 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything One Piece, and today we have a review of chapter 958, The Promised Port. So right at the outset, I feel like this chapter is going to get an undeservedly bad wrap because it's in a pretty bad position, almost the worst imaginable scenario for any individual chapter actually, because first of all, it had the very unenviable job of following up last week, which exploded in the global One Piece fanbase and there was no chance of this coming to equal or surpass that sort of pure hype. But in addition to that, this also happens to be one of the rare short chapters as well, and to my god it's amazing what four or so pages can do, because I just blitzed through this week and didn't even realize it was over until my browser refused to give me another page of the drug I crave so dearly. But finally, this was also the last chapter before a break, so the stars really aligned to make sure that this week was as met as possible, and I can't lie by the time I realized the chapter was over, I was left feeling just a bit empty, kind of like how the Red Scabbards were feeling during the chapter I guess. With that said, there was a lot of good stuff this week that I did enjoy, but I think it was presented under the aforementioned undesirable circumstances. There was however one thing that I really strongly did not like, but we're going to start positive, and that is right at the beginning of the enough, odd because I don't think I ever start these reviews at the beginning. But I loved the opening with Odin primarily because it was a nice smooth transition from last week, where the endless hype was brought back around to focus on Wano and Odin specifically. So starting this chapter with a bit of his time aboard the Aura Jackson was a great move to lead us into Act 3. Plus there's definitely no complaining from me any time that we get to see the Roger Pirates, which very notably in a post-Stampied world, does not include any image of Douglas Bullitt. So it looks like he'll probably be remaining a film-only villain and not entering the canon, just like Zephyr and Tezora. It was a real treat to see the Aura Jackson itself though, especially presented in that beautiful panel with the sparkling water. It's such a simple device, but so effective, and I think the sparkling water actually adds to the idea of nostalgia and that this was something that took place back in the good old days. But the best part about seeing the Aura Jackson is always being reminded that there is a giant egg aboard the ship and perpetuating the mystery of what it contains. My favorite panel of this entire flashback section though is definitely seeing young Shanks and Buggy. Shanks in particular because in his more youthful days, he just bears so much similarity to Luffy, and in general it's just rare to see him with two arms. And of course it's always good to see Buggy in the hopes of the eternal question of how he managed to maintain himself as a Roger Pirate being answered. And no, that was not answered this chapter. And actually something else I really appreciated was seeing that interaction between Roger and Crocus. I think that Crocus is one of the Roger Pirates who gets forgotten about the most and they've always been curious about his dynamics within the crew because he's such a bizarre individual on his own. But as I suspected he actually looks quite normal in the stark contrast of Roger and the rest of the crew. And we also catch glimpses of some other Roger Pirates, who we know by name, such as Skopakaban and Seagull, that we have yet to meet in the current timeline. Quite importantly though, there's no sign of Nekomomushi or Inuarashi. So it looks like this event would have taken place quite close to when the Roger Pirates landed on Raftel. And you know what, there's actually nothing to say that didn't happen after they visited Raftel. Given how focused everyone is on Odin and offering to help him. Sadly, Odin himself remains a legendary silhouette and it's getting to the point where I'm just super keen to see what this man looks like. It's actually pretty insane how much this character has been built up over the course of the last few arcs, being an integral aspect in the lives of Roger, Whitebeard, Shanks, Kaido and the list probably goes on. Wano really is an arc like no other. Like Odin isn't your standard ruler like say, Cobra or Riku, who are all very important within the world no doubt, but Odin and therefore his legacy are so deeply rooted in the core of the One Piece world. So as much as Wano is a country isolated from the rest of the world, I suspect that what happens here is most certainly going to reshape that existence as we know it. Though in something else Wano is difficult to tell from a mere silhouette, it doesn't look like Odin is wielding either of his blades. So either he just isn't carrying them aboard the ship, which seems a reasonable enough assumption, or he got them after returning to Wano. And whatever the case I suppose we should return to Wano now, and in glorious news this chapter actually provides us with one of the most stunning panels of the entire arc in my opinion, which is the one that features the red scabbards looking upon the restless seas in the rain. And this is artistic gold. The waves and the wind effect are wonderfully drawn, both beautiful and incredibly intimidating, and the figures standing upon the shore look absolutely desolate, as if all hope in this world had been snatched right from under them. And I have to admit this was a pretty shocking start to Act 3. I think we were all very much universally on board with the simple idea of oh well I guess we're going to launch the invasion now, because things surely have to start going in our favor at some point in this arc, right? Well I guess not. What I also don't really get is that Kinemon said in chapter 955 that they needed to reach the port before everyone else. So logically I don't know why they'd actually be surprised that nobody is there when they made a deliberate move to be the very first people to arrive, but alright. That's not the only inconsistency with the chapter though, because we also have a number issue. Previously in chapter 955, Kinemon stated that they would be going up against an army of 30,000. However in this chapter both he and Orochi clearly state the number 40,000. But previously Kinemon even broke it down though, actually stating that Kaido had 20,000 troops and that Orochi's forces made up about 10,000. So this one has me slightly stumped. It's entirely possible that it was an error or retcon made by Oda, because both of which and I don't want to use the word common, but are commonly seen in the magazine release of the chapters. So for example the 30,000 number may have been an arbitrary decision made by Oda, and then after the chapter was published he realized that no, the army needs to be 40,000 strong for the story to work. And exactly what that reason is, who knows. But if there was a good cause then I think that would justify needing to state that number twice in this one chapter, to really drill the new number into the heads of the readers and do away with that pesky 30,000. Whatever the case the true mystery here is why the scabbards have all of a sudden been cut off from seemingly everyone and everything. None of the theories that the characters pose really provide an answer for that, because if the fleet was attacked then surely someone would have communicated that to the scabbards. Now of course Oda is free to prove me wrong, but I don't see a scenario in which absolutely all of the forces on Wano, including the Straw Hearts, the Heart Pirates, the Udon Prisoners, Shutomaru's Bandits etc. the list goes on, but I don't see a situation in which they were all simultaneously quelled. The situation feels a lot more to me like something has happened to the scabbards, rather than anyone else. And you know what it actually reminds me of an episode of Star Trek Next Generation where weird things were happening all over the Enterprise, but in the end it turned out that it was actually one weird thing that happened to Dr. Crusher who had been a victim of Wesley's science experiment. So if you want the most crackpot of ideas, I would propose that the scabbards had been transported through time. And I go back to time travel because it's such a difficult element to ignore given that it's already been introduced as a possibility, but it's an explanation that actually kind of fits the situation. They've been transported either forwards or backwards in time, and that's why none of the people they know are there, because they've either already begun and possibly concluded the battle or because they have yet to assemble. Same thing for why Kinemon can't communicate with everyone, and perhaps what they are seeing is the ruins of their attempt to combat Kaido. And with that in mind, it would be pretty cool if during the next chapter it began with the Allied forces ready to disembark going, so where's Kinemon and everyone else? Oh well, off we go. So there's one idea, but there are bits of evidence that point towards it being something else. One of which is when the chapter went out of its way to state that the weather of Wano can vary greatly from place to place, but at the same time that could be a deliberate red herring from Oda. However there is a stronger contradictory force, which is the end of the chapter focusing on Orochi, implying that he is the one who is sneakily responsible for this, which you know, can make sense, because he did get information beforehand, and if there is a traitor then they are still at large. I don't know though, I just have a feeling that this desolate situation is going to be completely flipped on its head somehow, and that doesn't have to be time travel in fact it more than likely isn't, because every time I propose something along those lines it's never been the case. However a special point was also made during this chapter to note that it would be a full moon tonight, so given that that is a narrative requirement for the mix to be in action, this raid is definitely happening one way or another. So look in retrospect, this chapter is actually incredibly intriguing. I think it does need a reread to let the sheer strangeness of what is occurring to sift in, at least for me, because after my first raid I was like eh, and a lot of that has to do with the ending. So I mentioned earlier that there was one thing about this chapter that I really didn't like, and that was it. My primary complaint is that it didn't feel like an ending. After reading the narration boxes, it felt to me like we were going to another page, and that was going to contain the dramatic cliffhanger, but instead the flow stopped partway through, kind of like putting a full stop in the middle of a sentence. Now once again some of that maybe because it was a short chapter, so my internal one piece clock was still very much set for a couple more pages, and when they didn't come I was just like, oh. And some of it may be also that I find ending on Orachi's face highly unsatisfying. He's one of the most unlikable characters that Wano has to offer, and a close up of his smug Wario Moustache isn't that great a cliffhanger for me, because it doesn't fill me with anticipation or fear, or any kind of emotion leaving that sort of desired impact. What it does is it leaves me feeling mildly annoyed, because Orachi's face was the very last thing I saw. And some people might and probably do feel very differently here, but to me this chapter feels like it's missing an ending, and every time I've gone through it it's just left me with a weird anticlimactic aftertaste. Oh and the fact that there's a break immediately after this does not help at all. The break would have been much more welcome after last week's chapter, because that was something that really needed digesting, and we hadn't begun Act 3 yet, whereas this week just begs to move immediately onwards, because we have just dipped our toes into Act 3. One more great thing about the chapter though was Kinemon's speech, and this is a moment that I can see being done to perfection in the anime. Emotional cries for help are always heavily enhanced, but even reading the manga gave me a very I want to live moment from Niko Robin vibe, and it's nice because I've never seen Kinemon this desperate. He's pouring everything his heart has to offer out here, except unlike Niko Robin and Enes Lobby, nobody is there to respond. It portrays such overwhelming loneliness and despair, and while I don't like Orachi's face, it is contrasted nicely against his pure glee. So yeah, good chapter with a great opening, beautiful art, a hint of intrigue, but a highly disappointing ending that will be lingering over me for the next two weeks. And that pretty much does it for chapter 958. 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 shenanigan retakes 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.