Can Netflix subscribers who discovered the “One Piece” universe with the live-action series watch the prequel “Monsters: Hell of the Flying Dragon of 103 Passions”?
Gone are the days when the One Piece saga was limited to Eiichiro Oda’s manga and its animated adaptation. On August 31, Netflix unveiled the first season of its live-action adaptation, a project eagerly awaited by fans but crowned with success as evidenced by the renewal of the program for a season 2.
A few days ago, the platform put online the special episode Monsters: Hell of the Flying Dragon with 103 Passions. This One Piece prequel adapted from a one-shot written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda follows the adventures of the samurai Ryûma, a distant ancestor of Roronoa Zoro.
Warning spoilers… or not?
If fans of the anime will not ask the question, spectators of the live-action – having neither read the manga nor seen the animated series – may however wonder if it is possible for them to watch this special episode without taking the risk of being spoiled.
The answer is yes, for the simple reason that this story was written several years before the publication of One Piece began. This early work can also be found in France in the anthological manga Wanted! (editions Glénat), which offers the short story Romance Dawn which foreshadowed the One Piece series.
Netflix
A new post-credits scene
The plot of this episode is therefore understandable to anyone, including even Netflix subscribers who have never seen a single episode of a One Piece series. And we should also point out the presence of a post-credits scene, new compared to the one-shot manga, which requires some explanation.
This short sequence features Roronoa Zoro facing a zombie version of the samurai Ryûma. This meeting obviously refers to a story arc well known to One Piece fans, Thriller Bark. For fans of live-action, this bonus scene can serve as a teaser for future seasons of the program.
Note that in addition to its availability on Netflix, the anime Monsters: The Inferno of the Flying Dragon of 103 Passions is also offered on the specialized platform ADN, and will be broadcast this Tuesday, January 23 on the J-One channel.
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