Summary
- Eiichiro Oda's one-shot manga, Monsters, is set to receive its own anime adaptation, which is exciting news for fans of One Piece and Oda's work.
- The director of the Monsters anime, Sunghoo Park, is known for his incredible animation and fight choreography, suggesting that the anime will be a visual spectacle.
- Monsters is a secret prequel to One Piece, with its main character, Ryuma, being the same person who appeared in Thriller Bark. This connection to One Piece adds a layer of excitement for fans.
One Piece is undoubtedly Eiichiro Oda’s most significant work, but one of his first manga, Monsters, is set to receive an anime adaptation of its own. In 1994, 3 years before One Piece was first published, Oda published Monsters, a one-shot story that blended samurai and cowboy action with Oda’s usual comedic and dramatic writing style. The story was later reprinted in the manga anthology Wanted!; ever since, it’s maintained a cult following among fans of One Piece and Oda.
Naturally, Monsters never took off in the same way that One Piece did, but there’s a chance for it to receive much more recognition with the announcement that it’s receiving an anime adaptation. During One Piece Day 2023, it was announced that Monsters would receive an anime adaptation at E&H production under the title Monsters: Ippaku Sanjō Hiryū Jigoku. This marks the first time a story by Eiichiro Oda other than One Piece will be receiving an anime adaptation, and with the staff involved and the story’s connections to One Piece, there’s plenty to be excited about with it.
Oda's Monsters Receives Anime From Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Director
While it’s currently unknown how Monsters: Ippaku Sanjō Hiryū Jigoku will play out, it can already be assumed to have incredible animation thanks to its director, Sunghoo Park. Park is famous for directing The God of High School, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Jujutsu Kaisen 0, all of which featured incredible animation and fight choreography, so just from that, Monsters is almost guaranteed to be a visual spectacle from start to finish. The original one-shot featured multiple scenes of sword-based action, and with Park at the helm, that’s bound to translate into action scenes with high energy and fluid choreography that will be among the best of anything in its year.
Eiichiro Oda’s Monsters Is Actually A Secret Prequel To One Piece
Another reason to be excited about Monsters: Ippaku Sanjō Hiryū Jigoku is that the story is actually a secret prequel to One Piece. Monsters stars a samurai named Ryuma who, according to Eiichiro Oda, is the same man as the Ryuma who appeared in the Thriller Bark arc and was a major figure in Wano’s history, meaning that Monsters is something of a prequel story to One Piece. This is also reflected in the title of the adaptation, as “Ippaku Sanjō Hiryū Jigoku” is the Japanese name of the move Zoro—who’s a descendant of Ryuma—used to defeat King in One Piece episode #1062.
With Monsters’ connection to One Piece in mind, it would be interesting if the anime tried to make it work better with One Piece’s lore. The original story’s cowboy-themed aesthetic doesn’t work with how Wano is supposed to be based on feudal Japan, so the anime could try to overhaul things to be more in line with Wano’s current lore; granted, Monsters can work as its own thing, but it more properly connecting to One Piece would be great to see. Regardless, the simple fact that Monsters is getting an anime at all is great, and its existence is sure to do a lot to expand One Piece’s overall brand.
Source: Anime News Network.
