@electricmastro said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):
@pokebat7 said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):
Fair, but they aren't seen as equal levels of admiration narrative wise.
I don't think that really matters. I think that what matters is that Yamato can have someone she can not only root on and encourage, but vice versa, with Momo having the potential to do something that inspires Yamato in some way or encourages her in some way to chase her dream that's somehow relevant to not only to Oden, but also Momo himself. I'm willing to believe that Luffy may be involved in opening the borders at some point, but with Yamato leading the charge on that, while Luffy leads the charge on his Pirate King dream.
I suppose I don't really see Yamato's dream as "Open Wano's borders" as she puts far more emphasis an being Oden. Even when saying she would open Wano's borders she does it because that's what Oden would have done. The reason we are given that she doesn't join the crew is that Oden started his journey by touring Wano.
Opening Wano's borders is a secondary goal to Yamato it is something she can do whenever, hell it's something she would only have to do after traveling across the sea as Oden only really tried open the borders after returning to Wano
Additionally Momo has been supported by Yamato, but we haven't really seen Yamato be supported by Momo in any significant way. If Yamato was to become supported by Momo we would have need a scene where Yamato could have felt indebted to Momo. That never happened, Wano is over and not once has Momo done anything to support Yamato.
@Deicide said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):
@Nobodyman said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):
And now that Wano is over, I have no what clue what Oda was or is thinking with all this.
My guess is that Oda needed something to address some plot threads: how Momo gets Oden’s journal, how Kaido came to wait Joyboy to cone for him, how the heroes could hold down Kaido while Luffy was away, and other stuff.
So Yamato was created to fill the needs. Over the creation process, Oda needed to make people to care for this late-coming and extremely convenient addition to the cast. And he decided a “possible nakama” scenario would make everyone invested.
As for the future, I think Yamato will get a cover story and a role in a later arc. But I don’t think he will be a true protagonist like the official crewmates.
I also think Oda was trying to use "Yamato's the next crewmate" to make people more invested in her. Given the world 100 popular poll results I'd say it worked, but he had never intended to make something of it.
If this was 10 years ago it would've been more understandable when every Hildon, Sentomaru, and Shakky was though to join, the value of the next crewmate was lower, but after a 10 year drought it the next crewmate is a more valuable position than Oda thought it would be.
This has brought a lot of discussion about Yamato, all of it about her joining and less of how her character has been portrayed. Leading to the events of last chapter, which don't go against how she has been characterized (a person who wants to be Oden) , but against the one thing people cared about her joining the crew.
@electricmastro said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):
I'd also agree that Wano's end set Wano up for it to be revisited instead of promoting finality, including how Yamato's story feels unfinished because Kaido's is unfinished, as well as because of Pluton and Joy Boy. Also given how Oden joined with Roger a year before finding One Piece, I'd suppose it may be set-up to parallel that by having Yamato join Luffy a year before doing so as well.
Although I disagree with how these events will play out, I agree that they will happen. Kaido's past can be cover with a Roger flashback, Yamato will have a cover story covering her travels in Wano and then going out to sea, Caribou is our Chekhov's Gun for the ancient weapon's being brought into the final war. Most of this can happen outside of Wano so I don't think we'll necessarily revisit it.