On May 10, 2024, two days before the first anniversary of Tears of the Kingdom, the official Legend of Zelda X social media account announced that a new concept art book was in the works for the game. Titled “Master Works,” the book is available for preorder on Nintendo Japan’s website and the Play Asia website and will release August 30th in Japan. However, the book is only available in Japanese at the time of this writing.
Fortunately, Zelda Universe staff member Reina Proctor was kind enough to provide us sections of English translations of the art book screenshots and public posts from Zelda’s X account. Here are the translations as follows, starting with The Legend of Zelda Official X Account’s first post regarding Master Works:
“Tokuma Shoten will release an official collection of documents “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom MasterWorks” on Friday, August 30th. It will be a large volume of 464 A4 pages.”
The second post translation, with screenshots of the book:
“”Master Works” will include tons of material like lead production staff comments on designs and concept art. Here are a few sample pages that are currently in production.”
And finally, the translations of the Designer’s Note and Secret File blocks in the page screenshots of Master Works:
“DESIGNER’S NOTE: At the time of the preview that announced Princess Zelda’s short hair, I was excited to see everyone’s reaction. Since we were turning over a new leaf, we had to give the impression of a new [story] beginning, right?
“In the last game, the princess had an elegant image. In this work, we aimed for a lively and more approachable design. For the drafts, we tried various hairstyles but considering the length completely changed the image while preserving the original hair volume, the current design began to naturally take shape.
“The hooded cloak can withstand hard cave exploration that is of a thick material. In fact, we referenced the design of Zelda’s father’s [the King of Hyrule] robe from the last game. Please look for it.”
SECRET FILE: “The business memo about the structure under Hyrule Castle was drawn to be shared among the staff members. Sealed Ganondorf and the castle, the location of the cave Zelda and Link walked through in the opening scene (the Mural Room), and the large Malice purifying pillars extending from Hyrule Castle [etc.] are established details that are drawn.”
Zelda fans are hopeful that an official English version of “Master Works” will be released in international markets and follow the footsteps of Breath of the Wild’s concept art book “Creating a Champion.” No confirmation is available at this time, however. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.
Chelsea Reed
I’m a ZU writer and author of an up-and-coming sci-fi fantasy novel. All credit of my nerd prowess goes to a dear friend of mine, the true master of Forsaken Fortress.
