IS MONSTERS CANON? 🐉 #OnePiece
While there are some mistranslations and misinformation regarding this topic, Oda seemed to indicate in an SBS that the Ryuma in MONSTERS and the Ryuma in OP are seemingly slightly different canons:
["Despite being a zombie, the character appearing in Chapter 450 is indeed Ryuma. The samurai protagonist of the MONSTERS short story. In the world of One Piece however, he is a legendary warrior who has already passed away due to illness and etched his name in history."] - Oda, SBS Vol.47
The Ryuma from MONSTERS and the one in One Piece seem to differ in some aspects: the one in MONSTERS has black hair, while the one in One Piece has lighter-colored hair (anime makes it look blue/green?) and is missing an eye like Zoro (something some characters have remarked must be fate). Both Ryumas slayed a dragon, but while MONSTERS' Ryuma did so in a random town, the one in One Piece did so at the Wano Country's Flower Capital (given how dragons aren't naturally-existing creatures in OP, there's been speculation among some fans this may even have been the former user of Kaido's fruit, but this is all speculative). Both Ryumas however were immensely powerful.
TL;DR: According to Oda, the Ryuma in One Piece is inspired by the one in MONSTERS, but the OP canon version of him differs slightly in some aspects
I’ll be honest. I absolutely hate that they gave a teaser for Gear 5. Let the anime only group enjoy the surprise like we did. The teaser looked incredible but still man, come on 🤦🏾♂️
Oda's message 10minutes ago:
I am going to have surgery to correct my astigmatism because it is interfering with my work. I have been discussing this with Shonen Jump chief editor since last year and will be taking *4 weeks* off. I will be able to beam out of my eyes.🤣