10 reasons to watch ‘Monsters’ on Netflix, the ‘One Piece’ anime prequel

Before writing Luffy’s Great Adventure, Eiichiro Oda published several self-contained stories (called one-shots) that became fundamental to his later work. One of them, “Monsters”, told the past of Shimotsuki Ryuma, the legendary samurai of Wano, whose zombie Zoro confronted during the Thriller Bark saga. Well, Netflix just got an anime adaptation of this manga, and it was so good that today we bring you 10 reasons why it is worth giving it a chance.

1. Shows the origins of Eiichiro Oda

The author of ‘One Piece’ drew the one shot of “Monsters” in 1994, when he was only 19 years old before he became famous in 1997. At that time he worked as an assistant to mangakas like Shinobu Kaitani (in Suizan Police Gang) and Masaya Tokuhiro (Jungle King Tar-chan).

This story allows us to know his origins and it is easy to glimpse his style as a cartoonist and his preference for certain characters and themes that will give us more than one déja vu.

2. It has a unique setting

East, West and America, together. One of the graces of the story is the number of areas it touches in terms of setting. Eiichiro Oda himself describes it this way:

“If it were a recipe, it would be a house samurai marinade with a Western knight from the Middle Ages with a Far West accompaniment and a dragon soup. And to drink, a young rosé from the way of the sword. And the food? Let’s just say it tastes acrobatic”.

3. It is part of the ‘One Piece’ canon

The anime adds a scene right at the end that connects the one-shot with the moment when Ryuma and Zoro fight in Thriller Bark, when the pirate hunter snatches his sword from the zombie version of the samurai. ‘Monsters’ thus becomes a prequel to ‘One Piece’ about the bearer of Shusui, one of the legendary O Wazamono.

As a wink and an additional link, the story’s narrator is Kazuya Nakai, the same voice actor (seiyu) who brings Zoro to life in the original version.

4. The animation is spectacular

Oda drew ‘Monsters’ because he was “excited to draw a two-page scene of the main character cutting the dragon.” Well, the result in the anime is just as impressive as in the manga, and the fight between Ryuma and Cyrano is even more spectacular - it looks like something out of Vagabond!

5. It has parallels with ‘One Piece’

The protagonist of ‘Monsters’, Ryuma, is a prototype of Zoro, while the villain, Cyrano, is a preliminary version of Mihawk. On top of that, the two fight a duel to see who is the better swordsman. It is clear that “the way of the sword” and “the spirit of the warrior” are themes that obsessed Eiichiro Oda long before he began to sail the Grand Line.

Moreover, the author uses some of the same tricks we saw in ‘One Piece’ to unite some of his characters. If Zoro made Luffy fall in love by not wasting food and picking up Rika’s rice balls from the floor, in ‘Monsters’ we will see Ryuma establish a bond with Flare through the stomach.

6. There are modern references

This spin-off/prequel was directed by Sunghoo Park, director of the first season of ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’, who allowed himself several winks to the series of Satoru and Itadori. It is nice to see how the world of animation feeds back and most satisfying as a viewer to see that over the years we can develop the eye and appreciate more references.

7. The hidden messages

Despite being a self-contained anime of 25 minutes, ‘Monsters’ manages to make its characters penetrate us through a series of messages whose power reverberates even after the episode’s end. It shows that even as a young man, the author was particularly good at flashbacks and backgrounds, which he would so often delight us with in ‘One Piece’.

In between drama and drama, there are messages about smiling and not living in the past, about things that are worth fighting for, against suicide, boasts of generosity and humility, and so on.

8. Differences from the manga

Those who have already read the manga will be able to verify this adaptation’s high degree of fidelity. Apart from the final scene, only two things have changed. Will you be able to find them?

In case you haven’t read ‘Monsters’ yet, we’ll reveal them to you: they are the design of D.R.’s character (much fatter and more strident) and Ryuma’s sword, which now looks like Zoro’s Shusui.

9. It has a twist at the end

Monsters” also has a “twist” that may not be clear. Ryuma spends the story talking about “The King”, a legendary swordsman he wants to duel, but in reality, he is chasing a shadow, his own.

The nickname “The King” is what people call Ryuma once he enters their lives. It is the title given to him by “all those whose lives he has saved,” and since the samurai refuses to retrace his steps, he is never aware of it.

10. See other spin-offs of ‘One Piece’

The ‘Monsters’ one-shot is part of a volume called ‘Wanted! Although, according to Oda, “calling them short stories is an insult” because they are “masterpieces.” A selection chosen from many, many stories that never saw the light of day.”

If successful, Netflix may be encouraged to adapt some of the others, among which are prototypes of many other characters and settings that we would later see again in ‘One Piece’.