Mangaka Information: Akira Himekawa

I'm just working on re-building the artist information section of the site. This will be a mess for a while.

 

Mangaka Information: Ranmaru

Updated on 2026/01/20

Image from Mr. Kobayashi's twitter feed. They were co-workers, mainly at Wanpakku Comics.

Kobayashi on Twitter: "This is a photo of me, Yamagami sensei, Ranmaru-san, and myself on a company trip to Hokkaido. The small man with the beard and bell-bottoms is Ranmaru-san. I've blurred out the area around his eyes just in case (lol). In front of the restaurant in Tsurui Village. This is when the gag "A crane comes from Tsurui Village" from Gaki Deka was born. #Ranmaru #Yamagami Tatsuhiko "

 

Ranmaru 乱丸 (Ran Maru)

Is a Japanese manga artist . His most famous works are the comic adaptations of "The Legend of Zelda and "Link's Adventure," which were serialized in Wanpaku Comics (Tokuma Shoten.) 

He was an assistant to Mitsuteru Yokoyama, 横山光輝, and Shinji Wada, 和田慎二, for many years.

List of works

• Family Computer Special
• Volume 3, 1986 (Make a blogger post about it)
• The Legend of Zelda (Wanpaku Comics, Tokuma Shoten, 1 volume)
• Volume 1
• The Adventures of Link (Wanpaku Comics, Tokuma Shoten, 2 volumes (volume 3: February 1988 to August 1988)
• Volume 1
• Volume 2
• Volume 3
• Doi Junior High School UFO Club (Wanpaku Comics December 1988 issue - January 1989 issue, not included in the book)
• Manga Junior High School World History 202 - Easily Pass the High School Entrance Exam! (Gakken, 1991)
• He has also written several comic book adaptations of games for game anthologies such as " Winning Techniques Complete Edition " in "Wanppaku Comics."

Mitsuteru Yokoyama's assistants: Fujio Akatsuka (as traveling assistant), Osamu Kishimoto, Narushima student, Hideoki Inoue, Ranmaru, Akira Kaku, Masashi Mori, Akira Saito, Yasutoshi Otomo

Shinji Wada's assistants: Masahiro Shibata, Miki Hayasaka, Ranmaru

Other works:

From Susan1n: "This mini-comic was drawn by Ran Maru to commemorate the release of Zelda on Famicom disk systems.  And according to Mr. Kobayashi, apparently it was this work that gave the green light to the release of the manga by Ran Maru"

"Mr. Kobayashi writes that these pictures are from the Family Computer Special magazine published by Tokuma Shoten." 

https://x.com/show_kob/status/1540212991739985920:
The origins of Ranmaru's "The Legend of Zelda" featured in Family Computer Special (1986)

These were sent to Susan1n in DMs by Kobayashi, one of Ranmaru's coworkers and friends. This is probably the correct order for the pages but I am not 100% on that:

Update: I have since scanned the whole volume, find it here. (Make a blogger post about it)

こばやし将 @show_kob - Sep 28, 2024:
その昔、乱丸さん、すずお泰樹さんと3人で「スタジオあるまじろ」という名称で仕事を請け負っていた時期がありました。1985年講談社発行のこの「Theハレー彗星マガジン」もそのうちの1つ。巻頭のカラーイラストや記事に使われた多数のカット、漫画等を手分けして描いたのは懐かしい思い出です😊

Long ago, Ranmaru, Suzuo Taiki, and I were working under the name "Studio Almajiro." One of those jobs was "The Halley's Comet Magazine," published by Kodansha in 1985. I have fond memories of drawing the color illustrations at the beginning of the issue, as well as the many cuts and manga used in the articles. (Melora's note: Since I've become a bit of a fan of these 2 artists I purchased this and hope to have scans uploaded one day)

Scanned: Game Maestro volumes 1-5

Game Maestro volume 1-5 have been scanned at 600dpi. This is thanks to Max, who runs Hyrule Interviews. He really wanted to see this done. If you can translate the Zelda parts, please do and send them to him. Thank you!

Volume 1: Producer/Director Edition

Interviews with:

• Nishikado Tomohiro - 西角 友宏
• Iwatani Tōru [Tohru] - 岩谷 徹
• Endō Masanobu - 遠藤 雅伸
• Miyamoto Shigeru - 宮本 茂
• Horii Yuji - 堀井 雄二
• Sakaguchi Hironobu - 坂口 博信

December 15, 2000

Text: Shida Hidekuni

Photos: Matsui Yuuki

Published by Mainichi Communications

ISBN4-8399-0318-2

Volume 2: Producer/Director Edition 2

Interviews with:

• Nakamura Kouichi [Koichi] - 中村 光一
• Suzuki Yuu [Yū] - 鈴木 裕
• Kojima Hideo- 小島 秀夫
• Okamoto Yoshiki [Kihaji Okamoto]- 岡本 吉起
• Naka Yuuji [Yuji] [YU2] - 中 裕司
• Sonobe Hiroyuki - 薗部 博之
• Mizuguchi Tetsuya - 水口 哲也
• Iida Kazutoshi - 飯田 和敏

December 15, 2000

Text: Shida Hidekuni

Photos: Matsui Yuuki

Published by Mainichi Communications

ISBN4-8399-0385-

Volume 3: Composer Edition

Interviews with:

• Koshiro Yuzo- 古代 祐三
• Kondou Kouji [Kondo]- 近藤 浩治
• Uematsu Nobuo- 植松 伸夫
• Tanaka Kouhei [Kohei] - 田中 公平
• Tanaka Hirokazu - 田中 宏和
• Matsuura Masaya - 松浦 雅也

May 20, 2001

Interviewer: Yoshida Naoko

Photos: Matsui Yuuki

Shida Hidekuni

Totsuka Giichi

Published by Mainichi Communications

ISBN4-8399-0386-7

Volume 4: Designer/Illustrator Edition

Interviews with:

• Yasuda Akira - 安田 朗
• Sugimori Ken - 杉森 建
• Terada Katsuya - 寺田 克也
• Morikawa Yukihito - 森川 幸人
• Nomura Tetsuya - 野村 哲也
• Shinkawa Yoji - 新川洋司
• Yoshimizu Kei - 由水 桂

May 20, 2001

Interviewer: Yoshida Naoko

Photos: Matsui Yuuki

Shida Hidekuni

Totsuka Giichi

Published by Mainichi Communications

ISBN4-8399-0387-5

Volume 5: President/Producer/Manager Edition

Interviews with:

• Imanishi Hiroshi - 今西 紘史
• Nakamura Masaya - 中村 雅哉
• Saeki Masatsuka - 佐伯雅司
• Takasu Takeo - 高須武男
• Kayama Tetsu - 香山哲
• Hamamura Hirokazu - 浜村 弘
• Kurokawa Fumio - 黒川 文雄

September 1, 2001

Interviewer: Yoshida Naoko

Photos: Matsui Yuuki

Shida Hidekuni

Totsuka Giichi

Published by Mainichi Communications

ISBN4-8399-0388-3

Translation Complete: All 4 Volumes of Oath of Riruto Now In English!

This was an epic feat: All four volumes of The Legend of Zelda: Oath of Riruto have been translated by the incredible Ammon. He's been working on this for a few years and it's thanks to his dedication that more fans will actually be able to enjoy this work. It's so incredible that we're all finally able to read this.

Junya Furusawa 古澤純也, (also known as ふるじゅん) was apparently a big fan of Dragon Ball and actually went from fan artist to a staff artist for the animated Dragon Ball series. These were written by Jin Munesue 棟居 whom I honestly don't know a lot about. If you have more information on him, please let me know!

This was originally published from 1994-1997, bi-monthly, in Shounen Oh magazine which was published by Kobunsha.

• Oath of Lilto Volume 1
• Furusawa Junya 古澤純也 [Illustrations]
• Munei Hitoshi 棟居仁 [Story]
• 1995/06/30
• ISBN4-334-80270-2
• Published by Kobunsha
• ZeldaWiki

February 1, 2022: A full English translation of this, paid for by me and done by the ever wonderful Ammon, can now be found as a word document in the file download list or at this Google Document link

• Oath of Lilto Volume 2
• Furusawa Junya 古澤純也 [Illustrations]
• Munei Hitoshi 棟居仁 [Story]
• 1996/05/10
• ISBN4-334-80317-2
• Published by Kobunsha
• ZeldaWiki

Jan 20, 2023: A full English translation of this, paid for by me and done by the ever wonderful Ammon, can now be found as a word document in the file download list or at this Google Document link

• Oath of Lilto Volume 3
• Furusawa Junya 古澤純也 [Illustrations]
• Munei Hitoshi 棟居仁 [Story]
• 1997/02/10
• ISBN4-334-80362-8
• Published by Kobunsha
• ZeldaWiki

Jan 20, 2023: A full English translation of this, paid for by me and done by the ever wonderful Ammon, can now be found as a word document in the file download list or at this Google Document link

• Oath of Lilto Volume 4
• Furusawa Junya 古澤純也 [Illustrations]
• Munei Hitoshi 棟居仁 [Story]
• 1997/06/05
• ISBN4-334-80379-2
• Published by Kobunsha
• ZeldaWiki

Jan 1, 2024: A full English translation of this, paid for by me and done by the ever wonderful Ammon, can now be found as a word document in the file download list or at this Google Document link

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.

Translation wanted!

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.

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

Edit: If you would like to 3D print the little Link figuring, Keshi Corner has it scanned here.

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

Last Updated on January 5, 2026. 

You can read this out-of-print publication here.

Information for this publication:

• Original Japanese Title: 小学三年生 .ファミコン必勝まんが . ゼルダの伝説 
• Machine Translated Japanese Title: Shōgaku Sannensei Famicom hisshō manga Zelda no Densetsu
• Machine Translated English Title: 3rd grade elementary school student magazine, Famicom Winning Strategy Manga, The Legend of Zelda

• Artists and Authors: Mangaka Yukio Sawada . 沢田ユキオ and Takahiro Eguchi . 江口貴博
• Publishers: Shogakukan
• Date Published: 1986/05/01 . May 1, 1986
• Year: 1986
• ISBN or Identifying Numbers: None

• Format: Paperback
• Size: I need to measure this
• Page Length: 11 pages of Zelda content. 10 plus the cover. Total length of 19 pages.
• Stand-alone or multi-volume: This is part 1 of 2. Part 2 is here.
• Country of Origin: Japan
• Translations in Other Languages: None. Translation Needed! Can you help?
• Genre: Manga, Magazines, Strategy Guide, Zelda 1 Manga
• Games: The Legend of Zelda: The Hyrule Fantasy
• Scan size: 2400dpi high resolution archival scans.

I made more 2400dpi scans of impossibly rare, basically lost, Zelda manga that has never been online before! This is from a detachable appendix, inserted inside a children's magazine for third graders, from 1986. The artist is Yukio Sawada of Mario manga fame. It's short but it has some pretty great art. The first part is about the original Legend of Zelda game and the 2nd part is natural science educational material about turtles and comets. It's a small strategy guide manga that briefly covers the first 2 dungeons in the game. At the end is says the remaining dungeons will be covered in a feature in the June 1986 volume, which can be found here.

The most interesting thing about this manga, to me, is that I believe it may feature the first example of a fairy companion for Link. 

Other Keywords: Zelda, LoZ, tLoZ, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Ganon, Triforce, Fairy, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, book, videogame, video game, retro, vintage, kids, child, children's, dodongo, peahat, octorok, dungeon, tree, haunted tree, tree dungeon entrance, old man, zora, hearts, key, dungeon one, labyrinths, bow, keese, aquamentus, traps, stalfos, compass, fairy fountain, fairy pond, merchant, moblin, rope, snake, bomb, map, route, lanmola, patra,