 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything One Piece and today we have a review of chapter 954, Like a Dragon, Given Wings. And this is a big one. This is one of those chapters that I believe us One Piece fans really live for because it just had everything, huge amounts of story progress, great character moments and a world shaking reveal at the end. Not to mention all of the other stuff sprinkled inside but we're going to start with the end because there's no way that I can ignore it for any longer. The Beast Pirates and the Big Mum Pirates are forming an alliance. Now this is something I had speculated to be possible for quite some time but I never really took it as a very serious idea because I did quite enjoy the thought of Big Mum acting as a supreme agent of chaos that may be able to tip the balance of power in the favour of the alliance. But that idea is just so far gone now and to put it frankly, well they're all pretty screwed. Despite how casually it was presented on the last page, this is an event unlike anything that has ever happened in the series. As it stands, I don't believe that there is a single power in the world that can stop the combined forces of both Big Mum and Kaido. Even the Marines would surely crumble under this weight given that they were only barely able to overcome the forces of a single Yonko. And I love it. The stakes of this arc have just escalated beyond my wildest dreams. I mean I have always thought that while I was going to see the downfall of both Big Mum and Kaido, but definitely not while they were fighting on the same side. And to be perfectly honest, things are looking just a tiny bit hopeless right now because I don't care how many samurai we've recruited from prison and such. It's nothing compared to what we're going up against. Even in the best case scenario where we see all of the worst generation on Wano are lying up, along with the full force of the samurai, the red scabbards, the minks, the entirety of the straw hats and the hot pirates, it just seems like it's nowhere near enough. This is the time where something drastic is going to need to occur or else things are just going to turn into a larger scale, whole cake island. And in terms of what that could be, well, there's any number of options. Like summoning the Grand Fleet comes to mind. I honestly have no idea why Luffy or another straw hat hasn't already done so because they knew well in advance they were going up against next to impossible odds. So that fleet of 5,000 plus pirates might be able to do, you know, just a little bit of good here. That certainly isn't the only option, though, because there is still a collective with a big old question mark left over it being the germa, as well as the sun pirates who we haven't seen since whole cake island. But should they have survived while the germa hold a massive grudge against Big Mum and the sun pirates are more or less allies of the straw hats as we currently stand. I'd also have to imagine that this would be a big cause of concern for the Marines, possibly enough to spring them into action. Although if you were to take the cover story as concurrent with this timeline, which I don't, then they'll still have their hands full with the reverie. But you know what, even disregarding the amount of time it took for the straw hats to get to Wano, the reverie should be long over by now, especially during this chapter, which rather mercifully pushed the timeline for the fire festival forward by several days. And also Marco still isn't entirely out of the question for me. But in any case, something's got to give. Luffy's forces are not taking this alone. And just to conclude this thought, I love this alliance. I love how it was presented. And I look forward to seeing the world shit itself at the prospect of Allied Yonko. The next most interesting thing in the chapter from my perspective is certainly the portion of Law and Hawkins. And firstly, good on Law for kicking some ass. I feel like it's been such an awfully long time since this man has had a win. I mean, after getting thoroughly wrecked on dress throws or even his recent Wano record hasn't been all that fantastic. So even though it was off-screened, it was nice to see him come out on top. There is a very interesting question posed by Hawkins as chapter though, as he flags a potential seat of doubt within Law over the alliance with Luffy. And prior to this chapter, I'm not sure I ever would have seriously considered the possibility of Law ending it, but with the unification of two Yonko, well, it's not entirely impossible to see him just packing up and going home. I still do feel like Law is a very honorable type though. And because of what Luffy did for him on dress throws, he'll stick around to the bitter end. But I can't say that with 100% certainty because he is still annoyingly logical. Then there's also the appearance of our mystery man, but that, it has to be Drake, right? I mean, the silhouette matches up perfectly with his cape and such. And really, I'm just not sure who else Law could possibly be familiar with. It is intriguing though, because Drake is such a mystery at this point. And I think it's clear that Hawkins never had any intention of switching sides. So, you know, Drake seems like our next natural choice. And I mean, this is a man who joined Kyder with a solid plan, so I can't wait to see how things continue to play out. What I enjoyed most by far of this section though was finally getting some confirmation on Appu being a traitor. But then just to make things better, he went on to make a long awaited appearance as well. And you know, Appu has never really been one of my favorite worst generation members, but I can't deny how entertaining his general existence is. But rather sadly, he seems incredibly content with living his life as someone else's subordinate. And it's a shame, you know, because I was really hoping that every member of the worst generation were a bit more, you know, loofy-minded and had their eyes set on the ultimate prize at all times. Though I'm sure that given the opportunity, characters like Appu and Hawkins would immediately act for their own personal interests. They've just been overwhelmed by the idea of a Yonko so easily. Ah, and following Appu's appearance, we were also introduced to the intimidating as hell silhouettes of the numbers. And if I had to guess why they were named that way, I'd say it's because it follows the card theme. As you know, we have King, Queen, Jack, and then followed by the numbers 10 all the way down to two, possibly even one, but that's not how we play cards, I would be ace. And he's dead. I don't even know what to make of these guys though. They're all so massive and wonderfully intimidating looking. And honestly, one of the reasons why this chapter was so great, because in between all of the phenomenal moments like Lauren Hawkins or the Yonko Alliance, there were things like this that were just unexpected and built a very effective amount of hype. This is one piece at its best. All right, some more things about this chapter, specifically the big strategy meeting that occurred between the Allied forces. It's an interesting assortment of characters or perhaps lack thereof. I mean, I get why some people aren't in attendance like Frankie because he's integral in repairing the ships for the invasion. And even Lofi is kind of forgivable staying to train. And because that's to be serious, he probably wouldn't be a whole lot of use in a strategy meeting anyway. The most notable absence though is Hiyori because it seems strange to have Kalamatsu here without her, especially when Momonosuke is right there. Also Zoro is here as well. So I'm not exactly sure where she is, who she's with and why. And you know what? Her absence probably struck me as particularly weird because the very first thing you see in this chapter is Hiyori, Zoro and Kalamatsu together. And yes, I know the time passes between these two events, but in terms of chapter and narrative flow, for all intents and purposes, she just vanishes. And the other intriguing absence is that of Nekomomushi. Like I said previously, we've been on one for a fair while now. So his return must be planned for a pretty big moment. And you know what? It may not even happen until the day of the invasion itself. But in conclusion, this chapter was 100% just classic hype one piece. So many well-junkered characters, events and revelations that will have the fan base energize for the next two weeks because unfortunately, yes, there will be a break next week. But for what it's worth, this is certainly one of the better chapters to leave us on. And that pretty much does it for chapter 954. 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. 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