‘Monsters’, the new anime from ‘One Piece’ creator Eiichiro Oda, releases its first images

We have new and important news about the ‘Monsters’ anime, the story that serves as a prequel to ‘One Piece’. It has just been confirmed that the adaptation will arrive on Netflix in January 2024 and that its final name will be ‘Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation’. A first poster and various art of its characters have even been revealed.

Why is it a prequel to ‘One Piece’?

Before writing Luffy’s story, Eiichiro Oda published several self-contained stories (called one-shots) that would end up being fundamental for his later work. Specifically, ‘Monsters’ tells the story of Shimotsuki Ryuma, the legendary samurai of Wano whose zombie fought Zoro during the Thriller Bark saga.

After the straw-hat’s victory, Zoro received a gift from Ryuma: a new and very important sword. We are referring to Shusui, one of the 21 “o wazamono”, from which he did not get rid of until more than 600 chapters later, when in Wano he changed it for Enma (Oden’s Cursed Edge) at the request of his daughter, Hiyori.

The one shot is set much earlier, when Ryuma was alive and well, and in Eiichiro Oda’s head the Grand Line did not yet exist. In fact, it can be seen in the visual style, closer to the Three Musketeers than to the world of pirates we know.

Where to read ‘Monsters’, the one-shot by Eiichiro Oda?

The story of ‘Monsters’ was compiled along with other Eiichiro Oda one-shots in a One Piece volume called Wanted! which is sold anywhere you can find other manga. This is how its back cover reads: “Wanted is the debut work of Eiichiro Oda with everything that was left in the files and a previous version of ‘One Piece’ in which we meet a very different Luffy”.