The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Vol. 9

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess #9

by Akira Himekawa

Once upon a time, wizards tried to conquer the Sacred Realm of Hyrule. The Spirits of Light sealed the wizards’ power within the Shadow Crystal and banished them to the Twilight Realm beyond the Mirror of Twilight. Now, an evil menace is trying to find Midna, Princess of the Twilight Realm, and the fragments of the Shadow Crystal to gain the power to rule over both the Twilight Realm and the World of Light.

Midna tells Link about the time before she came to the world of Light and how the evil wizard Zant turned her into her current form. Bitter and angry, Midna only used other people to get her revenge. Link needs Midna’s help now more than ever, and his forgiveness may give her the strength to continue the fight. Ahead of them, in the Twilight Realm itself, lie greater dangers than they have faced before, as well as Midna’s nemesis, the scheming sorcerer Zant.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Adventure, Young Adult

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story and battle. Link and Midna return to the world of Twilight. However the biggest battle might not be the physical battle. Link must use all his skills and powers if he hopes to free the world of Twilight. Now both worlds need to put their prejudice aside in time for the final battle.

[Rosa Pateraki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love getting to explore Link’s backstory and his personality in this. It’s one of my favourite things about the Twilight Princess manga.

[Anniken Haga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zant showdown. Nothing there I didn't already know, so didn't do much for me. Zant is unstable and annoying in his own right, but that's just the character he is.

We did finally get to know what happened with Link's home! And there's some possibility for drama there, but I hope that got out of the way toward the end.

I enjoy how much Link has grown as a character, and how his and Midna's relationship has entered that comfortable stage between lovers, but without actually having any love interest in each other. They're best friends, companions, and each other's pillar, and it was refreshing to see that relationship without the romance drama that usually follows.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the art style. I also appreciate that she makes these characters feel fleshed out.

[vexie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“a dream…? a hallucination? it seemed so real! i can still feel… my hands embracing her.”

god this series is so captivating. done in one sitting on my front porch

[kristiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Link is the hero we all need and the hero we all wish to be.

[Acacia Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Goddesses the feels in this one I cannot

[Joshua Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing so much more emotion from Link than what we get in the video games, as well as seeing how sensitive link is about his village and finally finding what happened to it, this volume is so impactful. One other thing I loved was the fact that Zant has some good in him still and he’s not too far gone. I also really appreciated seeing Midna converse with other characters and show what type of personality she has beyond being selfish and guarded.

[• chri⚡ • · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es bringt nur Vorteile diesen Manga zu lesen.

Du hast das Spiel gespielt? Na dann wartet auf dich noch eine zusätzliche kleine Nebengeschichte, die im Spiel nicht vorkommt und trotzdem irgendwie dazupasst.
Du hast das Spiel nicht gespielt? Auf dich wartet ein großes Abenteuer ❤️

[Jedi Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe I'm almost at the end. I won't give spoilers, but I will say it was great to see some of these characters again. This whole book was filled with great, emotional scenes. Whether that be happiness or sadness, this book was, like the others, a must read.

[chess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non chiedetemi cosa fosse that weird stitch a 20 pagine dalla fine, ormai questa è la fanfiction del mangaka e basta palese

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The additional arc with Link’s past and where he’s from…and his relationship with Midna…and Midna’s relationship with her people…I am dead

[toori · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10

[Krisztina Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

That’s MY chosen hero 😤

[Dário Hermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much backstory details that weren't in the game, delicious!

[Taylor♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm yes Twilight Realm lore expansion I used to dream of days like these😩

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Link read a ton of self help books between vol 8 and 9. We love to see it ✨ so excited for the final volume!

[Link · Rating 5 out of 5]

OOOHHH ZANT GOT PUNCHED. He so deserved that

[Luke Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

See Vol. 11 review...

[Freddie🏳️‍⚧️🐀 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really applaud this series for the amount of detail and depth is featured in the story. It makes me want to reread the earlier volumes again. This volume is absolutely amazing, tying arcs together beautifully, with a great battle. I can't wait for the end.

Art: The art in this is beautiful as always. Here I found myself taking longer to read, because the art was just so nice. I think any artist, especially comic artists, should read this series. Also Link look so cute!

Character: I love Midna and Link's character here. They have such well written arcs throughout, that are still displayed in this volume, and culminate in a satisfying adventure. Their backstory and experiences from the previous volumes are reflected here. They're just so well written. I think I read the series just for them.

Story: The story is fantastic. Especially the fight, it's not a standard shounen battle, and has some unexpected good themes and gets a bit psychological, the entire volume is like this. I really like substance in my action stories. While the psychological bits isn't the most mind blowing stuff, it's still a nice addition, and fits the character arcs. Theres good stuff that can apply to real life, being strong, perservering, friendship of course.
The last chapter is also really nice and quite sweet. Without spoiling it just made me really happy and the last pages were just amazing.

[Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've gotten to the beginning of the end- Link and Midna have finally faced off against Zant in the Twilight realm and returned it to it's original ways. Now all there is left is for the two of them to go back to Hyrule Castle and defeat Ganondorf once and for all. Or at least until the next Zelda game, that is. I've been enjoying the series a lot so far, and I'm glad that we not only got to spend some time in the Twilight Realm in this volume but that it's a very Zant-focused one. It's no secret that Zant is one of my favorite things in this game, maybe save for Shad or the Malo Mart song. I'm also very excited for the final confrontation with Ganondorf, because the ending is the best part of the whole game, and I can't wait to get to see it in the manga and see how Akira Himekawa choose to adapt it through their art.

+++Spoilers ahead+++

I think I really love Zant because he's such a theatrical guy, and I love him. In many ways he's very similar to Ghirahim- they're both dramatic, secondary villains who are more interesting than the main villains. I don't have anything against Ganondorf, he's so cool, but I just like Zant more. But while Ghirahim is theatrical because he's cunty and an absolute freak, Zant's that way because he's extrememly insecure, arrogant, and desperate. I like how we see him really snap (foreshadowing heehe) at this point and just kind of throw things at Link to see if it works. His character arc kind of reminds me of Azula's in ATLA. They both break down when they realize that they've been used the whole time and that they've dug themselves in a hole, even if they act as if it isn't true up until the very end. Zant as a character is completely useless if it wasn't for Ganondorf, which is why I think the two of them are such a wonderfully balanced dynamic. Ganondorf has the real power, and it's only through them "teaming up" that Zant ever gets the tools to overtake the Twilight realm and get any real power in the first place.

And I love how Link absolutely SUCKER PUNCHED Zant. I think it's a bit funny how something so real and physical like a punch is the only thing that really seems to get to or actually hurt Zant at all. He uses power and magic as a shield and when he's faced with actual brute force he just kind of folds. It's a well enjoyed addition to the story, that's for sure.

I can not remember if I've ever talked about this before, but one thing that was added into the manga that I appreciate is Link's backstory prior to Ordon Village. Not only do I think it's interesting for him to have this secret "tragic hero" backstory prior to living in such a tiny village, but I also like how his backstory links back to the Twilight Realm, even if he didn't know it at the time. It makes me wonder what the whole deal with that sword is to begin with. I can't remember if it was ever talked about earlier in the series, but it would be interesting to learn who it belonged to. Maybe it was Ganondorf's? But regardless, I liked getting to learn about what happened to his friends, and I also liked seeing the friendship between the Hylians and the people of the Twilight Realm. I also thought the changed dynamic between Link and his friends was very interesting and complex. Of course they'd be excited to see him, but I understand the frustration Darpa feels seeing that his friend was the only one who didn't get sucked into a different world with no way out and coming back as an excellent warrior who's chosen by the gods. I can't wait to see them fight together, and I do hope that they'll all be alright in the end.

And as always, the art and the storytelling is fantastic. I'm getting sad now that I'm at the end, but I will definitely be rereading these books a lot in the future. Especially volume 6 because it still is my favorite so far. I love how Midna and Link's relationship has grown so much, and I'm really hoping that in one of the next books we'll get to spend some time focusing on Zelda and Midna's relationship, or really Zelda in general. This is definitely one of the games where Zelda is less present, but that doesn't mean she isn't just as important. Not only is this the game with what is easily my favorite Zelda design, but I love the themes of sisterhood between Zelda and Midna that only makes the story a lot sweeter and more unique. Of course that's not a fault of the other games; it's just something that happens when the main character that you are always with is a guy. It's just a beautiful dynamic that makes this story sweeter. Just in general I love how much depth their is with all the characters in Twilight Princess, and I love how this manga really gets to focus on some of these dynamics and expand on them in ways we never got to see in the game.

It's sad to know that we're getting to the end of the series, but I know that the best is yet to come because the ending is the most exciting part. The series is already going longer than it was supposed to be as it was originally going to be ten volumes, but I like that it's gone over. I could see why some people might be a bit bored of the books- in between it being a story that a lot of people already know, I could also get why some people might be annoyed that it's being milked and drawn out. But I think that the story neede to be drawn out, because that way Himekawa could add in new characters and plot lines to keep things fresh and interesting for the people who already know the plot. To the people who find it boring because they "already know the story" I think you just, respectfully, don't appreciate it enough. Maybe I'm just a giant Zelda nerd who loves absorbing any sort of context, but I love seeing how much effort has been put into these books to keep this story alive and interesting for a new generation of Zelda fans. These two women have been working for almost 25 years on Zelda books, and this series specifically has gone on for 8 years on a game that was already 10 years old at the release of the first volume. I just really love and appreciate their effort to work on something that can bring nostalgia to old players while also providing new content for them while also maybe being an introduction to the story for some of the younger and newer fans who may have gotten into the franchise from something like Breath of The Wild. Maybe I'm gushing, but I just love how to this day there are still people who care about this franchise so much.

[Valérie · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK ? J'ai bien aimé globalement mais c'est clairement pas le meilleur. La partie avec Zant est assez décevante (la storyline du mentor voulant épouser la princesse n'était pas nécessaire d'ailleurs, cliché premièrement, redondant et 0 originalité, bref), les combats illisibles, en vrai :/
Par contre la seconde partie avec Link qui retrouve enfin son village fait plaisir ! Un peu déçue cependant que l'affaire soit réglée si facilement alors que les pauvres ont souffert depuis des années !!

Une pensée pour les twilies (jsp le nom exact ?) qui sont adorables + trop cool d'avoir un peu de leur personnalité, l'alliance ombre/lumière fait plaisir. J'aurai presque aimé que les humains restent bloqués ? Au moins que chacun puisse choisir de traverser ou non le miroir, peut être que Link aurait pu rejoindre la colonie à la fin de l'histoire mais boooon trop fanfic material j'imagine eheh

3/5, agréable mais pas le meilleur

[Blaine Bentley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of this volume was great. There was great progression in Link and Midna’s relationship. We then had the epic showdown with Zant. This was a great sequence.

The last part of this volume was where everything went down hill. I do appreciate that they are tying up the loose ends of Link’s arc with the last part of this volume. I do like how it played out. However, it felt out of place at this time. At this point, to me there feels like there is some urgency in saving Hyrule. However, they instead go on a little detour. There are some good things they are potentially setting up with how they ended the volume. However, I think the rest of the story could have gone without this specific set up and they could have tied up these loose ends in the last volume instead of focusing on it in this volume. I am eager to see if this pays off later or ends up still feeling out of place.

Other than that, this was another great addition to the series.

[LM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always get nostalgic when reading manga by Himekawa since it reminds me of my first manga ever (Ocarina of Time) and the ninth volume of Twilight Princess is no exception – their art style still amazes me to this day.

This volume is rather slow-paced and quite emotional. Link and Zant meet in battle and this battle makes up around two-thirds of the volume. In this part, there’s more character building for both Zant and Midna. I don’t remember all the details from the story of the game, but I think there were many aspects here that are not canon in the game which I enjoyed. I had the feeling though that Link was at some parts a bit too much out of character and too aggressive. In the end, we see characters again that we haven’t seen in a long time – but it had not so much impact on me than on Link since I didn’t remember who they were lmao. Both the Light and the Shadow World come to the realization that they need each other to exist.

I’m a bit irritated though because according to GR, there are two more volumes in the series. I wish it would’ve ended with the next volume since it would be a good ending point and the series would have ten volumes in total. But oh well, I’m still exited to see how the Twilight Princess manga will end.

[Doc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toppling a mad king

With Link and Midna making their way to the Twilight Realm it is only a matter of time before they face the mad usurper Zant. Many truths are revealed in this volume as our exalted (and sometimes very talkative) hero discovers one last thing to help him fight against the darkness Zant possesses and their true objective is shown at last. To topple a king is one thing but to handle a demon possessing one of the greatest divine powers in the realms is going to be a new level of challenge as Link steps into the role destiny has handed him once again as it seems we are reaching the end of the series very soon. :)

[Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

My sentiments of late towards this series have not changed much at all. I thought they were milking us in volume 8. Here I be thinking volume 9’s title should be Lon Lon Ranch – the 9th bottle. Keep in mind you can drink Lon Lon Milk twice. I hyly doubt (narf narf) that I will give this series a reread. It’s not painfully long but it is painfully tampered with at this point. I’m still gonna ride this wave until the end, dude!

Cowabunga!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was a powerful volume in the Twilight Princess saga. Link and Midna arrive to the Twilight Realm and encounters Zant. Zant taunts Link and Midna, and the reader learns more about her past. After an intense battle, Zant is defeated by Link; however, Link learns about what happens to his friends from the village and finally finds them alive and well! Now, Link and Midna and the old gang head forward to face Ganondorf to save Hyrule!

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Link finally finding his long lost friends was very heartwarming. It may be an unpopular opinion, but I think that the town going into the Twilight Realm made a lot of sense. The only problem I had was that one of Link's friends forgave him too quickly. Overall, this book showed who the people of Twilight truly are. Zant's fall into insanity was well done and believable. I do wish that Ganondorf wasn't able to take all of the credit again, as Zant is a genuinely formidable foe.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some long awaited reunions that we have longed for finally happen. Somethings don't go the way you would think, but this volume is filled with action, victories, defeat....and setting up the final battle with the villain we all knew was behind it all.....Ganondorf! Lots of beautiful art and this journey has been a ride in which we have seen such character growth. 2 Volumes remain in this epic journey.

[Kassy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this volume, our faithful hero Link travelled to the Twilight realm and rescued his home village and his lost family and friends. This volume also introduced the readers to Zant and Ganon a little more and it was very creepy.

I enjoyed learning more about Midna and her past, also seeing more hints about her friendship with Zelda.

Now onto the final book of this series, I can't wait to see how it all ends!