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After the recent hiatus, One Piece returns in grand style, as the color spread for chapter 1094 pays tribute to Monsters, a one-shot manga from the franchise's creator, Eiichiro Oda. The story's main character is Ryuma, an unparalleled samurai who was the strongest warrior of his time.
Unlike Oda's other one-shots, Monsters is fully canon to the One Piece series, within which narrative universe Ryuma is connected to Roronoa Zoro as a sort of forefather of the "Pirate Hunter". Published in 1994 and later included in the 1998 volume Wanted!, which compiles all of Oda's pre-One Piece stories, Monsters is finally receiving an anime adaptation.
To celebrate the incoming Monsters anime, Eiichiro Oda dedicated the cover of One Piece chapter 1094 to Ryuma, Zoro, and the other characters related to the Shimotsuki Family, such as Yasuie, Kozaburo, Koushirou, and Kuina.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the Monsters manga and incoming anime.
In view of the Monsters anime, One Piece 1094 honors the Shimotsuki Family with an amazing color spread
The plot of Monsters, in summation
The story starts with Flare, a waitress, giving some food to Ryuma, a young samurai who, being out of cash, hadn't eaten for five days. However, Flare soon shifts her attention to Cyrano, a famous swordsman who had come to eat at her restaurant.
As Cyrano leaves the place, his sword touches Ryuma's. Following his code of honor, the samurai interpreted that as defiance and challenged Cyrano to a duel. The two swordsmen engaged each other, but, at the request of Flare, Ryuma immediately stopped.
Shortly after, a man told Ryuma that Flare's hometown was destroyed by a huge dragon seven years earlier. The only survivors of the incident were Flare and Cyrano, who saved the girl's life. Since that day, Cyrano has become famous for having defeated the dragon.
The man then mentioned "The King", the individual known as the strongest fighter in the world. Ryuma expressed his intention to challenge "The King" one day, believing that he possessed the soul of a real warrior.
Ryuma then came across a man called D.R., who promptly started screaming and accused the samurai of stabbing him with the aim of stealing his magic dragon horn. Claiming that he would destroy the whole town in revenge, D.R. blew the horn to summon a dragon and seemingly died.
The residents started blaming Ryuma for the misfortune he brought to the city. Flare struck the samurai across the face, telling him he couldn't comprehend how terrifying a dragon really is. Being innocent and, in any case, totally confused, Ryuma refused to take responsibility for what happened.
Cyrano stepped forward, asking everyone to leave the town so that he could fight the dragon. All the inhabitants fled, except for Ryuma and Flare, who, accidentally, saw something they never expected to see. Shocked, they witnessed Cyrano and D.R. looting the now-deserted town and laughing at their misdeeds.
Long-time accomplices, the two staged everything to pin the incident with the dragon on Ryuma. Seven years earlier, D.R. summoned a dragon to destroy Flare's village. Cyrano, who was stealing the villagers' goods, ran across the little girl, who begged him for help and then fainted.
With Flare unconscious, Cyrano murdered her father. To boost his fame, he then saved Flare and told her that he beat the dragon who had killed everyone else. Back in the present, Flare broke down in tears, while Ryuma emerged to confront D.R. and Cyrano.
As Cyrano tried to attack Ryuma, the samurai effortlessly killed him with a single strike. Frightened by the turn of events, D.R. begged for his life, reminding Ryuma that he needed him alive to control the dragon and stop its rampage.
However, the samurai killed D.R. too. As the dragon descended on the scene, Ryuma jumped toward the appalling monster and beheaded it with just one single slash.
Shocked by what she saw, Flare asked Ryuma why no one had ever heard of him despite his strength, to which the samurai answered that might isn't measured by how famous one becomes, but by what one protects.
As Ryuma left, a bystander recognized him as "The King", the greatest warrior in the world, explaining that he likely wasn't aware of his reputation as that name was given to him by the many he had saved.
Who is Ryuma in One Piece?
Per Eiichiro Oda's explicit statement, One Piece's Ryuma is the same character who was featured in Monsters, and vice versa. In fact, in the SBS columns of the manga's Volume 47, Oda directly confirmed that Ryuma's character and the story told in Monsters are part of One Piece's canon:
Reader: "Is the swordsman Ryuma who was once said to have defeated a dragon the very same Ryuma that starred in the short story "Monsters" from your collection volume entitled "Wanted!"? He is, isn't he?"
Oda: "The zombie Ryuma appears in Chapter 450 from this volume, and he is indeed the Ryuma who starred in "Monsters". In the world of One Piece, he's a legendary swordsman who died of sickness."
A member of the Shimotsuki family, Ryuma was born in Wano several centuries before One Piece's present narration. An immensely powerful fighter, Ryuma was also a very honorable man who acted according to a strict personal code of ethics.
Without a doubt, Ryuma Shimotsuki is one of the mightiest One Piece characters of all time. Feared as the "Sword God", Ryuma is the strongest fighter that Wano ever generated and possibly the strongest swordsman in the entire One Piece series.
Unbeknownst to him, people hailed Ryuma as "The King," the most powerful warrior in the world. Ryuma was able to protect Wano all by himself, single-handedly defeating all pirates and World Nobles who aimed to bring the land under their control and seize its gold.
Ryuma's immense prowess was even compared to Joy Boy's, establishing a direct parallel between the two legendary warriors. Several hundreds of years after his death, Ryuma's skills and accomplishments are still regarded as unmatched.
Despite Wano boasting fighters such as Oden, a man powerful enough to fight on equal grounds with Kaido and gain Roger and Whitebeard's respect, people still consider Ryuma the one worthy of being called "Wano's Greatest Hero".
A testament to his extraordinary Haki, Ryuma was able to turn his sword Shusui into a Black Blade, a feat that, besides him, only Dracule Mihawk ever achieved. Unsurprisingly, Ryuma died undefeated, as, at the age of 47, he contracted a fatal illness.
The parallel between Ryuma and Zoro in One Piece
Ryuma bears a striking resemblance to another iconic One Piece swordsman, "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro, the second-in-command of the Straw Hat Pirates and the trusted right-hand man of Monkey D. Luffy.
Effectively, as a Shimotsuki, Ryuma is a direct ancestor of Zoro. In terms of aesthetics, the two are nearly identical, sharing the same facial structure and trademark scarred eye. The only difference between them is the color of their hair.
At one point in the story, Zoro meets Ryuma's corpse, reanimated as a zombie. Hundreds of years after the samurai's death, Gecko Moria stole his corpse and had Doctor Hogback turn it into a zombie by putting Brook's shadow in it.
The "Zombie Ryuma" was much weaker than the original but still rather powerful, as he could easily defeat Brook even with only a fraction of his strength. Luckily, Brook was saved by Zoro, who took his place in the battle.
After a thrilling fight, Zoro defeated the zombie, freeing Brook's shadow. Impressed by Zoro's strength, Ryuma, before fading forever, gifted him with the sword Shusui. After wielding the blade for over two years, Zoro eventually returned it to Wano, where it's considered a national treasure.
Hyogoro and Kawamatsu, two natives of Wano, while observing Zoro's battle against King, stated that the former's looks and fighting style recalled those of Ushimaru Shimotsuki, a direct descendant of Ryuma.
They also directly likened Zoro to Ryuma, claiming that the green-haired swordsman returning the Shusui to Wano must have been fate. For that matter, both Zoro and Ryuma share the same ambition to be the strongest.
For the aforementioned reasons, it's hardly surprising that most One Piece fans believe Zoro to be Ryuma's successor, just like Luffy is the reincarnation of Joy Boy.
Two of Zoro's strongest attacks, the One Sword Style: Dragon Blaze and the King of Hell: Three Sword Serpent: Dragon Damnation, are based on the dragon-beheading slash performed by Ryuma in Monsters.
The connection appears even more obvious as the upcoming anime adaptation will be titled Monsters: Ippyaku Sanjo Hiryu Jigoku, which is exactly the Japanese name of Dragon Damnation, the Conqueror's Haki-enhanced attack that Zoro used to beat King.
Needless to say, with his immense power and status, Ryuma is a major benchmark for Zoro to reach and possibly surpass. Fans can't wait to see the green-haired swordsman overtake the legendary samurai of the past, whose deeds they will finally see enlivened in the upcoming Monsters anime.
Keep up with One Piece's manga, anime, and live-action as 2023 progresses.
