 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything One Piece. And today we have a review of chapter 953, Once a Fox. And this really is one of those chapters that just goes to show how ridiculously amazing One Piece is as a story. The fact that you can have an almost entire chapter focusing on a character, introduced more than 900 chapters into the story and a random Fox, and still have it be compelling reading is a great credit to the series and certainly one of the secrets to its longevity. But first up, I would like to apologize to the Yukimara character. Last week I stated that my lack of investment in him made it a bad idea to end the chapter with the revelation of his connection to Kawamatsu. And actually, you know what, in context, I still stand by that. However, this chapter has shown an incredible Fox sight on that ending. As someone who is easily sucked in by stories of extraordinary animals, Yukimaru, or I guess we should now say Onimaru, has immediately become one of my favorite characters in the entirety of Wano. It really is kind of like the Shushu story on steroids with a super powerful Fox depending the graves of the fallen, all on his lonesome for five whole years. I particularly love the panels where Onimaru is first seen completely with all the arrow sticking out of him and one of the ones where he's biting Kawamatsu's arm because in both of them, Oda really captures the pure determination of this little Fox just brilliantly. There's also a very nice moment where Kawamatsu was explaining why he's taking all the swords and his words finally get through to Onimaru which results in him letting go and then giving Kawamatsu's arm a bit of a gentle lick which reminded me very much of my own dog. Because when he gets hyped up, he likes to play by it and if he ever thinks he's gone too far he will immediately lick the area he bit as an apology. But of course, we also need to discuss this intriguing twist because Onimaru would appear to be a devil fruit user. At least that's what I would assume because this is one piece and we don't generally have magical foxes running about and in fact, you know what? The one magical fox we do have so far in the series being Katarina Devon is only such a fox because of her mythical devil fruit. So it looks like we may have a chopper style situation going on here where in the past 13 years Onimaru has discovered a devil fruit and if the more human form were to remove his cloak and such then there may even be some residual Fox traces like how chopper's pure human form still retained some aspect of his reindeer origins. As for what kind of fruit Onimaru may have consumed look if I were to guess in this point in time I'd say it was something like the Hito Hito Numi modelled Daruma which is a doll that the Kukimaru form greatly resembles although the doll is modelled after a Buddhist monk known in Japan as Daruma but who is more commonly known throughout the world as Bodhidharma who has a pretty incredible slew of Chinese legends attributed to him. So we could be looking at another mythical Zoan devil fruit but I'm hoping that's not the answer to be honest. I'd really love it if it were a Paramecia or something more creative that might allow its user to take on the form of anything they set their mind to but then again this arc is all about Zoan fruit so that is more than likely the answer. And you know what? If it is a variant on the Hito Hito Numi then Onimaru might even be able to talk in his Fox form like Chopper can in his reindeer form. Either way, loving Onimaru, best character in one or so far, more foxes please. However, while the Kawamatsu and Onimaru stuff really was the bulk of the story here it's the last page that very much has the online one piece fan base's attention because of one simple word which is enma a legendary sword once wielded by Kozuki Odin and the blade which is apparently responsible for Kaido's only scar. Now this is crazily exciting because it throws another twist into the mix. As throughout Wano thus far, it seems to have been set up that Zoro would part ways with Shusui but instead take up the Nidaki Tetsu which was briefly wielded by Luffy and then perhaps in the future Zoro would find the Shodaki Tetsu and become a Santoryu wielder of the entire set. But I have to say the idea of Zoro taking on a blade famed for inflicting such damage on Kaido well for a Zoro fanboy like me is almost an idea that's a bit too good to be true. It's almost like something you'd see in a fanfic because it really verges on making Zoro the primary character of the arc by thrusting that connection with Kaido as well as perhaps the inherited Will of Odin. It's not an insignificant action and initially I'd feel like enma would be more thematically appropriate in the hands of someone like Momonosuke who has that connection to both Kaido and Odin already. Although it would be really nice to see Zoro take enma beyond Wano because it would be another little nod to the crew of the former pirate king like how Luffy has Roger straw hat, Frankie was trained by the man who built their ship, et cetera. Oh and this has been pointed out by several internet enthusiasts but as it turns out, Enma was pretty directly foreshadowed in the color spread of chapter 937 with Zoro looking at a page of some sort with a sword that says enma. And he does look mighty intrigued so hey for the first time in the new world era it looks like Zoro is getting a new blade and I could not be more thrilled because watching him get used to and mastering a new sword is always fun. And before we move away from Zoro I would like to mention a character by the name of Shimotsuki Ushimaru who was introduced in this chapter as the one-time owner of Onimaru. And to be honest, I think this just settles it. Every consecutive mention of the word Shimotsuki makes it clearer and clearer that Shimotsuki Village in East Blue has to have been founded by a citizen of Wano or even a colony of citizens which has also been mentioned by Oda in a very recent SPS. And I suspect that there is a ridiculously high probability that Zoro is a descendant of one of those individuals. And let's be clear, I really do not like putting theories on this channel. It's not the purpose of the Grand Line Review and generally it's left to every other One Piece channel out there. But in this case, the evidence is just so overwhelming that I'm planning on making a full video about this idea so I'm not going to go into it all here Some other interesting things about this chapter were the burial practices of Ringo which indirectly gave us an explanation as to how Gekko Moria was able to find the near perfectly preserved corpse of Ryoma. I thought that was a very nice touch and one of those moments that adds another connection within this world. Not only that, but Ryoma's Ark in the series, Thriller Bark, is also rapidly about to become relevant once again as Capone Gang Beige and the Fire Tank Pirates have commandeer-ship and are about to set sail to the Florian Triangle to find Lola. So Thriller Bark is certainly not one of my favorite arcs or locations in the series but I can't help but be incredibly excited by this idea. Firstly, because I can't wait to see what's become of the world's largest pirate ship, Moria just kind of abandoned it. So I guess the entire thing might be under the command of Captain Lola. And secondly, because I'm really hoping that the Fire Tank Pirates are going to encounter the gigantic monster thing that we saw at the end of Thriller Bark and if we don't get an outright answer on what it is, then that's fine. I still just want to see it again and gain even the tiniest piece of new information on what has become one of the greatest mysteries in the series. Well, so I think it's really interesting that this cover story is going to take us back into the paradise portion of the Grand Line because it allows for a lot of opportunity for the Fire Tank Pirates to go past some recognizable locations. For example, Fishman Island, I imagine I'll need to pass through there unless they have another method of crossing the red line which would be equally as intriguing to see. We could also go past Saabidi and actually before we even get that far, there's the potential to return to other new world locations as well. So this cover story is certainly looking like it might be quite a bit of fun. But that pretty much does it for chapter 953. 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 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.