So, someone on the site's Facbook page asked if there had ever been any news on a Twilight Princess manga. Hell, like I knew, but of course I had always wondered why Akira Himekawa didn't do one for TP or WW. And I knew other people had wondered- so I decided I would try really hard to look it up.

With my limited knowledge, and Google Translate, I hunkered down and finally found a couple things, and a couple of blog posts written by the Akira Himekawa duo themselves, that looked promising. Then, to clear up the confusion left by an automated translation, Saphine (who is fluent) read them and figured it out for me. This is what she said about what they said:



First- I can't thank Saphine enough for clearing that up for me! It was a lot to read through and it really helped. (You're awesome, hope you know it!)

You know, I always figured it must have been bureaucratic- the reasons as to why we didn't get a TP manga. (I'm sure it's the same reason for WW.) So, this is one reason why, even if people enjoy reading manga online- (or playing ROMS, or listening to albums, etc...) I still want them to buy it if they like it and thus speak with their cash- the publishers need it if they're going to keep publishing I'm considering writing Nintendo and pleading with them to ask their manga publisher to run with it. And then asking other fans to do that as well. Maybe even starting an online petition. (Much like the MM petition that's going around.) What do you guys think? There's a good chance that it wouldn't work BUT, keep this in mind: a long time ago, Akira Himekawa stated that their publisher had said to them that they would never be able to publish their works outside of Japan because of lack of interest. And guess what? They did and it's even won awards in other countries- like Germany. So, you never know! It's always worth a shot. If the publisher thinks they can make money- then it would only be a win-win-win situation.

Maybe I'll make a contest out of it. <_< ... >_> ... *looks at the extra set of all 10 Himekawa manga's she owns* I'll think about it *cough* I take very little convincing. I'll probably talk myself into it as soon as I get a free second.

I should do a Twilight Princess comic! It would take forevers.

I blame the recession, man. Apparently the rupee isn't worth what it used to be.

Seriously, though, I have heard the manga industry was hard-hit the past few years. Anime in general isn't being produced at the same rate. It doesn't help that there is a lot of free stuff on the internet, the Japanese economy is constantly struggling, and then the tsunami and junk hit. It's just a rut. Too bad they didn't have something for anniversary year, but it looks like they put their eggs in other baskets.

Anyway, if it took Ocarina of Time 10 years to get translated, I now believe anything can happen.

I know, when the ruppee goes down, we ain't getting much from Hyrule.

Yeah, a few years ago, the comic book shop guy in my town said that it had gotten so bad that they had stopped ordering manga unless it was going directly to someone's box. I'm really thinking that anything COULD happen as well.. but, it's not like it helps that the economy has been especially crappy as of late. I'm a optimistic pessimist though, I guess.

At least I hear the cost of publishing has gone down since now, unlike the old days, it's easier to print in smaller runs. Who knows. Who knows. And, you know, it's freakn' Zelda. I would be really shocked if they ever LOST money on it.

Thanks, I always wondered about that. Perhaps they'll work on a Skyward sword manga.

I also wonder why they didn't work on a ww one and why they made one for phantom hourglass? Since Tww was released before TP and PH was after... or maybe I'm confused .

It's sad to hear about manga publishers. In my country libraries were just starting to bring manga stuff and it made me so happy. However, they are not new titles or artbooks anymore ><.

Well, it's nice to see that it wasn't because Nintendo didn't let them draw it. Too bad manga and anime are having a rough time...

I'm not 100% sure, but wasn't the 4 koma WW manga made by Akira Himekawa?

I think what they mean to say is that, at one time they were definitely set for working on other Zelda manga (like the Twilight Princess Manga mentioned here), but when that was put on hold, they redirected their attention to original works, "Gliding Reki" in particular. Now that they're deep in their own works, it's not easy to just drop it to do other projects (be it Zelda or whatever).

But... as far as the 4-Koma for WW/Phantom Hourglass goes, I think you're right, Malu. Himekawa did work on it (it looks like it was published in 2009) after Twilight Princess was already released (in 2006 — holy crap, time sure flies). I really don't know why that is, lol. Maybe 4-Komas are easier to produce because they're simpler than a full-blown comic?

If I see or hear anything, I'll let you all know.



Do eeeet! Although, I really rather see Velharthis updates *nudge-nudge*



No kidding. Have you seen the way the industry has been smacking down on scanlation groups and online manga readers? I think the latter of the two has taken a greater hit (such as OneManga and MangaFox), but I imagine that the reigns are going to be pulled in tighter for the scanlation groups soon. I've heard of publishers sending out Cease and Desist letters to the owners of scanlation sites... eek!

There's confusion somewhere, (or I don't know about something.) The only WW 4koma I'm aware of was done by a group called Oyster and I don't think Himekawa had anything to do with it. This is it http://www.zeldawiki.org/The_Legend_of_ ... 7s_Logbook

I'm aware of no other WW manga-ish things.

Though I think they must have done some official art for the game. (those stained glass windows that Nintendo made wallpapers out of)

They did do a PH manga though. I never played PH so I don't know if it ties in with WW or something. http://www.zeldawiki.org/The_Legend_of_ ... 28Manga%29

Phantom Hourglass is the sequel to Windwaker, which is why I kind of bundled it together in my last post when I mentioned it (because I'm assuming the Phantom Hourglass work what Malu was talking about, too).

You know what, though... I just realized when I looked for the WW/PH work by Akira Himekawa that, ding-ding, it's not a 4-Koma! It's listed on Amazon.co.jp here.

EDIT: It was released in 2010, too. Hmmm... how curious. Nevermind that, I was right in my post prior to this one. It was released in Japan in 2009 (2010 by VIZ in America). Still, it ISN'T a 4-koma, so it makes me wonder why this manga was created whilst Twilight Princess manga is still MIA.

My first thought was that... maybe they're doing releases in order of the game releases? But no, that still doesn't make sense, because the fact remains that Phantom Hourglass (the game) came out AFTER Twilight Princess. Hrmmmm.

And I'm also surprised that they're not jumping all over Spirit Tracks, since there's a lot of Zelda x Link goodness in there.

Argh- did not know /sad
must play

Yeah, it does seem odd that they skipped TP!

Huh, I wonder if it was released MUCH earlier in the kids magazine though. I think on of the other volumes that came out wasn't released in "volume" form for nearly 2 years.
/brain is too tired to try to find facts or do math.