Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 8 - Onigashima)

Coookie

That stowing away part happened with Robin though….

I was about to say, but also the part of just straight up asking Luffy to let them join

Roosta

I would say Robin is very different from those two, though.

Robin saved Luffy's life, then stowed away and asked to join after Luffy heard her story and he saved her life. Luffy himself is the one that put her in that position, and she even said he should take responsibility and accept her as a member of the crew.
Carrot stowed away with a specific purpose, and hasn't asked to join despite being around for 200 chapters.
Yamato asked to join Luffy moments after revealing his identity.

Md-Martin

I was one of the few that doubted Brook joining pretty much until the Oars fight started.
My reasoning, at the time, was based on two things.

1. Brook used a sword, Zoro used swords. There really wasn't overlap with the Strawhats abilities at that time as there is now, so at the time it was something that lead me to believe Brook didn't have a unique enough fighting style. And to be fair on myself, Oda pretty much gave him a whole new skillset anyway after the timeskip

2. He was gonna be a musician, and Franky, a guitar player, just joined the crew.
At the time TB came out, I did not believe Oda would have a musician actually be a position in the crew. I thought he hit the mark of musician with Franky just joining, and that Luffy would be content once Franky busted out that guitar on the Sunny for the first time.

In addition Franky was the first new member after several years without adding one. Myself and many didn't expect another one right off the bat.

But all doubt about Brook joining were gone about 3/4 through TB for me.

Nidhoeggr

Brook and Paulie had a lot of interaction with the Strawhats though, much more than Carrot and certainly way more than Yamato. I just feel like it would be very hard for Oda to make us care for such a lategame crewmember outside of a very specific, limited role such as Buggy/Shanks style apprentices… which I why I favor Carrot over Yamato. Or even Momonosuke, but there is no way he will leave Wano since he has to take over as shogun.

electricmastro

@Robby:

I will never understand how Oda introduced a talking skeleton musician with an afro and a yohoho laugh that poops who Luffy asked to join immediately in a two page spread… and people had doubts about him joining.

Folks didn't get on board until the Laboon connection came to light.

I will never understand.

Roosta

@Nidhoeggr:

Brook and Paulie had a lot of interaction with the Strawhats though, much more than Carrot and certainly way more than Yamato. I just feel like it would be very hard for Oda to make us care for such a lategame crewmember outside of a very specific, limited role such as Buggy/Shanks style apprentices… which I why I favor Carrot over Yamato. Or even Momonosuke, but there is no way he will leave Wano since he has to take over as shogun.

Haven't Momonosuke and Kinemon had better interactions with the crew than anyone?

This is a point of view I have some trouble understanding, and part of why I bring up precedent. Is there another character that you thought could have been a Strawhat, but didn't get crew interactions and it didn't work out? I see the Luffy-Yamato relationship as a parallel to Luffy-Jinbe in Impel Down-Marineford: an extremely power ally appears from nowhere, is freed by Luffy, and contributes significantly to Luffy's efforts. If Jinbe asked to join Luffy's crew then, do you think Luffy would have said no, because he hadn't met the crew? Projecting forward a bit: Yamato is headed into the Skull Dome now. If he starts to meet Strawhats and has good interactions with them, will it make you change your view?

Not trying to be antagonistic, just curious about where you're coming from.

Deicide

Three Straw Hat members joined since I started reading weekly.

First was Franky. I didn't count on him, I was on team Paulie. Paulie seemed like the shipwright, while Franky seemed set on just building the ship. Up until Enies Lobby started I feel Paulie had a chance, but once the final fights with CP-9 started, thought, I had to admit I was wrong.

Next was Brook. If I remember correctly, I was a little suspicious but very open to him. He was quirky, funny, and had a very unique visual, so I was lukewarm towards him and curious about his role. He was a musician, like Luffy said he wanted since the beginning. When the Laboon connection was revealed, I became sure he was going to join.
People even then would point out that his promise required him to backtrack to Reverse Mountain instead of moving forward with the crew, or pointed how Brook losing to Ryuuma and later being (initially) absent from the Oars fight were signs he wasn't going to join.

Last was Jinbe. Now, this one I just couldn't it coming. I could reckognize him as a true friend, but he always seemed so… bland! I've warmed up to him since, but he still feels somewhat detached from the others, even thought he fills the family dynamic nicely as "the father" (but back then the "father" was Franky, so even in that Jinbe seemed set to be an outsider). Jinbe is still my least favorite Straw Hat.

I look at Yamato and just see... nothing at all. Sorry. The more we learn about him, more it feels like he's set to become Wano's "guardian spirit", I can't ignore the significance of his Oden worship, beast theme and passion for the country. Even thought the character declares often that he wants to leave with Luffy, it still feels very one-sided at this point, and there's a recurring device in storytelling about "wants versus needs", and I think Yamato wants may not be what he truly needs to find himself and be whole. I may be wrong (I was in two out of three cases above), but that's my stance right now.

Roosta

@Deicide:

Three Straw Hat members joined since I started reading weekly.

First was Franky. I didn't count on him, I was on team Paulie. Paulie seemed like the shipwright, while Franky seemed set on just building the ship. Up until Enies Lobby started I feel Paulie had a chance, but once the final fights with CP-9 started, thought, I had to admit I was wrong.

Next was Brook. If I remember correctly, I was a little suspicious but very open to him. He was quirky, funny, and had a very unique visual, so I was lukewarm towards him and curious about his role. He was a musician, like Luffy said he wanted since the beginning. When the Laboon connection was revealed, I became sure he was going to join.
People even then would point out that his promise required him to backtrack to Reverse Mountain instead of moving forward with the crew, or pointed how Brook losing to Ryuuma and later being (initially) absent from the Oars fight were signs he wasn't going to join.

Last was Jinbe. Now, this one I just couldn't it coming. I could reckognize him as a true friend, but he always seemed so… bland! I've warmed up to him since, but he still feels somewhat detached from the others, even thought he fills the family dynamic nicely as "the father" (but back then the "father" was Franky, so even in that Jinbe seemed set to be an outsider). Jinbe is still my least favorite Straw Hat.

I look at Yamato and just see... nothing at all. Sorry. The more we learn about him, more it feels like he's set to become Wano's "guardian spirit", I can't ignore the significance of his Oden worship, beast theme and passion for the country. Even thought the character declares often that he wants to leave with Luffy, it still feels very one-sided at this point, and there's a recurring device in storytelling about "wants versus needs", and I think Yamato wants may not be what he truly needs to find himself and be whole. I may be wrong (I was in two out of three cases above), but that's my stance right now.

I appreciate that you're honest, it would be really easy to just say you saw it coming every single time, lol. Regarding Jinbe: for how long did you think it wouldn't happen? Until Luffy asked, or until WCI/Wano? Also, one thing I want to mention in response to your Yamato point is: he said he wants to leave with Luffy once (twice if you count asking for a ride on the Sunny), every other time has been Yamato neutrally expressing his "want" to leave Wano.

Deicide

@Roosta:

I appreciate that you're honest, it would be really easy to just say you saw it coming every single time, lol. Regarding Jinbe: for how long did you think it wouldn't happen? Until Luffy asked, or until WCI/Wano? Also, one thing I want to mention in response to your Yamato point is: he said he wants to leave with Luffy once (twice if you count asking for a ride on the Sunny), every other time has been Yamato neutrally expressing his "want" to leave Wano.

When Marineford ended, I was afraid I was wrong, but still trusted my instincts so I kept waiting for clues in Fishman Island. When his flashback came out, I thought it was a done deal, but then the flashback wasn't as directly about Jinbe or his dreams as it was for past Straw Hats, I still kept doubting it a bit. When Luffy finally asked Jinbe as a cliffhanger, I felt Jinbe joining wouldn't happen immediately because there was something lacking yet, but I was convinced it would happen eventually. Indeed, the following chapter delayed his official joining for a few more arcs. But, when Jinbe came back in WCI, I was sure that he would leave the arc as a full official Straw Hat (and then Oda delayed it again until Wano, lol).

Nidhoeggr

@Roosta:

Haven't Momonosuke and Kinemon had better interactions with the crew than anyone?

This is a point of view I have some trouble understanding, and part of why I bring up precedent. Is there another character that you thought could have been a Strawhat, but didn't get crew interactions and it didn't work out? I see the Luffy-Yamato relationship as a parallel to Luffy-Jinbe in Impel Down-Marineford: an extremely power ally appears from nowhere, is freed by Luffy, and contributes significantly to Luffy's efforts. If Jinbe asked to join Luffy's crew then, do you think Luffy would have said no, because he hadn't met the crew? Projecting forward a bit: Yamato is headed into the Skull Dome now. If he starts to meet Strawhats and has good interactions with them, will it make you change your view?

Not trying to be antagonistic, just curious about where you're coming from.

I always placed Momo and Kinemon pretty low on the list of potential crewmates because they seemed to mirror Vivi as a travel companion/plot hook type of character. Plus, adding yet another sword wielder would really seem like overkill to me - we got Brook for fencing/Western swordsmanship purposes and Zoro for the Eastern ones. Any more and I feel we'd run the risk of devaluing the unique selling point of each member.

As for Jimbei: He was the main ally of several arcs, acted as both mentor and friend to Luffy to an extent that only Bon and few others have shown throughout the series, was established reasonably early on in the context of the entire series (first mention in AP, full introduction in ID), has massive ties to allied fractions along with being deeply connected to several other character's histories, etc. Not to mention his connection to Ace and crucially, him asking to joining the crew at the end of an arc after he proved to us for roughly dozens of volumes how much a friend he is by even going so far as to be impaled.. This is another level than being merely a glorified cosplayer that stems imho from a simple lack of experience of the outside world as well as being unclear of one's purpose in life in general.

If Wano is indeed far from over and we get our five acts, then sure: Maybe Oda can give us enough interaction with other crewmembers and memorable moments to win me over. However, as it stands I think the crew is already big enough and unlike Carrot or Momo who could be lookout or apprentice I simply don't feel like Yamato slots in with the rest of the crew.
And to come back to the unique selling point of each member:
Carrot as a mink would overlap with Chopper a bit, but her naivety could bring out some fun interactions with Chopper being the senpai for once. Same would apply to another younger character in an equal spot. Sulong may once again be a bit too similar to the initial drawbacks of Monster Point narratively, but that "country pumpkin learning about the outside world" feeling she def. shares with Yamato, who hasn't been outside of Wano at all and would likely ask very similar questions. Meanwhile, Yamato joining is imho a bit too close to Oden's role in Roger's crew and with a devil fruit ability that seems to turn the user into an actual guardian diety I think it would be weird to have Yamato repeat Oden's mistake when Momo clearly needs some guardians and advisors.

And speaking from a purely visual perspective: Short-haired blonde cutie > another long-haired cutie. Even with the sideboob :P
I will never forgive Oda from taking shorthaired Nami away from us in the timeskip as well as denying us that beautiful bob cut Robin design….

PS: I also agree with Deicide on Jimbei that even after all of this, he seems a bit bland compared to other Strawhats, which makes sense when you think about it because even with all the focus he received he was still absent for most of the New World and Oda simply doesnt have enough space and time to flesh out characters he introduces now like he did in the past since he clearly tries to proceed to the finish line with more haste than before. So I really don't know how a character introduced in the last third of the story can live up to the rest of the crew in terms of identification when some people already struggle with Jimbei or Brook when compared to the rest of the crew.
I'm gonna say it again, if a character joins it has to be someone wo know for longer and even then I would honestly just prefer them in an apprentice/"trial" role as I feel our crew is pretty much complete already.

electricmastro

@Deicide:

I look at Yamato and just see… nothing at all. Sorry. The more we learn about him, more it feels like he's set to become Wano's "guardian spirit", I can't ignore the significance of his Oden worship, beast theme and passion for the country. Even thought the character declares often that he wants to leave with Luffy, it still feels very one-sided at this point, and there's a recurring device in storytelling about "wants versus needs", and I think Yamato wants may not be what he truly needs to find himself and be whole. I may be wrong (I was in two out of three cases above), but that's my stance right now.

Well, after living a life of much loneliness while being surrounded by hostility and wanting someone to count on after fully realizing Kaidou was indeed trying to blow her up, on top of murdering Oden and anyone else that tried to help her out, wouldn’t that fit in with the recurring theme of feeling trapped and alone in the world and wanting companionship and needing support within the series?

wolfwood

It's funny how i was totally anti-Franky at first, on account of what he did to 'Sopp. Then the charm of surfer Ace Ventura won me over, only for Oda to go and redesign everything charming out of him. Wonder if it is too late to apply for Paulie to come back

electricmastro

@Roosta:

Haven't Momonosuke and Kinemon had better interactions with the crew than anyone?

This is a point of view I have some trouble understanding, and part of why I bring up precedent. Is there another character that you thought could have been a Strawhat, but didn't get crew interactions and it didn't work out? I see the Luffy-Yamato relationship as a parallel to Luffy-Jinbe in Impel Down-Marineford: an extremely power ally appears from nowhere, is freed by Luffy, and contributes significantly to Luffy's efforts. If Jinbe asked to join Luffy's crew then, do you think Luffy would have said no, because he hadn't met the crew? Projecting forward a bit: Yamato is headed into the Skull Dome now. If he starts to meet Strawhats and has good interactions with them, will it make you change your view?

Not trying to be antagonistic, just curious about where you're coming from.

As well as how the Straw Hats barely interacted with Robin before Vivi left. I don’t think Zoro even had a conversation with her before Luffy and Vivi parted ways.

theackwardstation

I started reading weekly in Amazon Lily, so after Brook, but I remember my first impressions (and I was spoiler-less):

East Blue SHs – all obvious, of course.
Chopper -- this was the first tricky one, because Kureha got more spotlight at first and I wasn't expecting a mascot to join, but the flashback made it clear.
Robin -- didn't see it coming at all.
Franky -- I don't know when it became obvious to me that Franky would join, but honestly it never crossed my mind that Paulie would join (and I was surprised to find out that the OP community believed he could).
Brook -- I bought his recruitment from the start.
Jimbe -- Believed he would join since before the timeskip.

Characters that didn't join:
Vivi -- I thought she would remain with the crew, so I was wrong (yes, I know that she's a SH anyway)
Paulie -- as I said before, no.
Perona, Hancock, Shirahoshi, Monet, Rebecca -- never thought they would join.
Colosseum characters -- it was hard to figure out what Oda intended to do with them, but I didn't believe that Barto or Cavendish would join after spending some time with them.
Pedro - never thought he would join.

Current contenders:
Carrot -- if she doesn't join, it's gonna be my first major mistake because there was a point I believed more than 70% that she would join, and the ship is sailing...
Momonosuke -- I can see it happening, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Kinnemon -- I considered it a lot during Punk Hazard, but stopped believing in the possibility in Dressrosa.
Tama -- no.
Yamato -- a lot of spotlight on him right now, so I'm expecting a proportional payoff, but narrative-wise I can see it going in many ways, including joining. I'm 50/50.
Law - no, but he's almost a main character anyway.
Others -- no.

Nidhoeggr

@wolfwood:

It's funny how i was totally anti-Franky at first, on account of what he did to 'Sopp. Then the charm of surfer Ace Ventura won me over, only for Oda to go and redesign everything charming out of him. Wonder if it is too late to apply for Paulie to come back

It's one of the reasons why I hope we will get a short timeskip of one or two months before the final arc happens; not only to move all the players and give us enough time for the Strawhat Grand Armada, etc. to assemble, but for Oda to redesign some of the Strawhats… Looking at you, Franky and Chopper :(

Roosta

@electricmastro:

As well as how the Straw Hats barely interacted with Robin before Vivi left. I don’t think Zoro even had a conversation with her before Luffy and Vivi parted ways.

I believe Chopper's first time seeing Robin was after she stowed away, as he was wondering who she even was. I suppose this is why some people see Robins "true" joining as happening after Enies Lobby, though.

StrawHatJedi

I never doubted Brook or Franky, but I entertained the idea Paulie could join alongside Franky, even though thought it was a very remote chance. I thought he might be chased by his debtors and flee aboard the ship with the Straw Hats when they depart Water Seven. But Franky was a done deal. I wasn't a huge fan of Paulie, but thought since Franky and Iceberg were sort of a duo, it was technically possible Oda would do something similar. But once Franky had his flashback, it was a done deal. And once the Pirates vs. CP9 fights started, Paulie's role in the story was pretty clear.

For Brook, I didn't doubt him joining, but I remember wanting him to have a human form for… some reason?

The moment that sold me on Jimbei joining was the way Luffy looked when he summoned the Whale Sharks at the end of Impel Down. That's when I started to think 'Wait... could he join the crew?' Incidentally, the moment when Luffy tells Smoker he likes him after Zoro saves him from drowning on Alabasta is when I got that sense for Smoker.

So I guess you could say the 'losing' horse I backed was Smoker. But I haven't given up and won' give up until he Straw Hats find One Piece.

DarthAsthma

Do people really feel like Vivi was bait? I feel like Oda was very obvious about her. Maybe it's like the bias of knowing but I don't think Oda particularly invested into doing any huge misleads on where Vivi's priorities were. Hence it just made sense that she would choose her country over the pirate life.
Like I think when you look back on the Luffy vs Vivi scene is what hits it home that Vivi would put everything she has herself(her life, wishes, etc) to save her country, it is when she learns to let the crew risk themselves along side her that make their bonds hit home. That was basically the biggie to seal her putting Alabasta's recovery ahead of her own desires imo.
Really the main reason I feel if people were unsure back then there was just A LOT less of one piece to look back on to really form an understanding on Oda's tendencies in regards to his story.

King Cannon

I still think t's cute how Baratie tried to make a "WHO WILL JOIN?!" mystery by having Zeff and Patty as contenders, even though Sanji was the obvious forerunner from the start.

Roosta

@DarthAsthma:

Do people really feel like Vivi was bait? I feel like Oda was very obvious about her. Maybe it's like the bias of knowing but I don't think Oda particularly invested into doing any huge misleads on where Vivi's priorities were. Hence it just made sense that she would choose her country over the pirate life.
Like I think when you look back on the Luffy vs Vivi scene is what hits it home that Vivi would put everything she has herself(her life, wishes, etc) to save her country, it is when she learns to let the crew risk themselves along side her that make their bonds hit home. That was basically the biggie to seal her putting Alabasta's recovery ahead of her own desires imo.
Really the main reason I feel if people were unsure back then there was just A LOT less of one piece to look back on to really form an understanding on Oda's tendencies in regards to his story.

Indeed! But despite that, there are still many who think she'll return to the crew (as a full fledged member, not temporarily because of Reverie events). It's hard for me to understand what would make her want put Luffy's dream of being Pirate King ahead of Alabasta, especially after that.

Deicide

@electricmastro:

Well, after living a life of much loneliness while being surrounded by hostility and wanting someone to count on after fully realizing Kaidou was indeed trying to blow her up, on top of murdering Oden and anyone else that tried to help her out, wouldn’t that fit in with the recurring theme of feeling trapped and alone in the world and wanting companionship and needing support within the series?

The thing is, I’m feeling that companionship and acceptance will come from the samurai. Even the Kurozumi persecution fits as a setup, as the samurai and the people of Wano accepting the child of Kaido as their guardian could work as a way to show the people of Wano changed. It reminds me of Yamato expecting the samurai in the cave to kill him/her just because of lineage grudges.

Zar

The openings spoiled the members for me. I was sad when Paulie stayed behind though.

The first one to join after I started reading weekly was Jinbei, but I don't care about him so it just happened as Fishman Island went along (and then it took a couple arcs for him to ACTUALLY join, a decision I still don't understand).

As for others… I was actually scared of the possibility that Rebecca could join, thank heavens that didn't happen. I liked Carrot too. But Yamato is the first one where I'm all in, this is 100% happening.

theackwardstation

@King:

I still think t's cute how Baratie tried to make a "WHO WILL JOIN?!" mystery by having Zeff and Patty as contenders, even though Sanji was the obvious forerunner from the start.

Do you think so? The first chapter of the arc was named "Sanji", and there was a BIG focus on his introduction compared to the other cooks. Don't think there was a mystery or an attempt of one.

And, at the time, I thought that Oda was writing a main cast of teenagers for his shonen manga. That's why it was surprising at first when Oda introduced Chopper (who's a teenager in a way too, but a reindeer) and then Robin, who opened the door for all the middle-aged men in the crew right now, lol.

Roosta

@Deicide:

The thing is, I’m feeling that companionship and acceptance will come from the samurai. Even the Kurozumi persecution fits as a setup, as the samurai and the people of Wano accepting the child of Kaido as their guardian could work as a way to show the people of Wano changed. It reminds me of Yamato expecting the samurai in the cave to kill him/her just because of lineage grudges.

The problem with this idea (for me) is that Yamato's lack of companionship feels like a side effect of the real problems. There hasn't been a hint of "I'm fighting for Wano even though they wouldn't accept me", and he made friends with Ace/Luffy/Momonosuke without any trouble. It's not that nobody wants to be Yamato's friend, it's that Kaido has kept Yamato away from humans who think Yamato is above them. Wano's hatred is for Orochi and the Kurozumi, not Kaido, so I don't see how that is supposed to translate into Wano prejudice against Yamato. The samurai in the cave accepted Yamato and died for him after hearing his commitment to fight for Wano, I can't see why the rest of Wano should be any different.

electricmastro

@Deicide:

The thing is, I’m feeling that companionship and acceptance will come from the samurai. Even the Kurozumi persecution fits as a setup, as the samurai and the people of Wano accepting the child of Kaido as their guardian could work as a way to show the people of Wano changed. It reminds me of Yamato expecting the samurai in the cave to kill him/her just because of lineage grudges.

Is there really a story-crucial basis for Yamato ending up needing companionship and acceptance from the samurai over the Straw Hats though? I'm reminded myself of when Franky could have stayed at Water 7 to show the citizens he had changed from his gang boss ways and had continued to help the citizens by building more sea trains for their flooding city. Chopper could have also stayed to show the Drum Island citizens he wasn't the reindeer monster they thought he was by making more medicine for them and such, but didn't really seem keen on disproving that to them in the end either.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@King:

I still think t's cute how Baratie tried to make a "WHO WILL JOIN?!" mystery by having Zeff and Patty as contenders, even though Sanji was the obvious forerunner from the start.

Yeah, I don't imagine that many were thinking of red herrings when Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji joined. I suppose more people started thinking of red herrings when Chopper was introduced, after Luffy asked Gaimon to join largely because he looked funny and weird to him.

Robby

I can't make any insight on the early crew members, since the anime pretty blatantly spoiled the first batch.
Chopper I knew was coming waaaay in advance and I was worried the mascot would ruin things.
Robin the anime famously spoiled like 20 episode before she actually joined.

At that point I found scanlations and caught up to the manga.

I liked Paulie more than Franky and preferred him till the end. I wasn't as versed in disecting and discussing the series at that point, but it was pretty clearly Franky by the end. I thought Franky was TOO crazy, even for the crew… but he toned down some after joining. Franky won me over pretty quickly in thriller bark with the ornate bridge and pillar chucks.

Brook he declared he was in week 1, I don't remember ever doubting it, even when he went missing for like a dozen chapters..

Jinbe, I was convinced by Brennen's argument very early on, it was pretty compelling even before he came on camera. I was an early strong proponent, but its been a decade, I don't remember how early anymore. Probably while still in ID.

The dozens of random women fans fixated on along the way (rarely male chaacters) I never saw potential in. No Caimie or SHhirahoshi or Aphelandra or Hancock or Perona or Shyarly or Bonney or Shirahoshi or Rebecca or whoever else.

Carrot I have just never seen what others see in her. It just isn't there. I won't be dissapointed if she joins, just genuinely surprised. I was starting, STARTING to be convinced by how passionate folks are after two years of debate at the very start of Wano when she got a wardrobe change with the crew. Like a week where I was going "well maybe?" then she fell off the face of the planet.

Tama is 8. There has never been a reason to seriously discuss the possibility until that is dealt with. Sorry Tama fans.

Yamato the history is easier to see the track record. I saw potential week 1 but Namiface turned me away. Was willing to vote by week 4, pretty convinced after the hair color 4 months in, and Ace flashback around chapter 1000... and while I was still waiting for devil fruit and proper flashback, had zero doubt after chapter 1016, where Oda posted a neon flashing sign.

@Coookie:

I don't know, it's easy to say that in hindsight.

No "hindsight" needed. Go back and plenty of us were there week 1 with Brook. (well, week 2 technically I guess is when we got the yohoho and musician part.) Oda put a neon flashing sign.

Maybe we didn'tlike him because he made a horrible first impression, but lots of us never had any doubt in the matter.

I do not understand how people did. I see reasons put out there and none of them felt very strong, even at the time. The narrative was just… super obvious about the fact he was the next character.

Robin aside, queen of exceptions that she is, Oda generally doesn't play sneaky when it comes to making the next crewmember.

Deicide

@Roosta:

The problem with this idea (for me) is that Yamato's lack of companionship feels like a side effect of the real problems. There hasn't been a hint of "I'm fighting for Wano even though they wouldn't accept me", and he made friends with Ace/Luffy/Momonosuke without any trouble. It's not that nobody wants to be Yamato's friend, it's that Kaido has kept Yamato away from humans who think Yamato is above them. Wano's hatred is for Orochi and the Kurozumi, not Kaido, so I don't see how that is supposed to translate into Wano prejudice against Yamato. The samurai in the cave accepted Yamato and died for him after hearing his commitment to fight for Wano, I can't see why the rest of Wano should be any different.

There's a lot of merit in your thoughts. The problem, as I see, is that Oda hasn't introduced a redeemable/good Kurozumi that could signal the end of the clan feud. Some people theorized Tama would be it, or maybe Kiku/Izou. But over 100 chapters into Wano and nothing came out in that sense so far. Without a Kurozumi to see things changed and redeem the clan (and the people of Wano) throught forgiveness, I see Yamato, as the son of Kaido, the next best thing in order to present a chance for the Wano people to learn forgiveness.

electricmastro

@Robby:

Carrot I have just never seen what others see in her. It just isn't there. I won't be dissapointed if she joins, just genuinely surprised. I was starting, STARTING to be convinced by how passionate folks are after two years of debate at the very start of Wano when she got a wardrobe change with the crew. Like a week where I was going "well maybe?" then she fell off the face of the planet.

Zou to me seemed like a promising start, but after Luffy didn’t defeat Jack or Perospero, two major sources of Carrot’s hardship, as well as her not saying and doing more things that can further drive herself through the story with a sense of specific purpose, and being crucial to Luffy’s story, and I’m honestly not keen on it either. It’s not that I don’t want her to join, but that I simply at present don’t have the motivation and interest to feel strongly inclined that she’ll join directly alongside Luffy’s journey to Laugh Tale, even after 200+ chapters since her introduction.

I say this, in the event Oda presents more interesting justification for Carrot to journey alongside Luffy as a crewmate, then I welcome all for it, because nobody certainly wants for there to be less interesting justification after all.

Zik

As for when to start the new next crewmate thread suggestions, I say do it the second this arc reaches the end of climax and basically starts the epilogue. By then we'll know who is joining, we'll have the party welcoming Jimbe and potentially whoever else, we'll get that info dump of what's in Oden's journal, the resolution of the CP0 part will be done, and the post Wano chapters will be filling us in on what's been going on with the rest of the world

@electricmastro:

And yet there were people doubting that Brook would join back then, whether thinking that "it's just one of Luffy's impulses" or whatever else:

https://i.ibb.co/PjW1Hff/Screen-Shot-2021-10-17-at-4-08-47-AM.png

On one hand, I'm not surprised. Some ppl just have terrible predictions or bad instincts for the way Oda tells the story.

On the other hand, that sample size seems like very early reactions to Brook. Like the very chapter he was introduced and asked to join. Just in those 4 posts, they don't Brook's a musician, think the story will keep him stuck in the Florian triangle (when the story did the opposite), guess he may have a bone-bone devil fruit, and compare him to the likes of Gan Fall and Kokoro.

Now I see similarities to that second part with Yamato even though Yamato has been around for over 50 chapters now but then I just go back to what I initially said. A lot of these ppl just don't have a great deal for this.

electricmastro

@Zik:

On one hand, I'm not surprised. Some ppl just have terrible predictions or bad instincts for the way Oda tells the story.

On the other hand, that sample size seems like very early reactions to Brook. Like the very chapter he was introduced and asked to join. Just in those 4 posts, they don't Brook's a musician, think the story will keep him stuck in the Florian triangle (when the story did the opposite), guess he may have a bone-bone devil fruit, and compare him to the likes of Gan Fall and Kokoro.

Now I see similarities to that second part with Yamato even though Yamato has been around for over 50 chapters now but then I just go back to what I initially said. A lot of these ppl just don't have a great deal for this.

That's the thing, even months after Brook's intro, in December 2007, posts like this popped up, as mentioned prior: http://forums.arlongpark.net/showthread.php?t=54818&page=504&p=4154018&viewfull=1#post4154018

BobLoblaw

@Zik:

On one hand, I'm not surprised. Some ppl just have terrible predictions or bad instincts for the way Oda tells the story.

The difference with Brook was that 1) Luffy had (years earlier) stated that he wanted a musician in his crew, so there was already foreshadowing and 2) Luffy asked him to join. Neither of those applies to either of the two most popular candidates. There are reasons outside of what a character says that should also be taken into consideration (such as Luffy asking random people to join). You can't always say "So and so said it, so it will happen."

Roosta

@Zik:

Some ppl just have terrible predictions or bad instincts for the way Oda tells the story.

Oda does so many things with so many different characters that you can almost always pull something from somewhere to make your desired result fit. That said, though, there are definitely certain thing Oda definitely always does and doesn't do.

Zik

@electricmastro:

That's the thing, even months after Brook's intro, in December 2007, posts like this popped up, as mentioned prior: http://forums.arlongpark.net/showthread.php?t=54818&page=504&p=4154018&viewfull=1#post4154018

Yeah, I saw your other post after that with ppl still denying it. That's when they creep in to the poor instincts category.

The Franky plays the guitar rebuttal just seems insane to me. Partly cuz I barely remember it especially more than it happening once and also the notion that Oda was teasing Luffy wanting a musician and was never going to fulfill that role. There's also the hindsight I can't push out my since Franky has rarely played the guitar since while Brook is a superstar music artist.

I also wanted to add that a majority of the fandom believe the next crewmate is the last crew mate to join (some still think Jimbe is actually the last one) so they're not going to agree with any character regardless if its obvious or not of them joining cuz they prefer some other already existing character or just the next new character.

electricmastro

@BobLoblaw:

Luffy asked him to join.

Speaking of which, there were also people saying that Jinbe wouldn't join in regards to Chapter 648, even though Luffy told him about wanting him to join in that very same chapter.

Roosta

@electricmastro:

Speaking of which, there were also people saying that Jinbe wouldn't join in regards to Chapter 648, even though Luffy told him about wanting him to join.

https://i.ibb.co/DQrL6yY/Screen-Shot-2021-10-17-at-11-26-14-PM.png

Oh man, I love this… and "protector of Shirahoshi" is one I didn't expect, but somehow doesn't surprise me given the recent discussions.

Zik

@BobLoblaw:

The difference with Brook was that 1) Luffy had (years earlier) stated that he wanted a musician in his crew, so there was already foreshadowing and 2) Luffy asked him to join. Neither of those applies to either of the two most popular candidates. There are reasons outside of what a character says that should also be taken into consideration (such as Luffy asking random people to join). You can't always say "So and so said it, so it will happen."

Even in that situation, as clearly shown there were still ppl doubting Brook would join and outright against it.

Which is why I said some ppl just aren't good at it.

The situation now is different but those ppl still exist.
@Roosta:

Oda does so many things with so many different characters that you can almost always pull something from somewhere to make your desired result fit. That said, though, there are definitely certain thing Oda definitely always does and doesn't do.

Yeah, that's why when I read ppl say Oda might do this or that and use another anime for example or that this is a thing in storytelling I just have to ask why he didn't do that dozens of other times he's set up those scenarios just for the character to do/get exactly what they desired/dreamed of.

The only characters I've seen Oda do it to are children in flashbacks.

electricmastro

@Roosta:

Oh man, I love this… and "protector of Shirahoshi" is one I didn't expect, but somehow doesn't surprise me given the recent discussions.

Yep, and that was after it was made apparent Shirahoshi was going through her character development of standing up for herself more after years of threats while trapped in a tower.

Zik

@electricmastro:

Speaking of which, there were also people saying that Jinbe wouldn't join in regards to Chapter 648, even though Luffy told him about wanting him to join in that very same chapter.

https://i.ibb.co/DQrL6yY/Screen-Shot-2021-10-17-at-11-26-14-PM.png

I'll say this much, ignoring the protect × character alternative showing up again (especially when you can argue it fits Shirahoshi more than Momo), if there's one thing I care less for than Jimbe as a character its the way Oda had him join.

If Oda applied the same process to Zoro, had him show up to be freed by Luffy, accompany him to the next arc against Buggy, leave for one arc cuz he had pirate hunting to do, show back up again (Baratie), leave again cuz he had obligations to his pirate Hunter's guild boss, just to show up at Loguetown or Whiskey peak saying he finally quit and is here to join well you couldn't any blame anybody for not being sold on the character.

Roosta

@electricmastro:

Yep, and that was after it was made apparent Shirahoshi was going through her character development of standing up for herself more after years of threats while trapped in a tower.

I've used FI being left without protection as an argument for Wano not needing Yamato specifically as a protector… but honestly, putting it in words like that just makes me feel like it was just irresponsible to leave one of the weapons so close to Marijoa and New Marineford with so little protection, lol.

Shiebs

I just feel like Yamato staying on the island and not going after his dream of sailing the seas and going on adventures is a huge slap to the face of the very core of what this franchise is about

It would be the equivalent of having the first avengers movie where the characters don’t become a team at the end and save the day

Or having a Star Trek movie that’s about exploring the unknown parts of space but instead they spend every season on an already discovered world and do no adventuring

You know what I mean, it’s spitting in the face of every ideal this series has created in it’s two decades of existence

Shift

New thread here: http://apforums.net/showthread.php?t=55639