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.
Link and Midna head for Snowpeak to find the pieces of the Mirror of Shadow which they will need to defeat the evil Ganondorf. Link has fought and defeated many terrible foes in his quest to save Hyrule and the Twilight Realm, but Midna now begins to worry that all that Link has seen and his obsession with power are changing him. What will Link do if his greatest enemy turns out to be…himself?
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.
Covering the Snowpeak Mountain section of the game, this next volume of Twilight Princess continues to exemplify everything that I've already said I love about the series - the time that the creative team are taking to explore the story mean that we get a lot more feeling for the characters involved; I've never seen Dark Link used in this fashion, and the side stuff with Ilia and Ashei fleshes out the world quite nicely. This series is also the first time I've felt like Link is an actual character and not just a self-insert for the player, which I love.
This is a quick read, at only two chapters, but it's great while it lasts.
A slightly shorter installment, but a good one! It's nice to see a version of Link that grows into being the hero in fits and starts. I like that with this Link, the writers are taking the time to really delve into his character and make him more fallible so that he has a chance to actually grow and learn in the story, rather than just playing out the events of the game while being the perfect hero the whole time.
As usual, I really enjoyed the way the authors expand on what the game offered us in its narrative, as well. Connecting the mansion more tangibly to Ashei and including a battle against Dark Link were both great additions to the story, and I'm excited to see what our dear friend the golden wolf has to say to get Link's ego back in check (love seeing him pop up in general, since the Hero of Time is my fav Link).
What can I say, I am Zelda trash. I loved this volume, though I was sad to find out it was shorter than all the other volumes, by about 20/30 pages. And also Link is a bit of a dumbo in this book. I have no idea how this book holds up to the game, as I never finished playing it (and have gotten rid of my WII since, so I can’t ever finish playing it. Maybe I’ll try and find some gameplay videos on Youtube one day). Anyway, I am super excited to be continuing this series, though I wish I knew how many volumes are still going to come… (Also where’s my Skyward Sword manga adaptation? *taps foot*)
Oh, I really like how they expanded upon the story in here! Yeto is even funnier and sweeter than in the game, Link's hinted upon overconfidence is coming full force, and the Dark Link fight was a nice recall too! It reminded me so much of Ocarina of Time's fight, but with an interesting twist! Though short in comparison to other volumes, there's a lot to love in here! ❤
This was a rather battle-heavy one, so I breezed through it. It was still fun, though! I loved the little Dark Link saga, and all the Midna/Link interactions
This was great! It's been a while since I read manga from this series and it didn't disappoint. I actually really liked how this series continues to flesh out the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess world as compared to the video game; the side characters carry more weight and are not just NPCs but have their own thoughts and voices, particularly Ilia and Ashei. I also think this volume in particular added a lot to Link's characterisation. He certainly doesn't feel like a self-insert for a player in this one, because we finally see him struggle against himself. I've not seen Dark Link used in this way before, and think this is a unique take on how one struggles against one's inner demons, which is something easy to relate to. Can't wait for the next volume!
The art was great as usual, but the sudden shift in Link's character came out of absolutely nowhere. It could have worked perfectly if it had been slowly built up over the course of the last couple mangas (or even suddenly by some strange influence from the darkness surrounding Link) but no. Link just turns into a jerk. Lazy writing to be sure. But again, the art is fantastic and there are certainly some elements that work well in his shift toward darkness.
Interesting, but I’m not a huge fan of this interpretation of this section. Oddly, it was the deus ex machina at the end that kinda saved it for me. I like that they’re doing more with the golden wolf. There wasn’t enough of him in the game.
Going into this volume, I kept seeing reviews mention that Link’s struggle against his inner dark side comes up too suddenly and with no development. I’d have to say the development is there...from the very beginning we have seen Link struggling with a lot of fear, confusion, and anger. And when someone with those struggles is suddenly granted such unlimited power...well, it would go to your head.
That being said, the emergence of Dark Link does feel a bit unnatural. And it’s supposed to. The horror of it all is quite visceral, and is explained in Volume 7.
Speaking of which, if there any doubts as to the maturity level of this comic, it is VERY violent, though blood spatters are usually white against dark backgrounds.
Some people presume the gods must be capricious, since Ganondorf bears the mark of the chosen one, but fans who know the complete story know that the Triforce of Power is stolen and that the never-ending cycle of struggle is caused by the curse of Demise.
Also, as one who calls herself a Legend of Zelda super fan but has only played 3 of the games, I am always glad to expand my knowledge. As of this volume, I finally met the yeti couple I’ve heard of, and they ARE super adorable.
This volume single handedly gave Link far more development than any other games have and this absolutely shocks me. Link’s fall towards the end highlights not only his internal struggles but also how power corrupts those who aren’t used to it. I really wish we get some sort of remaster of the video game with so much more like this manga gives us.
This has probably got to be my favorite volume so far in this series, mostly because it portrayed more of the dark and edgy content that the game itself had. I remember being terrified at the Blizzeta scene (you know the one...) as a kid and the authors somehow managed to make her more terrifying on page. [image error] Sorry, but I don't care how good Ocarina of Time is. I will defend Twilight Princess as the best Zelda game until the day I die.
Awsome artwork, but the story is a bit confusing, from the last issue Link was given the power of the Madter Sword and sent on a quest to collect shard of the Twilight Mirrior. This is simple enough, but then it all get very strange, overly complicated and characters showing up for no reason.
I usually love the heroes fighting their dark reflections, but this story just felt strange to me. It really confused more then anything else like Link I had no idea what was real and what was really going on.
I am hoping more is explained in the next volume. The story really dragged down the awsome artwork for me that made this just ok. A shame as after the previous volume I was expecting a lot more.
The artwork is stunning as always, but this installment had less written story. This was a bit of a let down, for my 7 year old nephew, who loves these books. The overall manga is shorter as well but still fun to read.
What the heck is happening to Link!? This doesn't at all match up with the game. At least the first half is good. I think they made Link WAY to selfish, and the story was fairly short. The artwork, however, is probably the best in this book among the 6 out so far.
I was not expecting this! One of my favorite things is when a story can hurt their darlings, and this series is such a good example. Such a good story with incredible character growth.
The first part of this book was exactly as I expected and exactly how this series has gone so far. I don’t have much to say about it, as I do have a lot of thoughts about the second half. I understand what Himekawa is doing in this second part. I do like this big internal conflict for Link. I think it makes for a really compelling story. I do have conflicting thoughts about it. I have conflicting thoughts that this is happening after Link gets the Master Sword. I think interesting things can happen with this conflict with the Master Sword involved, but at the same time, it feels like this type of conflict after obtaining the Master Sword doesn’t make a lot of sense from a lore perspective. So I am conflicted. I also feel like this conflict really came from nowhere. I feel like it isn’t a lost cause yet. If there is an adequate enough explanation as to why this is occurring, I can buy off on it. However, as it currently stands, I feel it came from nowhere and is only occurring so that the story can have a larger arc for Link. So only time will tell. I will admit I still enjoyed the fighting/conflict scenes in this second part of the book.
I don’t think this volume’s shorter length was advantageous in relation to what the authors pack into this installment. However, the slow pace that plagues some of the earlier volumes is absent in this one. I don’t want to wait till August for volume 7!
I love that Link’s character is really getting fleshed out. His struggles with grasping what makes a hero makes him one of the more interesting incarnations of Link. I also love that Ganondorf’s presence is more transparent than subtext as it was in the original game. I know a lot of people criticize the game for that. Midna’s character in the manga slightly differs than the video game, but that’s probably from the differing circumstances. She’s wiser here, and less snippy with Link. This isn’t to say I don’t enjoy the change, it’s just an observation I took away from reading this volume. Shad...just leave. Can’t stand him lol