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The Legend of Zelda #2

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Part 2

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After completing his training, Link begins his journey to find the remaining Sages. Meanwhile, Ganondorf continues looking for Princess Zelda and plotting to capture Link with the aid of the witches known as Twinrova. At the urging of the mysterious Sheik, Link enters the Haunted Wasteland to find Zelda. The journey will be dangerous, but Link is determined to overcome Twinrova's traps and survive to face Ganondorf in an epic final battle!

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

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1946 people want to read

About the author

Akira Himekawa

111 books543 followers
Akira 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 203 reviews
Profile Image for Amanda (MetalPhantasmReads).
510 reviews32 followers
February 6, 2019
A solid conclusion to the volumes. I do wish the shadow temple was in here but I liked some of the changes to make it more friendly for a manga. Can't wait to read my other ones!
Profile Image for M..
307 reviews14 followers
June 25, 2021
¡Esta segunda parte me ha gustado más! Los problemas con el dibujo los seguía teniendo pero creo que el añadir misterio ha ayudado mucho (porque solo basándome en las peleas se me hacía bastante más difícil que me importase el resultado de estas, siempre se resolvían con mucha facilidad). Sorprendentemente también me han gustado mucho las historias cortas, especialmente la de Skull Kid (no solo porque me encante el diseño de su personaje lo juro...). De nuevo, creo que el tener un misterio que no es directamente resoluble ha ayudado mucho a mi disfrute de este manga.
Profile Image for Jedi JC Daquis.
926 reviews47 followers
December 27, 2018
Part 2 of the Ocarina of Time manga is where the fun happens. It's basically a video game in a manga, and Akira Himekawa made sure that readers would feel that. It's quest after quest, slowly progressing to a climax that is very satisfying to experience.

Ocarina of Time is a by-the-book good versus evil story. Even the bad guys knew that they are the bad ones in the story. Don't expect an LOTR/GoT-esque plot. Ocarina of time is all about Link's coming of age story and not about great battles and monarch politics.

The first two volumes of the Zelda manga is a goodread for fans or just readers alike. It is a fast, fun read that you can enjoy.
Profile Image for m.・゜゜・・゜゜・..
783 reviews
May 26, 2025
ganondorf was fr the only dude in the city of beautiful powerful women and still wanted to take over the world. he truly is the triforce of power cos that is unbelievably greeeedy
Profile Image for Marc.
23 reviews
April 25, 2012
Nostalgia throw-back! (Part 2)




Yes - like the above pictures states, reading the first part is pretty vital to the story. :)

Anyways, I really enjoyed this one as much as the first, if not more.

Part 2 finishes up the Ocarina of Time series but also adds some side quests at the end. Which will, from the looks of it, directly correspond with the next installments.




Oh, but yes Keanu... it will be a continuation.


I did have a few gripes, however they didn't affect the ratings since it was minor.

1) When Link is supposed to travel to the Haunted Wastelands, he suddenly appears in the Water Temple. I have no clue how this just pops up into the story line and I'm pretty sure there were no missing pages.

2) There was a minor translation mistake - but who am I to complain? I couldn't translate Japanese if my life depended on it!

3) Just like part 1, there's so super small print and no color.


Besides those, the story and illustrations are fantastic!

Oh and before I forget, everyone says Navi (Links companion) is annoying:



Which she is in some regards (and Link even says so in the Manga!) but without her Link would be dead! We should probably just leave her alone.




Just like the Part 1, this addition is re-readable 10 times over!

I hope you all can enjoy these two parts as much as I have!

Profile Image for DinoGuy.
8 reviews
January 5, 2024
How is it possible that the sequel is better than the first one?! If the first one was 5/5, this one is 6/5. This book is one of the best books I've ever read. The extra story was funny and touching. And don't even get me started on the ending.
Profile Image for Rob.
33 reviews25 followers
April 18, 2019
A continuation of Ocarina of Time Part 1, this carries a lot of my praise and criticism from the previous volume. Beyond that, a few comments:

This final section seems quite rushed, with many "dungeons" being skipped and resolved in a single page. I didn't need to see a chapter for each dungeon, but I felt like those final segments lacked depth.

I was really intrigued by the fact that a couple of the sages end up traveling with Link for a significant part of his journey. This offers excellent character development for both parties—Nabooru is hilarious—and did a great job filling the space between dungeons.

I was surprised that the Ocarina of Time was never really used; after all, it's the namesake. This story focuses on the adult timeline, but it offers none of the time-hopping shenanigans that defined the gameplay we expected.

My favorite parts of the story were actually two little shorts at the end:
The first is a charming story about young Link making friends with a lonely Skull Kid in the woods. Its childish innocence brought a smile to my face many times.
The second is a hilarious side-story about Navi leaving adult Link after a petty squabble. She scours the countryside looking for a new partner, and Link is just glad to be free of her nagging. I literally laughed out loud. It wrapped up with a cliché yet fitting moral.

Overall the Ocarina of Time books were pretty good. I'd recommend them to any fan of the game, if only for the chance to relive it one more time with a new perspective.
Profile Image for Mileena.
659 reviews25 followers
August 24, 2015
First off, let me start by saying that the artwork in this entire book was gorgeously done.

So this book consisted of three stories basically. I'm gonna give a short review of each.

•The first part of this manga, was the continuation of the Ocarina of time story. Again, a lot of details were changed. But I still enjoyed the way the story was formed. When I played the game, I didn't beat it, so I wasn't as connected with it as I was with the first one. But I loved all of the added Sheik and Link scenes and the fact that Link already formed such a strong bond with Sheik, even before discovering that *spoiler, he was actually Princess Zelda. Overall, it was a beautiful representation of the game, so amazingly done. 5/5

•The next story was the Skull Kid story, which just completely broke my heart, and made me fall in love with the Skull Kid and, oh my gosh, he is just such a precious angel, and even after being brainwashed by that weird, evil version of the Deku tree, his friendship with Link still prevailed, the ending was cute as well. 5/5

•The last story was the one about this bird kid from the Watarara tribe. Which I didn't really care for as much as the others. The saving grace of this one, aside from the art, was the part of the story in which Navi leaves Link because she felt unappreciated, and they both realized how much they both needed each other.
Profile Image for Andre.
1,420 reviews105 followers
May 25, 2015
1) Deutsche Rezension
2) English Review

1) Deutsche Rezension
Dies war eine gute Fortsetzung des ersten Bandes, und wie sein Vorgänger hatte er mehr Tiefe als man es von einem Zelda Manga erwarten würde.
Doch das bedeutet nicht, dass es nicht seine Fehler hatte. Es ist so, die Figur der erwachsenen Malon war ziemlich lustig damit wie sie die Rückblenden ihres Lebens dramatisierte. Sie war in der Regel interessanter als man erwarten würde, aber ein ziemlich stereotypes "Mädchen" in gewisser Weise, und ich bin nicht sicher, ob das eine Parodie war oder ernst genommen werden sollte.
Ich mochte auch das Wortspiel mit den Namen der beiden Hexen: Sie werden hier "Killa Ohmaz" genannt und es sollte wohl klar sein wonach der Titel klingt.
Außerdem war es gut, wie gezeigt wurde wie sehr die Dinge bergab gegangen waren in der Zeit, in der Link nicht da war, und wie er reflektiert wie sehr er und andere sich in dieser Zeit verändert haben und wie das die Beziehungen zu ihnen beeinflussen kann.
Doch wer die legendären Weisen sind war von Anfang an ziemlich offensichtlich, und ich kann verstehen, warum einige vielleicht sauer wegen der Darstellung von Zelda sein könnten.
Auch das Ende ist irgendwie merkwürdig und scheint wie ein ziemlich typisches Zeitreise-Handlungsloch zu sein
Neben der Hauptgeschichte gab es auch zwei Bonus-Geschichten, und während sie gut an und für sich sind, scheinen sie nicht zum Kanon zu passen, trotz anderslautender Behauptung. Die erste Bonus Geschichte des jungen Link und dem Horror Kid könnte Kanon sein, aber das Ganze ist seltsam. Warum sollte Link ein Horror Kind in Majora's Mask nicht erkennen? Warum war der Deku-Baum nicht auf der Hut zu Beginn der Hauptgeschichte, wenn dies hier schon passiert war? Die letzte Geschichte mit dem Vogeljungen und seinen Leuten kann nicht Kanon mit der weiteren Handlung sein. Obwohl es auf Ganondorf verweist, macht die malerische Landschaft keinen Sinn für das in der Hauptgeschichte eingeführte Szenario, wo so ziemlich alles verwüstet war.


2) English Review
This was a good continuation of the first volume, and like its predecessor had more depth than you would expect from a Zelda manga.
However, that doesn’t mean that it doesn't have its flaws. You see the character of the grown up Malon was pretty funny with how her flashbacks are exaggerated her life . She was generally more interesting than I thought, but she was also pretty stereotypically "girl" in some ways and I am not sure whether that was parody or supposed to be taken seriously.
I also liked the pun on the two witches: They are spelled "Killa Ohmaz" in the German version, which sounds an awful lot like the german spelling of Killer Grandmas.
Furthermore it was good how they showed further how things had gone downhill in the time that Link wasn't there and how he himself reflected on how things, including himself, have changed over time and how this might influence the relationships he has.
However, who the legendary wise men are was pretty obvious from the start and I can understand why some might be pissed off by the portrayal of Zelda.
Also the end is kind of odd and seems like a pretty typical time travel plothole.
Apart from the main story there were also two bonus stories, and while they are good in and of itself, they do not seem to fit the canon despite claiming to apparently. The first bonus story of young Link and the horror kid might be canon but the whole thing is weird. Why would Link not recognize a horror kid in Majora's mask? Why was the Deku tree not on guard at the start of the main story if this here happened before? That last story with the bird boy and his people cannot be canon with the wider story line. Although it references Ganondorf, the scenic landscape makes no sense for the scenario introduced in the main story where pretty much everything was desolate.
Profile Image for Kayla Lodge.
635 reviews12 followers
January 28, 2023
Even though I enjoyed this book a lot I was still disappointed in it also. When I read the first part it followed along to the original story while having a few differences which I loved a lot but for some reason they decided that they needed to change how things happened in this one.

Link never really went into the temples to slay the monsters and release the sages. The only one he really went into was the forest temple to find Saria and ended up slaying phantom Gannon and discovering Saria was the sage of the forest temple. After that he was always slaying the monster on the first page of a new chapter giving us none of the adventures in the temples which I was so looking forward to seeing.

I also didn't like the fact that the super important fight with shadow Link didn't even take place in the water temple period. It was in Kakariko village and that was how Impa was awakened, there was no shadow temple period and that was what upset me the most about this because the shadow temple was always my favorite part of the story line and to have it cut off like that was a knife to the heart.

One of the facts the redeemed the storyline for me was that they gave Sheik way more story this time they showed us him "working" with Gannon when really he was trying to help Link and not get caught and it made it more meaningful. Another one was that they gave us some back story between Volvagia and link and how they were best buds before Link went to sleep for 7 years to become the hero of time. Never thought a manga could make me tear up but it did and that is something that I can appreciate.

I am hoping that when I continue on with the series they will try to keep things more to the original stories with giving us more unexplained backstory to things and details the original games never brought to light.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for RUE.
19 reviews9 followers
October 26, 2023
It’s Zelda I think I’ve said enough
60 reviews1 follower
June 27, 2024
Ze hebben het een beetje afgeraffeld maar nog steeds nice
Profile Image for Paolina.
404 reviews39 followers
July 27, 2020
Just like part one: Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. 3.75, maybe. Good if you are already a fan of of OoT or are a child. I am definitely one of those. Or a bit of both.
Profile Image for MajesticalLion.
677 reviews59 followers
November 11, 2021
I'm interested in seeing how far this series strays from the video games. It's already skipped over a decent number of plot points, but thankfully it's managed to keep the heart and soul of the series intact. Link, Zelda, and Ganon are the perfect trinity of main characters. A tale as old as time. The Hero, the Princess, and the Dark Lord. It's like poetry. I love Legend of Zelda, man. 😭😂
Profile Image for Mega.
819 reviews5 followers
July 26, 2025
After not having read any book in the series for god knows how long, I finally got back into the Legend of Zelda manga series by checking out Part 1 of the Ocarina of Time adaptation, and as a whole, I thought it was pretty damn good. It certainly wasn’t a perfect book or adaptation by any means, what with it rushing through certain story elements, not having too many surprises and having several grammar errors, but it certainly managed to make up for all of that with how faithful it was to the N64 classic it was based on, having a solid enough story, characters with much more personality compared to their in-game counterparts, some pretty decent writing to go with them, very nice art all around that feels like it fits right alongside the actual game, and some exciting, albeit brief, action scenes to boot. Of course though, that was only Part 1 of this whole epic retelling of an equally “epic” story, and there was plenty more to cover that the original book hadn't even touched upon, so after a day since reading the original, I went ahead and jumped right back into this world with the manga version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Part 2.


Naturally, since I was a big fan of the first part of this mini-series, I was excited to jump into this second part to see how this story was gonna conclude (even though I already knew), and how they were gonna adapt everything else from the game all the way to the end. Although, before I did start to read the book, I did get a little concerned about what it was going to give me, particularly after reading the table of contents. Apparently, half of this volume was dedicated to actually finishing up the main part of the story, and the other half of it was dedicated to a bunch of different bonus stories, which I assumed was original content that was made specifically for this manga, and that made me a little worried. The first part already had a problem with rushing through most of the plot points that they cover from the game, so I figured that this volume was gonna double down on that and not be nearly as great or satisfying to read as the last one as a result. Luckily for me though, that didn’t turn out to be the case, as I would say that Part 2 of this miniseries that we have here managed to be just as good as Part 1, where it does still obviously have its flaws, both stemming from the first part and all new issues that sprouted up in this volume specifically, but it still managed to retain all of the great qualities that the first volume had to make for a really good continuation and conclusion of this adaptation that manages to give you most of what you would want to see, plus some extra content to make this version of this world feel even more alive and interesting than that of the original game’s world.


The story is, again, pretty much what you would expect, adapting the rest of the game from the point that was left off on in the last volume all the way up to when the day is saved, except this time, the game is adapted in a bit more of a loose manner, which can sometimes work and other times….. not, but it all still manages to be entertaining and well put-together regardless, and even the bonus stories we get here are also very solid in their own way, the characters are still just as good as before, where Link is still the better version of himself here, continuing to get more development the further along the book goes which makes him all the more likable, and all of the other returning and new characters are pretty likable here as well, despite them all having basic characterization once again, the writing is still good here, although I do feel it is slightly weaker then that of the first manga, moreso in the more serious moments, but it is still pretty decent as a whole and does get you into whatever is going on at most points well enough, the art is still very good, not changing much at all between volumes but still looking great in plenty of places, while also still properly fitting right alongside and feeling like it came from the Zelda series, and the action scenes are also an improvement this time around, not only thanks to the story beats covered in this volume making them more exciting in general, but they are also more well done and you can tell what’s going on in them easier then before, which is a good thing to see.


With all of that being said though, again, this volume isn’t perfect, because despite still generally matching the last volume in terms of quality, it still finds itself running into several roadblocks that keep it from being better than it already is. Like with the last volume, it does have a problem of sort of rushing through specific plot points and moments, to where it doesn’t nearly have the same impact as before, and there are still some grammar errors to be found here as well, although there are definitely less here than there were in the first volume, which is good to see. There is a new problem that does arise in this particular volume though, specifically when it comes to the new stuff that is added here. Like I mentioned before, this volume isn’t as direct of an adaptation as the first volume, and it does feature some new storylines that were not present in the original game, and for the most part, it works, especially with the bonus stories that we get at the end, which are not only pretty entertaining to read, but also further develop these characters and their dynamics with one another. But of course, there are still some parts of these new angles and stories that don't quite work out as well as others, such as with this one chapter that focuses on Twinrova brainwashing Ingo into becoming evil, taking over Talon’s farm and tying up/abusing Malon and the animals, with Link obviously coming in and saving the day. This is a bit of a different take of what happened in the original game, where you went to this farm to get Epona to use for the rest of the game, and honestly, I didn’t really like this version of this story beat at all. It’s not really that bad by any means, and it is more action-packed than what happens in the game, but come on…. making Ingo a villain? That’s not threatening or interesting, that’s just stupid. It also takes away from the other events that happen in both the book and the game too, such as with the Water Temple just barely getting three pages of coverage, and the Shadow Temple not even showing up at all, so what was the point of any of this?


Overall, despite still having some of the same problems as the previous volume and having some new content that doesn’t work as well as others, the second part of this Ocarina of Time adaptation that is very solid all around, giving us yet another faithful retelling and conclusion to this version of the classic N64 game that we all know and love, and I really enjoyed it from start to finish, what with its really good story and more loose adaptation of the source material, with new original stories that were great to read right beside the main stuff, characters that were just as good as before while being paired with pretty decent writing, art that is still just as great as ever before and still fits really well with the series that it is a part of, and action scenes that are an improvement over the original thanks to how much more exciting and understandable they can be. I would definitely recommend it for those that loved Part 1 of this story, as well as those who big fans of Ocarina of Time and Zelda as a whole, because while it still may not be quite as accurate to the original game as it could be, it is still definitely a great rendition to read for Zelda fans that gives you everything you could want from a manga version of Ocarina of Time, which is all that anyone could ask for it. Although, admittedly, there are still some things in this manga that does leave me confused, as a big fan of the original game, like in one of the bonus stories where they introduce this species of bird people that belong to something called the Watarara Tribe………….. the fuck is a Watarara Tribe?!


Book #4
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Seth.
70 reviews
February 25, 2013
A good read for the most part. They could have spent more time on the story though, they tried to condense it to much. The extra chapters were ok, but I would rather have seen that space dedicated to the main story. Several points were really just skipped through. However, a good thing was the time devoted to Shiek, a character that was not explored enough in the game itself. I had really hoped they would work more on the ending, but it had as much confusion as the game. My big sticking point though, Link should end up with Malon.
17 reviews
Read
November 15, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. Along with part one, there's SO much action, so much story, and just the right amount of adventure, with a little bit of a break, like when Link visits little villages, and solves some little crimes. I would recommend this book to any Zelda, manga, or even just an action enthusiast.
Profile Image for Francisca Pinto .
385 reviews32 followers
December 24, 2019
Esta parte dos FUE DEMASIADO CORTA 😭 Se me fue súper rápido pero si lo disfruté mucho ❤

Obviamente ya es la conclusión de La Ocarina del Tiempo y este manga le trae muchos recuerdos del juego. Bonitos recuerdos. Menos el templo de agua, odio esa parte jajaja

Sigo amando leer mangas y ojalá pronto leer los otros de esta franquicia que tanto amo :3
708 reviews16 followers
August 31, 2016
Great addition to the first manga book in this series. I enjoyed reading it. A must read for manga lovers every where.
Profile Image for Everett.
316 reviews3 followers
April 12, 2022
This was a pretty solid continuation of the story, and even though I've never played the video game before, I was still able to follow along with the story. I don't think I liked this volume as much as I liked the last one, but it was still fun and Himekawa did a really good job formatting the story as a manga and presenting it in a way that anyone would enjoy. It has a really cute art style that I think fits Ocarina of Time pretty well, and I think the art did the land of Hyrule justice; it was whimsical, cartoonish, and light, all of which can be used to describe the game. There were lots of small details in the book that grabbed my attention, just like with the first one, and I found myself really drawn to this style, even though it's not one that I usually gravitate to.

My biggest issue again regarded the pacing of the story. I'm sure in the game the story didn't feel rushed and had a natural pace that thoroughly explained everything. Just from reading some other reviews for this book, it has come to my attention that there were some dungeons that this story full out skipped, which makes sense, but I think those dungeons would have been able to show a better progression of Link's character and his growth as the legendary hero. We didn't really get to see him struggle with the Master Sword in the way that we saw it in the Twilight Princess manga, which was one of my favorite parts of the series. In this book it was mentioned that Link would have to get stronger to wield the sword better and use it to his maximum potential, but besides like two scenes that talk about him training, that was all we got to see. It made the second half feel rushed because we didn't get to see him get strong enough to defeat Ganondorf. At one point he talked about getting stronger, and then the next he magically had that strength. Link didn't feel strong enough, and I didn't believe he was strong enough either.

I also found the whole "six sages" business to be a bit weird because it wasn't explained what that meant or even what happened to the sages. Did they die? Or did they sort of ascend to something higher? Before Link beat Volvagia that little Goron kid was begging Link to save his dad, Darunia, but if he became a sage then wouldn't he leave the earth anyway? I crawled over to my good pal Reddit for answers, but poeple were just as confused as me. Honestly, if I found out I was a sage I'd probably be pissed because I don't want to leave everyone I love, but I guess it's such an honor that it doesn't even matter. It also came to my attention while reading this book that they never even mentioned that Impa was one of the sages. It wasn't until we got to Ganondorf's castle that I was like "wait a minute...". I had to reread the last part of the first book just to make sure it wasn't mentioned, and it wasn't. Impa never got that "realization" moment that the other four did, and it really bugs me that we were never told she was a sage until when Nabooru was, and the six sages were reunited.

But at least I figured out how the Divine Beasts got their names! Darunia became Vah Rudania, Nabooru became Vah Naboris, Ruto became Vah Ruta, and I'm assuming Medli from Wind Waker was the namesake for Vah Medoh.

Speaking of Ruta, it's a shame that we never got to see that Zora wedding. Mipha would be so jealous, but I think it's funny how Link has technically been proposed to (or would have been proposed to) twice now lol.

I think my two favorite parts of the books were the final fight between Link and Ganondorf and the extra comics at the end of the book. It was SO FREAKING METAL how Ganondorf was playing an organ as Link came in, sort of like Davy Jones. It makes me so excited to play the game because that is the SICKEST WAY to start the final confrontation of a story. Even though I felt like the final fight was a bit rushed, I still enjoyed it because it was cool, and you can't really do anything wrong when it comes to Ganondorf. The other part of the book that I really liked were those mini comics at the end. I thought they were really nice and cute, especially seeing how for some of them we got to go back to the forest and hang out with all the kokiris. I liked the one with Skull Kid the most, even though I can't tell if it's a prequel to Majora's Mask or more like an alternate reality story that just uses the same characters.

One thing this book reminded me of was that I really need to figure out how on earth the Legend of Zelda timeline works. I know that after Ocarina of Time the timelines diverted into the three different timelines: child, adult, and fallen hero. But not every single LOZ game is a direct sequel to the rest. Like I know Breath of The Wild is its own thing and isn't a sequel to the rest, but I'm assuming it's under the fallen hero timeline because when they first faced off 100 years ago they were bested. Honestly the whole thing doesn't make sense, and it doesn't have much to do with the book, but I couldn't help but think about, and subsequently, how confusing the whole timeline business is.

This is a great book and (oh god I'm watching TV and I'm trying to ignore the fact that a really uncomfortable scene is on) I'm excited to read the next book. This one was really great, and I'm enjoying these shorter stories, even though I like the longer format of the Twilight Princess manga better. Even though I liked both this and the last book, neither of them have really wowed me, and I'm hoping that the next one or one of the upcoming books is going to be one of those top-tier ones. Now I REALLY need to play Ocarina of Time soon!
Profile Image for Collin Henderson.
Author 13 books18 followers
September 18, 2017
A lot of people who know me know that I tend not to watch movies or read stories that are primarily about romance. What they don't know is that I'm a sucker for a good love story when it's disguised as something else. Lord of the rings, for all its awesome lore and epic battles, is about a platonic love for friends, for instance, and its when love is used as the emotional center of all the other stuff that it really impacts me.

I bring this up because I finished rereading this second volume of ocarina of time, an adaptation of one of the most legendary video games ever made. And one of the reasons for its well regarded reputation is its story that forms the focal point of its top notch gameplay. The thing is that at the end of the day, ocarina of time is still a game, and the main focus is on the levels and boss fights and exploration.

Here, the opposite is true. Confrontations with big baddies in this manga tend to only last five pages tops. It makes them feel almost incidental, and the focus is more on its themes of growing up and how that affects people. And in this manga, the author's have instead fleshed out the more incidental elements of the game, mainly links relationships with all the people he met as a child and how they pay off as an adult.

For instance, mido in the game is little more than a sentient road block given little development. His rivalry with link is only mentioned briefly and doesn't really come back in any significant way. Here, when link is an adult, he works together with mido to save their mutual childhood friend/ crush saria. Only there's something so very, very sad about how mido almost but doesn't quite recognize link, and how when asked why he doesn't reveal his identity to mido, he says "so that next time we meet, we can be friends."

This manga is filled to the brim with wonderful little moments like that, the most significant of which is link's final goodbye to Zelda. In the course of merely a few panels, the authors manage to inject so much bittersweet poignancy into this story in a way the game didn't.

Link's love of the world and the acceptance of his duty is a big part, but it's how he and Zelda are willing so sacrifice a possible life together to live out the roles they're destined for that elevate this from merely a great adaptation to an absolute masterpiece. It's that kind of love story that gets me every time, and the final few panels of the main story are enough to bring a tear to the eye.

There are also two well done side stpries here. One is a single chapter of link helping a creature known as a wattarara learn how to fly (in a curious precursor to the Ruto, a race introduced in Wind waker (hey, where's the manga of that?!)). The other details link's first encounter with THE skull kid. You know, the one who would go on to be posessed by a mask made of pure malevolence. Given the story of majoras mask, its an interesting and really sweet story of link helping an outsider feel like their own person (and there's more great character work with saria, mido, and link's life in the forest, as well as the introduction of the Baga tree, the deku trees evil counterpart). It doesn't hurt that skull kid is one of my favorite characters from any entertainment medium, either, so I might be biased with this one.

This is definitely one of the best, if not THE best, Zelda manga adaptations. It changes everything it needed to in order to make it a compelling fantasy/ coming of age/ tragic love story, and I loved every second of it.
Profile Image for Andrew Sammut.
593 reviews24 followers
February 25, 2024
It's pretty cool to note all the similarities between this and the super mario bros. As I mentioned in my previous review with regards to part 1 of volume 1 of this series, I'm not a gamer however still enjoyed this story despite the fact that it's confusing at times with so many details being sprinkled throughout without context which of course makes it difficult for the reader to entirely understand what's going on. It's a sweet conclusion to the ocarina of time story whereby good trumps over evil, as is the norm, I hate this btw, and then link returns to when he was a child once more. There are 7 years of missing time in between which I'm not quite sure as to how they came to be. Let me know in the comment section if you're familiar with the story more than I am. I'm sure that many of the people reading this review and watching the video I am about to make will know the world of Link better than I do so far and I am rather desperate for answers. Why is Ganondorf such a bad guy, is it because he wants to take over the world? If this is his ambition, at least make his evil intentions clear for me to hate him lol The twinrova characters are more despicable than he is. The deku tree is fascinating and I of course hate what Ganondorf did to it in part 1 but still need more conflict.

Many reviews have mentioned how the game is infinitely better and how this is rushed and while I do agree that you get a lot of action packed into very few pages, it's not boring at all. I didn't like the additional material, the stories seemed quite out of place and dull and took away from the satisfaction the conclusion of ocarina of time brings you. Despite being simple, it is still fun though the authors need to work more on their comedy skills if they're trying to make anyone laugh. I still don't particularly understand why Link is called the hero of time and if you could explain that aspect to me too, that would be pretty amazing. I understand that it has to do with the sword and the 7 years of missing time but it seems like such a pretentious title for a character like him. I must admit he is quite brave but not particularly admirable. In fact, he often comes across as reckless.
Profile Image for Ian.
1,331 reviews5 followers
December 26, 2022
Book 2.
The conclusion of the story which sees Link gather the Seven Sages and confront the Dark Lord Ganondorf. Also included are a standalone story set amid the adult timeframe of 'Ocarina of Time' and a prequel story which features the Skull Kid and acts as a link to 'Majora's Mask'.

I have to say that this book was a bit of a step down from the first volume. Here things feel pretty rushed and, at times, a little confusing. It's as if, having done some wonderful scene-setting, in the first book, the writers felt that they didn't need any in this book, but that completely ignores the fact that the 'future' setting in the game had some really interesting darker takes on the places featured in the 'past' era. The quest for the Sage of Water, for example takes up about two pages and doesn't bother to explore the fact that the watery land of the Zoras is now shrouded in ice. It gets a mention, sure, but not much more than that.

The two bonus stories are perfectly fine, in fact it's nice to see a link (pun intended) to the next story in the series through the mask-loving Skull Kid, but they are just fairly short sidequests and not much more.

This is in no way a bad book, but it doesn't have the same charm and immersiveness of the first book, instead just feeling like a hurried rush to briefly touch on the major story beats and wrap everything up.
I do want to show some appreciation for Zelda's role in this, however. It's nice to see her refusing to just be the damsel in distress, a trope all too common in similar stories (the Zelda and Mario games among them).

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
Profile Image for Chance Hansen.
Author 21 books21 followers
July 15, 2020
I don't play Zelda games so I'm only reviewing it as a story itself. But I can see there is a lot of respect, love, and care put into this manga and it shows.

Story
The story is really touching right up to the end. The main story is well done and interesting. Link is lovable. All three timelines here are enjoyable to read. I like how they stress the seven missing years in the book making him feel cheated. He feels fully fleshed out.
I know there are gamer's out there that would love to see Navi getting slapped across the room like a fly. It's also nice to see that as down to earth as our characters are, they aren't perfect. They will fight and argue. He’s kindhearted but can be aggressive. All the characters feel strong and well grounded. Even if they are there for a few moments.
I hate to say it but the secret of Shiek's identity wasn't all that of a surprise but then again it hasn't for years.
Illustrations
Illustrations are amazing and great to look at. I will admit I did get lost a couple times in the panels trying to read it but it’s also not a style I read overly often.
Profile Image for Ocean.
125 reviews2 followers
December 7, 2025
This telling was much messier than the first one. The conclusion of the hero of time plotline is rushed, and just doesn't have the room to tell the story that we experience from the game. The temples are either skipped or overly simplified. Much of the side stories are not even referenced. There are also some stories that are left vague in the game that are on the nose in this adaptation. Overall I was hoping for something that I could show someone if they weren't familiar with Ocarina of Time and knew they wouldn't want to play the whole game. This adaptation, while having its positive aspects, is not that. It's a manga with a brief summary, some easter eggs, and, strangely, too many answers to questions left unanswered in the game. I think the adaptation I would want would have far more room to breathe, and take place over at least four volumes, if not more. This story is compressed to one and a half volumes and feels like it. The Skull Kid bonus story, while having all the same problems, is quite fun though.
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