 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything long piece. And today we have a review of chapter 960, introducing Kozuki Oden. And this week is very much a nice subdued flashback introduction, very much as expected. The first few chapters of flashbacks generally kick off as a mini arc of their own, with what seems to be a fair bit of down time in character building before we really get into things. And that's exactly what 960 did. It gave us a great glimpse of a pre-Kaito Wano and showed us some young but familiar faces. The standout portion of the chapter easily being Oden though. In terms of his design, the revelation of what we've been waiting for for years and years at this point is surprisingly normal. Almost exactly what I would have imagined whenever I saw his silhouettes in previous chapters, but he still manages to come across as every bit as if not more bizarre of a person than I would have thought possible. His introduction, while seemingly understated, gorging himself on Oden, is one of the most striking reveals of a flashback character I think we've had, if only for the circumstance alone. It's hilariously morbid, but I love that Oden is first shown to us eating and drinking over the funeral fire of a clear acquaintance of his. And the best part is, it's not like Oden is just a dickish opportunist either. He seems to be taking this ritual incredibly seriously. Every shot of his face shows a man determined to seeing this experience through. And my favorite part is that cool semi-silhouetted walkoff afterwards, giving his condolences to the family. But before we even see that, we are treated to more of Oden's exploits from Kozuki Tsukiaki, Oden's father and the then choken of Wano. And to say that Tsukiaki seems more tame in contrast to Oden would be, you know, the understatement of the century, but Tsukiaki actually reminds me a lot of Sengoku back when he was a fleet admiral. Back then, his entire existence was just one big face palm, usually as a result of Garp or his family doing something foolish or annoying. But both he and Tsukiaki have that look of extensive responsibility that has gradually taken its toll over the years. During the section, it's also implied that Oden's various exploits and talents are a solid trait of the Kozuki family, meaning that Tsukiaki probably has quite a bit to show off himself. Although I do really enjoy his exasperated character thus far. Probably the biggest actual reveal in this chapter comes in the form of Denjirou though, which was unexpected because he's the only red scabbard who, discounting all of the fan theories, we haven't seen yet. But I will say that it does tick another one of my Act 3 Wano predictions off quite nicely because I did say that it was finally time for Denjirou to make an appearance, so that's pretty awesome, with three chapters into Act 3 and I'm already going two for seven. But as much as I'd like to talk about my impressions of Denjirou as a character, there is a huge shadow looming over him because his seemingly simple design is going to lead to another great wave of theories. Two in particular that I've seen given the most focus, the first of which is that Denjirou is Skoppa Gaban because you know they both smile and wear sunglasses. You know, to be fair, they do bear a great resemblance to each other. I mean, this young Denjirou even has a miniature version of Skoppa Gaban's very angular nose. And you know what? If Denjirou starts wielding an axe during this flashback, then maybe I'll change my mind, but I'm not on board with this thought at all. I think that this is probably a case of desperate theory crafters jumping on any parallels they can find and the characters in this world, which has been built over 22 years, do sometimes have similar designs. It happens. Now, over the second is a bit more striking and that's partially helped by the connection to Wado that we already have, but I have to admit Denjirou looks a hell of a lot like a young Koshiro. And not only that, but he appears to be carrying a sword that looks like it could very possibly be the Wado Ichimonji. But in this case, let's be real here. The Wado is probably one of the most generic sword designs in the entire series. I mean, the blade that Kinemon wields in this chapter also looks like the Wado at first glance, so I'm not putting too much stock into that idea either. But the other thing about this whole Koshiro idea is that the timelines don't match up because 24 years ago, Roger was executed and in chapter zero, we were shown that Koshiro was already in East Blue and the Kuina was already born at that time. However, it wouldn't be until four years later that the tragedy on Wano would occur at which point the Nine Red Scabbards were assumedly all on the island. I mean, hey, maybe they weren't, but that seems unlikely. So I think a greater possibility is that Denjirou is indeed related to Koshiro, but that's probably as far as that goes. As for Denjirou presented in this chapter, I really like how much of a crafty lad he is. The interaction with the store owner was pretty brilliant as well as his last part with Kinamon and Kinamon. Well, I know we've seen him before, but my God, Kinamon's hair is fantastic. In color, I'm picturing it as this bleach blonde punk rocker 80s style thing, which seems to fit his rebellious and unscrupulous nature at the moment. I mean, he even tried to steal money from Suru, who in her younger years had not quite developed her classical Japanese aesthetics. And actually it would seem that the more people age and Wano, the more they begin to look like a traditional painting. Suru was an absolute boss, so I love how she wrecked Kinamon, which is pretty impressive because during this chapter, Yogoro even told his lackeys that nobody would stand a chance against Kinamon in a one-on-one fight. And you know, it's good to have a reminder every now and then that Kinamon does possess a pretty high degree of skill, which I personally often forget because he is more often than not relegated to the role of being a joke character in his history of One Piece. Stepping back into the present though, one of my favorite moments of this chapter actually occurred on the cover page with Beige frantically searching Dressrosa for Lola. I love that he's wearing a moustache, which is a nice reference to the disguises that the Straw Hats first used on the island, but he's also very close to the statues of Lucy and Usopp. I really hope that one of the covers is going to be dedicated to him recognizing Luffy and reacting to the statue, although unfortunately, Beige never met Usopp, so that one probably won't mean anything to him. But I love these connections that are coming back into play, even more so than last week. It reminds me that One Piece has so much flavor in history and how nice it is to see a world continue to spin without the Straw Hats as a central focus. That's more or less it for this week though. Yeah, I know there's a lot of stuff about the adorable boar and its parent coming to wreck the capital, which I'm sure will have an epic resolution of some kind next chapter, but all in all this was a fairly standard beginning to a flashback. It was nice, laid back, and an enjoyable experience to read. Not a hell of a lot to digest and talk about a great length, but it also doesn't need that. Chapter 960 took the time it needed to begin setting the stage for what I suspect will be a fairly great story going forward over the next couple of months. And that pretty much does it for chapter 960. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produced in general, then please do consider donating to the Grand Line Review Patreon because the support of all of your amazing people is what continues to make this channel possible. And if you'd like to see more videos like this, but applied to other anime and manga series, then please do check out my second channel, New World Review, for all of your wider needs. And if you'd like to join the fun at any time, then please do head over to my Discord server where a wide array of shenanigans takes place on a daily basis. And finally, please do comment with your thoughts on the chapter. This has been the Grand Line Review, and I'll see you next time.