Twilight Princess manga Volume Six review: Dramatic developments unfold

Volume Six of the Twilight Princess manga is bound to raise eyebrows even before readers flip to the first page. Dark Link being front and center on the cover, despite appearing as little more than an Easter egg in the video game, riles plenty of intrigue. Then there’s the matter of this entry’s abbreviated page count. This is the shortest volume in the series thus far by a sizable margin, coming in at 150 pages in length. (All previous volumes hovered around 190 pages.)

Read our review of Volumes One, Two, Three, Four, and Five of the Twilight Princess manga.

But true to a manga that has been faithful in adapting every step of the adventure that fans know so well, Volume Six doesn’t allow its brevity to be a burdensome restraint. It maximizes its page count to contribute a bold, punchy section of the story that is one of the most memorable in the series.

Where previous books in the Twilight Princess manga regularly shifted the focus away from Link to other characters in the large cast, Volume Six fixes the spotlight squarely on the green-clad hero. Only a brief scene featuring Ilia and Shad near the story’s halfway point mixes up the perspective, and even that is partially in service to matters surrounding Link.

This entry doesn’t waste a single page, moving with a vigorous pace that never feels hurried. It quickly sets Link and Midna off on their search for the fragments to the Mirror of Shadow, which first takes them to the frigid region of Snowpeak. As if to make amends for Volume Five disappointingly rushing through the Arbiter’s Grounds, the happenings at Snowpeak Mansion fill nearly the first half of the book, and a few familiar faces join the quest.

Rather than just point Link in the right direction, Ashei actually ventures into Snowpeak Mansion alongside him and even gets in on the action to take down Blizzeta. It’s another case of the Twilight Princess manga continuing to expand the roles of side characters from the video game, and it’s especially satisfying to see members of the Resistance be more involved in the conflict engulfing Hyrule. Meanwhile, Yeto and Yeta are provided ample opportunity to endear themselves to readers the same as they did in the game. The adorable couple brings plenty of comic relief to the pages, which has largely been absent to this point in the Twilight Princess adaptation.

This entry doesn’t waste a single page, moving with a vigorous pace that never feels hurried.

That injection of humor is one last reprieve before the story makes a daring detour. The back half of Volume Six is an exceptionally grim sequence not seen in the video game, where Link finds himself being accosted by a gauntlet of foes in an alternate realm of existence. It seems that Link is slowly being corrupted by his exposure to the variety of dark magic he’s facing, leading him to a mysterious, twisted corner in time and space. The true nature behind this lengthy set piece is still to be determined though, as Volume Six leaves a thorough explanation for another day.

The Legend of Zelda manga has long had a bad habit of cutting battles short, but artist duo Akira Himekawa’s potential to draw a thrilling fight has always been there. With sufficient pages at hand, the artists again use the Twilight Princess manga to prove this through Link’s episode inside the nightmarish dimension. They unleash their ability to illustrate action as Link takes on reincarnations of Diababa, Stallord, Bokoblins, King Bulblin, and a shadowy phantom of himself. That’s all before Zant eventually enters the fray.

The action in the second half is nonstop and masterfully illustrated.

It is unquestionably some of the best fight choreography that Himekawa has ever crafted. A two-page spread where Link and Dark Link exchange blows is so smoothly arranged that you can easily envision the scene in motion. A storm of visual elements are at work throughout these battles, with blood, ichor, and other particles streaming across the panels. This sequence becomes shockingly violent at more than one point, harking back to the gruesome imagery seen in Volume One as Zant’s forces attacked the Ordona Province. Some readers are likely to find these instances off-putting, and it’s hard to blame them. It warrants a reminder to parents that the Twilight Princess manga has always carried a Teen rating from Viz Media, and with very good reason.

No matter your tolerance for the grotesque, Volume Six’s conclusion is definitely one to remember. The Hero’s Shade literally bursting through reality in his wolf form before mauling Zant deserves to go down as one of the most thrilling moments in the Twilight Princess manga. Just like when Captain America emerged from the shadows to help Scarlet Witch and Vision in Avengers: Infinity War, the Hero’s Shade’s big save is the kind of moment that would make a movie theater explode with cheers and applause.

Volume Six leaves a lot to unpack as the final page shows the Hero’s Shade bearing an unconscious Link to an unknown destination. This original chapter in the Twilight Princess narrative, courtesy of Himekawa, is poised to carry into Volume Seven, and there’s no telling what further surprises it will bring. Even once the flow of events returns to more familiar sights, Link will still be grappling with more than he ever did in the video game after being blighted by the Twilight’s mysterious energies. This may have been the shortest read thus far for the Twilight Princess manga, but Volume Six has arguably left the biggest mark on the series.