 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything one piece. Today we have a review of chapter 948, Kaomatsu the Copper takes the stage. And that title really does say it all, because after an eternity of silhouettes, we finally have the chance to lay our eyes upon the glory that is Kaomatsu. Now given that he was confirmed to be something of a samurai copper, this is more or less exactly what I expected. If anything, the only surprise is that his design is far more adorable than I ever thought it would be. I was thinking something a bit less aesthetically pleasing, you know, like Riso style, nothing against Riso. He's just... Yeah, he's Riso. In any case, I'm a big fan of this, though, and all the praise in the world to Oda for being able to make a copper into a truly awesome looking combatant, because every panel involving Kaomatsu in action looks simply stunning. And he's definitely my favorite member of the samurai group that has been introduced thus far into the story already. However, we must not forget a little thing known as the internet, and I've seen an awful lot of people complaining at great length about Kaomatsu's design already. And to each and every one of them, I need to ask, what exactly did you expect? You understand that we're reading one piece, right? A series that comes dangerously close to having established its own trope of introducing goofy looking characters after providing ominous silhouettes. And also, he's a kappa. Oda has already done a phenomenal job of making him look far cooler than I thought he was going to be under these circumstances, and seeing him in action during the chapter I really don't see how anyone could have any complaints. This dude is actually so much cooler than any of the other samurai, especially upon first introduction. But if I was to try really hard to see why this disappointment exists, I would probably point to the fact that Kaomatsu's silhouette has been teased for an awfully long time now. Probably far longer than it should have, which may have resulted in people's expectations being raised and raised with every subsequent silhouette. And so for Kaomatsu to turn out looking like, you know, a one-piece character is simply unacceptable. Oh yeah, whatever. But for those of you like me who really enjoy this design, just remember that this fanbase complains about pretty much every new design that gets revealed, like Jinbe for example. It's just one of those things that happens when people forget what series they're actually reading and force their own expectations onto the work of others. Although when it comes to reactions I feel like Luffy has the absolute best during this chapter as he is just dumbfounded that Kaomatsu is a kappa. Even in that awesome panel right at the end where everyone is standing ready for action, he's still just focused on the fact that he is a kappa. Speaking of though, that group panel is probably one of my favorite pieces of artwork to come out of the Wanoak thus far. It's such a well-balanced shot of everyone with Kiku in the middle, Raizo and Kaomatsu focused directly on either side, with Luffy and Hyogo covering the forward diagonals, as well as smaller details like Kiku and Kaomatsu's blades, complimenting each other beautifully by inverting their curvature. It's the sort of thing that's probably very easy to overlook but it takes such a well-trained eye to put something like this together. Of course I also really enjoyed the moments that came after this panel as well, when the prisoners are listing the red scabbards and Hyogoro, giving them their sort of legendary bio, but then they get to Luffy and they're more or less just like, and who's this guy? I like this a lot because it's flipping this traditional scene on its head. And what I mean by that is that usually Luffy is the one who gets recognized by the crowd and hyped up for all of his various legendary deeds. So it was nice to have a moment where he was more or less left out of it, although not quite as left out of it as Chopper, who didn't get a mention at all, which was played for some nice comedy as well. But while we're here, let's also talk about Kiku. And first and foremost, I am loving her mask. Putting it on has given her character this renewed feeling of strength because yet we always knew that Kiku was strong, but thus far she's only really displayed that in short bursts. However, this mask gives her an air of demonic intent, especially with her final line about needing to silence everyone, which is an atmospheric shift that's generally reserved for swordsmen like Zoro, and I am loving it. I guess I should also address the fact that I'm still using female pronouns to refer to Kiku, and I only bring this up because I know that if I don't say anything at all, then half of the comments section is going to be filled with discussion on this. But yes, in this chapter, it is confirmed that Kiku is biologically male, something that's been heavily hinted at ever since she was first introduced. But I'm going to keep going with she because that's how she presents herself, and in the end, using male pronouns for the sake of technical accuracy is pretty boring and doesn't do justice to the character. So that's my thinking. Another character we learned something new about this week, despite him not being present at all, is Queen, and it has to do with his epithet being the plague. Now, initially, this led many of us to believe that he may have a Zoten-type devil fruit that is somehow capable of spreading poisons or diseases, but as it turns out, this part of his personality is a simple hobby. He loves machinery and crafting infectious diseases. And you know, it's unique. I'll give him that. But as a result, we now have these funky gun things that spread disease with every shot, which are pretty damn horrifying to think about, but I'm glad we're finally getting into that more sadistic side of Queen as he has tended to be a bit comically focused in Wano thus far. And finally, I just briefly wanted to mention that after what feels like a bit of an eternity, we have now embarked on a new cover story, this time involving the Fire Tank Pirates. And while this initial page doesn't give us a whole lot, I'm pretty excited for this story because it is always a treat to follow any member of the worst generation, and I'm wondering if it may possibly culminate with Bege's arrival on Wano or something crazy along those lines to tie into the current events. And yes, that's probably very wishful thinking on my part because the Fire Tank Pirates really had their moment to focus during Holkek Island, but the one thing I do think this cover story will detail though is them getting a new ship, which I imagine would be an even more souped up version of the Nostra Castello and maybe even drawing a parallel to when the Thousand Sunny was unveiled to the Straw Hats. Either way, pretty stoked to see what comes of this. So yeah, all in all, I had a great time with this week's chapter. I think it does lag a bit early on when we have all those pages dealing with the Udon Guards and the Excitement Bullets, the name of which I don't think I actually mentioned, and it's just such a fantastically sadistic name, although apparently it can also be read as plague in Japanese. But after Kaomatsu came into things, this chapter was nonstop fun for me and I cannot wait to see how this group simply decimates the prison. Although that will have to wait a bit because sadly we do have another break next week. Never good news, but I'm sure that we'll all deal with it. But that pretty much does it for chapter 948. 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. 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