MONSTERS: Eiichiro Oda explains the history and origin of the new anime

Since its announcement, MONSTERS has generated a lot of interest. And its author, already father of the iconic One Piece, explained the story of this next anime on Netflix.

Before the start of the One Piece manga, Eiichiro Oda published a series of one-shots. These were compiled in the volume Wanted! which presents five additional stories to the iconic pirate work. One of them features the legendary swordsman Ryuma, who lived about 400 years before Luffy and whose legend still remains popular in the land of Wano.

Titled in France MONSTERS: The samurai and the dragon, it will bea special 25-minute episode, the announcement of which caused a sensation< a i=2> in July 2023. At the helm of this OAV, we find Sunghoo Park, the director of season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen, and known for his attention to detail. And that’s it: the anime is ready for release in January 2024.

Warning: it is possible that the comments transcribed in this article are SLIGHT SPOILERS from Monsters: The Samurai and the Dragon.

Eiichiro Oda’s explanation of Monsters

Before the release of MONSTERS, we can already find an explanation of the scenario and its origins by the author, Eiichiro Oda. To find it, you have to go directly to the manga!

In an additional box at the end of the one-shot, Eiichiro Oda explains the reason behind his choice of title and how he came up with the main idea. He explained: “A manga about hunting dragons, Monsters. I forced the title a bit when I made this manga. I mean, when I drew it, I was in the mood for titles ending in ‘ters’. Something like ‘Drifters’, ‘Southern All Stars’ or ‘Grift-ers’ and ‘Mobsters’ from movies. I really wanted to have a title like that, so when I decided on the basic story, I thought, ‘Ah, there’s going to be a dragon and a bunch of strong guys. They are all a bit of monsters. That’s it: Monsters!'”

He then adds: “So, for the story. The story revolved around the fact that I simply wanted to draw a dragon being slain in a double page spread. I also wanted to draw a clash between a rude samurai and a noble knight.”

“If I used cooking to illustrate, it would be like eating a mix between a samurai miso, with a medieval knight marinade, flavored with a cowboy movie, with extra ‘dragon soup’, all accompanied a bottle of refreshing ‘chivalry’…”

Monsters will be released on Netflix and ADN on January 21, 2024.