A review by blainembentley
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons / Oracle of Ages -Legendary Edition- by Akira Himekawa

3.5

 This legendary edition combines two of the Legend of Zelda mangas into one book. One story for the Oracle of Seasons and the other story for the Oracle of Ages. As these are two books, I have separate thoughts for each book. I am less familiar with the stories of these games, which made it easier to just enjoy rather than critique every single change.

The first book, which focuses on the Oracle of Seasons, I liked less than the other book in this edition. I did not like Link’s progression as a character in this book. They tried to set up a whole arc for Link, but I feel his triumphs were unearned. At the end of the story he easily defeats the enemy, though earlier the enemy easily defeated him. They did not show any growth or progression for Link. All dungeons were cut out of this book, which is fine, but I feel those are what would have best shown growth or progression. Instead they focused more on the story of Seasons, which was fine because they at least did a great job at making the game come to life. Another issue I have is the rod of seasons went from having missing stones (seasons), to being at full power, with no show of it getting stronger.

The second book, which focuses on the Oracle of Ages, I liked a lot more. Interestingly enough this one doesn’t follow the story of the game nearly as much as Seasons, but I enjoyed it much more. This one didn’t feel as rushed as Seasons. This allowed me to better enjoy the game and it felt like progression and growth (as little as they are), came for naturally in this book. I really liked the idea of Link meeting and working with an ancestor (something that doesn’t happen in the game).