Monsters: Ippyaku Sanjou Hiryuu Jigoku

ODA Sensei Proved Again Why he is THE GOAT!

This Spin Off was FIRE!!
At first i was a little bit worried about the ANIMATIONS and ARTSTYLE but after Watching it
The Only Complaint i have is that i wanted MORE!!..
The good part about Animations is that they were Great at the Points they needed to Be Great..

Also the Story behind Flare and how her past was portrayed here was also very good that it makes you hate those two Fools even more

Back to back Reveals were Awesome and specially the Last Reveal "RYUMA THE KING" was Unexpected and Shocking.. also the Last scene ... when they transitioned to the RYUMA of THRILLER BARK giving Shusui to ZORO was Pure Goosebumps..

As an SPIN-OFF OVA this was 9/10

I believe One Piece Fans Will Definitely Love It!

This was pretty solid for a single episode ONA. It's nice to see Ryuuma in the flesh and he definitely has a similar vibe to Zoro, even if he still feels very basic. In fact, that's really my only problem with this: everyone feels basic. One Piece has taken quite a while to introduce more layered villains and, while I wasn't exactly expecting anything amazing from a single episode, I was a bit disappointed just how two-dimensional the villains were here. Nonetheless, this went hard on the animation when it wanted to, had a decent twist in the middle, and felt like a more grounded ... One Piece story... well, as grounded as One Piece gets when a dragon is involved. Worth the watch, certainly makes me want to see more.

Based on the chapter titled "Monsters" from the manga Wanted, by Eiichiro Oda, Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation manages to please, even if minimally, both One Piece fans and those who have never had contact with the work.

In ONA we discover more about Ryuma, already introduced in One Piece and having a direct confrontation with Zoro, to whom he is a predecessor in lineage. Following the narrative we understand more why the swordsman is so renowned, we see more of his strength and his much talked about battle against the Dragon.

It's 25 minutes with a good production, produced by Estúdio E&H Production. The direction, made ... by Seong-Hu Park, is well done, and the Director takes the opportunity to play around by using a reference to Jujutsu Kaisen - another anime he directed. Another highlight for the Director is the scene where we see Cyrano showing his real personality and, at the same time, a flashback of the villagers admiring him. This fact brings a huge contrast and that was a great success. Concluding this topic, the addition of the final scene, where we see Zoro's fight with Ryuma again, brings a nostalgic appeal to the episode that was not included in the original material (even as it was released even before One Piece).

However, in my opinion, the colors in Monsters lacked a little life, everything seemed low in saturation/contrast, which may have been a choice by the Art Direction, but it didn't go down very well. Still on that, the animation style reminded me a little of Devilman Crybaby, and that's a great quality. The improvement in character design compared to the manga is also notable.

As for the narrative, for 25 minutes it is good, as far as possible. However, with little screen time, ONA presents us with a very easy defeat for the Dragon, which is a demerit and is present in the original material.

Even with these drawbacks, relying on nostalgia in the final scene, Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation is an ONA that is worth giving a chance to watch.