The Story of LINK'S AWAKENING - A Literary Deep Dive

A deep dive into the story, themes and literary sources of "The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening," to help you draw from its wisdom while facing today’s world.

Parts 1 & 2 compare the game to two classic stories prominently referenced within it.
Parts 3 & 4 identify two trends in Japanese art that surface within this game.

This video makes use of music by The Second Narrator — you can support him on Patreon at   / thesecondnarrator  
The full album is available to stream at   / link-awakening-orchestral-arrangement  

Special thanks to Melora Hart of History of Hyrule for preserving so much high-quality Legend of Zelda art online. All official Zelda art belongs to Nintendo and to the respective publishers of these works, credited within the video.

0:00 Introduction
2:18 Part 1: The Sailor
13:23 Part 2: The Siren
23:18 Part 3: The Sea Monster
32:31 Part 4: Foam on a Wave
46:04 Sources

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Clips used:
Link's Awakening, Switch version: recorded by myself
Nintendo Direct, February 2019 (Nintendo):    • Nintendo Direct 2.13.2019  
Link's Awakening, GB version (World of Longplays):    • Game Boy Longplay [200] The Legend of...  
Twin Peaks (Giorgos T):    • Twin Peaks dream scene part  , (CBS)    • Twin Peaks - Opening Credits Sequence  
Monkey (ridetherhythm):    • Monkey Opening Theme  
The Odyssey — footage is via amy luague, but a licensed version has been made available here:    • Видео  
Super Mario World (Rodrigo0 Official):    • Super Mario World - Leaf, Tanooki Sui...  
The Wind Waker (NintendoProductions):    • The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD: Me...  
Magnetic Rose/Memories: available on Amazon
Disney's The Little Mermaid: available on Amazon
Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid: DVD available on Amazon
Breath of the Wild: recorded by myself
Link's Awakening DX (World of Longplays):    • Game Boy Color Longplay [003] Legend ...  
Twin Peaks: The Return (Franco Vázquez): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiAaf...
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer: available on Amazon
A Link to the Past (World of Longplays):    • SNES Longplay [022] The Legend of Zel...  , (SweetJohnnyCage):    • Ganon Boss Fight Guide - The Legend o...  
Akira: available on Hulu
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: available on Amazon
Majora's Mask 3DS (YTSunny):    • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D...  , (elison):    • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D...  ; the Song of Time video source appears to be missing.
Godzilla: https://archive.org/details/01Godzill...
Japan Sinks: https://archive.org/details/japan-sin...
Skyward Sword HD: recorded by myself
Ocarina of Time 3DS (ZeldaMaster):    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ...  ,    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ...  
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: available on Amazon
Japan Sinks: 2020: available on Netflix