking over the land, he separated Ciela's memories from her to protect her and then went into hiding. He tells Link that they need to search out a blacksmith on some island who can make a sword to kill Bellum.
They find the ghost ship again and try to rescue Tetra; a malicious spirit appears and tries to trick them into going below-decks where there are a horde of zombies. These turn out to be Linebeck's former crew, who he abandoned when their ship was cursed. The monster possesses Linebeck, who steals Tetra.
Link and the fairies return to the Temple of the Ocean King to fight the monster/Linebeck, while some pirate chick who was stalking Linebeck (he flaked out on her too) goes and gets the Phantom Sword made. Linebeck fights off Bellum and Link "kills" it, freeing Tetra. The Ocean King shows up as a whale and everything's hunky-dory--until Bellum attacks again. Luckily, the pirate girl shows up with the sword just in the knick of time, and Link finishes Bellum off.
The King and the fairies go back to their own land, but before he leaves, he grants Linebeck 1 wish: he wishes for his friends/ship back.
Review: This was pretty decent, though it was very rushed: Link will go to an island, fight the monster to get the sands of time, and it takes all of 1 page. The art was good though, and it told a fairly cohesive story.
If nothing else, it made me want to play the game again.
Link and Ciela go to the temple; it's cursed, and Link's life force starts to drain as soon as he enters it. Inside, he sees a man named Linebeck who was trapped while trying to get to a treasure chest. Link rescues him and gets the Phantom Hourglass. It turns out that Linebeck is the captain of his own ship, so he, Link, and Ciela strike out to find Tetra--though Linebeck is ostensibly only interested in finding treasure.
They fight some monster, and when they're killed, they turn into grains of sand for the hourglass. Each also releases a fairy, of which there are 3 total: the spirits of Wisdom, Power, and Courage.
Eventually they wind up on an island where they find a young girl that seems to only be a shell of a person; she's immediately kidnapped by a giant octopus. Link hunts the octopus down and kills it--gaining more sand for the hourglass--but then Oshus shows up and tells them that the girl is actually Ciela's severed memories and that he is the Ocean King; Ciela is revealed to be the spirit of Courage. Knowing that Bellum was taking over the land, he separated Ciela's memories from her to protect her and then went into hiding. He tells Link that they need to search out a blacksmith on some island who can make a sword to kill Bellum.
They find the ghost ship again and try to rescue Tetra; a malicious spirit appears and tries to trick them into going below-decks where there are a horde of zombies. These turn out to be Linebeck's former crew, who he abandoned when their ship was cursed. The monster possesses Linebeck, who steals Tetra.
Link and the fairies return to the Temple of the Ocean King to fight the monster/Linebeck, while some pirate chick who was stalking Linebeck (he flaked out on her too) goes and gets the Phantom Sword made. Linebeck fights off Bellum and Link "kills" it, freeing Tetra. The Ocean King shows up as a whale and everything's hunky-dory--until Bellum attacks again. Luckily, the pirate girl shows up with the sword just in the knick of time, and Link finishes Bellum off.
The King and the fairies go back to their own land, but before he leaves, he grants Linebeck 1 wish: he wishes for his friends/ship back.
Review: This was pretty decent, though it was very rushed: Link will go to an island, fight the monster to get the sands of time, and it takes all of 1 page. The art was good though, and it told a fairly cohesive story.
If nothing else, it made me want to play the game again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2020
Jugué a este juego sin haber jugado a su precula, ya que es una continuación, pero realmente no importa. Es un juego que me divirtió bastante, sobre todo con sus niveles en el Templo del Rey del Mar. Normalmente los juegos de DS hacen un abuso de la pantalla táctil sólo porque sí y se hacía molesto, pero en este estaba bien.
¿Por qué decir lo anterior del juego si estoy con el manga? Porque incluso para un juego bastante simple (la historia no era demasiado profunda, aunque sí entretenida y completa) el manga resulta demasiado resumido. Las cosas suceden porque sí, en un segundo, y no se transmite casi nada de la información. Si no hubiera jugado al juego no me habría enterado de las mitad de las cosas, se dan por supuestas. Así que el manga pierde mucho, no me ha resultado entretenido porque no he sido capaz de meterme en la historia por lo rápido que va y lo resumida que está. No transmite nada. Y además se intentan bromas que no aportan ni tienen gracia, como cuando le dicen a Linebeck que si no quiere acumular la colada se busque una esposa. ¿Por qué meten una broma machista que no estaba en el juego original?
Mejor jugar al juego, que es ideal para matar horas y divertirte, antes que leer el manga.
¿Por qué decir lo anterior del juego si estoy con el manga? Porque incluso para un juego bastante simple (la historia no era demasiado profunda, aunque sí entretenida y completa) el manga resulta demasiado resumido. Las cosas suceden porque sí, en un segundo, y no se transmite casi nada de la información. Si no hubiera jugado al juego no me habría enterado de las mitad de las cosas, se dan por supuestas. Así que el manga pierde mucho, no me ha resultado entretenido porque no he sido capaz de meterme en la historia por lo rápido que va y lo resumida que está. No transmite nada. Y además se intentan bromas que no aportan ni tienen gracia, como cuando le dicen a Linebeck que si no quiere acumular la colada se busque una esposa. ¿Por qué meten una broma machista que no estaba en el juego original?
Mejor jugar al juego, que es ideal para matar horas y divertirte, antes que leer el manga.
February 2, 2019
Phantom Hourglass is perhaps the most Japanese Manga feeling entry in this series. The character interactions are very silly and 80% of the tale comes in as facetious and childish. Barring the climax sequence the story is almost entirely humor focused.
Coupled with an art style similar to Wind Waker's approach which was designed to feel a little cartoony and caricature oriented, the maturity level of this entry is levels below all of the other entries within the set.
The story itself is engaging and feels solid. There is a journey towards collecting the three aspects of Courage, Wisdom, and Power as is commonplace in Zelda tales. There is a hidden evil waiting to be revealed. Dungeons, Bosses, and battles. All the good stuff.
Linebeck comes across as an interesting character. His cowardice is made plane and you find it easy to dislike him as his faults are so blatant and out front.
The story focuses a bit on redemption and following through. Standing firm for those you care about.
Coupled with an art style similar to Wind Waker's approach which was designed to feel a little cartoony and caricature oriented, the maturity level of this entry is levels below all of the other entries within the set.
The story itself is engaging and feels solid. There is a journey towards collecting the three aspects of Courage, Wisdom, and Power as is commonplace in Zelda tales. There is a hidden evil waiting to be revealed. Dungeons, Bosses, and battles. All the good stuff.
Linebeck comes across as an interesting character. His cowardice is made plane and you find it easy to dislike him as his faults are so blatant and out front.
The story focuses a bit on redemption and following through. Standing firm for those you care about.
January 11, 2023
Book 10.
Based on the DS game from 2007, this story sees Link adopting the life of a pirate adventuring on the high seas. When his friend Tetra is captured by a ghost ship, Link has to set out to free the Ocean King and defeat the monster Bellum.
This is definitely one of the lighter and more kid-friendly books of this series (not that they're not all kid-friendly, this one is just more so) but it's still a perfectly fun adventure for Link and the oceanic setting brings something a bit fresh to the 'Link has to complete quest to rescue so-and-so...' formula.
There's not much more to say except to raise an eyebrow (and maybe a 'Yikes!') at the fact that Tetra is briefly referenced as really being someone else in disguise despite that character definitely being white and Tetra seeming to be a person of colour (at least she is on the cover).
Is 'insert-person-you've-probably-guessed-here' doing blackface? If so, not cool.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
Based on the DS game from 2007, this story sees Link adopting the life of a pirate adventuring on the high seas. When his friend Tetra is captured by a ghost ship, Link has to set out to free the Ocean King and defeat the monster Bellum.
This is definitely one of the lighter and more kid-friendly books of this series (not that they're not all kid-friendly, this one is just more so) but it's still a perfectly fun adventure for Link and the oceanic setting brings something a bit fresh to the 'Link has to complete quest to rescue so-and-so...' formula.
There's not much more to say except to raise an eyebrow (and maybe a 'Yikes!') at the fact that Tetra is briefly referenced as really being someone else in disguise despite that character definitely being white and Tetra seeming to be a person of colour (at least she is on the cover).
Is 'insert-person-you've-probably-guessed-here' doing blackface? If so, not cool.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
April 19, 2023
This book, which is based on Phantom Hourglass, surprised me. Phantom Hourglass isn’t my favorite of the Zelda games, however, I ended up really enjoying this manga. This manga was probably one of the most accurate I have read of these manga, as far as comparing it to the video game. The biggest thing is they cut out the material gathering for the phantom sword. But considering how much time they put into the first half of the game, I can understand why the ending was rushed. I also liked how much the manga focuses on Linebeck and stayed true to his video game story. This one also had some of the best humor, even calling out to instances where things were labeled “not in video game.” I had a really fun time with this one.
June 27, 2024
Overall it's a fun retelling of the game. It deviates a lot from the main storyline and, as it is common with Zelda adaptations, it feels like it needed a few more issues to tell the story without feeling rushed.
This time round, we have Link, a young member of Tetra's Crew. I love the interaction between these two, it does feel like they're genuine friends.
One day their ship is attacked by a ghostly vessel and Tetra is turned to stone. Link ends adrift and must enlist the help of the devious Linebeck to find and rescue his friend.
As a story is quite simple, and it feels much more game-y than the rest of the Zelda books. However I feel there were some interesting developments with Linebeck, he has a serviceable enough backstory and is the only character to actually change. Good stuff.
This time round, we have Link, a young member of Tetra's Crew. I love the interaction between these two, it does feel like they're genuine friends.
One day their ship is attacked by a ghostly vessel and Tetra is turned to stone. Link ends adrift and must enlist the help of the devious Linebeck to find and rescue his friend.
As a story is quite simple, and it feels much more game-y than the rest of the Zelda books. However I feel there were some interesting developments with Linebeck, he has a serviceable enough backstory and is the only character to actually change. Good stuff.
June 30, 2023
So end the epic set of Legend of Zelda graphic novels based on the amazing video game franchise. This volume (the 10th and final as of me writing this) was much lighter than the previous one, but the art style fit the subject matter perfectly and the story really seemed to capture the essence of Link. This adventure has Link traveling by sea which is not his usual mode of transportation. Link is joined by Captain Linebeck and Ciela on an island hopping adventure to save Link’s friend Tetra, get the Sands of Hours and unlock the mysteries of the Ocean King. It’s a fun self-contained story which goes by quickly but leaves a nice lasting feeling upon completion.
December 2, 2023
This was the second 1 volume only book of their mangas that I’ve read so far and it was so much better than I expected! While the first 1 volume only book I read (A Link To The Past) felt rushed and only skimmed the surface of what was happening, this one made me feel so much more immersed into the story! Yes, it doesn’t go over EVERYTHING but I felt like I got to know the characters more and emphasize with them. A great achievement for a manga with only one volume!
Though, correct me if I’m wrong, this was the last Zelda manga they wrote before the Twilight Princess series, so this makes sense!
Though, correct me if I’m wrong, this was the last Zelda manga they wrote before the Twilight Princess series, so this makes sense!
November 23, 2025
This one started off slow for me and didn’t really pull me in until midway through, but it has some EXCELLENT dark moments/reveals and a sweet ending.
Ciela’s reveal was so good (even if a bit predictable), but I feel like it’s probably more effective in the game because it happened a bit too quick for me to have any emotional attachment to her. Linebeck’s backstory reveal was the start of the dark tone shift (with the crew melting into skeletons) that I loved. The single brief mentioning of “oh yeah Tetra is Zelda in disguise btw” was so funny. Bellum is an excellent dark, scary villain. Very sad we don’t get a side story of Linebeck and Jolene being cute together.
Ciela’s reveal was so good (even if a bit predictable), but I feel like it’s probably more effective in the game because it happened a bit too quick for me to have any emotional attachment to her. Linebeck’s backstory reveal was the start of the dark tone shift (with the crew melting into skeletons) that I loved. The single brief mentioning of “oh yeah Tetra is Zelda in disguise btw” was so funny. Bellum is an excellent dark, scary villain. Very sad we don’t get a side story of Linebeck and Jolene being cute together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2020
Phantom Hourglass no ha sido mi tomo favorito de toda la saga, pero aún así le pondré cuatro estrellas de amor por el cariño que le he cogido al universo de Zelda.
La lectura se me hizo un poco cuesta arriba, aún cuando creí que al ser una historia de piratas sería una de mis favoritas. Lo que me mantuvo en la lectura fueron las ganas de conocer el villano de la historia, Bellum, aunque me quedé con ganas de conocer el trasfondo de todo.
Supongo que esta no es la última vez que leeré The Legend of Zelda, aún me queda terminar los videojuegos y leer Twilight Princess.
La lectura se me hizo un poco cuesta arriba, aún cuando creí que al ser una historia de piratas sería una de mis favoritas. Lo que me mantuvo en la lectura fueron las ganas de conocer el villano de la historia, Bellum, aunque me quedé con ganas de conocer el trasfondo de todo.
Supongo que esta no es la última vez que leeré The Legend of Zelda, aún me queda terminar los videojuegos y leer Twilight Princess.
November 17, 2022
Serving as the final entry in the Legend of Zelda manga, it was good but skipped some major scenes from the video game (I realize this is different but it was important in the game). Link is traveling with Tetra until she is kidnapped by the Ghost Ship. Link falls to his doom at first and is found on the beach of an island. To find out how to save Tetra, Link seeks the assistance of Oshus and Linebeck. Together, they gather the needed materials to fight Bellum to release Tetra. After they rescue her, they continued to sail around the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2021
It was cute, but I felt like the second half of it was super rushed. Like on one hand, I like that it’s not 100% like the game, you feel. On the OTHER HAND, I feel like the changes they made aren’t necessarily for the best. Like the Celia thing with the silent girl, no idea what that was about. Taking away Linebeck’s one moment of bravery towards the end where he tries to stab Bellum after Link gets Wriggity-Wrecked? Not cool, bro. Not cool :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2024
I found this in a free little library and it's very adorably drawn. I never played Phantom Hour glass but this is likely a very child friendly watered down version (I mean aside from the death and almost self inflicted death o.o maybe don't let a 10 year old or younger read this) I mean I am not gonna tag spoilers cuz come on, but ya....Ocean King is just a big ole whale....huh *AU where he becomes Moby Dick* free fanfiction idea there you go
April 5, 2024
This manga stays remarkably faithful to the video game, capturing its essence despite streamlining the material gathering for the Phantom Sword (understandable given the focus on the earlier sections). It excels at portraying Linebeck, staying true to his in-game arc. The humor shines, even acknowledging discrepancies between the manga and the game with a wink ("not in video game"). An overall enjoyable experience!
February 1, 2018
These are cute adaptations of the Legend of Zelda games. While I've never played the games, I have enjoyed reading this Manga series. I love the art style. While there isn't much to the stories the characters are fun and each manga in the series reflects the art style of the game it's based off of, so that makes each one unique to look at.
September 7, 2020
The book Phantom Hourglass was a very creative fast paced book. The book was full plot twists like revealing the Grandpa Oshus' true identity. The new setting on the islands and sailing on the sea was very enjoyable as well. Phantom Hourglass is a book I would recommend if you enjoy action filled adventure books.
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