Chrono Trigger Meets One Piece In New Series Dragon Striker, And It's An Instant Must Watch

Modern anime, particularly the shonen variety, has served to dominate the attention of youth audiences with its spectacular serial storytelling and searing visuals. This has been a crescendoing phenomenon now for decades, whereas nowadays, viewers happily wait with excitement for the latest episode of Jujutsu Kaisen, other timeless classics from the 1990s never faded away, with the Drums of Liberation in One Piece's case growing ever louder. Now, in capturing the magic that brings these shonen anime roaring to life, La Chouette Compagnie and Disney Television Animation are bringing a glorious new sports fantasy to Disney XD, Disney+, and Hulu.

Dragon Striker is about as anime-influenced as it gets, with Key (voice of Akshay Kumar) strives to leave his humble upbringing for Kal Asterock Academy, where he can become a pro Gorotama player. With the central game being essentially a smaller, powered-up soccer where different players, Key included, have special "Tama" abilities to give them an edge on the field, it's not hard to see where the anime elements come into play. Ahead of its June 9 debut, ScreenRant got the chance to speak with Dragon Striker co-creators Charles Lefebvre and Sylvain Dos Santos about the surprising influences behind their upcoming blockbuster animated series.

Chrono Trigger Is The Top JRPG To Influence Disney's Dragon Striker

As Variety previously reported about Lefebvre's clear 1990s influences, counting Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IX, and The Vision of Escaflowne, it's perhaps unsurprising that the most acclaimed project of the three ranks among the top. With Key discovering his incredible abilities in real-time, and dangers lurking around the school including an "ancient evil", one may reasonably draw comparisons between protagonist Crono and his allies gathered across time as they discover the prehistoric alien parasite, Lavos. The expansive lore of the game, and its wonderfully-executed multiple endings based on player actions, sets up some bold expectations for Dragon Striker.

"Chrono Trigger was my first JRPG, so I used to draw those type of universes. Dragon Striker was my opportunity to put

everything I love and I used to do in one universe."

-Charles Lefebvre

But beyond the darker secrets to be unearthed in Dragon Striker, there's plenty of world-building that bring light Chrono Trigger connections to the table. It's not known how connected Dragon Striker will be to the legendary time-hopping JRPG, Key's journey from humble origins into a larger destiny, discovering disruptive powers of his own, may feel more influenced by a multitude of anime and gaming classics.

But connections like Key's new teammate on the Knights, Ssyelle, and her time-manipulation abilities may strike a chord with fans of the 1995 classic. Plus, Ssyelle has a noteworthy passing resemblance to Chrono Trigger's Marle, which seems like a solid nod—or Kid, for that matter, but that's a discussion for another day. One can't help but note the similarities of its floating island setting of Kal Asterock and the Dark Ages-era Kingdom of Zeal, either. Undoubtedly more connections will be exciting to unearth as more fans get to watch the series, but in some cases, they're hardly even subtle for those who know Tama.

For A Show Influenced By Anime, Only One Piece Could Truly Take The Top Spot

Dragon Striker has garnered positive impressions from critics so far due to how well it channels the shonen anime spirit without ever taking itself too seriously in the process. It creates an endearing underdog story which, while one may reasonably want to compare to shonen sports anime like Haikyuu!! and absurd sports fantasy action movie Shaolin Soccer, Sylvain Dos Santos cut straight through to confirm his top influence, One Piece, in the making of Dragon Striker.

"In terms of anime, I think my main reference is probably manga and anime like One Piece. I mean, I read One Piece for like 20 years. Back in the day, that was not the coolest anime in the world, but that was alright.

What I like with One Piece is its characters and that even though Oda doesn't take things seriously, it's still really intense. It's really epic."

-Sylvain Dos Santos

For the most part, this tracks fairly well. One Piece is among the top quintessential anime following a young dreamer striking out for greatness. It starts off innocently enough, but as Key awakens his seemingly dangerous Tama with his pyrokinetic abilities, it'll be interesting to see just how he rises to the challenge on the field, provided he doesn't turn it, himself, and/or his teammates into a smoldering crater first. But beyond making a loose comparison between Key's powers and Luffy growing to grasp the powers of his Devil Fruit and mastering the various forms of Haki at his disposal, the colorful array of characters and their stories clearly left a mark.

While the series is not necessarily setting Key up to be a Luffy clone, what Dos Santos points to in One Piece's influence is the story's wildly compelling team dynamic at its core, and its adventurous spirit not taking itself too seriously. Key clearly has a legacy to live up to, with his mother, the legendary champion known as the Dragon Striker. But as a 12-year-old student chasing his dreams, building his team, and discovering his destiny, Key has plenty of growing up to do over even the initial 11-episode batch, hopefully the first of many to come. Dragon Striker may strive not to take itself overly seriously, but it's still bringing serious heat ahead of its Disney XD debut.

Dragon Striker will premiere all 11 episodes on Disney XD on June 9, 2026, with it streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.

Release Date

June 9, 2026

Network

Disney XD

Directors

Charles Lefebvre

Cast

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• 

  Rebecca LaChance

  Ssyelle (voice)

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  Waylon Jacobs

  Odward (voice)

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  Evanna Lynch

  Ameline (voice)