@Dranza:
Carrot is imitating the strawhats and is figuring out what it means to be like them, to be their nakama.
Imitating, yes. Which makes her look all the more redundant. In terms of finding out what it means to be like them, not really. She's just been a chummy buddy who gets in on their gags and action. She's not learning anything besides having cute reactions at wacky stuff. Pedro's actually the one who has some form of character arc going on in the plot. Carrot's just… there as comedic relief and support. And every other crewmate manages to be significantly relevant as soon as they appear, so the "they'll get a flashback/story focus later" doesn't fly with me.
She's got a vicious side to her as well which Chopper doesn't have,
She doesn't mind fighting. Big deal. So does most of the crew aside from the Weakling Trio. If we're talking about her rabid state when someone is eating carrots, that's just a gag that gets old pretty quick.
her electro is unique to her race,
Nami has lightning powers, and Chopper can probably learn Electro. It's likely only unique to the Minks because of their fur. Her race was described by Luffy as being a bunch of Choppers. So much for individuality.
her sense of adventure is something Luffy would admire,
Totally. But it's a really generic trait that hardly adds anything new. Even Vivi was a bit adventurous.
her gender will be very welcome as it's becoming a sausage-fest.
That doesn't mean we should have our standards set at just any female that slightly deviates from the norm. We shouldn't just welcome any female because they're not a guy. We should welcome a female who is just as quirky, diverse, and memorable as every other Straw Hat.
She has a lot going for her and it's a bit unfair for people to just set her aside because of personal bias. She's awesome.
Awesome as a supporting character. She barely has anything going for her in terms of main character depth merit. She's a nice side character, but that's it. Even Bartolomeo had more to offer, but he was never going to join because of being a fanboy character who praises the Straw Hats like gods rather than on an equal level. It's not about personal bias, it's about having standards. Just compare Jimbei and Carrot. You've got:
Diplomatic and selfless Japanese kimono/top knot/sandals-wearing oni-detailed water bending fat whale shark Fishman with former RPG boss status fighting for civil rights.
Plucky cute rabbit girl with a lightning attack that wants to see new places who wears a shirt and a hat.
Just her name being Carrot shows how much time Oda put into thinking up her character. She's not bad at all, just doesn't have anything that puts her above being an ally. Thinking she's Straw Hat material is like scavenging for the absolute bare minimum credentials, which she can't even fulfill with the lack of a unique backstory and dream.
Before this arc some people were saying Jinbei was bland and some are still saying it but are now having to reconsider because he's inevitably going to become a member or they're hoping he gets "killed off". Jinbei dying will add absolutely nothing to the story, nothing.
Of course.