Eiichiro Oda’s Monsters Anime: All You Need to Know

With the conclusion of the Wano Country arc in December 2023, the Egghead arc has kicked off in the One Piece anime. However, there is still one connection to Wano left to be explored. If you are up-to-date with the latest news in One Piece Land, you must know what I’m talking about. For those who are not, don’t sweat it, as we are talking about Monsters, an anime adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s one-shot manga from long ago. With the release date now live, here’s everything you need to know about the Monsters anime before its impending release.

Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation Anime Details

Although the Wano Country arc has ended in the anime, it is time to revisit the flamboyant lands of Wano in the upcoming spinoff titled “Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation.” It recounts the story of Ryuma, the fabled swordsman who is from the Land of Wano in One Piece.

Monsters Anime Release Date

This anime is produced by E&H Productions and is based on Oda’s one-shot manga titled Monsters. The anime is all set to be released on January 21, 2024, as confirmed by the official Netflix listing for the anime.

As for those wondering where they can watch the Monster anime, well, you can stream it on popular video streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video.

Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation Runtime

Since the anime is based on a one-shot manga, it was earlier confirmed that it would feature only one episode. Now, the runtime for the solo episode has also been revealed to be 25 minutes. I’m sure they would have adapted the source material in a crisp way to make it into an amazing single episode.

Plot of Monsters Anime

Monsters is a legendary one-shot manga drawn by the young Eiichiro Oda when he was just 19 years old. He published this manga in Shonen Jump before One Piece was serialized. The first-ever anime adaptation of the samurai Ryuma’s sword-fighting drama is as follows:

In a peaceful era, fear was dancing in the sky, disturbing the slow flow of time. ‘Fear’ also means the absolute destruction of that land. It was the appearance of a dragon in the lands where samurai Ryuma hailed from.

Monsters Anime Voice Actors List

The new trailer for the series from Netflix has also revealed the talented Seiyuu who worked in this anime. They are as follows:

• Shimotsuki Ryuma by Yoshimasa Hosoya (Reiner Braun from AOT, Fumikage Tokoyami from MHA, and Asahi Azumane from Haikyuu)
• Flare by Kana Hanazawa (Mayuri Shiina from Steins Gate, Kanade Tachibana from Angel Beats, and Kosaki Onodera from Nisekoi)
• Cyrano by Hiroki Tōchi (Ging Freecss from HxH and Maine from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners)
• D.R. by Mitsuaki Madono (Kon from Bleach and Masahiko Umezawa from Hajime no Ippo)

Characters in Oda’s Monsters

Now that you have learned about the plot, it’s time to take a glimpse at the characters that will be playing a vital role in the story. Here is an introduction to the Monsters characters:

• Ryuma: As you already know, Ryuma will helm the show as the primary character of the show. “He is a young samurai from the lands of Wano who wanders in search of the soul of a soldier,” as per the staff’s description.

• Flare: “She is the only survivor of a town that was attacked by a dragon seven years ago.” It looks like she will be a companion to Ryuma and Co. on their journey.

• Cyrano: He is a top-tier swordsman who continues his journey to recover the stolen dragon’s horn. Cyrano will be a major supporting character in the series.

• D.R.: A third-rate swordsman and criminal who will serve as one of the main antagonists of the anime.

• Unknown Dragon: This is possibly the dragon that will be roaring in the skies in the anime. It is described by the staff as “a symbol of fear dancing in the sky.”

Trailer of Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation 

After the official announcement video for Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation and its release date, Netflix has now released an official trailer giving us a first look at the life story of Ryuma. Check out the trailer here:

Production Team Behind Monsters Anime

There are some pretty big names involved in the anime adaptation of Monsters by Oda. If you want to learn about them and the previous projects they worked on, here they are:

• Director: Park Sung Hoo (Director of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 and JJK Movie 0)
• Character design: Takashi Kojima (known for Doraemon: Nobita’s New Dinosaur, Ride Your Wave, Flip Flappers, and The Heike Story)
• Art director: Fuminao Akai
• Color design: Ryoji Nagasawa
• Director of Photography: Shumei Lee
• Editor: Keisuke Yanagi
• Music: Hiroaki Tsutsumi (Known for the JJK series, Dr. Stone, Orange, Tokyo Revengers, etc)
• Music producer: Kenki Kobayashi
• Sound director: Akiko Fujita
• Production: E&H production
• Written by: Eiichiro Oda

That’s everything you need to know about the upcoming One Piece spin-off series, Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation. This one-shot was first published in 1994, and 30 years later, it has successfully received an anime adaptation from a talented team. This is primarily due to the huge success of the Wano Country arc (one of the best One Piece arcs), and we can once again witness a connection to it.

That said, are you excited to watch the Monsters anime airing later this month? Let us know in the comments below.