The Legend of Zelda Returns

New deluxe Legendary Edition Vol. 1 features the complete Ocarina of Time story arc.

By Joel Enos November 08, 2016

Editor's Sidebar: Where we hear directly from VIZ editors about series they're working on.

Befitting a series of games that feature differing, alternate takes on the main character in each incarnation, often changing era and timeline as well, it's a Zelda reinvention over here at VIZ!

Following up on the massive success of last year's new edition of the old Nintendo Power magazine serial, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and nicely timed with the announcement of the new manga series, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, debuting next year, we've also revisited our classic series, the original manga by Akira Himekawa and given it a serious touch-up for 2016.

The original core series, based on the Nintendo series of games, introduced manga readers (or reintroduced for gamer fans) to Link, Zelda and their world—following the different timelines of the games, and featuring bonus stories and filling in detail about the lore. Link went on journeys in search of the elusive Triforce, to rescue the ever-in-peril Princess Zelda, and explored his multi-faceted highly fantastical world along the way. As in the games, each new story entry in the manga series featured a different take on Link, at different ages, in differing timelines and at varying degrees of his evolution. Fans could read each story on its own merit, or follow along as the series was designed, jumping back and forth in timelines to experience each adventure, as in the games.

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While that fan favorite set of 10 books is pretty awesome already, the new Legendary Editions do their best to enhance them. The new series combines the stories in a different order than original release to showcase specific eras and timelines in a new way. In Vol. 1, all of The Ocarina of Time is in one place for the first time, along with the short bonus prequel, “The Skull Kid and the Mask,” also no longer broken up between two volumes of manga.

VIZ designer Shawn Carrico put some hard time in to design a new look worthy of the five new tomes. We think he did a pretty spectacular job. And the editorial team went painstakingly over every page, both old and new, to refine, enhance—and in some cases fix—continuity and clarity (hindsight is always 20/20 right?). We're not changing canon, but this is a rare opportunity to go back and make an amazing series, well, Legendary.

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You also get color pages in each volume, showcasing the artwork in a new way, even for hard core fans, plus sketches, notes from the creator on character design and development, and in some editions (hint: The Legend of Zelda: Legendary Edition, Vol. 2: Oracle of Seasons/Oracle of Ages has one in it… no, we won't tell you what it is yet) stories that have never been presented in English before.

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Basically, we know you love this series—and so do we. And a legendary journey like the one Link is still on after all this time deserves a Legendary Edition. We're hoping you love this new version as much as we do!