General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

Monster Strike (モンスターストライク)

Monster Strike (モンスターストライク), often shortened to MonSt (モンスト), is the anime franchise based on the smartphone action RPG of the same name developed by the Japanese company Mixi, in which players launch a party of four monsters across the screen in battle. The game launched as a smartphone app on October 10, 2013, and the anime project began two years later, on October 10, 2015, as an original web series distributed free on YouTube rather than on television.¹^•² The franchise has since grown to include multiple web series, three theatrical films, and, from October 2025, its first terrestrial television anime.³

Key fact	Detail
Game launch	Smartphone app released October 10, 2013 by Mixi; over 53 million users worldwide by 2020¹
First anime	Original web anime streamed on YouTube from October 10, 2015, in 7-minute episodes²
Languages	Distributed in 11 languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Korean, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese⁴
Early viewership	First arc's 14 episodes viewed over 25 million times worldwide as of January 6, 2016⁵
Cumulative views	Over 400 million by 2020; over 500 million across all series by 2025¹^•⁶
First TV anime	Monster Strike: Deadverse Reloaded, from October 21, 2025 on TOKYO MX and 45 stations nationwide⁷
Next series	Mera×Death: The Grim Reaper and My Strange Love, premiering January 5, 2027³

Spoilers

Story and structure

The first series follows Ren, a boy who returns to his hometown with no memories of having lived there; when a cell phone repairman installs the Monster Strike app on his phone, he is pulled into a real-world version of the game and begins piecing his memories together.¹¹ The first episode, "This Is the First Strike!", begins when the unfamiliar game is suddenly installed on Ren's smartphone and a desperate battle starts.¹²

Later series shifted to an omnibus format in which the game's many characters each take the lead in their own stories.¹³ The franchise's setting spans multiple universes, with characters such as Zeus and Pandora in one, Arthur of Britannia in another, and archangels including Uriel and Lucifer in a third.¹⁴

Origin and format

Mixi announced the anime project on May 12, 2015, and held a production announcement event in Tokyo on July 21, 2015, at which the full details were revealed.⁸ The series was deliberately shaped around online distribution: each episode runs about 7 minutes, a length chosen with YouTube viewing in mind, and episodes were released free every Saturday at 19:00 on the official Monster Strike anime channel.²^•⁹

Why YouTube instead of television. Producer Hiroki Kimura, a Mixi board member and the game's producer, explained at the announcement that shared television viewing had been a valuable communication experience for his own generation, but that children now divide their time among study and other hobbies, so a format not tied to time or place was chosen.⁸ Jiro Ishi, who handled story and project composition, said he saw potential in reaching the game's target audience of middle school boys through YouTube.⁸ The series was also planned for simultaneous worldwide release with subtitles, in Japanese plus English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Korean, and other languages.¹⁰

Game linkage. From the start, the anime was designed to interlock with the app: quests linked to the anime's story appear in the game, and measures such as a boss defeated in the anime appearing in the app shortly afterward were planned so players could re-experience the anime in the game.²^•⁸

Production and cast

The first series was directed by Kazuya Ishikawa, with story and project composition by Jiro Ishi, series composition and scripts by Yoichi Kato (known for Yo-Kai Watch and Aikatsu!), character concept design by Tatsuro Iwamoto (Ace Attorney), and monster design by Masayuki Kondo; animation was produced by Studio Hibari and Ultra Super Pictures.²^•⁵

The main cast pairs a human protagonist with the game's mascot: Yusuke Kobayashi as Ren Honoo, Jun Fukushima as Oragon, and Lynn as Aoi Mizusawa, with Kengo Kawanishi as Akira Kegetsuki and Juri Kimura as Minami Wakaba.⁵

Release history

Web series. The first arc ran for 14 episodes from October 2015 to January 2016; the second arc began on March 26, 2016 with episodes 15 and 16.⁵ Series 1 totaled 52 episodes through August 4, 2018, followed by series 2 (including the Fading Cosmos arc, 13 episodes) and character-focused series 3 entries such as Lucifer: Rebel Fallen Angel (18 episodes, 2018), Solomon (13 episodes, 2018), Arthur (5 episodes, 2018), and Noah: Savior of the Ark (6 episodes, 2019).¹³^•³ Shorter web works tied to new game characters, such as Hallelujah: Choice of Fate (2020), Masamune: The Crimson Blade of Mission (2023), and El: Awakening of the Fallen (2024), have continued since.³

Films. Monster Strike THE MOVIE, a prequel to the web series produced by Liden Films, Ultra Super Pictures, and XFLAG Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros., opened December 10, 2016.¹⁵ Monster Strike THE MOVIE: Sora no Kanata followed in Japanese theaters on October 5, 2018.¹⁶ The third feature film, Lucifer: Dawn of Despair, released in November 2020, centers on Lucifer, Arthur, Solomon, Noah, and Pandora, and depicts Lucifer, once a companion of the heroes, leading her own army against the remaining four heroes after the Strike World they saved together becomes a battlefield again.¹

Television. Monster Strike: Deadverse Reloaded became the franchise's first terrestrial television anime, airing from October 21, 2025 on TOKYO MX and 45 stations nationwide.⁷ It follows Rinne, a girl who cannot see others' faces and was born into a family that subdues apparitions, who is rescued by the mysterious man Jugemu and learns that all worlds, collectively called the Strike World, are under threat; the cast includes Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Jugemu, Kana Ichinose as Rinne, Kana Hanazawa as Yakumo, and Inori Minase as Neo, with animation by Yumeta Company and an opening theme by Da-iCE.¹⁷ A further television series, Mera×Death: The Grim Reaper and My Strange Love, is scheduled to premiere on January 5, 2027.³

Viewership and reach

The web anime's audience grew steadily: over 25 million views by January 2016, over 300 million by August 2018, over 400 million by 2020, and over 500 million across all series by 2025.⁵^•¹⁶^•¹^•⁶ The franchise has also extended beyond video into music (the MonSoni! song project, with 70 songs collected from the anime by 2020), comics, events, and permanent stores.¹^•¹⁸

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026