The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (2005)

[ゼルダの伝説：神々のトライフォース]

Author/Artist: Akira Himekawa
Publisher: Tentomushi Comics

Synopsis:
A young hero rescues the captured Princess Zelda and must go on a quest to thwart the ambitions of the sorcerer Agahnim, who seeks to break the seal on the Dark Lord Ganon.

Story/Characters:
One of the complaints I tend to have about the Himekawa Zelda books is that they tend to compress too much to fit the story into a single volume (or at most two). I suppose you don't want four or five chapters for each of the game's ten dungeons, but almost the entirety of the Dark World adventures are glossed over in a few pages. I realize A Link to the Past isn't quite as plot-heavy as the games from Ocarina of Time on, so it's not as big of a problem here. In fact, a lot is done to expand the character of Agahnim, which is perhaps my favorite thing about the story. Ganon is a mere cipher, though, but I guess there wasn't that much to him in the source material. Your mileage may vary on manga-only character Ganty. I liked her well enough, but I could see some people thinking otherwise.

Art:
One thing that I like about Himekawa's artwork is that it's not the same for any two adaptations (the only exception being the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask manga, which is appropriate given how Majora's Mask had to recycle OoT's game assets). It has something of a childlike quality and is a pretty good match to the original game art. The one thing I'll rib the duo for is the final closeup of Zelda, where the highlight on her lower lip is positioned in such a way that it looks like she has goofy buckteeth. (It's actually kinda cute.)

Other:
At the end of the volume there's an interview with the Himekawa duo and series runner Eiji Aonuma that includes a teaser for the then-upcoming Twilight Princess.

Conclusion:
This is a pretty good adaptation of A Link to the Past with appealing art and some good character development for Agahnim in particular. Some parts of the story are given rather short treatment, but that's nothing new for Himekawa readers. Definitely worth checking out.

Rating:
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