 My name is Kozuki Momonosuke, and I am the man who will become a subscriber to the Grandline Review, resulting in regular One Piece content uploaded straight into my YouTube feed. Well said, Momonosuke. Well said. Hello and welcome to the Grandline Review, your source for everything One Piece, and today we have a review of chapter 986, My Name. And I have to say this is a pretty damn stacked chapter. It doesn't necessarily feel like it when you're going through it, but I came away from 986 with this feeling of, all right, things have escalated rather quickly, and it feels like a massive amount of progress has been made and that's not necessarily a good or a bad thing, but I do think there are some very identifiable moments that feel a bit rushed, I suppose. Like it's incredible to think about where we were at the end of the last chapter versus the end of this chapter, where the action looks like we're now kicking into proper gear. In some ways it feels like we've skipped a step or two to get here, but I still came away with it with this great sense of enjoyment and anticipation for the next chapter, so it undeniably did its job. We will start at the beginning this time around though, with a little known fellow named Kandro. Now, Mr. Kandro would appear to have been orachied for lack of a better term, by which I mean swiftly dealt with in something of an anticlimactic manner. And this has me kind of torn because on the one hand I really want to believe that Kandro is still alive because I don't see the point in building him up as this supremely amazing traitorous presence just to open up a chapter with him dead in the snow. On the other hand, this in and of itself was a great moment. There is something really beautiful about Kinamon and Dendro arriving on the battlefield to find one of their former comrades dead, and the tears that are being shed by Raizo and Kiku complement this tragedy pretty brilliantly. I can really feel that despite the fact that Kandro was putting on an act, they still cared for him because that's just who these band of vassals are. And the crowning moment here, almost quite literally, is when Kinamon removes his hat and places it on Kandro's fallen body, which is going to draw obvious parallels to the end of the Luffy vs Kata Curry fight on Hawkeak Island, and that's because it is a great show of camaraderie. To think that even after all of this, Kinamon still cares about Kandro enough to produce such an offering is really quite something, and a moment that I enjoyed a lot. But this is where I get conflicted. I love this moment, but I don't at all love how we got to this moment. Now usually I don't have a problem with events or actions taking place off screen. For example, with the whole Sanji vs Page 1 thing, I really could not care less. And that's because I had no investment in Page 1. He was a new character, we got to see some of the fight, and Sanji was clearly going to win. So from my perspective, there was no need to show any more of it. Kandro is an entirely different existence. He is a character who we have a rather large investment in, having been with us since the Dressroser arc, and having been positioned as one of the most gut-wrenching betrayals in One Piece. So I have to say I am somewhat unsatisfied if this is indeed his end. With that said, there is another option though, which is that Kandro was either acting because that's what he does, or that this is an ink drawing of Kandro. And if that was to be the case, then his subsequent revelation of still being alive would retroactively ruin the beautiful moment of this chapter with the vassals lamenting his loss. So I really do think we might be in a bit of a no-win situation here. It was an odd move from Oda that brought both positives and negatives to the table. And please do let me know what you think of this whole Kandro situation in the comments below, because I'm really curious about this one. I do have to say that's not the only thing that felt a bit rushed though. Because sticking to Kinamon's group, it felt very sudden to have all of the vassals reunited, and even more sudden to skip to the end of the chapter and attack in Kaido. Which was phenomenal, and I will go into that, don't you worry. But I don't know if this is just me and it very much might be. But does it seem almost unnecessarily convoluted to everyone else to have had this highly detailed plan about invading Onigashima to end in this very sudden attack? Because as it is, I have no idea why Kinamon and Dendro were narratively required to lead the samurai forces around the island. I mean, I guess Dendro did have that moment of disarming Sasaki. But narratively, if all of the vassals were just going to end up in the same spot anyway, why not just have two other people lead those groups like Hyogoro and someone else? I just don't know what separating Kinamon and Dendro from everyone briefly actually accomplished. And it feels like Oda may have had some more complex ideas for the interactions and experiences of these groups, but has maybe had to abridge it for whatever reason. Anyway, whatever they're all together now, and despite my weird feelings about how it happened, it resulted in such a brilliant climax to the chapter with the final two page spread. Visually, this is a pure feast for the eyes. Seeing the entire legion of the vassals assault Kaido is incredibly satisfying, especially when it comes to Kinamon and Dendro, who look like they actually managed to get in a hit on Kaido. But this is great because this is like a culminating moment of the entire New World era. Ever since the days of Punk Hazard when we first met Kinamon, we have been slowly building towards this very encounter, and it's great to see Kaido being overwhelmed by the full force of the vassals. In fact, when I first saw this panel, it was almost a bit surreal because it does signify that we are finally heading to the conclusion of a very, very long Samurai story arc. But I was also kind of shocked because once again, this chapter happened at lightning speed. In my mind, I thought we would need to slowly plod along a bit more, you know, the way one piece often does, before we hit this breaking point. But at the same time, I could not be more thrilled to be here right now. So even though I do still think that the whole Kinamon invasion plan was a bit pointlessly convoluted in the end, I'm still happy that it resulted in this glorious spectacle. It was a truly epic ending. And this chapter also came with a very clear change of gears as well, where we have now established that Kaido is our main focus. And that might sound like a really stupid statement to make. But when you look back on the most of Wano, a lot of it has been very Orochi centric, which you can see clearly in Odin's flashback because Orochi was given the main antagonist exploration, whilst Kaido was just sort of there on the side. But Shinobu has a line in this chapter about how simply defeating Orochi would be pointless because Kaido is the true threat. And I think that Oda is very clearly signifying that it is time to focus on this figure, which does work very nicely with the idea of both Orochi and Kondro being dead, if that is indeed the case. And in at least one of those, I don't think it is. But the general message it conveys in this chapter is the Wano-related drama is over. It's all about Kaido-related drama now. And just before we move away from it, if you did not take the opportunity to look super closely at everything that happened prior to those last two pages, just go back on it again because there is a lot in there that showcases how fantastically the vassals work in concert. Like how Iso was able to disarm King, and Nekoma Mushi is actually the one responsible for disarming Kaido. Which is pretty damn cool. This kitty cat very much continues to impress. But really just take the moment to linger on this set of panels, because it makes the two page spread even more powerful, having fully taken in these shots of sheer determination in everyone's eyes. Especially Denjiro, who just exudes this solid rage that has been building up for the last two decades on Wano. It's pretty stunning stuff. But now let's head to easily my favorite part of the chapter featuring Momonosuke, which is something I never thought I would be saying. But this kid gave me some serious chills during this chapter though, with his declaration that he would become the Shogun of Wano. And it's because the way he did it is just so similar to Luffy declaring that he would become the Pirate King. Except that it was even more impressive if possible, because here Momonosuke is, an effectively powerless child thing about to be executed by the world's strongest living thing. And yet he still has the drive and quite frankly the balls to proudly declare both his name and intention, despite the fact that doing so will result in his untimely demise. In fact, it's not just reminiscent of Luffy either. It also kind of reminds me of Belmere, who prioritized her identity as a mother over her own life. And Momonosuke here is prioritizing the Kozuki legacy over his own life. And make no mistake, this is going to be a historical event that will be told for generations and generations on the island of Wano. Stories of the brave and defiant Kozuki Momonosuke staring Kaido dead in the face, and even metaphorically spitting at it actually, and as a child no less. It's almost like a story you'd hear about Odin's accomplishments as a child. And this act has converted me. I fully believe that Momonosuke will grow up to be one of the greatest leaders that Wano has ever known. And while that particular story might not be told during the events of One Piece itself, I still firmly believe that it is going to happen. And that is a complete credit to Oda that he can take a character like Momonosuke, who was spent most of his time in the series being a perverted crybaby sort of thing, and then just turn him into this great source of belief, and dare I say it, respect. And to add on to the comparisons of Classic One Piece, this could also be considered Momonosuke's I Want to Live moment. Momonosuke just needed to proudly declare himself in the face of despair, and then leave everything else to Luffy, as well as the small army now present on Onagashima. I loved it. Easily the highlight of the chapter for me. Now this gets kind of lost in everything else, but there was indeed some more Yamato this week. Nothing really groundbreaking just Yamato being brought up to speed, and Luffy removing the handcuffs which do indeed explode, furthering Yamato's resolve to defeat Kaido. So nothing really changed in this regard. It was more of a technically necessary series of events that took place. What I will say is that there is one panel in this chapter where the curse of Oda's hands strikes yet again. And every time I say this, there's always a couple of people in the old comments who don't like it, but seriously, close up shots of hands are by far the worst aspect of Oda's art. Which isn't to say that they're bad or that I could do better because I couldn't. But every now and then they just stand out like a sore thumb, as well as a sore rest of the fingers as well. Yes it's nitpicky, yes it's irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but it's there. Hands. The kryptonite of the greatest storyteller slash artist that this world has ever known. And one miscellaneous thing though, there was a series of three panels focusing on some of the worst generation members, being Zoro Kid and Law. And there's not a huge amount to say about them in terms of any sort of development, but I love these three panels. I mean firstly, they formed part of the general check-in with all of the Wana groups, but there's something very gratifying about the flow of these three in particular. Like it's always nice to see Zoro in combat, then we have Kid who seems to be very much enjoying wrecking some dude. And furthermore, finally, there's a very understated Trafalgar Law and Beppo in the background, just subtly confirming that he has joined the chaos. Which is nice because he has been largely removed from everything up until this point. So I just thought it was a cool little series. When it does come to the general check-in of characters though, there is one very notable absence being Mr. Sanji, who has long since disappeared to do what I assume are Sanji related things. Not too unusual, of course, he has a tendency to go off and do his own thing. Whilst the antagonists are often distracted by Luffy's insanity, and now that he can turn invisible, that job only becomes easier for him as well. So it is good to keep in mind that he is currently out there, likely doing something very useful, if not integral. Finally, let's talk about the cover story, which has grown into a fairly unexpected development, but in a very classically one-piece sort of way. So here I was expecting some sort of heartwarming family reunion, but instead Lola and Chiffon just go, huh, who the hell is this weird guy? And they promptly flee. So the tragedy of Pawn just continues, and I guess he's stuck on Dressrosan now. I still think that he should have died, but I've been over that, it's not really interesting anymore. So all I can really do now is look to his potential future as a flavour character. And given that he knows at least some of the Straw Hearts and some of the Tontata Tribe, maybe there will be an option for Pawn to become part of the Tontata Pirates, and maybe work his way into the Grand Fleet. That all he sets off on his own to pursue his daughters, but I don't like his chance of sailing the new world on his own. Although to be fair, I guess he did make it to Dressrosan on his own, so that is something. But one way or another, and for better or worse, I'm sure this is not the last we've seen of Pawn. Even if this is his ending in this particular cover story. One other thing I also do want to comment on though is this newer I suppose temporary vessel of the Firetank Pirates. I really like how they've decorated the sails with their Jolly Roger, but also proudly declaring the greater theme of family within that crew. And that is something that blows my puny, puny mind in retrospect, because I cannot believe that I lived through the entire Megarock that was Hawkeye-Kyland, where the main antagonists were a biological family, and did not realise that Capone was the perfect juxtaposition to that because he had his own family, both biological and through his own Mafia Pirate crew. I mean they're vicious, vicious killers, but they're still probably the best example of an ideal family that that arc presented us with. And that's why I love cover stories, because they give me the chance to revisit these past characters and themes and add value to the experience that we've already had. And that pretty much shows up for chapter 986. But what do you guys think? Please do leave your thoughts in the comments below or even join my Discord server. 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