Saturday, December 30, 2023

Scans of A Link to the Past Manga by Noboru Sakaoka and Mario-kun by Hiroshi Takase

  Saturday, December 30, 2023   , , , ,   No comments   Edit


This has never been online before. I just 2400dpi scanned & uploaded this 8 page Zelda: Link to the Past 神々のトライフォース manga by Noboru Sakaoka 坂丘のぼる from Shogaku Ninensei, February 1992. Find it here.


This is probably my favorite panel from it:



I have also uploaded 1200dpi RAWS for the Mario (Mario-kun) comic and content (including a cool little pyramid cut-out) by Hiroshi Takase that was in this issue. You can find the zip for that download here.




Other Keywords: Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Ganon, Triforce, Hyrule, Nintendo, SNES, Super Famicom, videogame, magazine, kids, child, aLttP, Lttp, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda, ゼルダの伝説, Link to the Past, 神々のトライフォース, Magazine, Art

Scans of the Color Pages of the First Ever Zelda Manga, Hyrule Fantasy by Ran Maru

  Saturday, December 30, 2023   , , ,   No comments   Edit


I never thought I'd even be able to see this, it's that rare. I have found, & 2400dpi scanned, the color pages of the very first issue of the very first Zelda manga ever. They're only in black & white in the collected volume. The color is spectacular.

This is the 1st chapter of the Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda manga by Ranmaru from the June 1986 issue of Wanpakku monthly comic magazine. It has several two-color pages. They are all stunning. Find the whole volume, and a link to the English translation, here.

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Manga, Hyrule Fantasy, Zelda 1, ゼルダの伝説, Magazine, Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Ganon, Triforce, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, magazine, kids, child, ゲームブック, コミック雑誌



I've only scanned the Zelda section but if you would like scans or photos of any of the other parts of this volume, please let me know at melorasworld@gmail.com. The table of contents is included at the end.


Scans of Laputa, Castle in the Sky, Labyrinth of Heaven Gamebook

  Saturday, December 30, 2023   , , , ,   No comments   Edit



This was scanned and donated by Сергей Посниченко, @sergeithesage on Twitter. It's not Zelda related but there are so many fans of both series in the same bubble that it feels like it fits here well enough. Raws and lightly cleaned files are at this link.

Please let us know if there is a translation of this or just go ahead and translate it! People would love to read it!

ボードゲーム ゲームブック 「天空の城ラピュタ」 天界の迷
Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Labyrinth of Heaven | Celestial Labyrinth | Lost in the Heavens
Published by: Tokuma Shoten
Collection: Animage Bunko "JuJu" | AMJuJu
Author: Daisuke Sato
Illustrator: Yuki Hisa Fujita
Original Story: Miyazaki Hayao
ISBN4-19-669572-8C0174

Other Keywords: CYOA, Choose Your Own Adventure, Book, Novel, Books, Laputa, Studio Ghibli, Pazu, Sheeta, Dola, Muska, Art, Illustrations, Art,

Scans of Triforce of the Gods World Guidebook Strategy Guide

  Saturday, December 30, 2023   , ,   No comments   Edit

 


I just high-res scanned and uploaded another retro guide for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, find the 1200-2400dpi RAW and lightly cleaned files at this link. I also added the art to the flickr gallery.

The Legend of Zelda Triforce of the Gods World Guidebook
ゼルダの伝説, 神々のトライフォース, ワールドガイドブック
ISBN4-8033-3874-4

C2055 and P1200E
Published by Taishubo Co.
Also called "Continental Shobo"

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past, Strategy Guide, 神々のトライフォースZelda, tLoZ, LoZ, aLttP, Lttp, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda, SNES, 600ppi, 1200ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, book, videogame, Nintendo Power, Strategy Guide, Game Guide, Map, Maps,

Map Gallery and New 2400dpi Map Scans and Repairs

  Saturday, December 30, 2023   , , , , ,   No comments   Edit


I needed to get someone some images for a time-sensitive project they're doing so I've been adding old strategy guide maps to the gallery for Zelda: A Link to the Past. This gallery on Flickr will also have all of the Zelda maps and "world scenes" that I've been able to get to so far. There's some pretty good ones in there already and A LOT more to come. Some of these also need to be cleaned up (like the dungeon maps for LttP) but me, and the ever wonderful and talented Olga, have gotten some of them done. Specifically the overworld. I did the 2 from this "Continental Shobo" guide, and she cleaned up the 2 big maps of the Light World and Dark World from The Zelda Handbook. What she accomplished was an utterly massive amount of work when you realize how many of the buildings and details were nearly completely covered by text and how much detail the seam in the middle needed to be fixed:




By the way, these haven't really been online before. There was one bad set of full-book scans on archive.org that is now missing but no one ever got good images online or cleaned them up. So this is very likely the first time you are seeing them. Give them a look, they're great.

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Two new interviews with me about Zelda art and preservation!

  Sunday, May 07, 2023   , ,   1 comment   Edit

These were both really fun! I'm pretty shy but it was nice to continue push myself to be more public. Both cover the same subjects, which makes sense because retro Zelda art and archiving would be what to ask me about, but both still feel vastly different and wonderful. They both had some great questions.


First, this is amazing, I'm in a magazine! I was interviewed for Nintendo Force Magazine, a spiritual successor to Nintendo Power. As someone who is deeply in love with books and other publications this feels utterly surreal. You can purchase digital or physical copies here.




Second is an interview for Tokyo Game Life. This is a beautifully produced podcast from the heart of Japan. You can listen to my interview, and find their other episodes, here. I hope you enjoy it, I'm pretty shy about speaking for recordings so I hope I did alright. It was really fun!



Scans of The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda Dawn Publications Strategy Guide

  Sunday, May 07, 2023   , ,   No comments   Edit



I just high-res scanned and uploaded another retro guide for the original Legend of Zelda game, find the 1200-2400dpi RAW and lightly cleaned files at this link.

ISBN 4-7508-0521-1 and 9784750805214

Thank you to Mases of ZeldaDungeon.net. He has been making sure these guides are preserved by collecting them all, scanning them, and then also sending them to me for high-resolution archival scans.

Other Keywords: Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, ppi, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Ganon, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, Game Guide, Guide, NES, Map, ファミマガ, ファミリーコンピュータ, ファミリーコンピュータ マガジン, Gaming, Nintendo, Retro, Art, Illustrations

Scans of The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda Victory Strategy Guide

  Sunday, May 07, 2023   , ,   No comments   Edit


I just high-res scanned and uploaded another retro guide for the original Legend of Zelda game, find the 1200-2400dpi RAW and lightly cleaned files at this link.
 

This guide has some of my favorite enemy art done for the series.


ゼルダの伝説 必勝攻略ガイド

ISBN 4-405-06068-1 | C2055

Shinsei Publishing . Nova Publishing

Artist: Shuichi Aikawa . 相川修一


Thank you to Mases of ZeldaDungeon.net. He has been making sure these guides are preserved by collecting them all, scanning them, and then also sending them to me for high-resolution archival scans.


Other Keywords: Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, ppi, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Ganon, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, Game Guide, Guide, NES, Map, ファミマガ, ファミリーコンピュータ, ファミリーコンピュータ マガジン, Gaming, Nintendo, Retro, Art, Illustrations

Added the Scan of the Original Painting of the Fairy for Hyrule Fantasy

  Sunday, May 07, 2023   , , , ,   No comments   Edit



I finally replaced the old image of this fairy with the utterly amazing and beautiful scan we have thanks to ArtofNP, he also heads the non-profit The Interactive Art Collection:

"Established in 2021, the Interactive Art Collection is a non-profit focused on the discovery, preservation, education, and sharing of original video game art."

This is the original animation Cel painting. It's beyond impossible that this piece of art was saved and made its way to someone who was willing to scan it for all of us. I can't thank Stephan Reese enough for being willing to do things like this. He makes fans dreams come true.

Here's his photo of it in Nintendo Power next to the original:





Wednesday, April 19, 2023

2400dpi Scans of the 1986 Hyrule Fantasy Bandai Board Game

  Wednesday, April 19, 2023   , ,   No comments   Edit


You can find the high resolution files here and I will be adding more of this higher-res art to the gallery at some point in the future. I just need time away from scanning to clean it all. For now all I have updated is the boss cards. 

I also cleaned up Ganon's boss room and faked a card for him, so we could have a nice little set. Also want to thank JairulNait for scanning Aquamentus, because my set is missing his card. It is at 1200dpi though so, if anyone could get it for me at 2400dpi one day, that would be awesome! (Send me the RAW, if you use the auto adjustments on the scanner sometimes it blows out the colors) melorasworld@gmail.com

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

2400dpi Scans of the Two-Tone Pages from the Zelda 2 Manga, Volume 1

  Tuesday, April 18, 2023   , , , ,   No comments   Edit



This is the Monthly Wanpakku issue for March, 1987. I have only scanned the Zelda manga by Ran Maru but if you need info on anything else in the volume, please let me know.

I've been trying really hard to collect the color pages for these since they are incredibly beautiful works of comic art. I am so happy I was able to get this one, which is also the first chapter that starts the Adventure of Link manga after the first volume of Hyrule Fantasy (Zelda 1) manga. 

Before, because the novel is black and white, I thought the sun was just eclipsed. It's awesome to see a blood red sun or moon here. 

There is a translation for this manga if you would like to read it. You can find everything you need at this link.
 

Monday, April 17, 2023

2400dpi Scans of the the Legend of Zelda: The Dreaming Isle Japanese Game Manual

  Monday, April 17, 2023   ,   No comments   Edit



I actually only just bought this because it felt weird to have all of the other ones to scan and not the Link's Awakening one. The first 4 games are kind of my true loves, after all. Anyway, I just finished scanning and uploading this and you can find it here!

Other Keywords: Zelda, tLoZ, LoZ, LA Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda, SNES, 600ppi, 1200ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Nintendo, book, videogame, Nintendo Power, Strategy Guide, Game Guide, Player's Guide, Zeruda no Densetsu: Yume o Miru Shima, Windfish, Koholint Island, Marin, Link, Tarin, Gamboy, The Legend of Zelda, Link's Awakening, ゼルダの伝説, 夢をみる島, Manual

Sunday, April 16, 2023

2400dpi Scans of the the Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods Japanese Game Manual

  Sunday, April 16, 2023   ,   No comments   Edit

 



I just high-res scanned and uploaded the Japanese Super Famicom game manual for The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods (aka A Link to the Past.) The 2400dpi RAWs and lightly cleaned files are at this link. 

There are some cool translation comparison tables and notes at this link.

Other Keywords: Zelda, tLoZ, LoZ, aLttP, Lttp, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda, SNES, 600ppi, 1200ppi, 2400ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, book, videogame, The Legend of Zelda, ゼルダの伝説, Link to the Past, 神々のトライフォース, Manual

2400dpi Scans of the the Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link Japanese Game Manual

  Sunday, April 16, 2023   ,   No comments   Edit

 



I just scanned & uploaded the Japanese Famicom Zelda II Adventure of Link manual at 2400dpi. Find it here.

I'm editing the next one but if you like this then also check out this official AoL guide that's packed full of art not found anywhere else: Family Computer Magazine Special Edition: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Winning Guide

You can also find some great translation comparison tables here.



Other Keywords: Zelda, AoL, Zelda II, Link no Bouken, tLoZ, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Ganon, Triforce, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, Famicom Disk System, videogame, The Legend of Zelda, ゼルダの伝説, The Adventure of Link, リンクの冒険, Manual

2400dpi Scans of the Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda Japanese Game Manual

  Sunday, April 16, 2023   ,   No comments   Edit



I just finished scanning the Japanese game manuals for the first 4 Zelda games at 2400dpi & will be editing & uploading them over the next few days. Here's the original's booklet (I'd love to go back & make Hyrule Fantasy stick as the fan-reference name)

Here is a really cool post from Legends of Localization that speaks about all of the details in this and the US manual: Legends of Localization


My copy is missing 3 stickers, one is the logo and 3 are art of Link that is standard official art. You can see what they are in that Legend of Localization Link



Other Keywords: Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Ganon, Triforce, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer Disk System, videogame, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda 1, The Hyrule Fantasy, ゼルダの伝説, Manual



2400dpi Scans of Shogaku Magazine, Grade 3, May 1986, Zelda Manga Appendix

  Sunday, April 16, 2023   , , , ,   No comments   Edit


TRANSLATIONS WANTED! If you would like to translate this, please contact me: melorasworld@gmail.com


I made more 2400dpi scans of Zelda content & manga that has never been online before! This is from a detachable appendix in a children's magazine from 1986. The artist is Yukio Sawada of Mario manga fame. It's pretty short but it has some pretty great art. Also, there's a bonus feature on... TURTLES! Find it here.




Other Keywords: Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Ganon, Triforce, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, magazine, kids, child, ゲームブック, コミック雑誌, Yukio Sawada 沢田ユキオ / Takahiro Eguchi 江口貴博, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda 1, The Hyrule Fantasy, ゼルダの伝説, Manga, Magazine


Zelda Story Illustration Scans: Shogaku Ichinensei 1992

  Sunday, April 16, 2023   , , , , ,   No comments   Edit


TRANSLATIONS WANTED! If you would like to translate this, please contact me: melorasworld@gmail.com


These are from some almost impossibly-rare children's magazines and I am so excited to finally be able to see good versions of nearly all of them because the art is incredible. They come from Shogokukan's magazine for 1st graders from 1992 and the Link to the Past feature ran from April to September. They're called "The Legend of Zelda, Link's Great Adventure." The artist is: Junichiro Saito / 斎藤純一郎 and I want to thank fellow fan, Sambyu / 旅人, for helping me so much with information on everything.

These are rare enough that I, personally, only own August at the moment. But Linkabel/AbelMunizJr has been collecting them for a while and was incredibly kind when I asked if I could get some photos of them. And now that they got some time, and a working scanner, they archived them for all of us. 


AbelMunizJr posted these on Twitter saying:

"Here are the scans for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past manga that was featured in Shogaku Ichinensei issues, from 05/1992[sic] to 09/1992. It seems I'm missing one issue, but I'm sure it will eventually surface.

Direct scans here and thread below: https://t.co/SIuZRu6UZc "


Here's what was in each issue:

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

The Final Volume of the Twilight Princess Manga is Now Available in English!

  Wednesday, April 12, 2023   , , ,   No comments   Edit

 



I'm so excited for this. What a wonderful milestone! The final volume of Zelda: Twilight Princess manga by Akira Himekawa is out in English! (April 11, 2023.) There are 11 volumes total. And this only happened because fans & the artists pushed so hard for it for so long. Please support the amazing artists behind it & show publishers its, once again, worth listening to fans!

Thanks to my good friend, om_nom_berries/Louisa of Indie Zelda, for reminding me this was out today. I thought I pre-ordered it, lol, I guess I didn't. You can find it via VIZMedia through Right Stuf Anime or other bookstores

Here is a link to all 11 volumes on sale at TRS for $6.99 each.
(I have been ordering from then since before there was an internet, they're a great business to purchase through and are responsible for keeping a lot of anime from being lost to time.)

Volume 7 was out of stock with them when I last checked, I'm sure it will be back in stock soon, but you can find it on Amazon for $9.99 if you are in a rush.

I also can't lie: I have a little bit of humbled pride right now. I know I'm only a very tiny drop in the bucket but seeing a Twilight Princess Akira Himekawa manga happen was a big goal of mine & I spent a huge amount of time hyping, writing publishers, & pushing for it to exist. It was one of my big early efforts/campaigns. I'm so happy!

I do feel weird bringing that up though, but then, if I don't: then maybe someone wont realize what they could see come to pass if they push through their doubt. If you want artists to be able to work that you know you would love: Push hard to support them in the eyes of fans & publishers!

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Never Before Seen Zelda Manga Scans Trying to Predict what Link to the Past Will Be Like

  Tuesday, April 11, 2023   , , , ,   No comments   Edit


TRANSLATIONS WANTED! If you would like to translate this, please contact me: melorasworld@gmail.com

Here's a small strategy guide Zelda manga that I just scanned that hasn't been online before! It was drawn by Hiroshi Aizawa, who also actually did work for the official Nintendo Player's guides too! It's pretty cool: it's speculating what Link to the Past will be like after Adventure of Link.

Find all 5 pages here. 

It's from this guide and here is the credit's page.
The title translates to something like "Emergency Report Super Famicom"
Published December 25, 1990, size B6 size, 79 pages, by Keibunsha, Magazine code 63550-53

Never Before Seen 2400dpi Zelda Manga Scans from "The Legend of Zelda Handbook"

  Tuesday, April 11, 2023   , , ,   No comments   Edit


TRANSLATIONS WANTED! If you would like to translate this, please contact me: melorasworld@gmail.com

This is actually in a strategy guide but, for now, I only have the 16 pages of manga scanned. Which is absolutely beautiful. The guide is The Legend of Zelda Handbook by Keibunsha.


The manga artist is Matsunori Iwamoto | 岩本松徳 who did artwork for the official Nintendo Player's Guides. Specifically animal and item art that is quite detailed and stunning.

The guide was published by Keibunsha, March 28, 1992, 63552-25 / T1063552250889

Monday, April 10, 2023

Scan of Lost Official Art: Pyramid of Power from A Link to the Past

  Monday, April 10, 2023   , , , ,   No comments   Edit


This one blows my mind. That background image, of the Pyramid of Power, absolutely has to be true official art they simply never reproduced anywhere else. Why do I think this? 

In several issues of Famimaga, an official Nintendo Magazine in Japan, they started off the Link to the Past feature each month with one of the other official images. Like Link smiling at the maiden in the crystal. This is the only image from that set that is not in the booklet for the game. And the quality is just as good as the others and the style is so similar to the other animation-style backgrounds. I really have no doubt that this is official but simply stayed on the cutting room floor until someone grabbed it for a filler image for their magazine. It's not like something this high quality was made just for the magazine (and just to be covered up by that other random art.)

Anyway, I'm devastated that we will probably never get to see the full image of this. For all the guides, magazines, and merch I have seen over the years: this is the only place this appears. As far as I know at least. However, if you see it somewhere else, please write me right away and let me know. 

Find the 2400dpi scan here. It is specifically from the 1992 no. 03 issue of Family Computer Magazine


Here are some photos twitter user, Number 20, took to show us (Thank you so much for your help!)



     

Monday, March 20, 2023

Nintendo Power Illustration Credits

  Monday, March 20, 2023      No comments   Edit



Nintendo Power art (top) by Hiroshi Aizawa with art from a guide he did a small manga for (below)


I'm trying to figure out who all of the artist's are. As in: matched with their actual art. This is just going to be a reference sheet for me while I work on this project.


Nintendo Power Volume 1: July-August 1988

Nintendo Power Volume 2: September-October 1988
Nintendo Power Volume 3: November-December
Nintendo Power Volume 4: January-February
  • https://archive.org/details/Nintendo_Power_Issue001-Issue127/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20004%20January-February%201989/page/n5/mode/2up
    • Shuji Imai
    • Orange Nakamura
    • Goblin Takagi
    • Takao Watanabe
    • Hiro-Con Nagami
    • Egu Egu Eguchi
    • Tomoyuki Fukutome
    • Kazunori lihara (Kazunori Aihara?) (Pokemon artist. Would be funny if he did the AoL map)
    • Hiroshi Aizawa (Huh... what if he did the AoL Link and Item art and the LttP Item art. (the line weight and style is the same even if his shading and noses changed...) Look up Bump N Jump on page 80, looks like his style
    • Yoshimiru Hoshi and Hideaki Itoh have uncredited work in this issue
      • Who did the castle and sword art?
      • The dungeon level art
      • Who did the enemy art
      • Who did the link art on page 14
Nintendo Power Volume 5: March-April
Nintendo Power Volume 6: May-June
Nintendo Power Volume 7: July-August
Nintendo Power Volume 8: September-October
  • https://archive.org/details/Nintendo_Power_Issue001-Issue127/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20008%20September-October%201989/
  • US Illustration Staff:
    • Kaz Aizawa
    • Nob-Rin Takagi
    • Hiro-Con Nagami
  • Japanese Illustration Staff:
    • Hideaki Ito (Hideaki Itoh)
    • Tatsuya Terada (Katsuya Terada) -Dragon Warrior
    • Shuji Imai -Dragon Warrior
    • Orange Nakamura
    • Makikazu Ohmori
    • Hiroshi Aizawa -Might have done some of the Fester's Quest enemies, pg 39. Maybe the Bases Loaded II art, pg 85.
    • Kazunori Aihara
    • Tomoyuki Fukutome
  • Poster Art: Hige-Hige Ohmori
      • Who did the dragon warrior map
      • who did the dragon warrior border
      • who did the Willow map art, pg 61, was it Aihara? It actually has some similar tones and I could see how it could bridge the gap between the AoL map and the LA map
      • Link art, page 94. Western comic style.
Nintendo Power Volume 9: November-December
  • https://archive.org/details/Nintendo_Power_Issue001-Issue127/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20009%20November-December%201989/page/n3/mode/2up
    • Shuji Imai
    • Orange Nakamura
    • Makikazu Ohmori
    • Magician Sasaki
    • Kazunori Aihara
    • Tomoyuki Fukutome 福留朋之 bio COVER ART COVER ART 2
  • Poster Art: Tatsuji Kajita
      • Whomever did the willow art, pg 9, I feel like they did the AoL castle and sword art, and something else I can't place my finger on. Maybe they actually did to the LttP map but just actually spent time on it. Wow the map on page 13... is this really old Kazunori Aihara art? That would be a big evolution if so. Maybe I have this wrong. I need to look into the other people for sure. Like it's kind of stiff, I could see it more as Makikazu Ohmori art and who is Tomoyuki Fukutome... 
      • Super Off Road art, the sketchy overhead art on pg 25 looks relevant. Could be whomever did the sketchy art in the Ultima guide
      • Iron Sword Item Art looks relevant, pg 27
      • Who did the Shadowgate art pg 58
      • who did all the detailed art on pages 84-85
      • Who did the map and ramp art on page 66-67, could also be whomever did LttP level maps
Nintendo Power Volume 10: January-February
  • https://archive.org/details/Nintendo_Power_Issue001-Issue127/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20010%20January-February%201990/page/n3/mode/2up
  • US Illustration Staff:
    • Jim Frisino
    • Nob-Rin Takagi
    • Hiro-Con Nagami
  • Japanese Illustration Staff:
    • Shuji Imai
    • Orange Nakamura
    • Makikazu Ohmori (I still think he must have done the Willow art but idk.) Did he do the Astyanax art on page 63? Guessing he did the wild mech art on page 64
    • Magician Sasaki
    • Kazunori Aihara (I still think he must have done the Willow art but idk.) Could have done the Mario art on page 57
  • Poster Art: Yuji Kaida
  • Photography: Izumi Takada
  • Claymation: Maji Sasaki
      • who did the twin cobra art, they probably did the willow art and the AoL map

More coming soon

--------------------------------
Willow Videogame:
Info
Visual Design Masako Honma (Manashi) Yuki Kyotani (Yuki) Nagineko
Monster Design Naoya Tomita (Tom-Pon) Hironori Matsumura (Fish Man) Tall Nob (as Tall Nob)

Japanese booklet may have credits, look around.

-------------------------------

Sunday, March 19, 2023

High Res Barcode Battler Card Art and Hyrule Fantasy Envelope Art

  Sunday, March 19, 2023   ,   No comments   Edit




The Zelda collector Linksliltri4ce has been so amazing to me over the years! She just sent me all of the Barcode Battler cards, and 2 little envelopes with un-scanned images, so that we can all have incredible high res scans of some really unique and rare art! Find the Barcode Battler cards in the Link to the Past Album and the envelopes here and here. I can not thank her enough for everything she does for me and this community. Check out her site and the plushies she makes!


We are still missing an envelope with Link playing the flute. If you have it, could you send me a scan? If you want to sell or trade it, please contact Linksliltri4ce

Hyrule Fantasy Bandai Board Game Art!

  Sunday, March 19, 2023   , ,   No comments   Edit


This is a really beautiful little board game that was produced by Bandai in 1986.
While I have this, and plan to make bigger scans at a later date, I wanted to upload the art for people to enjoy and also so myself, and everyone else, can keep track of what we have and what is missing. You can find the scans in the Zelda 1 Art Album.

Amazing cleaning and editing done by: Alberto Vitali https://boardgamegeek.com/user/sbaracleto 

I did a 2nd pass on the map and cover to remove some more text.

Scanned by an anonymous donor and sent to Derrick and Bludd at https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/769070/hyrule-fantasy-total-conversion-project

If you would like to learn more, or play this game, you can find it here: https://historyofhyrule.blogspot.com/2021/09/hyrule-fantasy-board-game-fully.html

If you would like to play other pysical Zelda games, check out this link:
https://historyofhyrule.blogspot.com/2021/10/zelda-game-night-all-non-console-games.html




And here is an absolutely beautiful Hyrule Fantasy (Zelda 1) map from the same Bandai board game that I just posted. This set has incredible art. I'll make higher res scans at a later date but this was mainly cleaned by Alberto Vitali & then I did some too: flickr.com

 

Rare Art Repair: Ikeda Bookstore Hyrule Fantasy Map

  Sunday, March 19, 2023   , ,   No comments   Edit




This is a strategy guide map for the original Legend of Zelda. Olga @That_black_lynx has repaired it by patching numerous pieces together and she and I have cleaned it up. If you would like the full sized images, from 300-1200 dpi, please visit the download page for the scans on: archive.org/details/zelda_guide_loz_ikeda


Each zip has 7 versions of the map. The original cleaned image, ones with items removed, lines removed, text removed, cropped and uncropped.


池田書店 チャレンジマップ ゼルダの伝説

Ikeda Bookstore The Hyrule Fantasy The Legend of Zelda

ISBN 4-262-15501-3/C8276

April 22, 1986


Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Strategy Guide, Zelda 1, Hyrule Fantasy, ゼルダの伝説, Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, ppi, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Impa, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, Game Guide, Guide, NES, FC, Map, ファミマガ, ファミリーコンピュータ, ファミリーコンピュータ マガジン, Gaming, Nintendo, Retro, Art, Illustrations

Rare Art Repair: Adventure of Link, Link and Zelda fighting Gleeok Poster

  Sunday, March 19, 2023   , ,   No comments   Edit



An incredible restoration on this now-rare Zelda art from the 80's. Nearly extinct from the internet.


@JTaylorPro had to combine a poster & folder for the image. It's probably the best its looked since the poster was printed. The art may be from DiC prior to production of the 1989 Super Mario Bros. Show that featured the Legend of Zelda cartoon.


Big thanks to @IkhanaKingdom who sent me scans of a poster that has more image on the sides &
@MrTalida and @RupaKoopaTroopa who got the folder online/to me. All 3 of them, along with Jefferson, made this possible.


Here's a high-res version of just the folder from MrTalida: archive.org



Thanks to Super Zelda Bro for posting this officially licensed art that matches these designs from a Nintendo poster set:





High Res Scans: 1200-2400dpi Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha Legend of Zelda Strategy Guide

  Sunday, March 19, 2023   ,   No comments   Edit


 
Read the book here. I scanned this at 1200dpi and the pages with art were scanned at 2400dpi.


The Legend of Zelda (z1) Strategy Guide
  • May 28th,1986
  • ISBN 63912-70
  • Planning & Editing: Studio Hard
    • Hideaki Oide
    • Shuichi Matsumoto
    • Takeshi Yoshikawa
  • Super Game Player
    • Hiroaki Nagata
    • Koichi Watanabe
  • Cover and Text Illustration
    • MARUDA®
    • Makoto Hidaka
  • Cover and Text Design: Hideaki Kinjo
  • To Issue: Yoshikazu Masuda
  • Issuer: Yoshikazu Ichitsuda
  • Publisher: Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha
  • Head officeL 1-7-9 Ginza, Chou-ku, Tokyo 104
  • Printing and Binding: Dainippon Printing


Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Strategy Guide, Zelda 1, Hyrule Fantasy, ゼルダの伝説, Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, ppi, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Impa, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, Game Guide, Guide, NES, FC, Map, ファミマガ, ファミリーコンピュータ, ファミリーコンピュータ マガジン, Gaming, Nintendo, Retro, Art, Illustrations

2 Years of me being back!

  Sunday, March 19, 2023   ,   No comments   Edit



It's officially been 2 years now since I have been back to working on Zelda content! If you were around in the community in the early 2000's, or even 2011ish, you may have caught my other big bursts of work, but disability and website issues built up and took me away from it all. Thank you to everyone that checked in over the years though, one day it finally clicked that I really do want to be back here working on all this with everyone else. It's been really fun being back. I can not believe how wonderful the gaming and preservation community and enthusiasts are. We have found so many cool things together, we have gotten so many more works translated, we have discovered so much lost material. All of you are so amazing and I hope even some of this has brought people even a drop of the joy it has brought me. 



I'm going to try to post more on other social media, not just twitter, and I want to try to start fixing up my actual site at some point, but for now I am just going to keep scanning to try to make sure these things aren't lost forever. We need a library for old Zelda works, there's too much left to be discovered from them, and I can't wait to see what working towards that future holds.

~Melora

Rare Art Scan: Pyramid of Power (also: WANTED!)

  Sunday, March 19, 2023   ,   No comments   Edit


This may not look like much but this is a piece of (very likely) official Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past art that only seems to be found in the 1992, number 3, issue of Famimaga (Family Computer Magazine) Thanks to @Kobun20 for id'ing the issue for me and to the collector brycecorp where I originally saw the photo.

 
I scanned it at 2400dpi


I believe it is part of the set of official art from the game manual: Such as Link being awoken from his sleep by Princess Zelda's telepathic plea, them fleeing through the sewers, Link on the cliff looking at the Tower of Hera, etc. Each issue of this magazine contains part of a walkthrough for the game. Each section starts with one of those pieces of official art. This is the only one that hasn't been seen before. So I do think it came from the same studio that did that official art and that was just never used until they needed an extra piece for this magazine spread. Cutting room floor causality, if you will. This has happened a few times, for example there was enemy art for Link to the Past that we never saw before until the Art and Artifacts artbook (the blue Daria.) The Ocarina of Time manual also has an image of Link not seen in any other publication. (In the very beginning, his face is overlaid on Ganon's boot.)


Anyway, if you see this image anywhere else, please write me right away! melorasworld@gmail.com

Official Zelda Artists: A Work in Progress

  Sunday, March 19, 2023   No comments   Edit

I'm trying to ID all of the official Zelda artists but I'm still working on this. Most of this is working speculation. If you have anything you can contribute, to help sort out who is who, please let me know on any of my socials or email: linktr.ee/historyofhyrule

---------------------------------------------------------------

Yoshiaki Koizumi : 小泉 歓晃
Honestly, right now, I don't know if Koizumi did these all himself or what but I know he was kind of put in charge of the manual.
  


Yoichi Kotabe : 小田部 羊一 : Youichi Kotabe, Yaichi Kotabe, Yohichi Kotabe
I'm betting he did a lot of other stuff too but, honestly,  the way they talk about the art in interviews... it's a little confusing to know who did what. The watercolors are absolutely his though
 


Yasuhiro Sakai : 酒井 康裕

Tomoaki Kuroume : 黒梅 知明

Hideki Fujii : 藤井 英樹

---------------------------------------------------------------


Matsunori Iwamoto : 岩本松徳

I'm confident saying these are his. The Manga is absolutely his:
   


Kenji Murata : 村田健司 , けんじ むらた
  1. Ultima Exodus Guide: Maps? (3 artists. Technical Maps | Cute Characters, Items, Map | More Serious Characters | Pastel Chalks) Technical Maps? or Pastels (can't be pastels, he is not in LA US Guide. Might be thicker looking illustrations in LA guide or those may also be by Matsunori Iwamoto)
  2. Zelda Handbook (LttP) 2 Overworld Maps? (it's either them or Yuji Honma)
  3. US Nintendo Guide (LttP)
  4. German Nintendo Guide (LttP) -There are world maps! or are those by Toshisada Nobuhara? These do look a little different though
  5. US Nintendo Guide (LA)
  6. Not in the German LA Guide
  7. Nintendo Player's Guide - NES Game Atlas (it has technical maps, horrible airbrush of link, that AoL Map, items)
  8. Nintendo Player's Guide- Game Boy 
Possibility: LA US Guide (Only 4 Artists) . Ultima Guide (only 3 artists)
 



Yuji Honma : 本間雑二


Makikazu Ohmori : まきかず おもり
Macki Ohmori
Confirmed: Nintendo Power
 



Katsuya Terada :


Hiroshi Aizawa : 愛沢ひろし
Hiroshi Auzawa

I think he may have done the item art for A Link to the Past
 


Shuji Imai :今井修司 
Syuji Imai
Howard and Nester Artist
Ah, could he have done the items too? Imai does darker corners. The palette is similar but also not as spot-on as the other guy's. Honestly I can't figure out what Imai would have done in the 2 LttP Player's Guides if not this either. The line work on that one concept piece of Link reaching for the sword... maybe he drew it and someone else colored it? https://archive.org/details/zelda_guide_lttp_nintendo_power_us/zelda_guide_lttp_nintendo_power_us/page/n110/mode/1up


Toshisada Nobuhara :
Tosashi Nobehara
Are the maps in the player's guides actually the same as this guide's maps? I need to check on that

Confirmed Art: 
 


Satoshi Yuzuriha :



Kazunori Aihara : 相原和典
  1. German Nintendo Guide (LA) New Simple Items? Simpler Maps? Really Cool Giant Map?
  2. Pokemon Book Artist Watercolor, so he probably did the big LA map
  3. Game Boy Player's Guide
Oddly I think he may have done some maps in the early Nintendo powers... but he would have been a MUCH less developed artist if I'm right. Because they are pretty rough in comparison.

Pretty confident on this one:
  


Kazuhiro Amachi :
Could be the simple maps, maybe the items as well? Kinda the same colors and styles. Maybe they did the items as well. They're in a very clean, graphic, style as well.
See if the LA items are credited in the LA guide. I do not believe they were. I think only Kotabe is mentioned as an illustrator in that.


Ken-show :
I can not figure out why this guy is in here unless he did the official items for Metroid II: Return of Samus. Which are in the Super Game Boy guide. Because then he could have done the new Zelda items in the German LttP guide: they only appear in that one guide. Like the 4 swords and 2 shields. The coloring on the tunics also look the same, though this tunic art is seen elsewhere with flatter colors. These bows and boomerangs have also been redone.

Check the golden bee. I believe that also appeared in a Nintendo Power, see if he is credited.

Probably not the simple items and maps from German LA because nothing like that is in the Metroid art in the Super Game Boy guide. But it's weird because the items for the German LA guide ARE in the Super Game Boy guide... argh..

---------------------------------------------------------------


Not A Zelda artist but to help narrow it down:

Tetuo Hiroi :
Tetsuo Hiroi?
Doesn't really match the Ultima guide, but idk it says Tetsuo Hiroi, maybe he really upped his game! This is absolutely great art:



---------------------------------------------------------------

Check these artists:

Yoshiki Oshima, Akio Nakamura, Makikazu Omori

Jackie Yoshida

Benimaru Itoh | Benimaru "Ashura" Itoh



Yu Minazuki - check the Japanese spelling- Yuu Mishouzaki, who did the stranger LoZ and AoL Zelda comics. So did they do comics for Wanpakku, which would mean they worked for Tokuma Shoten like some other Wanpakku comic artists, which makes me wonder if they were at Work House too? idk, style looks pretty different

--------------------------------------------

  • Makikazu Ohmori
  • KEN-SHOW
Has Metroid: Return of Samus Items
Zelda: 3 item artists from Zelda: has a detailed items from LA. Has a simple items from LttP for LA. Has newly added item from LA German guide: Mirror Shield, Bracelet x2, feather, for LA

  • Hideaki Ito
  • Kenji Murata
  • Kazunori Aihara
  • Makikazu Ohmori
  • Toshisada Nobuhara
  • Kazuhiro Amachi


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