Archival Scans for The Ocarina of Time 4koma by Kobunsha

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

I've started scanning the 26ish volumes of Legend of Zelda 4-Koma and I'm actually going to post large versions of it, which I usually don't do, but it's only because I think the chances of it having a market to be republished are pretty slim. I'm trying to make sure I support publishers but, also, it's a shame something disappears because it's been unavailable for decades so I'm trying to figure out the balance there.

A 4koma manga for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Title: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 4Koma Gag Battle
ゼルダの伝説 時のオカリナ 4コマギャグバトル 探検編
Artist or Circle: Anthology
Publisher: Kobunsha
Publish Dates: 2000-01-10 (First Edition) 2002-07-30 (3rd Edition)
3rd Edition ISBN4-334-80487-X / C9979

Other Possible Information
ISBN4-334-80561-2
Dates: 1999-12-16


Artist Information (Source)

• 鼻の種族] - 土久清正
• [リンクの事情] - 都波みなと
• [見た目はおとな 頭脳はこども] - 美川ベルノ
• [ゼル伝ミレニアム] - 五十嵐愛美
• [64のねじれ] - 東静馬
• [コキリの森へいらっしゃい] - 福永朱示
• [3つのアイテム] - 七谷文
• [ゾーラ河畔に日は暮れて…] - 路みちる
• [コッコや] - 大久保みどり
• [バーニング・ハンマー] - 廣野誠
• [世界はぐるぐる！] - 牧原ひさと
• [僕のオラトリオ] - 枉未和己
• [見たコトのないモノ] -松本英孝
• [ゼルダ姫の伝説] - 御津浦彩
• [若葉のこころ] - 王楽紫衣
• [姫サマ ひと休み] - 月野出迦夜
• [ポカポカ] - あづまきさらぎ
• [あたってくだけたっ] - たかみねうりこ
• [愛と勇気と心意気] - 辰巳仁
• カバーイラスト…古澤純也/五十嵐愛美/大久保みどり
• 総扉イラスト…辰巳仁
• 目次イラスト…美川ベルノ

Any translations will be posted to this Flickr album for now.

I am super sad these never got popular. They're so awesome! I've had small scans of most of the pages on historyofhyrule.com since 2002-2004 and I haven't even seen so much as a meme from them. And they are so meme worthy! Only 1 out of roughly 26 Zelda 4komas have been translated so, if you would like to translate this, even just sections of it, please go ahead and let me know!

If you use these pages please always link back to the main website though, so people can find more information and rare materials, or even help me find more!

Here are examples and info on the other 4koma, they're for the games LttP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, OoA, and OoS. I will be scanning them all in the coming weeks: Here's what you can expect to see.

Other Keywords: Zeruda no Densetsu: Toki no Okarina, Zelda, manga, comics, zelda, RAWS, 600dpi, 600ppi, High Resolution, High Res, High Rez, Scans, 4-koma, Yonkoma, 4コマ漫画, OoT, LoZ, Princess Zelda, Link, Marin, Sheik, Epona

Archival Scans for The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons 4koma by Futabasha

 Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

I've started scanning the 26ish volumes of Legend of Zelda 4-Koma and I'm actually going to post large versions of it, which I usually don't do, but it's only because I think the chances of it having a market to be republished are pretty slim. I'm trying to make sure I support publishers but, also, it's a shame something disappears because it's been unavailable for decades so I'm trying to figure out the balance there.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons
Published by Futabasha, June 20, 2001
ISBN 4-575-93740-1 / C9979
ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 大地の章 時空の章 4コマまんが王国
The Legend of Zelda: The Reality of the Mysterious Tree Chapter of the Earth Chapter of Space-Time 4koma Manga Kingdom
G.G.C編集。


Artist Information (Source)

• [リンク☆リンク 時空の章] - 中村里美
• [ウタヒメ] - 神楽つな
• [REAL TIME] - 田島朋
• [春夏冬] - 川本祐太郎
• [みんなのうた] - 高沢浩里
• [耳長をめぐる冒険] - 東静馬
• [Love＆Peace！？] - 牧原ひさと
• [字 ホロドラム ラブレンヌ] - 藤井昌浩
• [魔女っ娘 メイプル] - まつやま登
• [ゼルダの時間差攻撃] - ほしのえみこ
• [しあわせになろう] - 佐倉忍
• [大地の話] - 野々原ちき
• [ハトに豆鉄砲] - 大賀一五
• [8つのことわり お断り] - 森山一保
• [2001年ムッシュの旅] - かみかわりょう
• [じかんときせつ] - 桜川キヨイ
• おたより募集
• カバーイラスト…東静馬

Any translations will be posted to this Flickr album for now.

I am super sad these never got popular. They're so awesome! I've had small scans of most of the pages on historyofhyrule.com since 2002-2004 and I haven't even seen so much as a meme from them. And they are so meme worthy! Only 1 out of roughly 26 Zelda 4komas have been translated so, if you would like to translate this, even just sections of it, please go ahead and let me know!

If you use these pages please always link back to the main website though, so people can find more information and rare materials, or even help me find more!

Here are examples and info on the other 4koma, they're for the games LttP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, OoA, and OoS. I will be scanning them all in the coming weeks: Here's what you can expect to see.

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 大地の章, Zeruda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Ki no Mi: Daichi no Shō, tLoZ, LoZ, OoS, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 時空の章, Zeruda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Ki no Mi: Jikū no Shō, tLoZ, LoZ, Oracles, OoA, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Nintendo, Gameboy, book, videogame, Comics, Manga, 4-koma, Yonkoma, 4コマ漫画,

Archival Scans of the Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages 4koma by Kobunsha

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

I've started scanning the 26ish volumes of Legend of Zelda 4-Koma and I'm actually going to post large versions of it, which I usually don't do, but it's only because I think the chances of it having a market to be republished are pretty slim. I'm trying to make sure I support publishers but, also, it's a shame something disappears because it's been unavailable for decades so I'm trying to figure out the balance there.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages 4koma
Published by Kobunsha, August 10, 2001
ISBN 4-334-80536-1 / C9979
ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 時空の章 4コマギャグバトル
The Legend of Zelda: Fruit of the Mysterious Tree: Chapter of Time and Space
火の玉ゲームコミックシリーズ

Artist Information (Source)

• [リンクリング] - 福永朱示
• [友情まっしぐら！] - 人参SO.
• [我が道をゆく] - 都波みなと
• [自称”勇者”] - 五十嵐愛美
• [ポロロン時空旅行トカ] - サイキユニ
• [時を越え… 山越え谷越えて] - 大久保みどり
• [メイプラーズ] - 外間隆想
• [今 何時？] - 七谷文
• [時代の詩] - 月野出迦夜
• [現在過去未来] - 牧原ひさと
• [ときのまにまに] - 御津浦彩
• [おせっかいの章] - 大賀一五
• [移りゆく時の間で] - 辰巳仁
• [なかよくしよう] - たかのはしふみこ
• [ゼルゼルDA！] - 高沢浩里
• [ハートビート アドベンチャラーズ] - 神武ひろよし
• [であいのきねん] - 美川べるの
• [適度な平和] - 藤井昌浩
• [ラブレンヌ今昔紀行] - 銭形たいむ
• カバーイラスト…人参SO./大久保みどり/牧原ひさと
• 総扉イラスト…神武ひろよし
• 目次イラスト…銭形たいむ

Any translations will be posted to this Flickr album for now.

I am super sad these never got popular. They're so awesome! I've had small scans of most of the pages on historyofhyrule.com since 2002-2004 and I haven't even seen so much as a meme from them. And they are so meme worthy! Only 1 out of roughly 26 Zelda 4komas have been translated so, if you would like to translate this, even just sections of it, please go ahead and let me know!

If you use these pages please always link back to the main website though, so people can find more information and rare materials, or even help me find more!

Here are examples and info on the other 4koma, they're for the games LttP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, OoA, and OoS. I will be scanning them all in the coming weeks: Here's what you can expect to see.

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 大地の章, Zeruda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Ki no Mi: Daichi no Shō, tLoZ, LoZ, Oracles, OoS, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Nintendo, Gameboy, book, videogame, Comics, Manga, 4-koma, Yonkoma, 4コマ漫画, The Legend of Zelda, Oracles, ゼルダの伝説, ふしぎの木の実, 4koma,

Archival Scans of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons 4koma by Kobunsha

 Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

I've started scanning the 26ish volumes of Legend of Zelda 4-Koma and I'm actually going to post large versions of it, which I usually don't do, but it's only because I think the chances of it having a market to be republished are pretty slim. I'm trying to make sure I support publishers but, also, it's a shame something disappears because it's been unavailable for decades so I'm trying to figure out the balance there.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons 4koma manga
Published by Kobunsha, June 25, 2001
ISBN 4-334-80533-7 / C9979
ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 大地の章 4コマギャグバトル
The Legend of Zelda: Nut of the Mysterious Tree: Chapter of the Earth
火の玉ゲームコミックシリーズ

Artist Information (Source)

• [このときのために] - 秋月しょう
• [リンクとあそぼう] - 都波みなと
• [情熱の赤い味] - 人参SO.
• [let's Dance！] - 雁えりか
• [春ウーララ] - 福永朱示
• [幾千万の季節を超えて] - 辰巳仁
• [ガチャ観察日記] - サイキユニ
• [踊る踊るレボリューション] - 高沢浩里
• [Ground Beat] - 枉未和己
• [みかんていのゆうしゃ] - 五十嵐愛美
• [四季のダンス] - 月野出迦夜
• [ホロドラム春夏秋冬紀行] - 銭形たいむ
• [メイプルメイプル] - 外間隆想
• [踊る！！ バッタ君] - 飛鷹ゆうき
• [なるほど探偵団] - 牧原ひさと
• [しきおりおり] - 御津浦彩
• [ハートフルランド] - 大久保みどり
• [大地のSHOW] - 土久清正
• カバーイラスト…人参SO./サイキユニ/枉未和己
• 総扉イラスト…福永朱示
• 目次イラスト…都波みなと

Any translations will be posted to this Flickr album for now.

I am super sad these never got popular. They're so awesome! I've had small scans of most of the pages on historyofhyrule.com since 2002-2004 and I haven't even seen so much as a meme from them. And they are so meme worthy! Only 1 out of roughly 26 Zelda 4komas have been translated so, if you would like to translate this, even just sections of it, please go ahead and let me know!

If you use these pages please always link back to the main website though, so people can find more information and rare materials, or even help me find more!

Here are examples and info on the other 4koma, they're for the games LttP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, OoA, and OoS. I will be scanning them all in the coming weeks: Here's what you can expect to see.

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, ゼルダの伝説 ふしぎの木の実 大地の章, Zeruda no Densetsu: Fushigi no Ki no Mi: Daichi no Shō, tLoZ, LoZ, Oracles, OoS, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Nintendo, Gameboy, book, videogame, Comics, Manga, 4-koma, Yonkoma, 4コマ漫画, The Legend of Zelda, Oracles, ゼルダの伝説, ふしぎの木の実, 4koma,

Archival Scans of The People of Kakariko Village Volume 1

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

I've started scanning the 26ish volumes of Legend of Zelda 4-Koma and I'm actually going to post large versions of it, which I usually don't do, but it's only because I think the chances of it having a market to be republished are pretty slim. I'm trying to make sure I support publishers but, also, it's a shame something disappears because it's been unavailable for decades so I'm trying to figure out the balance there.

This was scanned by CapCom of The Metroid Database and he has kindly allowed me to post the Zelda section here.

This is a short multi-part manga for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

火の玉ゲームコミック 1
The People of Kakariko Village
by Akawa Akemi / 阿川あけみ
Published August 1, 1994 by Kobunsha
ISBN 4-334-80235-4 / C9979

I have the other 2 volumes and will upload them later, but we translated volume 3 and it is posted here: https://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_random_mini3/index.html

There was apparently supposed to be a volume 4 but it was never completed.

 Any translations will be posted to this Flickr album for now.

I am super sad these never got popular. They're so awesome! I've had small scans of most of the pages on historyofhyrule.com since 2002-2004 and I haven't even seen so much as a meme from them. And they are so meme worthy! Only 1 out of roughly 26 Zelda 4komas have been translated so, if you would like to translate this, even just sections of it, please go ahead and let me know!

If you use these pages please always link back to the main website though, so people can find more information and rare materials, or even help me find more!

Here are examples and info on the other 4koma, they're for the games LttP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, OoA, and OoS. I will be scanning them all in the coming weeks: Here's what you can expect to see.

Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past, ゼルダの伝説, 神々のトライフォース, Zelda, tLoZ, LoZ, aLttP, Lttp, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda, Zeruda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods, SNES, Super Famicom, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, book, videogame, Comics, Manga, LoZ, Nintendo,

Archival Scans of The Legend of Zelda: The Dreaming Isle 4koma Gag Battle by Kobunsha

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

I've started scanning the 26ish volumes of Legend of Zelda 4-Koma and I'm actually going to post large versions of it, which I usually don't do, but it's only because I think the chances of it having a market to be republished are pretty slim. I'm trying to make sure I support publishers but, also, it's a shame something disappears because it's been unavailable for decades so I'm trying to figure out the balance there.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX 4-Koma
Published by Kobunsha & Shounen Oh Comics
Published Date: June 10, 1999
ISBN4-334-80458-6 / C9979

Artist Information (Source)

• [ただいま爆睡中] - 秋月しょう
• [南でバカンス] - 都波みなと
• [マリンちゃんとデート] - 飛鷹ゆうき
• [このバカちんがぁっ] - 萩原かおり
• [ワンワン注意報] - 福永朱示
• [ドリーム入ってます！] - 五十嵐愛美
• [ゼル伝南国旅情] - 日野ちぢむ
• [島国根性] - 土久清正
• [夢みる南国] - 野々原ちき
• [インド鯨は風のさかなの夢をみるか] - 森咲果梨
• [りんく・りんく] - 佐倉忍
• [ナイトメアパラダイス] - 枉未和己
• [トロピカルレジェンド] - 高沢浩里
• [俺の島] - 外間隆想
• [マリンでDX] - 古賀亮一
• [修行の旅] - 七谷文
• [いい夢みよう！] - 黒咲ひいな
• [夢にみる島] - 美川べるの
• [混乱注意報 発令中！！] - 牧原ひさと
• カバーイラスト…秋月しょう/野々原ちき/福永朱示
• カバーイラスト…日野ちぢむ
• 目次イラスト…佐倉忍

 Any translations will be posted to this Flickr album for now.

I am super sad these never got popular. They're so awesome! I've had small scans of most of the pages on historyofhyrule.com since 2002-2004 and I haven't even seen so much as a meme from them. And they are so meme worthy! Only 1 out of roughly 26 Zelda 4komas have been translated so, if you would like to translate this, even just sections of it, please go ahead and let me know!

If you use these pages please always link back to the main website though, so people can find more information and rare materials, or even help me find more!

Here are examples and info on the other 4koma, they're for the games LttP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, OoA, and OoS. I will be scanning them all in the coming weeks: Here's what you can expect to see.

Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Link's Awakening, 4koma, ゼルダの伝説, 夢をみる島, Link to the Past, 神々のトライフォース, Zelda, tLoZ, LoZ, aLttP, Lttp, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda, Zeruda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods, SNES, Super Famicom, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, book, videogame, Comics, Manga, 4-koma, Yonkoma, 4コマ漫画, LA, LoZ, Zeruda no Densetsu: Yume o Miru Shima, Windfish, Koholint Island, Marin, Link, Tarin, Nintendo, Gameboy,

Archival Scans of the Legend of Zelda 4koma Gag Battle by Kobunsha

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

I've started scanning the 26ish volumes of Legend of Zelda 4-Koma and I'm actually going to post large versions of it, which I usually don't do, but it's only because I think the chances of it having a market to be republished are pretty slim. I'm trying to make sure I support publishers but, also, it's a shame something disappears because it's been unavailable for decades so I'm trying to figure out the balance there.

The Legend of Zelda 4koma Gag Battle
A 4koma for A Link to the Past for the GBA
Published by Kobunsha
ISBN4-334-80590-6 / C9979
First Published Date: July 10, 2003

Artist Information (Source)

• [勇者様 リターンズ！] - 人参So.
• [もうひとつ] - 福永朱示
• [勇者道中記] - 京侍洋那
• [怖いものなしの向こう見ず] - 高沢浩里
• [カミトラ！] - サイキユニ
• [どっちも世界！！] - 七谷文
• [ナイトLV1] - 五十嵐愛美
• [オカリナ宅配便] - 牧原ひさと
• [表裏いったりきたり] - 月野出伽夜
• [オカリナ ふいたら] - こうた
• [光と闇のおはなし] - 三津浦彩
• [伝説は夜に生まれる。] - 枉未和己
• [オタクのつぼ] - 大賀一五
• [ハイラルの表裏] - たかのはしふみこ
• [のほほんと冒険] - 大久保みどり
• [ゼルダ系] - 清正
• [冒険日和] - 神武ひろよし
• [がんばっていこう] - 都波みなと
• カバーイラスト…人参So./京侍洋那/大賀一五
• 総扉イラスト…福永朱示
• 目次イラスト…五十嵐愛美

 Any translations will be posted to this Flickr album for now.

I am super sad these never got popular. They're so awesome! I've had small scans of most of the pages on historyofhyrule.com since 2002-2004 and I haven't even seen so much as a meme from them. And they are so meme worthy! Only 1 out of roughly 26 Zelda 4komas have been translated so, if you would like to translate this, even just sections of it, please go ahead and let me know!

If you use these pages please always link back to the main website though, so people can find more information and rare materials, or even help me find more!

Here are examples and info on the other 4koma, they're for the games LttP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, OoA, and OoS. I will be scanning them all in the coming weeks: Here's what you can expect to see.

Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past, 4koma, ゼルダの伝説, 神々のトライフォース, Zelda, tLoZ, LoZ, aLttP, Lttp, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda, Zeruda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods, SNES, Super Famicom, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, book, videogame, Comics, Manga, 4-koma, Yonkoma, 4コマ漫画, LoZ, Nintendo,

The Battle of Mirage Castle Gamebook is Being Translated into English!

Exciting news! It's obviously going to take a while but a very awesome fan is starting this project and I'm super excited for it. According to people who have played it this is one of the most fun out of all of the gamebooks and is, in a way, the 2nd Legend of Zelda game to be made. 

Until then: find the full scans here

Here's the summary on Zelda Wiki thanks to MiloScat and others: 

About:

Link and Princess Zelda are both playable characters, but are played alternately. Link is active in the daytime and Zelda at night; meanwhile the other is trapped inside a magical orb. They are assisted by a new character, Funny the fairy, who helps them communicate as they swap places without meeting each other. The antagonist is the demon general Gaia, said to be Ganon's younger brother. Zelda's father is also named in the book as King Graham II. In terms of gameplay, Battle of Mirage Castle notably has an open-world structure (more so than many other gamebooks).

Story

After the events of The Legend of Zelda, the demon general Gaia attacked Hyrule from the Dark World. He transformed himself into a dark tornado, destroyed the castle, devastated the land, and broke the Triforces of Wisdom and Power each into two pieces, hiding them throughout the land. Link and Zelda were also cursed such that one of them will always be trapped inside a crystal ball; they swap places at dawn and dusk. The fairy Funny helps to ease the transition between the two.

Link and Zelda set out to retrieve the Triforce pieces and discover the location of the elusive Mirage Castle: a labyrinth fortress in which Gaia has taken up residence. It appears and disappears around Hyrule, seemingly at random. They have only ten days to find it before its gates lock forever.

They traverse many new locations including deserts, seas, forests, rocky crags, an abandoned town, a pyramid, a "crystal castle", and the back of a giant turtle. Both Link and Zelda meet various people, acquire items, and battle monsters as they gather information about the Mirage Castle.

Eventually, they discover its location in the desert. Upon entering, Zelda is abducted by Gaia. Link challenges the dangers of the castle alone, eventually confronting Gaia. The general is in human form, with a hypnotised Zelda. He declares that she will be his queen. Link battles him, and Gaia transforms into a giant crow. Link uses the flute to free Zelda's mind and together they are able to defeat Gaia.

Three days later the Mirage Castle rematerializes on a farm. Link and Zelda escape, met by an old man who reveals that he is actually the King of Hyrule in disguise. Not only that, but every old man, old woman, and merchant that they met on their journey was also the king all along. He further explains events before Gaia's attack: Gaia, a great sorcerer, had approached the king to ask for Zelda's hand in marriage. King Graham II refused, as it was his father's will that Zelda would marry the greatest swordsman in Hyrule, and besides Zelda and Link are said to be in love. Gaia's attack and curse was in retaliation for this refusal. The amused king adds that this adventure was a chance for Link to prove himself; in response Link, Zelda, and Funny are nonplussed. Still, the Triforce has been restored and peace has returned to Hyrule.

Archival Scans of the Gamebook: Triforce of the Gods

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

This is a Choose You Own Adventure/Gamebook for A Link to the Past

• ゼルダの伝説 神々のトライフォース
• The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce of the Gods
• "Legend of Zelda; Tryfoce of Gods"
• Author: Yoshihiko Tomizawa / 著: 富沢義彦
• Illustration: Shinpei Ito / 挿絵: 伊藤伸平
• Published July 26, 1992 by Futabasha
• ISBN: 4-575-76179-6 / C0193
• Ken Sawafuji, Hiroshi Tominaga, Studio Hard

You can find more information on it over on ZeldaWiki: Triforce of the Gods thanks to MiloScat

Other Keywords: Zelda, tLoZ, LoZ, aLttP, Lttp, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda, Zeruda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods, SNES, Super Famicom, ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Ganon, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, book, videogame, Choose Your Own Adventure, ゲームブック, game book, The Legend of Zelda, ゼルダの伝説, 神々のトライフォース, Link to the Past, Gamebook

Archival Scans of the Gamebook: The Legend of Black Triforce

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

This is a Choose You Own Adventure/Gamebook for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

• ゲームブック・リンクの冒険 暗黒トライフォース伝承
• Famicom Gamebook Series 2 The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link: The Legend of Black Triforce
• Published by JICC, Takarajimasha
• May 10, 1987
• Venture Project: Kenji Suzuki
• Cover illustration: Yutaka Izubuchi / 出渕裕
• Text illustrations: Masayoshi Yamaguchi / 山口まさよし
Author: Shōbi Inoue
• ISBN 4-88063-278-3 / C2076
• ISBN-13: 9784880632780

You can find more information on it over on ZeldaWiki: The_Legend_of_the_Dark_Triforce thanks to MiloScat

Other Keywords: Zelda II, Zelda 2, Zelda, Link no Bouken, tLoZ, LoZ, AoL, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, Famicom Disk System, book, videogame, The Legend of Zelda, Gamebook, ゼルダの伝説, The Adventure of Link, リンクの冒険

Archival Scans of the Gamebook: A Counter Attack from Darkness

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

This is a Choose You Own Adventure/Gamebook for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

• Link's Adventurous Quest; A Counterattack from Darkness
• リンクの冒険―魔界からの逆襲
• By Studio Hard Co. Naoki Kusano, Shouko Uehara, Kurotoress / Toresu Kuro
• July 19, 1987
• Illustrations by Nobori Kiritachi
• Published by Futaba-sha Books Co.
• ISBN 4-575-76030-7 / C0193
• ISBN-13: 9784575760309

You can find more information on it over on ZeldaWiki: Counterattack_from_the_Darkness thanks to MiloScat

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Gamebook, ゼルダの伝説, The Adventure of Link, リンクの冒険, Zelda II, Zelda 2, Zelda, Link no Bouken, tLoZ, LoZ, AoL, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, Famicom Disk System, book, videogame,

Archival Scans: Hisshou Hintbon! An Amazing Find from 1986 of Lost Art, Better Art, and Lost History

Thanks to this guide, and the people who helped me search, we have not just missing pieces from wildly popular sets of art, we now know the names of the artists behind official and Zelda art that was distributed to magazines all over the world. Including, possibly, the pink-haired female Link!

First off: Find the 1200dpi scans on archive.org as well as 2400dpi scans of the art.

Apologies that this took a while to upload past when I promised it: each zip took a day and then it took us a while to figure out all the information in this guide.

I thought the Adventure of Link guide I posted a few short weeks ago was going to be the best thing I found in a long time since it has actual official enemy art that was completely unknown. I mean: It is literally its last known location/source it. No one outside of Japan ever saw it. In fact it only ever appeared once in an official famicom magazine that the guide was a collection of. Scans of that appeared just days before I was ready to upload my own. Very cool timing. Well it looks like we have several mind-blowing finds this year already:

This guide is the original Japanese version of the famous official US Tips and Tactics guide and completes some sets of VERY famous art by filling in missing art. Before now we never really knew exactly what the source for it was either, except for this name. Tips and Tactics calls it "Hissyou Hintbon." This Japanese version was published by Wanpakku comics, which is a publisher under Tokuma Shoten. May 25, 1986 (though sometimes I see February listed.) Tips and Tactics was officially published by Nintendo of America in 1987.

Credits from the back pages of the official Nintendo of America guide, Tips and Tactics 

If you are unfamiliar with Tips and Tactics, here is an example of how close the US version copies the Japanese one. (Below.) The notable differences are the updated screenshots of things like the enemies (the Japanese guide uses some earlier development screenshots that changed before release,) the outside jacket and its original art are different, once piece of missing art that was overlaid on the map model on the inside is missing, and then the manga explaining how to use the removable map is missing. Which, coincidentally, is the page where the art of female Link is. Obviously it would have been a lot of work to redo, or heavily edit, the manga for a Western audience that was, at the time, completely unfamiliar with that kind of layout: so it makes editorial sense that it was simply removed from the final US version.

I also like that it shows that NoA also obviously got all of the art from this guide because they moved Link around on the image of the map.

I don't know where to start, there's so much to say about this. This is a really exciting and interesting find to me for several reasons.

Maybe the easiest thing to explain should come first: This has the 2, known, missing pieces of art for the pink-haired female Link and fairy. The others in the set were made famous by KazzyKazy's viral post and I found that volume and scanned those pieces earlier this year so we could have 2400dpi archival versions online. In his thread he mentions finding a YouTube video of someone's childhood scrapbook and how it had another 2 pieces of art from the set in it. In all that time since posting no one else had been able to find it or figure it out. Time for a good hunt! I bought every Shonen Captain from that year (if I couldn't find someone who owned an issue to confirm) and even a couple of extra volumes that looked a little promising. There was nothing else about her. Me and a couple of other very amazing and helpful people were searching every picture in old auctions for other listings even just to try to find a magazine with the same numerical page font or Zelda features on the same pages. One of the people asked the YouTuber; they couldn't remember either. Someone even offered to go to some libraries in Japan and look through their collections, but they had to cut their trip short. Nothing but dead ends. I figured I was only going to find it by a random stroke of luck. And that is exactly what happened. Now we have the full, known set, of 8.

Cleaned 2400dpi scans of these are in the gallery

Here's some interesting things about all this now: Originally I, and many others it seems, assumed that the female Link was a mistake, based on the game's title, made by some random artist or staff member working for a monthly comic publication with no real knowledge of the game. Well, I'm not so sure any more. I can't rule that out completely, obviously, but now I think the artists were working specifically for a guide and probably would have had at least a little oversight. Bear with me: So the other 6 pieces from the set are from a short walkthrough in the monthly manga magazine, Shonen Captain (May 18, 1986) and these 2 pieces are in a publication produced by Wanpakku, (May 25, 1986, sometimes listed as Feb) who also produced a monthly manga magazine as well as a lot of game guides. Wanpakku and Shonen Captain are different companies. They are, however, owned by the same company: Tokuma Shoten. To me this strongly implies that the female Link art came from an artist at the parent company. Keep in mind Nintendo heavily used Tokuma Shoten in the 80's as well. So the twitter account, VGDensetsu, who is forever awesome to me, tracked down one of the artists that worked on this guide. Not the female Link art, we still don't know who did that, (Update: actually, we may have just figured it out by comparing the art credits in both guides. More below) but I asked this other artist about the workflow and they confirmed that Tokuma Shoten had reached out to them to create art specifically for this publication. This leads me to believe my newer assumptions about the pink-haired Link may not be incorrect.

-----------

Anyway, on to the next amazing thing! That artist (and game designer & innovator) I spoke with is Yoshimiru Hoshi. He worked with Hideaki Ito on the VERY famous Link art where he's carrying all his gear. (Side note: According to VGDensetsu- Ito/Itoh was apparently was more of a anime historian/researcher than artist, professionally speaking, and frequently wrote for magazines. Sadly he's since passed away)  

This is the famous piece they did!

Full resolution scan in the gallery (9942x17697px)

Cel drawing and art by Yoshimiru, colored by Hideaki Itoh, scanned by the wonderful art collector @ArtofNP

Itoh often gets credited for it in the US because of the way Tips and Tactics phrases things (below.) Since the credits in both this guide and the Tips and Tactics guide also always confused me a little bit I went ahead and asked Yoshimiru about it and he confirmed that he did the drawing and linework and that he would often ask Itoh to be the cel colorist. (Painter/Colorist would mean he did not do the linework but filled in the color based on directions.) You can search around online and see that worked on a few projects with the same kind of joint credit. It appears that they were both in Work House together and this is where Yoshimiru would pass the cel line work over to Itoh. (Work House was a place an editorial company that would allow students to rent space. This is also where Yoshimiru was personally discovered by Iwata)

Publication credits from the front of Tips and Tactics.

This is what confused me too. From these descriptions I had thought that maybe Yoshimiru had just taken the photos of the cels and that Itoh did the rest. I'm so glad to now know for sure that Yoshimiru was the artist.

Image of the credits from this guide

Translation by VGDensetsu:

-Cel / セル画- Original drawing / 原画: ☆Yoshimiru / ☆よしみる (Metal Slader Glory)

Cel work(s) / セルワーク: Hideaki Ito / 伊藤秀明 (the same person that did the cover art for Aretha II. Source)

Illustrations / 力ット: Susumu Kobayashi / こばやし将, Nobuyoshi Takagi / 高木信義, Narumi Tanaka / 田中成美

Manga / まんが: Suzuo Yasuki / すずおやすき

-----------

So here's the other cool thing about this guide: It doesn't just have the missing female Link art, it has 3 more pieces in the set of 4 of Yoshimiru and Itoh art! 2 of the pieces of missing art and one more piece that was normally known from Nintendo Power (you can see it here and now we have a much better version,)  The art on the front and back cover has only ever been online before as small photos, mainly from auctions. Again, this was drawn by Yoshimiru and he handed it to Itoh to color in, so it would be most appropriately credited as Yoshimiru being the artist.

This has been in several US and European publications, often redrawn by a staff artist.

Full resolution 2400dpi scan in the gallery here

Link with a sword that matches both the white sword and magical sword a little bit. (thanks for noticing that, Conradd) The background is also beautiful, I'm not sure who did that (more on that below.) This has only been online as small auction-type photos.

Full resolution 2400dpi scan in the gallery here

I also REALLY want a better picture of that background.. as unlikely as it is I'll ever find it.

And then this which is, hands down, one of the cutest pieces of Link art ever. It's also never really been online before except as a small photo. I think... this actually might be my favorite out of all of the ones in the guide.

Full resolution 2400dpi scan in the gallery here

 

Okay, so, now I'm going to talk about something that I'll probably get yelled at for but who cares. Like it honestly doesn't matter that much, let's just have some fun here:

In the US we basically consider the Yoshimiru art official. NoA used almost all of the other art in this guide... except the manga spread: which means the art of female Link and the fairy got cut too. But obviously they were in the same guide, with all the same art; art we consider official. So screw it, I'm saying it's just as official as the Yoshimiru art and the watercolor art below. I'm not saying it's "done in Nintendo's dev studio" official, like the manual art of the enemies that are also found in this guide and were obviously shipped to publishers, but Nintendo and Tokuma Shoten used a lot of contract artists and if we're going to consider 3 sets of art in this official, art by other contractors, why are we not considering the 4th set official too? Is it simply because, as a Western audience, it's not a theme we were expecting to see?

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

Speaking of the other sets of art! This guide also has way higher quality art of the watercolor illustrations of the characters and equipment than Tips and Tactics had. We've also always kind of considered this official in the US too so knowing this artist's name is a big deal! Back in the 80's, especially in the US, we had a lot of art that was produced by companies other than Nintendo's in-house artists that we considered official. This is back when it was a lot more common for Nintendo's main studio, and especially Nintendo of America, to use other studios and contract artists to create the "official" art. So the line between what we consider official and semi-official, or not official at all, gets blurred quite a bit more than it does now that everything is done in-house and has far more stringent corporate oversight and trademark checks.

Thanks to VGDensetsu's translations we were able to narrow it down to being Susumu Kobayashi! こばやし将 I can't believe that, after all these years, we finally know which artist to credit. You can also find his work in Nintendo Power. You can find him on Twitter at @show_kob

Here is the best quality we had before, from Tips and Tactics

Here is the quality we have now thanks to this guide!

But this is where this gets even more exciting! It's also why I should have known AND why we should stop writing off the manga as not important to the history of the series. Susumu Kobayashi drew a whole volume of manga for Hyrule Fantasy (Zelda 1) and not only is it the story, it's a completely functional strategy guide: 

The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda manga by Kobayashi Susumu

Published by Wanpakku Comics July 15, 1986.

It still needs to be translated!

Find archival scans of the whole volume here

While on a personal level I wish he had kept Link looking like he did in this guide, the art is amazing, especially the dungeon entrances; and what's very notable is that the item's style in this match exactly to those in Tips and Tactics. I should have noticed this 20 years ago when I first got this manga. I'm honestly a little mad at myself about it, lol. Zelda is also done in a very similar style and the first time we see the fairy she's in basically the same pose.

She is so adorable!

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

This is crazy but I'm not even close to done yet.
SO! We think we figured out who did the official enemy art from the game's manual too. Through process of elimination there's only one more illustrator's name left in the Japanese version that's also in the US version: Narumi Tanaka / 田中成美

If you have any reason to believe this could be wrong, please, absolutely let me know. If you find work that matches this style under that name, for any series, please let me know. Credits them anywhere else? Etc, let me know. But for now, after all these years, this seems to be a really solid answer. I feel pretty safe saying that Narumi Tanaka is responsible for this iconic art:

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

Now, that brings us to the one remaining name, Nobuyoshi Takagi / 高木信義, and the few remaining pieces of art. 

All that is left that could even possibly be considered an illustration, I think, are the female Link and fairy as well as the landscape behind Link on the cover. 

I strongly believe that by calling this person an illustrator in the credits that it would be referring to the character drawings of pink-haired Link and the fairy. I actually have a BFA in illustration and entered college with the goal of working in traditional animation production: In the Japanese guide, by so distinctly referring to the cel work as a different discipline than illustration, I believe they would have also correctly attributed the landscape painting to a "background painter/artist" and not listed them as an "illustrator." It's just not really how it's ever credited (and, to note, it's not common that cel artists do the backgrounds either, completely different discipline as well)

Is Nobuyoshi Takagi her creator? The possibility is extremely high!

So... there we go! Internet sleuths, can you poke around and see if you can find an old-school artist named Nobuyoshi Takagi / 高木信義 and if they did character art or background art? I am 90% certain though that this will be the name of the creator of our once very elusive, and now very beloved. pink-haired female Link. (But I also want to know who may have done that beautiful landscape painting too. It's a long shot but maybe they have an image of it without all the overlays.

To note: There are a bunch of artists in Shonen Captain that have a similar Rumiko Takahashi style, I actually took picture of their names and art to ask around incase we got more clues. I'm going to go find those in the next few days to see if it can help here.

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Okay, one last interesting thing that I can think of that directly relates to this guide. This is a fun post by Mr. Talida that highlights something else that's cool about this guide:

MrTalida: Early Legend of Zelda enemy sprites found in a magazine scanned by
@GamingAlexandri! Many differences here, some more notable than others. That original Head of Gleeok sprite--yikes! How late were these changed to still be in the preview build for a March '86 game mag?

So images for this guide must have happened right after they acquired assets for the March 1986  Famimaga (Issue 8) magazine  (Scanned by Gaming Alexandria) because some of the sprites in the guide are the old ones, and some are updated and look like the finals!

MrTalida: A few of these sprites appear in the "ZEL-B" prototype released by Lost Levels in 2010. Some, like Pols Voice, match the magazine build, while others, like Stalfos, are nearer to final. This suggests that the magazine's build is even earlier than ZEL-B.

https://tcrf.net/Proto:The_Legend_of_Zelda#Sprite_Differences…

Alright, my brain is fading, I honestly can't think any more, lol. I guess that's enough for today XD

Email me at melorasworld@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter @historyofhyrule if you can help with any of this info.

• Huge thanks go to:
• VGDensetsu for helping with so much difficult sleuthing, translating, and thoughts
• To Ikhana for seeing the book at auction and sending it to me; it only took a world record holder to find it after a decade+ of wanting it
• To Mak for helping me realize this was Tips and Tactics before I ever got it!
• And to everyone else along the way! There were a lot of you!

Quick F.A.Q & notes: 

1: Yes, that map is an actual physical model they photographed 

2: There was no way for a company to take screenshots so they literally had to set an actual camera up in front of a TV and take a photo of each screen. Then develop those. Then cut them out and patch them together. Since TV screens were curved the lighting on them can look a little weird to us now that we're so use to flat screenshots.

3. I would also love to try to figure out who did the 3D model of the map that was photographed, as well as wanted a better version of the hand painted map on the cover.

How the tabs are used on the map: I was wrong, they're not stickers (I thought I was missing a sticker sheet) they're just cut-outs that you paste on the map. Thanks @johntv for finding this image and clearing up what the translation meant

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Side notes and unfinished thoughts, morning of May 11, 2022: I need to write this down somewhere. These are just stream-of-consciousness style thoughts. 

Thanks to Mak I now realize Nintendo of America had a HUGE working relationship with Tokuma Shoten

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20140306054631/http://magweasel.com/2011/05/04/more-on-tokumas-mario-guide/
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20121011141125/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/04/column_game_mag_weaseling_japa.php
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokuma_Shoten

Things I'd love to know- Did Nintendo (of Japan) directly speak with the Wanpakku artists? ...or was it maybe like a representative Nintendo had at Tokuma Shoten? (That 2nd option would be my first guess, but it's only an assumption and mine tend to be conservative guesses.) Wanpakku did a lot of game guides. Like a TON with Zelda in them (I've purchased a lot of these recently but I still need to scan them) and Wanpakku has 4 volumes of Zelda manga, by 3 different artists, that acted as game guides for the Zelda series

Their strategy guide manga:

• Susumu Kobayashi: Now confirmed an "official" artist by US/NoA standards only (Not like he was in-house staff at NoJ)  https://archive.org/details/zelda_manga_loz_susumu_kobayashi
• Daisuke Shigoto: (also did work for NP I think, what was it again, anyone know? My mind is blank) AoL 1: https://archive.org/details/zelda_manga_aol_1_wan
• Yuu Minazuki: AoL (She finished Shigoto's work) 2: https://archive.org/details/zelda_manga_aol_2_wan and https://archive.org/details/zelda_manga_aol_3_wan

And then Wanpakku also produced the Ran Maru manga which is the damn best. Like I keep saying this and no one reads it so no one understands how many firsts for the series it has in it. 

1. https://archive.org/details/zelda_manga_ranmaru_1_loz
2. https://archive.org/details/zelda_manga_ranmaru_2_aol_vol1
3. https://archive.org/details/zelda_manga_ranmaru_3_aol_vol2
4. https://archive.org/details/zelda_manga_ranmaru_4_aol_vol3

(There is a video on YouTube that goes through it that seems so well done, I didn't watch all of it, but they get the ending wrong so I don't know what else they got wrong. I did, however, pay for an English translation however and it's at those links)

And if Nintendo did work more closely with the Wanpakku branch... does that lend more weight to how much the series seems to borrow from Ran Maru's LoZ and AoL manga? (the pink hair one) Because it's CRAZY how much it borrows from that. I can not get over it. I'm not going to die on that hill or anything but I am going to keep investigating until something proves without a doubt that there's nothing there because it's really been sticking in my brain as much as it was sticking in my brain that finding this guide was going to be important.

2400dpi Archival Scans: I just discovered a lost Hyrule Fantasy poster from 1986 with original art by Ran Maru

I was not expecting to find something like this. Go here for the 2400dpi scans of this bonus poster: both cleaned and edited and raws! This art has never been online before, even as a photo, and it's nearly 35 years old! I've never even found references to it on the Japanese sites I know of that keep track of Zelda publications and merch. I really think it was just completely lost to memory.

This is a promotional poster for The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda found in the December 1986 issue of Wanpakku Comics | わんぱっくコミック 1986年12月号. The art is by Ran Maru | 乱丸 

The zip on archive.org contains 2400dpi scans; both slightly edited and color corrected as well as the RAWS. The pdf for the page reader is just 600dpi jpgs so that it would work better with the archive.org viewer. I spent the morning patching it up and removing the creases, and I also uploaded an image without the logo and and text at the top only because it's a little distracting. The text below the logo says "Illustration ♡ Ran Maru" by the way. 

This manga has a full English translation thanks to Kaialone, which can be found here: historyofhyrule.blogspot.com/2021/09/after-35-years-its-finally-fully.html

There are 4 volumes by Ran Maru: 1 for Hyrule Fantasy and then 3 volumes for Adventure of Link. They top the list for my favorite Zelda manga. Seriously, give them a shot. They get better and better as they go and have so many firsts for the series.

I actually only bought this issue because I saw a mention to one page of Zelda content in the table of contents and I've been telling myself to buy random things just in case. Normally 1 to 2 pages means means a dud, like an advertisement; a poster with just screenshots and official art that we already have. But I'm so excited I chanced it because it reminds me of this other classic poster from Ocarina of Time with all of Ganon's minions on the cliffs surrounding Link. Just replace Watt with Navi (no, really, please.)

The only thing I'm a little disappointed about is, usually, Ranmaru does such a wonderful job with Princess Zelda and, to be honest, she does not look her best here. But traditional illustration is hard and I totally get that it happens.

I do love that Link has blue eyes, and that Zelda has green eyes, like in Breath of the Wild, and that Link is wearing his upgraded blue tunic.

The crystal around his neck connects him telepathically with Zelda, which is also something we see in later games.

The Triforce of Wisdom's color was also red when we first encounter references to the goddesses being defined by colors, in A Link to the Past, before it was changed to blue in Ocarina of time. So it's cool to me that the crystal is red in this and so is the gem in her crown (as well as the implied color of her dress.)

I also love that Link gets a shield upgrade and the cross gets replaced with the Triforce. I believe this poster comes between Hyrule Fantasy (Zelda 1) and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link manga so it makes sense that he has this shield now. Head-canon-wise: I kind of like the idea of a introduced religion being replaced with the people's original, indigenous, religion the further a quest goes on. 

I also like that the sword Link uses here looks at least a little bit more like the Master Sword than most sword art at the time! It's kind of a nice merging of the sword designs, actually.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this long-lost find too!

Oh, and in a scanning first- I stabbed myself through the finger with a 3 cm, 35 year old, rusty staple when I was pulling it out with pliers. These comic magazines are THICC and have giant staples that go all the way through the volume. Normally stapled material is my favorite to break down but, on these big comic issues, they can be really tough to remove!

But I figured I shouldn't miss this opportunity, right?  So "I offer this blood sacrifice to the Gods of Hyrule! Bring me more lost Zelda publications!"  Mwahahaha

We were joking around about it my friend, Max, made this which is now my favorite thing ever:

A pretty memorable day over here in scanner land!

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