１３か所の思い出の地を巡りゼルダ姫の想いを受け取った。 (I have visited and taken in all 13 places where Zelda’s memories were.)
思い出の中のゼルダ姫はいつも一所懸命だった。。。 (Within all those memories, Zelda was always working forwards with all her might.)
一刻も早くゼルダ姫を救い出して彼女の笑顔をもう一度この目で見たい。 (I need to save Zelda as quickly as I can, for I wish to see her smiling once more.)
After recovering Master Sword: I finally recovered the legendary Sword of Evil’s Bane, The Master Sword. It might be just my imagination, but I feel the Sword is also happy about this.
Zelda still keeps her hope up that one day I will rescue her by continuing her struggle against the Calamity in Hyrule Castle
But…do I have enough strength to save her as now?
Finally I have overcome the difficult Trial of the Sword. I have gained the strength, both physically and mentally to wield the Master Sword to the fullest.
I believe that Zelda will also be happy and gives blessing to my growth.
OMG THIS IS CANON! THE JAPANESE JOURNAL IS WRITTEN IN FIRST PERSON. SO IT’S LINK WHO WRITES THE MEMORIES! LINK CARES SO MUCH FOR HER! ❤❤❤❤
What’s actually interesting is that the text deliberately uses 想い and 想い出 and never 思い or 思い出. While both read the same, the meanings are inherently different in that the first form is reserved for matters of the heart over the mind. So when it says ゼルダ姫の想いを受け取った (literally, “I have taken in Princess Zelda’s feelings”), that’s tantamount to saying he accepted the memories of her and her emotions behind them, as if Kass’ Champion’s Ballad serenade at the end wasn’t enough to make it clear:
Then there is this:
In this entry under the Main Challenges tab, the second paragraph reads as follows:
And then, right there on top of that tower, I heard the beautiful voice of that woman yet again, coming from the castle far in the distance…
He mentions the “beautiful voice” again in the very next entry, identifying it there as Zelda’s when the king tells him so.
This, too:
Princess Zelda presses on with her struggle against the Calamity in that castle further still… Because she has faith that I will come for her…!
I wonder if I can even save her as I am now…
Note the urgency and determination, desperation and doubt all lumped together. These pieces are coming from a person who feels that way, not a narrator.
I can say with certainty that the entries in all tabs with the exclusion of the fourth one, “Memories,” are from Link’s perspective. ”Memories” deviates from the perceived grammatical ambiguity by outright referring to both Link and Zelda by their names. References to her by her title are because it’s probably how Link is accustomed to addressing her, as opposed to just “Zelda” because some third-person omniscient is informing the players about them. In other words, the voice across the first three tabs is emotive, human, lifelike; the fourth tab delivers the entries in a narrative-objective fashion.
It goes beyond the romance, however. Individuality and flavor seem lost when looking at the bland translations of certain entries, such as the one called “Forbidden City Entry” in English; it’s “Infiltrate! The No-Man Town” in Japanese (潜入！男子禁制の街). There’s another called “The Perfect Drink”; in Japanese, it’s “Craving that Fine Wine…” (うるわしの美酒を求めて…) in which the drink in question is called “Vai Meets Voe,” which definitely sounds more fun than “Noble Pursuit” in English.
It suits Link’s character in the world, to find genuine expression through writing easier than speaking and snarking aloud, as someone who forced himself to lock away his own feelings and live wearing the mask of an invulnerable hero.
Why NoA decided to erase a sizable chunk of Link’s personality despite the developers’ intentions eludes me. Tradition of maintaining his position as the player avatar and blank slate for the sake of tradition, maybe, though it doesn’t make any more sense than if I don’t made that assumption.
Thank you so much for your addition. This makes the post so much better and Link’s character too. I feel sad that they left so much away of Link’s character. But reading your extras Link is very much attached to Zelda. Which isn’t translated good at all in the English translation. This also makes more sense why Link accepted Kass’s song.
Wolf in Shepherd's Clothing 