(sorry for the late response)
"Ruto, Saria, and Malon, obviously..."
. . . if you mean respectively, I only agree with the second(and only because of the fact that neither seems to age and both have a semi-obvious attraction to their respective lead protagonist)... if anything,
Mikuru would be Ruto, given the fact that she's the only character in OoT who brings up marriage, plus there's the lovely fact that Link has to carry her around during one of the two parts where she's actually somewhat important. I'd say Itsuki would have to be a Goron. Not Darunia(or Darunia's son), just a Goron. Watch the scene after clearing out Dodongo's Cave again and note Link's reaction to them. "Too close," indeed.
And since this is a SHnY/OoT comparison... Taniguchi and Kunikida are
so those two guys who do nothing but laugh and talk to each other(and Link, when spoken to). The Computer-whatever-President is definitely Mido(
). Kyon's sister has to be Navi. I'd say the Tamaru brothers would be Talon and Ingo, but Ingo stabbed Talon in the
back, and it was more of a figurative sense than a literal one.
... I am very sorry for bringing this up again