 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything One Piece. And today we have a review of chapter 973, The Kozuki Clan. And this week we have two accountant, two pieces of theoretically big reveals that have long since been speculated on and called by the fan base at large. One of which happens to contradict every fiber of my being and has made me question my entire approach to One Piece in regards to Komarasaki. And straight up for everyone who told me that I was just overthinking things and that order is just, you know, being a bit of a blind writer, I have to say that, yes, you were correct, but we'll get into that in due course because this chapter was actually pretty awesome and I don't wanna, you know, bring it down with my varied ranting right at the outset. So initially I was very surprised that the chapter began while still in a flashback and even more surprised when we ended the chapter, still in a flashback actually, because the ending of 972 just felt like such a strong full stop on this whole flashback business and a beautiful transition back into the modern day. But no, we have more business here and it actually looks like Oda will be trying to wrap up the majority of the one of context here, which is interesting and we can talk about how effective that is as well. But as for the actual content, I really loved the opening two pages where we had a montage of Odin's journey, although more directly linked to Momonosuke and Hyori. Momonosuke in particular was just adorable when Odin was holding him up or Lion King style in what would seem to be the Roger Pirate's exit of Skype here because they're using the same octopus balloon species of creature that the Straw Hearts did. And there's also another panel with that teeny tiny Hyori where you can see her latching onto Odin and it's just one of the cutest things that the series has ever given us. And then we get a lot of fun mundane stuff for a few panels before launching back into the tragedy that occurred on Wano, which I think was delivered masterfully by Oda. It's easy to look over, but these two seemingly kind of uneventful pages make the entire chapter. Firstly, by providing a nice break in action where we get a sliver of an opportunity to be happy for a change because it makes that tragedy hit us all over again when we do cut to Kinamon and the others fighting for their lives. And that gives us this sinking feeling of reality. One that I think would have been difficult to portray if we'd just continued from where we left off in the last chapter because totally it just would have felt very monotonous. So especially after an unintended break, it was a solid way to put us in the right emotional headspace after two weeks. But the other purpose it obviously serves is removing Odin as a central focus of the flashback and shifting that onto Momonosuke and Hiyori. So we're invested in their story rather than Odin's. And once again, masterfully done, but it does give me some pause for thought because it would seem like Oda is attempting to wrap up the entire contextual history of Wano in this one massive hunk of a flashback, which does worry me slightly. And that's because I'm getting the sinking feeling that an awful lot is going to be left unsaid and undone, particularly in regards to Toki, who does get some focus in this chapter as she should because it presents what would appear to be her final moments in this world. But up until now she's been extremely underutilized to say the least, despite the fact that she is quite possibly one of the most important characters that Oda has ever created with a wealth of insight into a past that we are very unlikely to ever receive from another source that is not to Poneglyph. And that might be kind of annoying because this chapter heavily hints that Toki had a greater purpose traveling forward in time, with Odin even having a unique insight into her desires. And I've been harping on about this for ages and ages, so apologies for repeating myself. Toki just needs more time because she's been given absolutely nothing, which initially I thought might be strategic in order to give her her own flashback later on, but as things stand now, I'm not so sure about that anymore. It's beginning to feel more like Oda is cramming all of this information in right here so that we can move through Wano at a much more swift pace. And maybe I'm overthinking things as per usual, but in my mind, Toki's death should be every bit as profound as Odin's. She is an equally tragic figure in this entire event, but gazing upon what would appear to be her final moments, I just don't feel that. I don't feel much of anything actually because we've not been given the opportunity to get to know Toki like we got to know Odin. So naturally, her climax is much more emotionally subdued, if indeed it's present at all. So I'm still hoping against hope that there is more to Toki than this, but this week has me feeling a bit down about writing and stories and stuff. And you know what? Let's just get it out of the way. Komarasaki and Hiyori are an existence that have annoyed me greatly in the modern day Wano events. I don't really want to go into it all again because I have an entire video that outlines it. Link in the description below if you're interested in old theories, but basically the character is very, very inconsistently written. And from the last moment of Komarasaki to the first moment of Hiyori, she becomes a completely different person. Intelligent, wise, badass, to naive, useless doofus. And for a long time I've been searching for, I guess I'll call it an excuse now as to why that is. And coming up with all sorts of conspiracy theories like, oh, Komarasaki might be Toki or Komarasaki might be Hiyori and Toki or perhaps Hiyori might be the traitor. But I'm done with all of that for now. This chapter makes it very clear that Hiyori is indeed Komarasaki and the Occam's razor explanation once again proves to be correct as it often does. And I guess I'm just disappointed that this is yet another princess character that has been poorly implemented by Oda. The way he made the transition from Komarasaki to Hiyori in Act 2 was just plain bad. To the point where many casual fans to this day still don't even realize that the Hiyori who appeared was Komarasaki. So yeah, there is still room to salvage the Hiyori character because one of us far from over but given Oda's track record with various New World princesses, I no longer hold any hope in that regard. Moving on to something more positive though, chapter 973 also came with the very much anticipated reveal of Dendro who as many have suspected was Kyoshiro all along. And I find this pretty funny because it means that somehow in a really bizarre twist of fate, the one piece anime actually ended up spoiling the manga. And if you don't know what I'm referring to go back and watch over the top because there's a section where all of the vassals are cut together in a montage. And for some reason Kyoshiro was chosen to be put in this montage. Heavily implying that he was a vassal and most likely Dendro because he would have been the only one missing. And I made a video on that particular topic as well because it's just such a crazy situation. But in the context of this chapter, the reveal was done very well. I really felt for Dendro and when he emerged as his new alias, Rota provided this fantastic panel where the new Dendro is directly contrasted with the old Dendro. And even without the physical difference, you can tell just by the way he carries himself that Dendro has transformed. And with that, I'm quite keen to go back on one of thus far and look at it with the confirmed context of who Kyoshiro is. With all of that said, I am kind of sad that he didn't turn out to be an antagonist because the non-beast pirate forces of Wano were really lacking a powerful villain to deal with. You know, Orochi is funky and kind of a joke. And I guess that you do have the only Wabanchu for those guys are very background figures. However, Kyoshiro was this solid force of a potentially sinister nature. So it's kind of a shame to lose that, but at the same time, I am completely on board with how things are played out here. And I'm intrigued by why Kyoshiro is so bent on making sure that the allied forces do not find out who he is before the day of the battle. So I do wonder if Dendro is going to attempt to take it upon himself to assassinate Orochi perhaps. But even if it's not that extreme, he is very clearly going to be the key to turning the tides in the Wano-centric events. Not so much the beast pirate stuff, but Dendro will almost certainly be a critical factor. And given that the flashback isn't even over yet, it's entirely possible that in 974, we're going to see the Komarasaki interaction where he fakes Yuri's death in front of Orochi and we'll finally discover how and why that was done, which would neatly wrap up that little thread. And speaking of threads that have been solved as of this chapter, there was also a very quick sub-reveal that not only is Dendro Kyoshiro, but he was also acting as the witching owl boy, which to be perfectly honest with you as a presence that I had completely forgotten about because it's a story that never went anywhere, really. But it does go towards serving Dendro's character, which makes a lot of sense. Over the last however many years, lots, he's probably had to do some pretty sickening stuff for Orochi. So you know, he's trying to balance that out by doing some good in the nation. So good on you, Dendro. Heading back a bit, there's an important interaction that I skipped over, which was the invasion of Odin Castle by Kaido. And there's a really powerful panel of Kaido holding Momonosuke by the neck, effectively threatening to drop him to his death, which immediately gives me flashbacks of Alabasta. My crocodile was doing the exact same thing to Vivi on the Palace of Alabana. But Kaido then goes on to perform a very classic villain maneuver, and you know, not actually kill Momonosuke himself, but instead leaving him to a vaguely defined fate, burning. And oh, Kaido, you really, you really should have just killed him right then and there. Not only that, you also should have killed Toki and Hiyori because why wouldn't you? Silly Yonko. Well, so this panel is fantastic because it gives us another shot of Kaido's lanky as legs 20 years ago, which when I pointed out in a previous review, there were people who were adamant that it was just, you know, a weird panel. And those chopstick legs were not part of Kaido, but behold, here they are in all of their glory. So it is now 100% confirmed that Kaido was not a fan of leg day. But there were also a couple of fascinating small moments during this chapter that I really appreciated, one of which was near the beginning when we actually see the inception of the rift between Nekomomushi and Inorashi, which is something I've been periodically curious about because it's easy to forget, but when we were exploring the island of Zo, Inorashi and Nekomomushi did not like each other to say the least. And it took the arrival of Kinamon and company to kind of heal that rift. And here is exactly where that would appear to have begun with all the continued talk about a traitor, which continues to confound me actually, because at this point, it's so hard to believe that any of the vassals are the traitor or even Shinobu and also Hiyori is very much out because she and Dendro have been quietly plotting this entire time. So we are running out of candidates here, which you know does as it should bring into question the validity of this traitor business because perhaps the traitor in the modern day is simply Dendro who is feeding Orochi information in order to place him in a compromised position, which does look incredibly bad from the perspective of the allied forces, but in the end would ultimately work to their benefit. So yeah, perhaps there is a traitor, but it's not a traitor of the allied forces, it's a traitor of Orochi. A double agent, if you will, or perhaps even a triple agent, I guess, if it was Dendro, because he's initially a good guy working for Orochi, then betraying Orochi, but then like betraying the allied forces to further betray Orochi, that's convoluted. Finally though, I also just want to bring up that we have a special guest appearance in this chapter by one of Kaido's numbers, the weird gigantic silhouetted figures that we saw arriving in late act two. There's nothing more to it than that really. It was just a nice connection to the modern day that creates a lot more intrigue because it would seem that these numbers have been a core element of the Beast Pirates for at least 20 years, and it makes me all the more keen to delve into these weird and terrifying beings. But that pretty much shows up for chapter 973. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produced in general, then please do consider donating to the Ground 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 Ground Line Review and I'll see you next time.