Kaido Finally Takes Things Seriously

One Piece Chapter 993 Review/Recap

At the end of my review of last week’s chapter, I said that Kaido had not yet begun to fight. That he had only been holding back against the Red Scabbards, which is why they were able to get in so many hits. It’s a standard trope in Shonen stories: the bad guy treats the heroes like an annoyance because only the main protagonist can stop them. It turns out that I was right to be worried for the Scabbards, as Kaido stops messing around and starts fighting seriously. Get ready for blood.

Recap

In the Fire Capital, the people celebrate the Fire Festival with reckless abandon. For it’s the one night a year when they don’t have to worry about Orochi or Kaido and their tyranny. The one night when they can openly dare to dream that the Kozuki Clan will return to save them all. Little do they know, on Onigashima, that dream is fighting to become a reality.

At Onigashima, things are starting to go bad for the Alliance. Queen’s new Plague bullets, Ice Demon, are tearing people apart and turning them into ice zombies as Zoro and Drake look on in anger. Elsewhere, Sanji and Jinbei are helping Luffy make it to the roof of the skull, and actively trying to keep him from fighting. They know Luffy will need all his strength to have a chance to beat Kaido. In another section of the castle, Shinobu and Momonosuke are cornered by Sasaki and a group of Beast Pirates. However, before they can kill the pair, Yamato steps in to defend them.

On the roof of the skull, the Scabbards try to move in to finish Kaido off while he’s down. To their horror, though, the Yonko shrugs off their attacks, saying that they’re nowhere near as strong as that of Oden. Lamenting that no swordsman will reach Oden’s level, Kaido stops fooling around and unleashes his full power against the Scabbards. As a result of a barrage of wind blades, Kikunojo loses one of his arms, to his comrades horror.

Review

I wish that I could say that I’m surprised about how things have turned against the Scabbards, but I’d be lying. When you read stories from the Shonen for long enough, you tend to see this kind of development coming from a mile away. Not to mention, Kaido confirmed in this chapter that, strong as they are, the Scabbards aren’t at Oden’s level. One of the big reasons why they’re not dead yet is because he wanted to test them; to see how they stacked up to the man that would have beaten him had it not been for Orochi’s men.

What surprised me more, though, was the behavior of everyone in the Flower Capital. I thought that most of them had been brainwashed to be loyal to Orochi, but I was wrong. Even the people of the Flower Capital want to be rid of Kaido and Orochi. They merely wear a mask of subservience because they’re too afraid to fight back. Heck, if they knew that the Kozuki Clan was fighting for them at that very moment, they may end up marching on Onigashima themselves. That would certainly be a sight to see!

Regardless, this chapter only re-affirmed what we already knew: only Luffy can defeat Kaido. That, or maybe Zoro could help. Would be a way to make the Yonko eat his words of there never being a swordsman as strong as Oden again.

I Give “Wano Country’s Dream” a 3.5/5

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