In a recent interview, Eiichiro Oda revealed that he initially declined an offer to adapt his one-shot MONSTERS into an anime more than a decade ago.
Oda recounted that more than ten years ago, during either Jump Festa or an Anime Tour, he received an offer to animate MONSTERS. However, he turned down the offer, as his primary concern was that fans of One Piece might not appreciate a standalone story from his early career.
“…way back before this adaptation happened, more than 10 years ago, was it at Jump Festa or an Anime Tour? There had been an offer to animate MONSTERS. But I declined it at that time. I thought it wouldn’t be fun to show the audience, who were looking forward to ONE PIECE, something I created when I was younger (LOL).“
He elaborated on his thought process by sharing a personal anecdote. He recalled attending an anime tour for Akira Toriyama, and feeling delighted to see one of Toriyama’s past one-shot stories adapted into an anime.
Despite this, Oda shared that he couldn’t imagine One Piece fans feeling the same way about MONSTERS back then.
The anime adaptation discussions resurfaced after the completion of the Wano Country Arc in One Piece, which had established connections to the Thriller Bark Arc.
According to Oda, this was perfect time to give the green light for the adaptation, as he viewed MONSTERS as a fitting One Piece substory.
“I just gave my go-ahead, but I didn’t really explain the connection to ONE PIECE with them, but then on the storyboard that they sent me, Zoro appeared at the end, and I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s perfect’,” he added.
The anime adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s ‘MONSTERS‘ manga, titled MONSTERS: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation, premiered on Netflix on Jan 22, 2024.
The anime was helmed by Sunghoo Park, known for directing Jujutsu Kaisen season 1 and Jujutsu Kaisen 0.
The production of the anime was handled by E&H Production.
MONSTERS is a one-shot manga by Eiichiro Oda, initially featured in the 1994 Shonen Jump Autumn Special. Later, it was reprinted in 1998 as part of “Wanted!,” a compilation of Oda’s pre-One Piece works.
As a part of the One Piece 100 We Are ONE celebration, a voice comic adaptation of “MONSTERS” was produced. The adaptation was released in two parts on the Jump Comics Channel on September 6–7, 2021.
Source: X