Monsters 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation

This is a must watch for any One Piece fan, and even if you aren't, you will still enjoy it.

This is a short 25 minute special that gives us a glimpse into Zoro's (One Piece) ancestor, and Wano's legendary samurai, Ryuma. The story follows said samurai's quest to save a town from a fire breathing dragon.

The animation is phenomenal! The main fighting sequences were great but I wish they were a bit longer. It's obvious to me that the animation studio put a lot of time and effort into this short special.

Lastly, you can tell where Oda's inspiration for some of One Piece's characters came from. Zoro looks a lot like Ryuma, Nami looks somewhat like Flare, and Mihawk like Shirone.

Overall, this was great treat for a long time One Piece fan.

This Original Net Animation (ONA) produced by E&H Production and is an adaptation of the one-shot manga titled 'MONSTERS' written by the legendary Eiichiro Oda, creator of the popular anime One Piece.

This short ONA tells the tale of a legendary samurai named Ryuma. One Piece fans (especially Zoro fans) will definitely know who this swordsman of the Land of Wano is.

I was really excited for this one and enjoyed it very much given that I am a fan of Roronoa Zoro from One Piece. The animation was well done, the fighting scenes were amazing and it felt really good overall.

If there is one thing I don't like it's that it feels too short. But nevertheless the adaptation of the one-shot manga is still a decent one. 👍

Although some have discussed that this is 'stand-alone' story, but now with how Oda tied it into Thriller Bark arc in the end, we can officially agree that it is canon to One Piece. 😎

When you think of the prequels, the first thoughts you think about is Star Wars the prequels.

While this isn't exactly a prequel because it was created first, the fact that it is added to One Piece makes it a prequel.

That being said, you can't ignore that there are clear and obvious flaws. First of all let's admit that the setting is most clearly in a town that looks much more inspired from old Westers movies rather than a town in the Edo period inspired Wano. (You can't really convince me that something as usefull as pants somehow faded out of style for robes or tables and chairs for low tables and mats or glasses for tiny saucers). This is the criticism of the original work though. But the animators had creative license to change that if Oda allowed them to.

But even that isn't the reason why I gave it an 8. The reason is: the pacing. Look, I love Zoro and Nami as much as anyone but I had to skip through 5 minutes of the episode because it basically repeated itself. The short is ONLY 25 minutes long, you don't have to keep reminding me of things.

And the climax, it ends as quick as leaving the room for a glass of water. They could have stretched out the fight instead of the dialogue. (I know that the oneshot was like this too, but they had creative liscence with this to improve on the original even slightly)

All in all, it is a great piece of lore for Zoro fans and Ryuma fans. It's just a shame that we didn't get to see more of what Ryuma is known for: "being the greatest swordsman of his century."

A brilliant special, simple and interesting. If you're a fan of the One Piece universe, this is for you. Eiichiro Oda surprised with a story in that 1994 one-shot. The arguments put forward by the mangaka are justified here. Director Park Sung-hoo did a good job keeping the essence, adding his focus to productions like Jujutsu Kaisen.

"Monsters: The Dragon's Hell" is worth every second. Having a pretty nice animation and with a lot of focus for the time that the story is set, with shades of dark colors, opaque and not so striking unlike the One Piece anime. The drawing pattern is quite decent.

For many spectators it may not like it, it is true, but the true acquaintances will appreciate these 25 minutes very much. From the beginning we are introduced to our protagonist Shimotsuki Ryuma, having a lot of essence of Luffy and Zoro, references? A lot. The story and events take place 400 years before the start of One Piece.

That moment of action of our protagonist, his agility, skill and animation is brutal. Seconds worth gold. That's where the legend was created.

It is worth mentioning that message of reflection focused on the sadness, betrayal and innocence of many people. An example of this is the events that our friend Flare had, being deceived by Cyrano since her childhood. The way many people take advantage of the nobility of a people is real. This special shines through all that reflective and moving approach. In addition, it adds the way in which an image of justice, loyalty and glory is sold, but for malicious purposes.

We have smart, creative, simple, but very weak villains. Each of them with the image or essence of others from the One Piece universe.

From my perspective it could have been a lot better, maybe with more minutes or a movie to keep the hype of this story. 25 minutes that passed very quickly and leave you longing for more.

Long live the King.

6.5/10.