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

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.

shogaku_grade2_1992
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

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

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

 

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

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.

I'm back to working on things as I can

I'm slowly working on getting back to people. I'm doing one thing at a time, so I do them right, and I'm trying to find a balance of doing them in the order of which they came in and urgency.

If you've been following on Twitter you know that I had a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer this year, and it turned out doctors had missed I actually had breast cancer. This happened while caretaking for my mom who was dying of cancer, and then she passed away. And that fucking sucks because my mom was such an incredibly special person. Then my grandma passed away. I'm in charge of both of their estates and for some reason that is vastly more work than one would imagine. I'm also going to need another major surgery because I grew a bunch of fibroids (lady-junk issues) causing me to be severely anemic for a few months now.

 

I also got diagnosed with Addison's Disease late last year. It's an autoimmune disorder where body kills your adrenal glands and you no longer make some of the hormones necessary for life. If you hear people say they can't function because they have "adrenal fatigue" it's like the severe version of that. It makes you horrifically fatigued and foggy headed. The good news is that you can just take the hormones you don't make but the bad news is is that the amount you need changes based on stress, sleep, environmental temperature, etc, and you kind of just have to guess if you need more. (Too much is bad for you as well.) There is no way to measure it outside of how you start to feel a few hours after you realize you needed more. It also means I don't really have a functioning immune system because it makes it so your T-cells don't want to fight infections, (even if you are taking the right amount of hormones your body simply doesn't act the same when you can't produce them yourself, as needed,) most specifically lung infections, and the hormones you have to take for it are also immunosuppressants: Double whammy. So I'm pretty much the boy in the bubble now. It's also going to make the upcoming surgery more risky for several reasons. I really wish hospital staff had to wear masks around people like me. You can ask but then you wake up from surgery and like half of them aren't wearing them any more.

I also just bought a house, which I've been dreaming of doing for a very long time now, and I was hoping it was move in ready so I could go and be closer to a good hospital and get the surgery I need... But it turns out the inspector missed it was absolutely coated in black mold and all that above means it will just kill me if I try to live in it. So, yeah, trying to figure that one out right now and all I can say is ...it's been a year.

Two new interviews with me about Zelda art and preservation!

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

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

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

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:

2400dpi Scans of the 1986 Hyrule Fantasy Bandai Board Game

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

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

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.
 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

You can also find some great translation comparison tables here.

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

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

My surgery went well! Turns out I had cancer

I should have posted a few days ago. I traveled to have a double mastectomy earlier this month, it's a major surgery to prevent breast cancer in high risk individuals, which I am because it runs heavy in my family even though we don't have the currently known BRCA genes. When I was having my follow-up appointment with the surgeon to remove my drains and check in, the pathology report came back and showed I actually already had a 2 cm lump of cancer. Imaging I had done twice in the past 5 months prior had actually missed it. The most amazing news is that the surgery got it all and I don't need any further treatment.

I'm glad I did this because I may have gone another 2 years without imaging, thinking I was cancer free. Interestingly 2 mammograms also missed my mom's breast cancer, which is one of the reasons I didn't trust them and wanted to do this.

Anyway, I had a lot of valid concerns before surgery and several surgeons had implied I shouldn't do it and there would be no benefit. So I looked around until I found one that I felt saw me as a person. But there were reasons I was still pretty concerned about it. I have an autoimmune disorder that makes the possibility of dying during surgery far more likely for me and it also makes infection more likely. I also went years without most of the use of my arms and was concerned that this could cause issues in them again. There was also a good chance I would not have felt well, in various ways, for months after the surgery. Currently it looks like all the work and planning I, and my doctors, put in to make sure this went well means I've avoided absolutely every complication possible and have been in practically no pain. Only the arm stretches I need to do hurt. But I took a total of maybe 6 Tylenol after surgery, and I'm not even sure I needed them- I mostly just wanted to help prevent swelling. 

This is wonderful not only because I feel amazing and now know, without any doubt, that I absolutely the right choice: but it means I can be back to working on the site! Which also brings me endless joy.

Zelda Story Illustration Scans: Shogaku Ichinensei 1992

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:

• April (White Pages)
• May (Blue Pages)
• June
• July (Pink Pages)
• August (Tan Pages)
• September (Lilac Pages)

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

 

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!