Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 8 - Onigashima)

[SeaOfHope]

Eh really nothing changed on my end. Anyone clamoring on relevance now in regards to Carrot can easily construe it into another way when she inevitably gets the spotlight again. I still distinctly recall her Sulong moment being discussed as a power-up for Chopper and depersonalizing the moment Chapter 888 had for her. I've just come to expect that's how some of you will act.

Regardless, I don't see Carrot being away from the Straw Hats till she comes to the understanding what and why they're so narratively important since those were Pedro's last words to her back in Chapter 877. She was with them this entire time and was still going to follow them had Perospero not arrived, so it can only be assumed that Oda wanted this conflict to occur as Vongola put it, Perospero is the only one among BM children to even be at Onigashima and the rest have been comically thwarted time and time again. Beating Perospero I don't believe will ever answer the question of what the Dawn of the World is, but the fallout of this arc means a lot. The retainers don't know why they waited 20 years and a lot of pieces have been falling into place with Luffy's actions. By the end of the arc, I'm confident that we'll get insight into what the Dawn of the World truly is and Carrot's position in the story would be tangible from there as it will fall in line with what was already foretold back in Chapter 877.

Also, I'm of the opinion that if Carrot is so much on the SH ship by the end of this arc, I'll still remain on the discussion vouching her candidacy. Sorry Shift.

[Zik]

Of course Oda is gonna eventually get back to Carrot or at least address her confronting Perospero cuz you know he doesn't just abandon plot points he sets up, not being a bad writer and all.

That doesn't at all mean Carrot has a bigger purpose let alone is NN.

Quite frankly I find it highly unlikely Carrot and Wanda even in sulong form are gonna beat Perospero anyway. Might be Oda's excuse to introduce another (new) character.

[kevinds]

Of course Oda is gonna eventually get back to Carrot or at least address her confronting Perospero cuz you know he doesn't just abandon plot points he sets up, not being a bad writer and all.

That doesn't at all mean Carrot has a bigger purpose let alone is NN.

Quite frankly I find it highly unlikely Carrot and Wanda even in sulong form are gonna beat Perospero anyway. Might be Oda's excuse to introduce another (new) character.

There’s also this. Sulong’s short time limit and the cloudy sky tell me that their battle is already over. Maybe Carrot gets a rematch later. I do have some reservations about this since Bepo is here and might go sulong, but we don’t know how that’s going to happen. Perospero being the only BM pirate here for Carrot to get a win is also a little wonky as well, like Oda’s just checking boxes. It makes much more sense for Carrot to stall Perospero while the fights are set up and then the rest of the BM pirates show up and start overwhelming the alliance while also being a chaos factor that break up the Beast Pirates. He brought Smoothie and the others here for a reason, so he will get back to them as well.

[Vongola_Boss_XI]

I personally think Big Mom's story continues beyond Wano. If Carrot loses to Perospero or their fight is interrupted, I feel like that's more potential story for her in the future. I have a hard time predicting how things will go against Perospero. He seems too tough for Carrot as she is now, but it's really hard to tell. As I said before, I don't think defeating Perospero closes Carrot's story or resolves the charge left to her by Pedro. Carrot settling the score with Perospero does need to be resolved now that Oda has raised it as a plot point and if she loses, that's even less reason for her to simply return to Zou. If she fails to defeat him here, isn't that just more reason for her to face him again in the future when she's stronger?

I also tend to believe Sulong was in the past more accessible to the Minks. It's even referred to as their 'true form'; this leads me to believe that fulfilling the prophecy Pedro cited may mean more than just helping Luffy find One Piece and have very real consequences on the Minks as a whole.

[Deicide]

I doubt Big Mom's story will keep going on. At most, she and Kaido will appear in flashbacks or be referenced by other characters. I feel Big Mom and her children will be pivotal, maybe even outlasting Kaido and the Beast Pirates, but not the arc itself. This is the swan song of the Yonko, once Wano is over, the power struggle will be set up between Blackbeard and the World Government, with Shanks in the middle.

As for the candidates, I don't think anyone will join.

To me, Carrot's purpose was as an representative to the minks in general. She was meant to witness Pedro's sacrifice, to showcase electro and Sulong in order to hype the current war, and finally to see Pedro avenged. I can't see a result to her current fight other than losing to Perospero, who will then summon the Big Mom pirates to Onigashima. Even if Carrot were to win in a on-screen fight now, defeating Perospero and preventing the coming of the BM Pirates would seem very tangential to the main struggle of the arc, almost a side story.

Yamato may join, but so far I don't see convincing signs. It's up to whatever development he's still going to get, but so far he's clearly bonding with the Wano people, not the Straw Hat pirates. Does this means Yamato will remain in Wano? I don't think so. But, at the end of the arc, I feel Yamato will want to see the world on his own pace.

I've stated before that Carrot, Yamato and Tama may create their own crew. There's certainly interesting paralels between all of them, as well as all being interested in the adventures overseas. I just don't see Luffy taking Yamato over Carrot, or Carrot over Yamato. Maybe the reason these three are thought as candidates is because all of them are being developed for the future, but not as crewmates. A new pirate crew, instead, going off to see the world by themselves. While the three are yet to met, there's still a lot to happen before Wano ends.

That's my opinion on the matter. Jinbe is the last crewmate for now. The last one comes in the next saga.

[Shift]

Of course Oda is gonna eventually get back to Carrot or at least address her confronting Perospero cuz you know he doesn't just abandon plot points he sets up, not being a bad writer and all.

That doesn't at all mean Carrot has a bigger purpose let alone is NN.

The question remains: why didn't he go back to them now, when he took the time both in 1003 and 1005 to show nearly everyone else?

[Shiebs]

Can’t we say the same thing about Caribou? Where has he gone since the raid began

Obviously Oda has something super special in store for him, he wouldn’t spend this long away from him without some really BIG Reason, right?

[Shift]

Can’t we say the same thing about Caribou? Where has he gone since the raid began

Obviously Oda has something super special in store for him, he wouldn’t spend this long away from him without some really BIG Reason, right?

We're talking about the battle on Onigashima here. We all know Caribou will show up sometime before Wano ends, too.