Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 8 - Onigashima)

[MiyamotoMusashi]

I think Oars Jr. was simply not mentioned because his death didn't have the gravitas of Whitebeard and Ace's. But as it stands, we can't assume he survived just because he wasn't mentioned by Shanks. Last we saw Oars Jr he was stabbed through the head by Moria and then laid there as a corpse, forgotten by everyone including Oda. If he ever shows up again then maybe we will get the explanation that his body was somehow removed and he was healed off-screen but that seems unlikely. There were many casualties during Marineford, just most of them were unnamed. But not all of them.

He stood up after that to carry the last WB ship to the plaza.
Considering Moria wanted to definitely make him a zombie, yet at the end of the war, it had not happened, he probably was not dead.

[Deicide]

He stood up after that to carry the last WB ship to the plaza.
Considering Moria wanted to definitely make him a zombie, yet at the end of the war, it had not happened, he probably was not dead.

Moria was betrayed by the government and attacked by Doflamingo, thought. If Oars Jr was dead, Moria would not be able to get away with his corpse.

[MiyamotoMusashi]

Moria was betrayed by the government and attacked by Doflamingo, thought. If Oars Jr was dead, Moria would not be able to get away with his corpse.

Talking about this and any time before https://s2.mangabeast01.com/manga/On...e/0580-013.png
Moria had a lot of shadows at hand, could have used them on Oars if he was dead.
Of course whatever happened post-war, who knows, i would like to think the WB Pirates somehow transported him.

[theackwardstation]

Depends on how much Oda had planned for that to happen. As Oda admitted himself, he had not planned for Law to stay relevant this much, so him being a D can easily be something he used to tie in both his statement from the pre-TS (Shabondy) and to create another layer for the fight against Doflamingo.
You can easily ask why Oda decided to make Saul a D, or Rouge. Sure these guys are flashback characters, but them being Ds did not really serve a purpose beyond easy tie-ins, like Ace´s name for example, though you could have also said that´s the part he took from Roger for example.
So i do not see the necessity of it being an overarching and overly relative thing to be honest.

Rephrasing: It has been a constant theme that the citizens of an island Luffy is rescuing learn the truth about their situation while the fight is either built up or is on-going.
So pretty sure somehow the world will learn about the truth about the void history by some means while everything is going down, and one possibility is that it is transmitted somehow through CoO with connecting the whole world to it.

See above. I do not see the necessity.
Him trying to find the last RP is good enough, like i said.

That´s everyone else.

Even if Law was improvised into the narrative, this doesn't diminish his current importance. Maybe he took on a major role in the story that Oda already had in his mind for ages, but without a character set for it yet. Or maybe even the role itself was not planned from the beginning, but still something that Oda is now thinking will be useful to tell the story better now that he's arriving at the endgame. All of this while capitalizing on Law's popularity.

What matters to me is that I see a development starting here which didn't need to exist otherwise. And I say this as someone who is not a Law fan and who had never actually thought that Law would join the crew. But now I totally see him following Luffy to Laugh Tale, as a proper crewmate or just an ally.

And yes, we'll habe the POV of the citzens too at the endgame, but their perspective is different from what Law can offer as a whole. Once again, I mention Skypiea, because each different faction was deeply moved by the bell ringing at the end, but for different reasons, and some people had even more personal motivations.

[Shiebs]

Your all fools, Caribou is the true final member

[Shift]

My gut feeling is that the next three chapters will be vital for Carrot. She's one of the few characters we didn't see when the island started rising, which tells me we'll be getting a proper update of the battle with Peros soon. If we don't see them in 998, we 100% will in 999. I don't logically want to hang my hopes on anything big happening with her in 1000, since that'd be begging for disappointment. But my pure instinct is that if the tenth crewmate is to shine anytime this arc, the same chapter as Luffy's arrival to the roof to face Kaido would be a great time.

[TheGarc]

Law is interesting because his recent scene basically says that he has to find all red road poneglyphs to find out more about the Ds which also implies that he will continue traveling with the Straw Hats. I can't really see him asking Luffy "Hey I am interested in this D thing, that you dont care about btw, so could you give me a call each time you find out more about it?" instead of him just going with them. Law definitely feels like a main character in the story but his crew has been completely useless in this arc and with the last chapter they are even farther removed from the ongoing battle. There could be a Jinbei situation where he asks his crew to let him travel with the Straw Hats to pursue his selfish dream/goal.

Do I think this will happen? Not, but it wouldn't surprise me and I don't know how else he would be able to find out more about the Ds.

Just imagine Jinbei, Carrot, Yamato and Law all joining in one arc after years of no new crewmates xD

Also it was super important that Saul was also a D because it confirmed that the D clan is part of different races.

[Coookie]

That would make Law's dream pretty much the same as Robin's since the meaning of the D. and its clan is deeply intertwined with the Void Century, the ancient kingdom and the Rio Poneglyph

[Monquito]

Carrot's fight is getting off-paneled, while the Sulong clock is running and the narrative is favoring the villains.

Not great signals at all.

[Shiebs]

I think it’s Carrot sharing her fight with Wanda that’s really bad for her chances

I don’t feel like getting into an argument about that though

I still think Jinbei is our only crew member that will join this arc but I still say Yamato, Carrot, and X Drake All have chances

I’d say the only other characters we already know of who may have chances Are Bonney, Vegapunk, Kuma (with a new body from Vegapunk) and very unlikely Pekoms

I still think it will be a character we haven’t seen yet

[Shift]

I think it’s Carrot sharing her fight with Wanda that’s really bad for her chances

I don’t feel like getting into an argument about that though

Don't feel you need to reply, but I'll say in response that there's plenty of reasons why Wanda may be there. Sure, it could just be that she and Carrot will finish the fight together and be done with it. It could be one of them get put in danger and the other needs to be pushed to save her. It could be one leaves to help elsewhere while the other finishes the fight. Unlikely as it is, it could be one of them dies or is gravely injured and the other has to carry on alone.

I still think there's a reason Pedro's death happened, why it led to all this and why Carrot was at the center of it. And I have to believe there's a reason why Wanda is with her now, even though it feels like it should be Carrot's fight alone. The fact that the fight hasn't been settled already with that first slash tells me that something important still has to happen.

[Shiebs]

Don't feel you need to reply, but I'll say in response that there's plenty of reasons why Wanda may be there. Sure, it could just be that she and Carrot will finish the fight together and be done with it. It could be one of them get put in danger and the other needs to be pushed to save her. It could be one leaves to help elsewhere while the other finishes the fight. Unlikely as it is, it could be one of them dies or is gravely injured and the other has to carry on alone.

I still think there's a reason Pedro's death happened, why it led to all this and why Carrot was at the center of it. And I have to believe there's a reason why Wanda is with her now, even though it feels like it should be Carrot's fight alone. The fact that the fight hasn't been settled already with that first slash tells me that something important still has to happen.

I definitely agree with you that Carrot's important to the story and has a place in Odas heart.... I just don't know how important

You and Robby's constant arguments have both got me on the fence, I see both of you making good points that seem to make sense

So I'm undecided

[Syphin]

I am not sure if it is just me, but its so weird that the obvious weakness of the Sulong form isn't being exploited. Unless of course, Perospero intends to take advantage of it once the focus shifts back to him.

With Pekoms being part of the Big Mom Pirates, they all know how the Mink Sulong form functions, the danger of it and what the massive weakness to it is - the Mink need to have sight of the Moon.

If Perospero was as smart as he appears, he would use his candy-making abilities to build a barrier to block Carrot and Wanda’s view of the Moon. Or he would flee away from the open-area to a building with cover so that Carrot and Wanda wouldn’t have sight of the Moon if they did continue to pursue him. Perospero has no genuine reason to continue entertaining Carrot and Wanda. I just wonder if Perospero's arrogance will get the better of him.

[Shift]

I am not sure if it is just me, but its so weird that the obvious weakness of the Sulong form isn't being exploited. Unless of course, Perospero intends to take advantage of it once the focus shifts back to him.

With Pekoms being part of the Big Mom Pirates, they all know how the Mink Sulong form functions, the danger of it and what the massive weakness to it is - the Mink need to have sight of the Moon.

If Perospero was as smart as he appears, he would use his candy-making abilities to build a barrier to block Carrot and Wanda’s view of the Moon. Or he would flee away from the open-area to a building with cover so that Carrot and Wanda wouldn’t have sight of the Moon if they did continue to pursue him. Perospero has no genuine reason to continue entertaining Carrot and Wanda. I just wonder if Perospero's arrogance will get the better of him.

That's a good point. I felt that Sulong might not last through the whole fight, but I wasn't thinking deeply about how it would deactivate. I really hope it won't be because they lose any eyes like Pekoms probably did. But even basic sunglasses stop it, so a thick, translucent candy wall could do the trick.

BTW, I was reading your Yamato analysis on Worstgen, and while I can't say I'm on board, it was explained and thought out very well. I do like the idea of some Poneglyph masonry secrets being hidden in Oden's journal, and it would be an interesting potential path for Yamato to take.

[ArmamentHero]

It's hard to ignore the possibility of Oda offscreening the Perospero vs Carrot and Wanda clash... Especially when he offscreened Ussops and Nami's round one loss to P1 and Ulti.

[Monquito]

Or Peros can just trap them both in candy, cause he's just that fast..

[Shift]

It's hard to ignore the possibility of Oda offscreening the Perospero vs Carrot and Wanda clash... Especially when he offscreened Ussops and Nami's round one loss to P1 and Ulti.

Even that would probably lead to some important character development, like we saw with Nami. That would show us where they're headed in the story, which is what I'm expecting more than a cut and dry, win or lose fight.

[Solid]

BTW, I was reading your Yamato analysis on Worstgen, and while I can't say I'm on board, it was explained and thought out very well. I do like the idea of some Poneglyph masonry secrets being hidden in Oden's journal, and it would be an interesting potential path for Yamato to take.

Yeah I saw that too, feels like we were apforumers in exile

I dont think that will be the case though, the stonemasonry and the one that will teach the legacy of the kozuki to Momo and Hiyori will be none other than Sukiyaki himself, better known as Hitetsu these days.

[Deicide]

Considering Peros insta-defeated Brook and Chopper, and even Gear 3rd Luffy couldn’t break throught his candy without fire, I really doubt Carrot/Wanda have any chance against him.

[Shift]

Considering Peros insta-defeated Brook and Chopper, and even Gear 3rd Luffy couldn’t break throught his candy without fire, I really doubt Carrot/Wanda have any chance against him.

Even Pekoms, a single untrained Sulong, had the potential to give Oven and all of BM's forces in Chocolat Town major trouble if he fully transformed. Two fully trained ones, with their raw strength and agility, will give Peros a run for his money.

And even if we return to their battle with either or both of the Minks on the ground, in candy or out of Sulong, that won't be the end. This manga is built on characters rising up even after being beaten down to finish what they started. I'm not expecting them to need saving from someone else.