Zelda's manga

In the past months I managed to read all the manga published about the Legend of Zelda. This is my opinion about the ones I haven't yet reviewed here:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Part 2 by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have never played any Zelda related game so I didn't know what I was going to dig into, however, I enjoyed the story (even though there are clear "borrowed" references to the arthurian cycle) and could easily see how it could be the plot of some videogame. I enjoyed even more the drawings, actually: this story was definitely well done and pleasant to read.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Since it past some time from the last time I read the other volumes, I didn't remember every detail that was mentioned in this book. However, the plot was quite nice and interesting, but I would have been personally enjoyed that some aspects would be deepened (e.g. the role of the four giants).
Altogether a pleasant reading, but not impressive despite the quite ok drawings.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Classical drawings and classical plot. Link leaves home searching for his destiny and of course, he finds it and he becomes an hero.
For reaching this, he meets several friends and several enemies, that he defeats.
Nothing so strange, nothing so revolutionary. The story is pleasant to read, however, the second part of the story, when he is almost reaching his target, is told too quickly. Characters appear and we don't know why they are here or what is their role and it is obvious that it is just a "manuscript" for a videogame.


The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story is slightly better than the one of the Oracle of the Seasons, however, it is still a bit too "superficial" for my taste.
I think there are too many characters that are introduced too quickly and I think it'd be better for the story to have less ambitions.
Said this, I believe though that this specific story is the one that is the less "videogame" oriented of the ones I have been reading so far.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords - Part 2 by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't get impressed by this two volume story, although some parts of the story were pleasant to read.
What I missed was a bit less stereotyped characters and more unexpected events.
Sometimes, there is too much triviality in these plots, considering especially that they are representing more and less always the same pattern.
And, by the way, what's up with characters like Tingle? They are completely meaningless!!!!

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is of course a quite classical plot for what concerns the Legend of Zelda's comics, however, I found this story more of my taste. Maybe because finally it was not the version number 200 of the same plot, maybe because there was some element of unpredictability, maybe because there and then it was also quite funny.
But Link is the hero, something evil appears and make Zelda becomes a stone statue, what shall he do if not just trying to save her, somehow?
He will have to go around the realm in order to collect elements that will help him forge a weapon to defeat the monster.
And in all of this he will need to find the help of the Picori, some small creatures that "invisibly" help the humans.
I can clearly see the plot for a video game when reading this story, but I still enjoyed it and think it is the first volume that has entertained me of the 8 read before that.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass by Akira Himekawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yet another adventure of Link, yet another story based on some videogame (and that is quite obvious from how the plot develops, although I haven't played the games).
This as well as the Minish cap story are the ones that I think were more enjoyable among the different volumes related to the Legend of Zelda, probably because of some new elements and because of some characters not having a clear personality.
For example, captain Lineback is surprising us and developing through the story (which is a quite strange element in these mangas).
There are though some strange elements, although this is a quite pleasant story, like the connection between Tetra and Zelda, which are unclear and unexplained as well as the final resolution of the story, but I guess that these are details that can be remained "unnoticed" by the ones that are very fond of Link.

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