The Back Cover: A Witch’s Broom

Hello and welcome back to The Back Cover, the series that brings you all some insight to The Legend of Zelda franchise’s manga counterpart. For those of you who don’t know, there are ten manga books for the Zelda franchise, written by Akira Himekawa, covering eight of the main series titles. Reading about Link solve endless puzzles in various dungeons probably wouldn’t sell well, so the stories told in the manga series tend to differ from the video games, but still keep the plot of their respective game. Today we’ll be taking a look at Maple in Oracle of Seasons. Obviously, this article contains spoilers for the manga. Jump the link if you’d like to read more!

In the Oracle of Seasons manga, Akira Himekawa decided to take a very minor character from the game, that being Maple, and used her as a supporting character instead. In the video game, all Maple did was appear on the next screen Link walked onto after killing a large amount of enemies, and would bump into him causing him to drop many of his items. Maple didn’t really have much to do with the story of the game, and her only real purpose was to help Link progress through the trading sequence. In the manga, Maple seeks the Rod of Seasons, which Link needs to defeat Onox and rescue Din. In attempt to steal the Rod from Link, Maple accompanies him on his journey to the Gorgon Castle to defeat Onox, then takes the Rod when she has her chance she takes the Rod and leaves. After a few scenes of Link and Ricky (the boxing kangaroo) fighting there way through enemies to reach the castle doors, the story brings us back to Maple who his flying home with the Rod of Seasons at hand.

Maple knows that the Rod of Seasons will help her achieve her lifetime goal of becoming the worlds greatest sorceress, so taking it and making a quick getaway seems to be the best choice at hand. However, when she is flying away she remembers Link and Ricky saying “Just get over that and let’s be friends!”. After thinking about them, her broom suddenly starts zooming backwards, toward the Gorgon Castle. Then from a voice that isn’t specified, probably the broom itself, the following words are spoken: “Warning! A witch’s broom will only go in the direction she truly wants to go. In addition, the speed is directly connected to the strength of her emotion.”. The meaning behind her broom’s warning is a constant cliche in the world of movies and books, however it provides an example of a problem many people can find within their own hearts. In a world where society is basically built upon the dream of success, fame, and money, people dream for something that they only think will make them happy, but often times only leaves them off worse than they were before. In this instance, Maple is so set on becoming the greatest sorceress ever, and obtaining the Rod of Seasons seems to be her only hope of doing so. However, when she finally acquires the Rod of Seasons, she realizes that what she really wants is the luxury of friendship, and she wants it badly. Whether it be fame or fortune, many people in today’s society fall into the same situation, grasping for the world’s idea of success when all they might really want is to be noticed or loved.

These short two pages of the Oracle of Seasons manga seem to hold a lot of meaning within them, and that is what I personally love so much about the Zelda franchise’s manga series. Taking a very minor character, like Maple, out of the game and making her into someone with a lot more meaning and personality is a very common theme throughout the manga series, and is almost always done very well. So what do you all think of this tiny excerpt from the manga? Is it interesting? Or just something to be skimmed over? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!