Director Sunghoo Park has included an eye-catching Jujutsu Kaisen reference in his new One Piece spinoff, Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation.
A Jujutsu Kaisen fan account on X (formerly Twitter) named @JJK_Mya shared the said scene with its followers. The post features side-by-side images of the series’ main characters, Yuji Itadori and Ryuma. As shown, Park depicts the latter character’s dejected figure in front of two oversized images of his enemy laughing maniacally. This directly mirrors a JJK scene in which Yuji vividly imagines deranged images of Mahito and Ryomen Sukuna, who are also taunting him.
Related
Buggy the Clown faces off against Ryomen Sukuna’s power in One Piece x Jujutsu Kaisen Animation
The One Piece x Jujutsu Kaisen fan animation showcases what would happen if Buggy were enveloped by one of Ryomen Sukuna’s signature attacks.
The crossover between Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece fandom is evident in @JJ_Mya’s comments section, where many viewers posted responses like “Top notch.” [anime] refer to another vertex [anime]” The monster is connected to Eiichiro Oda’s shounen giant through its setting in the greater One Piece universe. First published in October 1994, Monsters revolves around a samurai named Ryuma, who becomes involved in a plot revolving around a stolen dragon horn. In 2021, Jump Comics Channel released a dubbed manga adaptation of the one-shot to commemorate the release of One Piece’s 100th volume. Sunghoo Park’s anime adaptation debuted on Netflix on January 21.
Ryuma exists in One Piece as the legendary “Sword God” Shimotsuki Ryuma, who is famous for single-handedly defeating a dragon. This fits with the plot of Monsters, which saw Ryuma confront a dragon after the villains summoned it with the horn. Those who watched the “Thriller Bark” arc of One Piece got the chance to see this samurai in action when he was revived as a zombie to serve Gecko Moria, Captain of the Thriller Bark pirates. Ryuma served as a minor villain until Roronoa Zoro, who happened to be his ancestor, defeated him.
Related
Oda changed One Piece: The Story of a Strong World because it was too “touching” for young audiences
One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda was revealed to have changed the plot of One Piece: Strong World because it was “too emotional” for younger audiences.
Since Monsters: 103 Mercy is based on a one-shot manga, it’s unlikely it will receive additional anime adaptations in the future. However, fans of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime series can look forward to the release of the “Culling Game” arc, which is currently in production at Studio MAPPA. In this storyline, Yuji, Megumi and a host of other Jujutsu witches face off in a fierce death tournament, the outcome of which will determine the ultimate fate of humanity. Fans can also look forward to the return of Yuta Okkotsu, the beloved star of JJK’s prequel film, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, in this installment. Although MAPPA has released a trailer for the series, it has not yet revealed a release date.
Monsters: 103 Mercy Dragon Damnation is available to stream on Netflix. MAPPA’s Jujutsu Kaisen anime series is available to watch on Crunchyroll and Prime Video. The original One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen manga are both available in English from VIZ Media.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)