Daily Debate: If Any of The Zelda Games Could Be Adapted Into An Anime, What Would You Pick?
Posted on May 11 2018 by Michaela El-Ters
With the adaptations of video games into anime becoming progressively more popular and common with time, usually celebrated for being good adaptations of the respective video games, the Zelda series was among one of the first with its cartoon adaptation in the late 80’s. While this TV show wasn’t very successful and borrowed little from the source material, with the modernization and rise of popularity of the anime genre as a whole, it serves as a unique medium for being able to tell the stories of video games in a unique and engaging way.
I think there’s a lot of potential for the Zelda series and stories to be turned into an anime series with the years worth of games that Nintendo has at its disposal. While all of the games would make for enjoyable anime adaptations, I think that perhaps the best games to retell would be Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. With these two games featuring the main protagonist across different time periods in his life, there’s a lot of opportunity to explore how Link’s character would grow and change throughout these journeys. The anime could easily begin with his mother fleeing from the chaos of the war and leaving behind her baby to raised among the Kokiri, which would be an exciting introduction to the story and characters. Plus, the stories of both games feature just enough apocalyptic, world-shattering stakes that it would be a compelling show episode to episode, and the anime could even end with a poetic death that leads to his eventual haunting as the Hero’s Shade.
What do you think, would you watch an anime adaptation of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask? Or is there a different game that you would pick first? Let us know in the comments!
Michaela El-Ters is a Senior Editor for Zelda Dungeon. She is also an Senior Writer for Boss Rush Network, and writes blogs and streams games on Objection Network. Her favorite Zelda game changes with the seasons, but the series as a whole is near and dear to her heart.
