Showing posts with label announcement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label announcement. Show all posts

Sunday, August 29, 2021

8 Out of Print Volumes of Zelda Manga are Going to be Re-published! (Updates)

Update 2022-04-17: Yes, they are taking a while but the publisher is still releasing issues every month as promised. 


There's so much info below but first: I want everyone to make a really big push to see all of these localized in other languages by the publishers. I led that same kind of push for years, from History of Hyrule back in the early 2000's, to make that happen with Akira Himekawa's manga, and then over a decade later, when we got word Nintendo was finally going to be doing a real artbook, I worked so hard, and led an even bigger fan effort, to get the hype and interest going to get that localized in the US and other languages as well. They did and it ended up topping the best selling charts on Amazon and the New York Times. (It even beat out Twilight for a while.) Job well done, everyone!


And here's the reason: if these do well then other companies that produced a lot of old Zelda manga, like Enix, will hopefully be encouraged to do ebook releases of their out of print content too. We need to make that happen! If these do well publishers might even pay more artists to do more Zelda works. So let's get hyped about it again guys and when these drop let's hit the ground running.


To do this let's do what my friends and I did for the Himekawa manga and Hyrule Historia. Let's get some translations done so we can all read along with the books when they come out, then write all the companies like Nintendo, Viz, and Darkhorse about getting the rights, start campaigns, and when those Japanese ebook sales jump up because we pound that "buy it" button: I will bet you they'll do it.


This also means I need help finding translators. I have 600dpi scans made specifically for translation, they are not for distribution though and are not posted publicly right now. I have generally only hosted pages on the site that are large enough to comprehend but not big enough to discourage people from wanting actual copies if they become available for sale. More on that needed translation help below.

Example of the scans for translations


Now, back to the meat of it: One Pack Comics, also known as "Wanpakku Comics" or わんぱっくコミック, was a serialized monthly manga magazine that I believe ran from 1985 to 1989. As far as I know, in it's history, it produced 3 different Zelda series for Hyrule Fantasy, (the original Legend of Zelda,) and the Adventure of Link. I'll post info on them below. They were collected into 7 volumes, with the 8th and last volume of Ran Maru's Adventure of Link manga never officially being turned into a book because the publisher closed right after the artist finished. Those last 7 issues, that would have been the final volume, can only be found online because someone Xeroxed the pages from the final year of the magazine to make extra copies. And thank goodness they did even though they're not great. Someone else later scanned them. If you've seen the popular GTV Japan YouTube video, it's using those same scanned Xeroxs that I've had on my site for around a decade. (By the way, I love his videos. I do technically disagree with how he interpreted the ending though, we had a nice conversation about it, but you know how fans will have different takes: I just think SPOILER it's clear Zelda comes back to life at the end and that it's part of the main story, not tacked on. The Salamander that dies in the same place her body falls into, comes back at the end, with the same flute that fell in too, and then we see a female with Zelda's stature come out of that same lake .Link threw the Triforces into it as well. It seems very clear to me what happens)


I have been trying to track down those 7 magazine issues for around a decade now. Here's the covers and info on them. (I do still want them.) The ever-awesome Zelda collector, Ikhana, was helping me find them, (she actually found April's issue for me and I was able to buy it, it's being shipped as we speak. She's so good at this!) but in the process she found a press release from August 12, 2021 that stated Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd. (株式会社徳間書店, Kabushiki gaisha Tokuma Shoten), One Pack's parent company, was going to be re-release all of the manga at a rate of roughly 5 issues a month (mid month) starting on August 16th. Which was just a few days ago. You will be able to purchase these ebook volumes on these platforms:

  • Kindleストア(Amazon)
  • 楽天Kobo電子書籍ストア
  • BOOK☆WALKER
  • honto
  • ブックライブ
  • コミックシーモア
  • ebookjapan
  • Renta!(パピレス)
  • DMMブックス

The first 5 volumes have been released, as promised, but they are not for the Legend of Zelda, they're just some of the many other works One Pack supported. But I am happy to see it's really happening. I'm not sure when they'll get to the Zelda ones, but it's promising to see that they're already rapidly releasing things. Again, they will release 5 volumes in the middle of every month.

Out of those stores I'm only familiar with Amazon.jp. To find the ebook releases you'll want the keyword わんぱっくコミック (One Pack's name in Japanese) or just use this link.

Now, what are the 3 Legend of Zelda series to expect, the 8 volumes:


My all-time-favorite Zelda manga is in this batch. A total of 4 volumes it was created by Ran Maru and ran from 1986 to 1988. It starts with one volume for Hyrule Fantasy/The Original Legend of Zelda and continues on with 3 volumes for the Adventure of Link. (The last one was the one I was talking about that was not collected into a book though.) One of the reasons I love it is for how the personalities of Link and Zelda are portrayed. They remind me of what I actually want from the games. The 2nd reasons is for all the firsts in this series: It's the first time we see things that appear in later games. A few small examples would be: Link with hot pink hair, Link riding into battle on a giant bird, his spin attack, and we even see Zelda using magic to transform into a male character in the intent to fool Ganon's minions to buy time while Link is missing in action. And the series is dark. It's actually very very dark.



The 1st chapter is in English.

UPDATE: FULLY TRANSLATED!!



The first chapter is in English! But we need to have the rest finished

UPDATE: FULLY TRANSLATED
but being revised, I do not have it yet





FULLY TRANSLATED!!


Now for the other 4 volumes:


The Adventure of Link, Volume 1, by Daisuke Shigoto

This is a pretty amazing work. While it has some original elements it's acts as a game guide for the Adventure of Link. It's really worth checking out.

WE NEED A TRANSLATOR FOR THIS
Someone was translating this with my scans for another site but it looks like they're MIA 



This is a continuation of volume one, it was just taken over by a different artist.

WE NEED A TRANSLATOR FOR THIS




The Legend of Zelda by Kobayashi Susumu
This is one volume that covers the whole first game and even acts as a complete game guide. The art in this is actually really good, this artist also did work that appeared in official Nintendo publications. 

WE NEED A TRANSLATOR FOR THIS

Again, I would like to try to find a translator for each volume if possible, to get these done quickly. I do have 600dpi scans to help you read them and we just need to make a script so people can read along with the eventual ebooks. Contact me if you have actual experience translating from Japanese to English.
melorasworld@gmail.com

And after this: We have around 35 other volumes of Zelda manga, 4koma, and novels that still need to be translated! I'm not kidding! There's so many no one has ever done.

Follow me on Twitter @historyofhyrule if you want the most current news and updates.
And I'll be on a backpacking trip on Monday-Wednesday so forgive me if I can't respond until then.





Tuesday, November 20, 2012

New Contest Prize Confirmed!

I wasn't sure the pre-orders would be honored, so I didn't announce this yet but... the Skyward Sword Figma Link WILL be one of the fanart contest prizes! Yes! This absolutely awesome figure:


And if you haven't heard about the Fanart Calendar contest yet, please see this post and this information thread. There's only a few days left until the contest ends! You better hurry!

Specifications:
ABS & PVC Pre-painted Posable Figure
Size: Appx. 140mm Tall (NON Scale)
w/Base

Details:
The Hero of Winds in his classic green outfit!

From the popular action adventure Zelda series' newest addition, 'The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword' comes a figma of the main character of the series, Link!

-Using the smooth yet poseable joints of figma, you can act out a variety of different scenes.
-A flexible plastic is used for important areas, allowing proportions to be kept without compromising posability.
-He comes with his standard gallant expression, as well as a powerful shouting face for combat poses.
-The Master Sword as well as the Hylian Shield are both included. They can also be carried on his back as they did in the game.
-A poseable figma stand is included, which allows various poses to be taken.

Hyrule Histroia Information (Purchasing and Release Dates)

If you would like more detailed info, check out the old Hyrule Historia Info Post and the Hyrule Historia Tag.

What is "Hyrule Historia?"
It's a book, officially released by Nintendo, that covers the whole Legend of Zelda series: from the original game up to Skyward Sword. Basically half of the book is timeline and story information, the other half is concept art from almost all these games. It also includes interviews and other information. The book's Editor is one of the series' main creators, Eiji Aonuma. It also includes a 32 page comic, a "prequel to Skyward Sword" if you will, which was done by the current manga-ka's for the series: Akira Himekawa.

Peek Inside the Japanese Versionhere's a released page in English, and here's the Skyward Sword Prequel manga.


Basic Information on the History of the Book's Release:
There is a Japanese version of the book that came first. In December of 2011 it was available for pre-order (Japan only.) Many fans thought it would be a limited edition run for the 25th anniversary of Zelda. The pre-order sold out instantly. After a long wait, more copies were printed; it can no longer be considered a limited run. The book is still currently available in Japanese. (The end of the post has info on purchasing the Japanese version)

Eventually, Nintendo of America approached Darkhorse (Comics/Publishing) and they agreed to bring it out in English. You can pre-order the English version now. The release date is/was January 29, 2013 for most shops.

A Note: It looks like the release date is being moved around a little bit by the publisher's shop. I would not be worried about this at all: I'm just thinking that this might mean newer orders might be shipped a little bit later due to demand. I could also be wrong and/or they could just have the wrong info listed. If you pre-ordered it from TFAW, the publisher's store, a while back: you got a slightly earlier release date of January 16, 2013. They now have a release date of February 12, 2013So... I'm basically just saying I'm not sure how this affects orders or orders made on other shops.

Explanation of the Covers:
There are 3 4 covers that you might see. This is what they are so there's no confusion as to what is what:



Limited Edition's Cover:
The Limited Edition English Version is a newer development. You can find info on that version of the book  at this link.



Where to Buy the English Version:
(cost and release dates usually vary from shop to shop and country to country.)
Note: We do not currently know if it will be localized into languages other than English. But, the English version IS available in other countries. The English version is the same version of the book no matter which country you buy it in. I will provide shopping links below. (If you know of good shops for other countries, please email me the links (or leave them in the comments) so I can add them to this list.)

The base price/list price is $34.99 USD. (Many shops have a great discount price on the pre-orders.) The ISBN in every country is 978-1-61655-041-7. It's hardcover, 9x12 inches, full color, the cover is stamped foil, and it's a total of 276 pages. 

The page count varies on different sites.* (this is old info; see the update just below this paragraph) Just know that I've checked with the Editor of the book for the English version and that he's confirmed that it should have all the same stuff the Japanese version has. The Japanese version has 272 pages. So it will at least have 270 pages. If you see 280 pages listed for the English one: those may be filler pages or .. it may have slightly more content? I can't really speculate on that much. I don't know why some shops have 280 pages listed. If you see 248 pages, that is an OLD number that they have forgotten to update on their shop: again, that is a confirmed fact from the book's Editor.

*Update: I was right ;)
Dark Horse Comics: "The Editor assures us that both versions have 276 pages. When we first solicited the book to retailers and the book market we were given a less definitive answer on final page count and now we're trying to bring all retailers to the same page count."

-- Amazon
-- Walmart

 Canada

 The UK




 Italy

 Australia
-- ??? Until I know more, just do an ISBN search on AU bookstores.

 Mexico
-- ??? Until I know more, just do an ISBN search on local bookstores.


Ordering "Offline" and Other Importing Methods:
You can also ALWAYS call a bookstore in your town and see if they can order it/import it for you. For example: Kinokuniya is very reputable, I use them a lot, and they have many world-wide locations. I call them when I use them, but you can probably email them too.

Note: Glitterberri, a fan-translator for the Legend of Zelda series, is helping with the localization. (So, yes, someone who is very familiar with the series will be working on the English version.)


Read it in Other Languages:
Since the English release is pending, I will not be posting links to English fan-localization efforts on this page. Until there is release info for other languages, I will provide links to fan translations for any other language. If you know of other sites with translations, please email me the links (or leave them in the comments) so I can add them to this list.

German:

Spanish:

French:


  Info for purchasing the original Japanese version:
This is the original version of the book that was released in Japan and is in Japanese. This is NOT the english version I've posted info for above.

Purchase: Amazon.co.jp has (expensive) international shipping
Purchase: Shogakukan, the book's publisher, only ships within Japan but, if it's in stock at the publisher's shop, THEN many local bookstores, like Kinokuniya, can import it for you.  The shipping should be much cheaper this way. Kinokuniya also, very often, has it in stock on their shelves in their actual stores. That means NO shipping fee.

Currently IN STOCK
Language: Japanese
Japanese Title: ハイラル・ヒストリア ゼルダの伝説 大全: 任天堂
Hardback: 272 pages
Publisher: Nintendo/Shogakukan
ISBN-10: 409227159X
ISBN-13: 978-4092271593
Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.2 x .7 inches
Price: 3,255 yen (roughly $40.00)

Note: The Japanese version is actually slightly smaller in size (dimensions) than the English one.This means that there's not much of a reason you would need to worry about buying the Japanese one unless you're just a collector. I do not know what the difference in print quality will be like yet though, I'm just hoping the English one will use even better paper-stock & printing. 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Just one month until the Zelda Fanart Contest Ends!



CONTEST INFO! Please join us!!

PRIZES: There's ocarinas, manga, toys, figurines, DA Subscriptions, and I'm also giving away a bunch of Japanese & English copies of Hyrule Historia.

And another deadline is coming up~ The main contest doesn't end until the end of November, but if you finish your entry by midnight on October 31 you'll have a chance to win one of these things:


CHECK IT OUT!

Go read about it! Get inspired! And enter so we can make it freakn' AWESOME!

Again, this contest is really just being held to make a free 2013 calendar for everyone: so it's also kind of a collab. Even if you don't care about prizes~ consider entering just to make something that every Zelda fan can use and love.

Spread the word so it doesn't suck! :3

And, if you have any questions, just ask! (email only right now: historyofhyrule.contests@gmail.com )

~Melora

Also, I'm still mostly absent because I'm trying to put a series together for a gallery. You can really only reach me about the contest through the contest email. I will not have time to check other messages until mid-November or later. 



Sunday, September 30, 2012

Slowed Down Again, but Still Running!

So, I'm back to working on stuff for the site, but the day the new Himekawa manga "came out" and was translated by Zeldanime, I had a bit of an emergency with one of my pets. She almost bled to death and was barely saved by the emergency vet. I've had to spend the last few days with her, checking on her almost non-stop, to make sure her beak injury didn't re-open and start bleeding again. Which at least has been an enjoyable task, because it's fun to hang with her- but it explains the slowdown in replying about the contest and posting the new entries. Let alone getting more translations posted.

I also have a surgery (unrelated to my arm) at the end of this week, on the 5th, so I don't know how soon I'll be back after that.

So, I'll still be doing stuff for the site and replying, I just wanted to let people know what any delays might be about.

Don't forget though! New participation prize :3 Get your entries in by the end of October at a chance to win this one! Contest info can be found here.




Also, head over to our Tumblr if you enjoy fanart, and join us on Facebook for even more fun updates.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

New OoT Himekawa Comic (Updates)

Update: Zeldanime got one page translated, I don't know if they need more translation help but, if you can translate Chinese, it might not hurt to contact them. (or on Facebook

Update 2! They're definitely translating the rest! Should be in English before long :) Follow them, I'm going to be out for a while.

Okay! I'm on a real computer now, let's post about this bit of awesomeness.
Thanks Feri-san, who found this before anyone else! And Mases for the extra info!

So, this Akira Himekawa manga was possibly commissioned for the Hong Kong release of Ocarina of Time 3D. It's 15 pages long, (16 with the intro page,) in Chinese (Han, if you wish to translate it) and you can find the pdf on Nintendo's official site Nintendo.tw/zelda

It's not their best work, but there are some amazing pictures in it of all the main characters.
Pages below! Click to enlarge!

















(Edit: Sorry, they were originally posted out of order. The new blogger admin panel is weird and, even though I tried to fix it in the html, the changes wouldn't take. So I had to redo it by hand to get them in the right order)

Akira Himekawa's original blog post about it:

2012.09.28 Friday
ゼルダの伝説「時のオカリナ」香港台湾向け発売!3DS
Posted by seisakuhime

ゼルダの伝説「時のオカリナ」3DS香港台湾向け発売になります。
アジアでは初なのだそうです。
そのPRに漫画の依頼を任天堂さんの方から7月に受けまして8月に制作しました。
急だったのですがなんとか間に合って本当にホッとしています。


詳しくはツイッターでよろしくお願いします。


ブログでは今の仕事が一息ついたら時間を見て書きますね。
すみません!!!><

--Google Translate--
Taiwan, Hong Kong will be released for 3DS "Ocarina of Time" The Legend of Zelda.
In Asia, it is likely that it the first time.

I was produced in August from July in response to the request of the person's Nintendo PR that cartoon.
I'm really relieved in time but somehow it was sudden.


Thank you on Twitter for more information.


The blog is written now look at the time was the work of a breather.
Sorry! ! ! > <
-----

このPRマンガは任天堂さんからの直接依頼でした。児童漫画とか女子向け男子向け雑誌等、雑誌に影響されない初のマンガです。なんと時のオカリナは13年ぶりに描きました。熱い戦い!

PR This comic was direct request from Mr. Nintendo. This is the first manga that is not affected by such magazines for men or for women cartoon children, in the magazine. Ocarina of Time for the first time in 13 years what drew. Heated battle! 
--
「時のオカリナ」がアジアで発売されるのは初めてなんだそうです。

It is said that the first time you "Ocarina of Time" is is being launched in Asia. 
--
【告知】台湾、香港での3DS「ゼルダの伝説/時のオカリナ」発売のPRで「オカリナ」の新作漫画をカラーで15ページ描き下ろしました。エポナの右の台湾香港新作漫画のバナーをクリック。PR用の無料配布冊子にも収録されます。http://www.nintendo.tw/zelda/#/  ネームは中国語です!

Was drawn in color on page 15 of the new cartoon "ocarina" in PR release of "Ocarina of Time / The Legend of Zelda" 3DS [notice] Taiwan, in Hong Kong. Click on the banner to the right of Taiwan, Hong Kong, New cartoon Epona. Are also included in the booklet for free distribution of PR. http://www. Nintendo.Tw / zelda / # /  Name is Chinese!

I haven't been able to view this yet, but Feri-san sent it to me so I trust it. Apparently there is a "new" short comic Akira Himekawa did, for the release of OoT3D, at this link: http://www.nintendo.tw/zelda/zelda_comic_for_HP.pdf

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Participation Prize Deadline TONIGHT~!


Just a reminder that if you want to qualify for this round's prize for participating, finish your entry and email it before the end of tonight! (Sept 16, 2012.) I'm off to reply to the most current emails so, if you've sent one in, and haven't heard from me soon: email me at the contest email again.

If you haven't heard about the contest yet, or would like to join us in this collaborative event to make a free, downloadable, Zelda calendar for next year, please see this info thread! It has everything you should need to know.




The Arrival of Demise by Ebillan
'When the gods of old left the world they created, they trusted their ultimate power, the Triforce, to the hands of Hylia so that she could protect it. She did so throughout the Era of the Goddess Hylia until one day a crack opened up in the earth and the Demon King Demise and his demonic hordes came forth from the fissure...
In order to prevent the great power from falling into the hands of Demise, Hylia gathered the humans and sent them skyward with the Triforce, beyond the reach of evil forces wrecking havoc upon the surface world.'