Eiichiro Oda explained why he was not ready for Monsters getting an anime adaptation.

SUMMARY

Eiichiro Oda chose to surprise One Piece fans by announcing Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation as an anime, which continued Ryuma’s journey.
However, Oda was initially opposed to the concept of turning Monsters into an original net animation.
In a recent interview, Oda discussed Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation and why he was not ready to adapt the One Piece prequel.

When the Wano arc started, One Piece fans were hopeful that they would get to learn about two major mysteries from the One Piece narrative. The first one was Roronoa Zoro’s lineage, and the second one was the legacy of Shimotsuki Ryuma. While the fans eventually got to learn about Zoro’s lineage through SBS, Ryuma was not much mentioned in the Wano arc.
Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation | E&H production
However, Eiichiro Oda decided to surprise One Piece fans when Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation was announced as an anime, as it followed the story of Ryuma during his prime years and had a connection to One Piece’s Wano storyline. But initially, Oda was against the idea of adapting Monsters into an original net animation.

Recently, in an interview, Oda talked about Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation and why he was not ready for the One Piece prequel to be adapted. Not only that, he also explained what convinced him to finally give a green signal to the anime.

Eiichiro Oda Initially Rejected Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation

 Oda’s thoughts on Monsters receiving an anime adaptation were recently shared by @pewpiece on X. In the interview, Oda discussed his initial reaction when he was first approached with the idea of adapting his one-shot manga into an anime.

Oda stated:

I thought, “I guess it’s okay to do it now.” In fact, 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).

Monsters 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation | E&H production

According to the mangaka, he got the first offer for animating Monsters more than 10 years ago. However, he was insecure about how the One Piece fans would react to a story that he created when he was way younger. Also, the story was quite far from Wano, and it would not have helped Monsters. Thus, he rejected the offer and waited for the right moment.

Eiichiro Oda Believed One Piece Fans Would Not Have Liked Monsters

According to Eiichiro Oda, when he went on an anime tour of the prominent manga creator Akira Toriyama, he was excited to see that one of Toriyama’s previous manga series was adapted into an anime, and it was getting a great response from fans. However, he never expected the same response from One Piece fans.
Monsters 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation | E&H production
Oda revealed:

Speaking from my personal experience, a long time ago, I went to Toriyama (Akira) sensei’s anime tour, and I was very happy to see that one of Toriyama sensei’s past one-shot stories had been adapted into an anime. At that time, I couldn’t imagine the fans of ONE PIECE would be delighted in the same way with MONSTERS. 

Talking about the right moment for Monsters to get an anime adaptation, Oda stated:

And now this time, the anime adaptation talks have come once again. The Wano Country Arc is already completed, and the story connection with Thriller Bark has already been established, and I thought it was good as a ONE PIECE substory, so I agreed.

The mangaka later explained that when Wano was completed and the connection of the story was established with that of the Thriller Bark arc, he thought that it would be the right time to agree to Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation.

Contrary to Oda’s expectations, One Piece fans greatly enjoyed the original net animation of Monsters, and it definitely left a lasting impression.