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.

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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

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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?

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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!

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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:

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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!

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

Updated: First time ever online: Incredibly rare 16 page Hyrule Fantasy manga/gamebook from 1986

This is being cleaned and edited by MiloScat

UPDATE JULY 18, 2022: Translation Finished! Info: https://miloscat.tumblr.com/post/690164393207562240
Read it here: https://mangadex.org/chapter/87c7319c-f63a-435e-865f-9b684df5d145

Update May 10, 2022: Translation added below.

If anyone wants to make nice scanlations: go for it. I just don't have enough free time right now

Go here for the full set of scans on archive.org 

This is an incredibly rare 16 page Choose Your Own Adventure-esque Manga for the original Legend of Zelda from Shogakukan's magazine for 2nd Graders: The July 1986 issue.

Composition: Makimura Tadashi
Artist: Hikino Shinji

While it's not much of a CYOA, it's still a simple one. Which I think also makes it, speaking technically, possibly the 2nd playable game for the series. The original game was released at the end of February in 1986 and this is roughly 4 months later. The Gamebook, Mirage Castle, would then be the next one I think... I believe that's from August of '86. Anyway, this section of the magazine is meant to introduce, and then walk, 7-8 year olds through how to play the original Legend of Zelda. It's actually more comprehensive in some ways than a lot of our Western guide and tip books. After going through it I thoroughly endorse this way of teaching kids game concepts! I wish I had something like this; I was around the intended age for this when the original game came out and that was more than a little confusing for me to try and figure out on my own.

Also, I think the art is incredibly spot-on and perfect, more so than most things I have seen. (Honestly I am absolutely in love with it, I wish we had a full manga for Hyrule Fantasy in this style.) The little glimpses we get of the enemy design (except the one tektite on the cover, lol) and dungeon entrances and rooms nail it. All the characters are rather perfect too, especially considering we didn't really have official art of Ganon's face! This might be the closest official thing to it at the time and I'm not sure where this would have been seen in Japan because I never saw it in any of the old Japanese publications I've been able to find. (First time I saw it was in Hyrule Graphics/Art and Artifacts) All the unofficial guide art for Ganon seems to be based on the game sprites.

Keep in mind that Nintendo did a lot of publishing through Shogakukan too. In the 80's Nintendo seemed to work more with Tokuma Shoten on official stuff, so I'm not sure how closely they were working with Shogakukan at this time but, at least in the 90's: I know they did the majority of their official guides & this magazine run does seem to enjoy close ties. If anyone knows more about their shared history, please let me know! melorasworld@gmail.com

These were old copies that were scanned and emailed to me by a Japanese fan for the collection here. I can not thank them enough. Without people like them, where would we ever be! Always keep in the back of your mind how many incredible individuals that have done something to help contribute to finding all of this stuff that could have stayed lost. 

So this magazine, and its sister publications for other grade levels, don't seem to have been saved by many people (I'm guessing it would kind of be like finding a Highlights magazine saved anywhere but in a dusty basket at a pediatrician's office) but they are chalked full of original game comics and info. Unfortunately it's really rare to see issues show up. If you know of anyone who is collecting them: please let me know. I would love to get in touch and work together with them on preserving it. Though not comprehensive, there is always a list of what I am looking for in the Wanted section of the Flickr gallery

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Zelda 1, The Hyrule Fantasy, Gamebook, ゼルダの伝説, Manga, 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, book, ゲームブック

Update: Translation!

-Translated for History of Hyrule by Aquamentus

↑ Page 1:

Top right: Family Computer is a trademark of Nintendo. Original story © Nintendo

Famicom Manga: The Legend of Zelda
Cover page: “Go Link! Head to Death Mountain where danger and mysteries await!”

Composition: Makimura Tadashi
Artist: Hikino Shinji

↑ Page 2:

1st Blue Bubble: A long long time ago, Princess Zelda, of a small country in the region of Hyrule, was taken along with the Triforce of Power by the evil King Ganon

Text at bottom of first panel: Triforce of Power
2nd panel, white square 1: The young boy Link, having heard about what happened, set his heart on standing up to Ganon and gathering the 8 pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom that had been separated.

2nd panel, white square 2: However the pieces of the Triforce had been hidden away in 8 mysterious dungeons. The location of Death Mountain, where Princess Zelda is being held captive, was also shrouded in mystery.

Text next to Link: Link
Text under the Triforce: Triforce of Wisdom

Text next to Impa: The Wet Nurse Impa

↑ Page 3:

1st panel, narrator: Starting off Link doesn't have any weapons... 
2nd panel, Link: "Oh, it's a cave, let's look..."
3rd panel, narrator: In the cave was an old man who was allied with Princess Zelda and he gives Link a sword

4th panel, old man: "However this sword is particularly weak and there will be enemies you can't beat with it."

5th panel, old man: You need to hurry and find the white sword and the magical sword, which are hidden somewhere in Hyrule

5th panel, Link: Got it!

(Sword chart:) 

--Regular sword, attack power of 1.

--White sword, attack power of 2.

--Magical sword, attack power of 3.

6th panel, Old man: However, even if you find these swords, if your level isn't high enough, you won’t be able to wield them.
Link: Got it!
7th panel, Old man: Now Link, do you know what you have to do to level up?

Link: ummmm...

--Box: Collect the pieces of the Triforce, Choose A

--Box: Gather Heart Containers, Choose B (The word is like a canteen, like something that holds liquid)
Text at the bottom: Select an option and turn the page.

↑ Page 4: 

Select A: Unfortunately, Link's level doesn't increase with the acquisition of Triforce pieces. Continue onto B

Link: "Oh no"
Select B: Correct! If you collect heart containers Link's level will increase and he will be able to wield the swords. If you get 5 hearts you will be able to wield the white sword. With 12 hearts you will be able to wield the magical sword.

Link:  I did it!

Panel 3, from option B: Link "Oh no, it's an Octorok!!

Panel 4, Link: Darn Octorok!! Take this!

Panel 5,: Link: What? He turned into a rupee?!

Narration: A Rupee is what's used for currency. If you get a lot of them you can buy many kinds of things
Bottom Panel, 6: Link: The dungeons have lots of strong enemies in them so, before I go, I should collect a lot of rupees and equip myself.

Narration: There are many instances where the blue tektites will have rupees. It is also quite easy to gather rupees in dungeons, particularly Level 2.

↑ Page 5:

Panel 1, Link: I've got rupees but... 

Link: where can I buy weapons.
Panel 2, voice: over here, over here!
Panel 3, man: GWAHAHAHA

Panel 4, Merchant: I'm a merchant, what do ya want?

bubble 2, merchant: you can buy other things in other caves but I am having a sale right now
bubble 3, Link: Hmm… What to buy…?

Narrator between panels: among the things you can buy there are some things you really should get: 

--the candle:

--the arrow: [items you will be required to use at some point in a dungeon]

--the bait:

--the blue ring: When hit by an enemy, you’ll only ever take half damage.

Merchant: outside of these 4 items there's one more item that would be very beneficial for you to buy!!

Last panel, Link: Uhh..
Link: huh, I wonder which one?!

Merchant: BWAHAHA

2 options:

--A (head to) : Magical shield

--B: Key for a dungeon door

Text at the bottom: Once you’ve made your choice, go to the next page.

↑ Page 6:

If you answered B: Link says: Crap.

Narrator: It's a sad day for you! You can pick up keys in the dungeons so there's no need to buy them. Proceed to A.

Narration box Answer A: Great job!! The magical shield can repel enemy attacks, tt's a very handy item!

Link: Ah

Box: Zora

3rd panel: Box: Moblin

Link: AH!

Link: That smarts! They got me from behind!!

4th panel, Narrator: If all of Link's hearts turn white, Link dies

Link: I've been hit by a bunch of enemies and I'm running out of hearts!!
5th panel: I'm not getting a lot of hearts out of this... (shows a rupee and bomb being dropped by enemies)

6th panel: Link: Oh! A fountain, if I drink the water, maybe my vigor will be restored!

Enemies: Stop right there!

↑ Page 7:

Fairy: Oh Link, I'm glad you've come. 

Fairy: I'm going to fill all of your heart containers for you (using the same canteen word, like they're a physical object that can be filled with heart)

Link: Ah! It's a fairy!!

Panel 2, Link: Yeah! My hearts are full

Panel 3, Fairy: Please remember this fountain where I am....

Fairy: If your hearts decrease you can come by anytime

Panel 4, Link: YEAH!!

Panel 5, Narrator: Besides fairies, the medicine that the old women sell can also be used to fill your hearts

Old woman: If you bring me a letter from the old man I'll sell these to you

-- Red potion.

--Blue Potion.

Panel 6, Narrator: Of particular note is the red potion, which you can use twice. With that, even if you're in a pinch in a dungeon or something, you can finish it without having to exit the dungeon each time you want to heal.

Link: Alright I'm going to buy it !!

↑ Page 8:

Panel 1: Link: The only thing left for me to prepare is to make sure I’ve got a full count of bombs so that I can make paths by destroying the dungeon walls. Once I've done that I can head to the labyrinths! Let's Go!!
Narrator: Blue moblins often carry bombs
Panel 2: Route to Level 1

Panel 3, Link: Let's challenge the labyrinth!
Panel 4, box: Entrance to the Labyrinth

Panel 5, Box: Dungeon Level 1

Narrator: Once you've entered a dungeon, try to find the map and compass as soon as possible

Panel 6, Link: Ah! There it is, the map
--MAP

--Gel

↑ Page 9:

Panel 1, Link: I also found the compass!!

Panel 2, box: Full map of level 1

text top: The room with the Triforce in it.

text side: The compass will tell you where the room with the Triforce is

Panel 3: Link: Alright, let's hurry to the room with the Triforce

Panel 4: Whoa, what the heck! Oh no!

Box: It's a trap

Panel 5, Link: Keh!

Last panel, Link: There's some stairs leading down but there's blocks in the way!!

↑ Page 10:

Link: Ah, this block moves!!

Panel 2, Link: I did it!

Link: There was a treasure in the room beneath the previous room, and it was the bow!
Panel 3, Narrator: Besides the bow, you can also find the wooden boomerang in Level 1.

Narrator: Each dungeon has at least one, but possibly more, treasures hidden away so search realllll hard for them!

Panel 4, Link: Alright! It’s time to head for the room with the Triforce!

Box: Aquamentus

Panel 5, Link: WHOA! This must be the monster defending the triforce!

↑ Page 11:

Link: Khyaa! If I stab Aquamentus enough times, I’m sure to beat him!
Narrator: Just like this there's always a monster guarding the triforce, with each having a distinct way to defeat them.
Panel 2: Once you defeat the beast a heart container will appear so make sure to not forget it!

Panel 3, Link: I did it! I finally got a triforce piece!!
Panel 4, Link: What? I'm above ground
Narrator: Once you take the triforce you're automatically taken outside of the dungeon

Panel 5, narrator: If you blow a hole in the side of a great boulder somewhere, you can get another heart container.

Narrator: Do your best to get a heart container from this place and then find the White Sword. Once you do, battles will become much easier.

Link: Alright, next is level 2!!

Narrator: Level 2 is quite far east (to the right) of level one, within a forest

↑ Page 12:

Box: Dungeon Level 2

Narrator: Level 2's treasure is a magical boomerang. It can fly much further than the wooden boomerang

Panel 2, narrator: The beast defending the triforce is dodongo

Panel 3, Link: Whoa!

Panel 4, Link: I’ll beat that dodongo by using my bombs!

In Red, Link: Ready and…
Narrator: Once Link has gotten the 2nd triforce piece he heads directly to level 3

Panel 8, Box: Dungeon Level 3

Narrator: Do your best to get a heart container from this place and then find the White Sword. Once you do, battles will become much easier.
Box: Manhandla

↑ Page 13: Level 4 is in a lake. You can get the raft in level 3, so just use that to head out from the dock/pier
--raft

Panel 2, Box: Dungeon Level 4

Bottom Box: Gleeok

Narrator: Make sure to get Level 4’s treasure: the ladder
Link: Whoa this guy's pretty tough!
Panel 3, Narrator: You can find level 5 if you keep going up, up, up in the lost mountains

Panel 4: For Level 6, you can take a shortcut through the Lost Woods by walking as pictured below.

Panel 5, Link: Aha! What’s that in front of the grave....
Sword: Make sure to get the Magical Sword from an old man in the graveyard along the way to level 6 after you exit the forest

↑ Page 14:

box: Dungeon level 5

Link: I found the flute... but what can I use it on?

Panel 3, Link: Whoa, my magical sword is ineffective!

Box: Digdogger

Panel 4, Link: Whoa!

Panel 5, Link: Oh no, at this rate I'll be beaten!

Panel 6, Link: Oh that's right, digdogger is weak to sound, so I’ll use that item I got!
Panel 7, Link: I did it!

Panel 8, box: Dungeon level 6

Box: Goohma
Link: Oh whoa the magical sword is ineffective against this guy too!

Link: Huh? It seems to keep opening and closing its eye. That's gotta be the weak point!

↑ Page 15:

Link: I did it!

Panel 2, box: Dungeon 7, Dungeon 8

Link: I did it! <3

Panel 3, Link: Level 7 and 8 have monsters that are the same as the ones I previously encountered, so I cleared them out quickly... but the dungeon layouts are so complex I'm using up all my bombs~~~

Panel 4, box: Level 9, Death mountain

Link: So you've shown your face, Ganon, prepare yourself!!

↑ Page 16:

Link: Yahhh!

Link: hyaaa!

Panel 2, Link: Oh this is bad! Ganon seems impervious to my attacks!

Panel 3, Link: WHOA

Panel 4, Link: I'll drink the Water of Life!!
Panel 5, Link: Power up!

Link: Prepare yourself Ganon!!
Panel 6, Ganon: Uwargh! I'm defeated~~~!!

Panel 7, Link: I did it! I've recovered the Triforce of Power!

↑ Page 17:

Panel 1, Link: Ah! Princess Zelda, you're okay!!
Zelda: Thank you Link, you saved me
Panel 2: And just like that Link defeated the evil King Ganon and took up the Triforce of Power
--Triforce over Link: Power

--Triforce over Zelda: Wisdom

and was able to save the Princess Zelda

THE END

Panel 3: The August issue Famicom manga is Star Soldier- look forward to it!

Archival Scans of a LttP & LA 4 Koma by Keibunsha

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 Legend of Zelda 4 Koma for Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past
Anthology
Published by Keibunsha
T1063554360685
First Published Date: June 10, 1999

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 Link to the Past 4koma Action Comics #3 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 4 Koma Manga Kingdom # 3
A 4koma for A Link to the Past for the GBA
Anthology
Published by Action Comics and Futabasha
ISBN4-575-93845-9 C9979
First Published Date: September 9, 2003
Approx Length: 126 pages

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,

Archival Scans of the Link to the Past 4koma Action Comics #1 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 4 Koma Manga Kingdom # 1
A 4koma for A Link to the Past
Anthology
Published by Action Comics and Futabasha
ISBN4-575-93293-0
First Published Date: May 28, 1992
Approx Length: 136 pages

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,

Archival scans of Family Computer Magazine Special Edition: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Winning Guide

Here are the 1200dpi scans posted on archive.org

Family Computer Magazine Special Edition: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Winning Guideファミリーコンピュータ Magazine 緊急増刊 合本 リンクの冒険 必勝ガイド

I about died when I opened this, there's just so much art. There's several pieces of art I've never seen before on nearly every page, and there's 64 pages. And even better: some of it is new to the internet but obviously official. So now we actually have art for big bot, a king bubble, fireball version of bago-bago, a full image of Rah, and FINALLY a fokkeru and a rope. There's also a bunch of color variations. Then there's so many hand drawn maps that are simple but very cute and there is just SO MUCH art of Link that is very close to the manual art.

So this is a compilation of a feature spread across 3 Family Computer magazine issues that were just uploaded for the first time this month too. What's interesting is there's updated differences between those and this. Like the sprites get updated in the screenshots. You can find 600dpi scans those issues here, they were uploaded this month as well:

Edit: The original poster removed these, unfortunately. I have the issues and will be scanning them in the future.

• ファミマガ 1987 No.2 (2月6日号)
• ファミマガ 1987 No.3 (2月20日号)
• ファミマガ 1987 No.4 (3月6日号)

Other Keywords: Tokuma Shoten, The Legend of Zelda, Game Magazine, Strategy Guide, Adventure of Link, ゼルダの伝説, リンクの冒険, LoZ, tLoZ, AoL, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Zelda 2, 1200ppi, 600ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Videogame, Famicom, Famimaga, NES, FC, 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, Map, Illustrations

 

Archival scans of the Legend of Zelda Futabasha Fantasy Novel Series: Triforce of the Gods 2

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

Info on it:

• The Legend of Zelda 2 Triforce of the Gods (A Link to the Past) [ゼルダの伝説 2 神々のトライフォース]
• A Futabasha Fantasy Novel Series [双葉社ファンタジーノベルシリーズ]
• By Katsuyuki Ozaki [尾崎克之]
• ISBN 4-575-23125-8
• Published by Futabasha [双葉社]
• September 10, 1992
• Approximately 230 pages

My old illustration scans were here, I actually had the illustrations for this on the first version of the site, I think in 2003? and I'll eventually have even higher res images of the illustrations in the gallery.

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past, Novel, ゼルダの伝説, 神々のトライフォース, 小説, 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, novel, story, videogame, Hyrule Fantasy, illustrations,

Archival scans of the Legend of Zelda Futabasha Fantasy Novel Series: The Count of Black Shadows by Akio Higuchi

Here are the 600dpi scans posted on archive.org

The Legend of Zelda: The Count of Black Shadows (Futabasha Fantasy Novel Series)
ゼルダの伝説 黒き影の伯爵 小説 （双葉社ファンタジーノベルシリーズ）
Author: Akio Higuchi 著 者 樋口 明雄
Published by Futabasha in February of 1992
Approximately 255 pages
ISBN: 4-575-23096-0

My old illustration scans were here, I actually had the illustrations for this on the first version of the site, I think in 2003? and I'll eventually have even higher res images of the illustrations in the gallery. For now the "1992 Link meets 2022 Link" is scanned at 1200dpi and you can find that there


Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past, Novel, ゼルダの伝説, 神々のトライフォース, 小説, 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, novel, story, videogame, Hyrule Fantasy, illustrations,

First time ever: A high resolution full set of the rare Zelda 1 artwork by Macross artist Haruhiko Mikimoto

 

I love this art so much. I had so many of Haruhiko Mikimoto's wall scrolls and posters all over my dorm. He's such a pinnacle of retro anime. I am so glad I was able to collect the source material and get good scans online so it could be preserved.

The full color pieces are from the June 1986 issue of Newtype magazine and I scanned them at at 2400dpi (because the print quality is so good it made sense to do so.) I will scan the whole spread when I get a better large format scanner. (Newtype has giant pages.) I learned about this art being in that issue thanks to Blacotaku1's tumblr post ages ago, as did most of us who have seen the small versions before. (Which I cleaned up and got into the community so they ended up on Zelda wiki etc)

The line work pieces are from Mikimoto's 1989 "Cellu Works" artbook, and I scanned the whole thing at 1200dpi here: https://archive.org/details/artbook_haruhiko_mikimoto_celluworks_1989 I didn't do it at 2400 because honestly the print quality in that book didn't warrant it. I learned about this art being in that artbook when doing auction searches and found a twitter thread with it by animarchive

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, The Hyrule Fantasy, Artbook, ゼルダの伝説, 美樹本 晴彦 , 美樹本晴彦 セル・ワークス, LoZ, tLoZ, ppi, RAW, RAWS, scan, scans, high res, high rez, high resolution, Link, Princess Zelda, Hyrule, Nintendo, NES, Famicom, Family Computer, book, videogame, artbook, art book, cell work, cel work, cel works, Publisher: Tokuma Shoten 徳間書店, ISBN4-19-669607-4, Date Published: February 2, 1989

Archival Scans of the Link to the Past Nintendo Player's Guide

Scans for this aren't new, but this is the best quality you'll find online. I scanned this at 1200dpi and you can find both the cleaned up images and pure raw scans on my archive.com page, here

It was published by Nintendo of America in conjunction with Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co. 1992

If you've never flipped through this, do so! It doubles as a story book & production art book- which was so rare

ZeldaLegends.net still has the original downloads released by Nintendo. The images are small but they have great color. Find those here

Other Keywords: The Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past, Strategy Guide, Nintendo Power, 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, Player's Guide, Katsuya Terada,