The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (2000)

[ゼルダの伝説：時のオカリナ]

Volume 1

Author/Artist: Akira Himekawa
Publisher: Tentomushi Comics

Synopsis:
A young boy raised among the forest folk sets out on an adventure to save the realm from a treacherous bandit who seeks the power of the gods.

Story/Characters:
Ocarina of Time was the first entry in the series with a fully fleshed-out story, so there's plenty of good material to work with. Obviously you wouldn't want to see real-time dungeon runs in manga form or anything like that, but the story feels rather rushed. You move breathlessly from one point to the next, significant sections of the story glossed over in a couple pages. Among the new material, I rather like how Link first met Zelda (a princess incognito scenario much like the Millennial Fair in Chrono Trigger) and how Shiek is working as a double agent under Ganondorf. The new backstory for Volvagia is interesting, but the short treatment given and the lack of prior establishment make the emotional punch feel unearned. I know it sounds like I'm being a bit harsh, but I would've like to see Himekawa take their time a little more. Maybe it's just because I read too many long-runners that take their sweet time too much. I imagine the pacing has something to do with the label it was published under and the fact that it's a video game adaptation.

Art:
The art is really good. I'm a big fan of the style for the character design. It's pretty close to what was used for the official art, but has a bit of a unique aspect to it. Though action scenes are brief, there's a suitable amount of visual punch to the few panels.

Other:
There are a few concept sketches between chapters.

Conclusion:
This is a good if a bit too quickly paced adaptation of OoT. There is some interesting original material, but a little more development would've been nice. It's still well worth having for any Zelda fan.

Rating:
Own It