Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)

[Deicide]

@danie I don't ignore any of that, but I do check which events the story is spending time on.

You can see in every interaction that Yamato like Luffy to the point of worship.

But the story has spent no time showing Luffy's friendship with Yamato. That relationship was almost entirely build up off-screen.

That's a clue that the story emphasized Yamato's bonding with Momo way more.

There's a trope in fiction called Law of Conservation of Detail. In essence, what the story actually spends time and effort to flesh out is usually what's important to its resolution. Details that are skipped are more often than not less important, thus that's why there's no need to develop them.

[danie]

It's wild to me that people are still even talking about Carrot. I know she's a cute/ strong bunny girl but her joining the crew would just be terrible.

[Shiebs]

@danie said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

It's wild to me that people are still even talking about Carrot. I know she's a cute/ strong bunny girl but her joining the crew would just be terrible.

I only believe it now due to the F*** You Oda just gave us with Yamato, hell I wouldn’t even be surprised if she became look out as dumb as that is

[electricmastro]

@pokebat7 said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@electricmastro
Yeah, Compared to Vivi the send offs to Momo, Tama, Kin'emon, Yamato, are for more tame but fitting for non-crewmates.

A lot of people read into Yamato having deep underlying insecurities, but outside of one Kaido line we haven't seen much come out of that idea. And I doubt it will be tackled now given that their were plenty of moments to do it during the raid.

The thing is is that I don't know how Yamato's view of being Oden could have been heavily challenged since they're villains she opposes anyway and doesn't necessarily care about their answers.

I get the feeling it would make more sense to be challenged by any of the Wano citizens that Yamato openly says she's Oden to, but reject her assuming she's capitalizing on Oden's accomplishments she didn't do, leaving Yamato in a crisis of why Oden's people aren't accepting her as Oden.

I'll put it like this: what would Yamato take pride in more, the words of Kaido's minions or the words of Oden's people?

[Kurloz]

Since Oda's early concept sketch of the crew showed only 10 members including Luffy that he clearly had some ideas for even if they ended up changing over time, but he's sort of pigeonholed himself into all of the readers expecting 11 (Luffy+10 nakama as stated at the beginning of the series), I wonder if Carrot and Yamato were pure experiments for him to try to find the right final piece. And he ended up getting tired with them/thinking they were the wrong fit. They do have a lot of superficial similarities both being genki brawler girls that are naive about the outside world and have cool furry transformations. If this is the case then I wonder if

A) He will make yet another attempt at this archetype in the next arc with minor adjustments
B) He will realize this type of character just isn't meshing and the next experiment will go in a totally different direction
C) He gives up and either has Jinbei be the final or brings back Vivi.

[pokebat7]

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

[Gizmo]

Yamato’s goodbye:

[Cockycent]

Carrot may possibly join the SH Pirates.

[electricmastro]

@pokebat7 said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

[Deicide]

@Kurloz Oda himself "confirmed" an 11th crewmate when Gatz said Blackbeard had 10 Titanic Captains, despite us only knowing 9 of them.

Then as recently as Road to Laugh Tale, it was reinforced that there's an unknown 11th Blackbeard Pirate around.

Oda could end all discussion by just having Luffy and crew celebrating "we are finally a whole crew" while toasting to Jinbe upon his return, before they reached Onigashima.

The point is: there has been a suspicion raised by Oda himself since Ch 1, when Luffy said he wanted 10 people, and then the count started with Zoro as the 1st person a few chapters later.

[BobLoblaw]

So, it looks like we finally have an official wrap on Yamato as a potential SH. After two years, it's good to finally be able to say, "Told you so." I'm one of the few people who was never convinced that Yamato was anything more than a red herring and I said as much.

I'll admit that Oda did a great job of building up the character with just enough to get people thinking it was a done deal only to come back and say, "Nah fam." Since I was never onboard with the prospect, I have to say that seeing people disappointed in something that I always thought wouldn't happen anyway sure is odd.

July 5th 2020:
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3947651

"Until last chapter there weren't really any NN candidates to speak of, but I guess now people will glom onto Yamato (though that character is still a red herring imo)."

July 26, 2020
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3952556

"Or it's a conscious decision to allow people to get drawn in by the red herring known as Yamato instead. She/He's this arc's Paulie."

I've been fighting this battle for over two years now. I've dealt all kinds of slander because whenever I pointed things out that didn't add up, I got attacked or blocked. Well, today was a good day.

So what did I factor into my analysis that most people either didn't or chose to ignore? Well, here are the top 5 reasons why I was never convinced at Oda's obvious troll attempt. Some of them were based on practicality, one was based on Japanese folklore, and others were based on established in-universe "rules" that have existed in the series for years.

Practical Reasons

1. Lack of Foreshadowing - One of the most glaring red flags that stood out to me first about Yamato as a character was that he seemingly came out of nowhere. Be honest. If I told you the chapter before he was mentioned that Kaido had a son, you would've laughed and said if he did, we would've heard about it sooner. We arrived at Wano in chapter 910. Yamato wasn't mentioned for the first time until 70 chapters into Wano.

After he was introduced, it felt like Oda went into overdrive trying to establish him as an important character. There's a phrase out there that goes, "You're doing too much." That's one of the reasons why I was immediately skeptical. This new character that came out of nowhere had a connection to Ace on Wano, was somehow tied to Kozuki Oden, was apparently "waiting" for Luffy, and asked to join him on his ship all within the first 2-3 chapters. All of that was way too convenient and I just knew that Oda was cooking up come red herring.

Aug 2, 2020
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3954085

"A Nami-face, a design built on established characters, no foreshadowing, overlapping "Ace will take me to sea" story with Tama, and now a nickname from Luffy. Not sure what people are seeing that I'm not."

2. Character Design - So after all of the extremely convenient setup that we got, once Yamato took his mask off, I was 110% sure that this was definitely a red herring. Was we got was a rather derivative design. I mean, the original design with the mask was interesting, but the second he took it off, we got "Nami-face," which was an immediate disqualifier. SHs all have unique faces and Yamato sharing a design so similar to Nami's was all I need. I immediately got Rebecca vibes. Besides the face, his design was a basic mix of Oden and Kaido, which was pretty uninspiring. Throw in the DF that looks remarkably like a sulong mink and it should've been even clear that this character wasn't planned for the long term as a SH.

Aug 2, 2020
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3954085

"A Nami-face, a design built on established characters, no foreshadowing, overlapping "Ace will take me to sea" story with Tama, and now a nickname from Luffy. Not sure what people are seeing that I'm not."

In-Universe Reasons

3. Lack of a role - Every character with the exception of Robin demostrated or had their skills referenced with respect to their ultimate role on the crew within the first 30 chapters of debuting. Yamato never did, which was yet another huge red flag. People resorted to making up stuff like cabin boy, brewer, logkeeper, apprentice and things like that. When you get to the point where you're guessing and speculating about a character's specific role, then you should stop to ask yourself why.

Jan 23, 2021
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3988515

"Everyone who joins the SHs technically still has a role on the ship. Something unique to them. I see people mentioning things like "Apprentice" or "Boatswain" or whatever for Yamato, but looking at the rest of the crew, their roles were either shown explicitly by them or referenced by someone else within their first 20 chapters of debuting. Robin is the only exception that I can find."

4. Strength - There are two wings of the PK and Yamato broke than dynamic. The SHs were never going to have anyone join that was demonstratably stronger than both Zoro and Sanji. Jinbe was consciously held back from joining until it was clear that both Zoro and Sanji were stronger than him in order to prevent that appearance.

For some reason, a lot of people still clung to the belief that Oda would break his own self-imposed rule just to accomodate a new character. I saw all kinds of rationalization about how Zoro cut Kaido, which somehow made him on par to people saying the SHs needed a strong character to take on Blackbread. The moment that Yamato was able to go toe to toe with Kaido in his strongest form and leave essentially unscathed, people should've known that him joining would disrupt a decades old power dynamic on the crew. This was another big red flag.

Jun 9, 2021
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/4010893

"Secondly, if he is to "sail with Luffy," then it really disrupts the power dynamic of the SHs. It would essentially make him the second strongest in the crew."

Folklore Reasons

5. Guardian Deity of Wano Country Devil Fruit - This was biggest in-universe red flag and tons of people just flat out ingnored it because it wasn't convenient to what they wanted. Oda gave Yamato a devil fruit that specifically tied him to Wano for a reason.

People still went on and on about how he would still leave, but why in the hell would the person who ate the Guardian Diety of Wano DF not want anything to do with Wano? Chaka and Pell have DFs that are also considered guardian diety DFs and we know how they turned out. We were also told that zoan DFs have a will of their own, which again points to Yamato's DF choosing him.

Beyond that, his DF wasn't created out of thin air. It was based on Japanese folklore. In this case, from the story of Yamato Takeru. Yamato Takeru was the son of an emperor. In ancient times, a white wolf (Ooguchi no Magami) appeared to him. Yamato commanded the white wolf to stay behind to protect the land.

Aug 1, 2021
https://ralphhaussler.weebly.com/wolf-mythologie-japan.html

"The wolf as god is above all worshipped under the name of Ooguchi no Magami, the "Large-Mouthed Pure God." Ancient historic accounts from Japan report this mythical story how the wolf deity, a white wolf, in times of need suddenly appeared to Yamato Takeru, son of Emperor Keikko. Takaru got lost on a road near Mitakesan when a local demon shapeshifted into a white deer and obstructed the road. The white wolf showed him the way and led his army on the right path and Takeru commanded the white wolf to stay in Mitakesan as a true god, in order to slay any local demons."

Aug 1, 2021
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/4020821

"As such, it would be really unusual to see the "Spirit Guardian" of a country ditching the country asap to go off and do their own thing."

So that's it. There was more obviously, but these five made my job much easier. I've been in countless back and forth conversations with people over the past two years trying to tell people why they should be skeptical, but more and more people chose to ignore every point that I brought up that went against the concept of Yamato joining. It's funny looking back now and seeing how many people actually took the bait...

@Kishido said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Yamato will join. Her role will be being the destroyer of fanfic M3 and wings… The dream a lot of people had since Robin will finally be archived

@Alfiere said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

I think this as a good time as any to (re)state that i (and i believe many others as well) don't think Yamato will join because he's a particularly likeable (i like him fine though) or in any way well handled charachter, but rather because if he doesn't anything about him till now would have been an enormous, meaningless waste of time.
After having him state hel'll join at every occasion, share meaningful moments with Luffy, being the only truly proactive actor on the alliance side in the entire raid, being on the cover of the 100th volume… how would any other outcome make sense or be even remotely satisfying?

@electricmastro said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Luffy is going to get even cooler with the new Commander Trio he'll receive after Wano.

@Dorob333Neko said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

See the thing about Yamato is that Oda designed and wrote a new main character to be a new main character.

If he was just a Wano character, he would have been designed with that in mind instead. But that's not what happened. Oda just made a new main character and is not the asshole you want him to be with red herrings. Because that would be a huge waste of our time and insulting.

This is truly like fighting that Chopper would not be joining after reading all of Drum Island but have yet to see him get on the boat.

The sadder thing is people will still be doubting Yamato after his cheers with the crew on the boat.

@Zhenja said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@Deicide:

So, you are dismissing what's being told us in the story because you don't like it.
Nice way to analyze anything.

Says the guy who ignores Yamato stating she wants to sail with Luffy on every possible occasion…

Great fucking analytic skills...

@Zik said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

LOL @ Yamato being like Vivi.

Have we gotten to the point where fan fiction is being used to support arguments now?

There's plain as day evidence in the manga of Yamamoto saying he wants to leave, saying he will leave, proclaiming he'll leave with Luffy. Where is there any implication he wants to stay in Wano? That any part of his dreams require him to be like Vivi when it was time for the strawhats to leave?

A lot of struggle for the Yamato wont join side.

In order to avoid getting duped like this in the future, my advice would be to remain objective and don't just listen to the words a character says. Look at everything and be more like me.

[QueenTangerine3*]

New here, but decided to throw my hat into the ring.

A little disappointed about Yamato not joining, but I 'll get over it. There's always hope they'll join later.

Don't want Carrot to join, Vivi and Karoo rejoining would be wonderful but I'm not necessarily holding out hopes for them so...

Team Bonney. Can't really explain as to why I want her to join but I want to see it happen. I think she'd be a good fit.

[pokebat7]

@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):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

Maybe, but considering that the Daimyo accepted her following in Oden's footsteps I don't think that the whole of Wano would any less different.

[electricmastro]

@BobLoblaw said in [Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)]

In order to avoid getting duped like this in the future, my advice would be to remain objective and don't just listen to the words a character says. Look at everything and be more like me.

I do attempt to look at everything actually. Using other things shouldn't always be used as an excuse to ignore what characters say and express though.

Actually, speaking of what Yamato said, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic over what she said.

[pokebat7]

@Deicide said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@Kurloz Oda himself "confirmed" an 11th crewmate when Gatz said Blackbeard had 10 Titanic Captains, despite us only knowing 9 of them.

Then as recently as Road to Laugh Tale, it was reinforced that there's an unknown 11th Blackbeard Pirate around.

Oda could end all discussion by just having Luffy and crew celebrating "we are finally a whole crew" while toasting to Jinbe upon his return, before they reached Onigashima.

The point is: there has been a suspicion raised by Oda himself since Ch 1, when Luffy said he wanted 10 people, and then the count started with Zoro as the 1st person a few chapters later.

To add on to that Shanks has 10 Guys too

• Benn Beckman
• Lucky Roux
• Yasopp
• Limejuice
• Bonk Punch
• Monster
• Building Snake
• Hongo
• Gab
• Rockstar

[Shiebs]

I doubt we’ll get a new member on Elbaf, unless a giants devil fruit allows him to shrink down

Although if Loki were to join, that could be interesting, I love unreliable mischievous characters, and anyone named Loki probably has that in spades

[electricmastro]

@pokebat7 said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@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):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

Maybe, but considering that the Daimyo accepted her following in Oden's footsteps I don't think that the whole of Wano would any less different.

Heh, why should I believe all the Wano citizens are the same as the Daimyo?

[Kurloz]

@Deicide Yeah I know he keeps reinforcing the 10 thing. I'm just wondering if he is genuinely struggling to settle on an idea for the last member. I can't rationalize a reason for Yamato's existence apart from something cynical like "trolling" or "merch sales" otherwise.

[electricmastro]

@Kurloz said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@Deicide Yeah I know he keeps reinforcing the 10 thing. I'm just wondering if he is genuinely struggling to settle on an idea for the last member. I can't rationalize a reason for Yamato's existence apart from something cynical like "trolling" or "merch sales" otherwise.

I'd say Yamato will be the one to ultimately take up the dream of opening Wano's borders, since it was thought Luffy would do it in the Wano arc, yet didn't. Momo is interested the same thing, so Momo may be the one Yamato shares the dream with, similar to Kuina and Zoro.

[danie]

@Shiebs Difference is: Their has always been reason to doubt Yamato would join.

As for Carrot; I have never once thought she would join(she's been too irrelevant), so I'll be shocked if she does.

[pokebat7]

@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):

@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):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

Maybe, but considering that the Daimyo accepted her following in Oden's footsteps I don't think that the whole of Wano would any less different.

Heh, why should I believe all the Wano citizens are the same as the Daimyo?

Fair enough, I just think that the general Wano populous won't hold opinions all that different from the Daimyo's but it has been 20 years maybe Oden's been more deified since then.

[electricmastro]

@pokebat7 said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@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):

@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):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

Maybe, but considering that the Daimyo accepted her following in Oden's footsteps I don't think that the whole of Wano would any less different.

Heh, why should I believe all the Wano citizens are the same as the Daimyo?

Fair enough, I just think that the general Wano populous won't hold opinions all that different from the Daimyo's but it has been 20 years maybe Oden's been more deified since then.

Well, I just imagine some stranger barging in proclaiming to be a hero that the citizens have understood to be long thought dead and doesn't even resemble him, and I can't help but feel there would be negative reactions coming from that, leaving Yamato to question why Oden's people don't accept her as Oden.

I suppose it would be like someone coming into an American town proclaiming to be an American soldier who fought on D-Day, or proclaiming to be an American firefighter who risked life and limb to rescue people trapped in the Twin Towers on 9/11, and give the bad impression of capitalizing on that soldier and firefighter's sacrifices and struggles they went through to help preserve America's safety.

[pokebat7]

@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):

@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):

@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):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

Maybe, but considering that the Daimyo accepted her following in Oden's footsteps I don't think that the whole of Wano would any less different.

Heh, why should I believe all the Wano citizens are the same as the Daimyo?

Fair enough, I just think that the general Wano populous won't hold opinions all that different from the Daimyo's but it has been 20 years maybe Oden's been more deified since then.

Well, I just imagine some stranger barging in proclaiming to have be a hero that the citizens have understood to be long thought dead and doesn't even resemble him, and I can't help but feel there would be negative reactions coming from that, leaving Yamato to questions why Oden's people don't accept her as Oden.

I suppose it would be like someone coming into an American town proclaiming to be a soldier who fought on D-Day, or proclaiming to be a firefighter who risked life and limb to rescue people trapped in the Twin Towers on 9/11, and give the bad impression of capitalizing on that soldier and firefighter's sacrifices and struggles they went through to preserve to help preserve America's safety.

It would be quite different than the Daimyo who at least had the context of a child's admiration towards Oden. Still given how friendly the common folk seem to be, and how brash and unafraid Yamato is. I can't quite see anything at the level of what you suggest.

[electricmastro]

@pokebat7 said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@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):

@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):

@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):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

Maybe, but considering that the Daimyo accepted her following in Oden's footsteps I don't think that the whole of Wano would any less different.

Heh, why should I believe all the Wano citizens are the same as the Daimyo?

Fair enough, I just think that the general Wano populous won't hold opinions all that different from the Daimyo's but it has been 20 years maybe Oden's been more deified since then.

Well, I just imagine some stranger barging in proclaiming to have be a hero that the citizens have understood to be long thought dead and doesn't even resemble him, and I can't help but feel there would be negative reactions coming from that, leaving Yamato to questions why Oden's people don't accept her as Oden.

I suppose it would be like someone coming into an American town proclaiming to be a soldier who fought on D-Day, or proclaiming to be a firefighter who risked life and limb to rescue people trapped in the Twin Towers on 9/11, and give the bad impression of capitalizing on that soldier and firefighter's sacrifices and struggles they went through to preserve to help preserve America's safety.

It would be quite different than the Daimyo who at least had the context of a child's admiration towards Oden. Still given how friendly the common folk seem to be, and how brash and unafraid Yamato is. I can't quite see anything at the level of what you suggest.

It will be up to Oda for us to see whenever he wants to explore beyond Yamato's brash and unafraid attitude then in the event he gets to that then. Oda has explored beyond the surface before, like revealing Senor Pink to have dramatic tragedy after exploring the surface of his baby costume for example. So if Yamato's impersonation is just seen as a gag now, then I'd say it's possible for there to be drama beyond that gag too.

[Galleon Panthera]

@BobLoblaw said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

So, it looks like we finally have an official wrap on Yamato as a potential SH. After two years, it's good to finally be able to say, "Told you so." I'm one of the few people who was never convinced that Yamato was anything more than a red herring and I said as much.

I'll admit that Oda did a great job of building up the character with just enough to get people thinking it was a done deal only to come back and say, "Nah fam." Since I was never onboard with the prospect, I have to say that seeing people disappointed in something that I always thought wouldn't happen anyway sure is odd.

July 5th 2020:
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3947651

"Until last chapter there weren't really any NN candidates to speak of, but I guess now people will glom onto Yamato (though that character is still a red herring imo)."

July 26, 2020
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3952556

"Or it's a conscious decision to allow people to get drawn in by the red herring known as Yamato instead. She/He's this arc's Paulie."

I've been fighting this battle for over two years now. I've dealt all kinds of slander because whenever I pointed things out that didn't add up, I got attacked or blocked. Well, today was a good day.

So what did I factor into my analysis that most people either didn't or chose to ignore? Well, here are the top 5 reasons why I was never convinced at Oda's obvious troll attempt. Some of them were based on practicality, one was based on Japanese folklore, and others were based on established in-universe "rules" that have existed in the series for years.

Practical Reasons

1. Lack of Foreshadowing - One of the most glaring red flags that stood out to me first about Yamato as a character was that he seemingly came out of nowhere. Be honest. If I told you the chapter before he was mentioned that Kaido had a son, you would've laughed and said if he did, we would've heard about it sooner. We arrived at Wano in chapter 910. Yamato wasn't mentioned for the first time until 70 chapters into Wano.

After he was introduced, it felt like Oda went into overdrive trying to establish him as an important character. There's a phrase out there that goes, "You're doing too much." That's one of the reasons why I was immediately skeptical. This new character that came out of nowhere had a connection to Ace on Wano, was somehow tied to Kozuki Oden, was apparently "waiting" for Luffy, and asked to join him on his ship all within the first 2-3 chapters. All of that was way too convenient and I just knew that Oda was cooking up come red herring.

Aug 2, 2020
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3954085

"A Nami-face, a design built on established characters, no foreshadowing, overlapping "Ace will take me to sea" story with Tama, and now a nickname from Luffy. Not sure what people are seeing that I'm not."

2. Character Design - So after all of the extremely convenient setup that we got, once Yamato took his mask off, I was 110% sure that this was definitely a red herring. Was we got was a rather derivative design. I mean, the original design with the mask was interesting, but the second he took it off, we got "Nami-face," which was an immediate disqualifier. SHs all have unique faces and Yamato sharing a design so similar to Nami's was all I need. I immediately got Rebecca vibes. Besides the face, his design was a basic mix of Oden and Kaido, which was pretty uninspiring. Throw in the DF that looks remarkably like a sulong mink and it should've been even clear that this character wasn't planned for the long term as a SH.

Aug 2, 2020
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3954085

"A Nami-face, a design built on established characters, no foreshadowing, overlapping "Ace will take me to sea" story with Tama, and now a nickname from Luffy. Not sure what people are seeing that I'm not."

In-Universe Reasons

3. Lack of a role - Every character with the exception of Robin demostrated or had their skills referenced with respect to their ultimate role on the crew within the first 30 chapters of debuting. Yamato never did, which was yet another huge red flag. People resorted to making up stuff like cabin boy, brewer, logkeeper, apprentice and things like that. When you get to the point where you're guessing and speculating about a character's specific role, then you should stop to ask yourself why.

Jan 23, 2021
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/3988515

"Everyone who joins the SHs technically still has a role on the ship. Something unique to them. I see people mentioning things like "Apprentice" or "Boatswain" or whatever for Yamato, but looking at the rest of the crew, their roles were either shown explicitly by them or referenced by someone else within their first 20 chapters of debuting. Robin is the only exception that I can find."

4. Strength - There are two wings of the PK and Yamato broke than dynamic. The SHs were never going to have anyone join that was demonstratably stronger than both Zoro and Sanji. Jinbe was consciously held back from joining until it was clear that both Zoro and Sanji were stronger than him in order to prevent that appearance.

For some reason, a lot of people still clung to the belief that Oda would break his own self-imposed rule just to accomodate a new character. I saw all kinds of rationalization about how Zoro cut Kaido, which somehow made him on par to people saying the SHs needed a strong character to take on Blackbread. The moment that Yamato was able to go toe to toe with Kaido in his strongest form and leave essentially unscathed, people should've known that him joining would disrupt a decades old power dynamic on the crew. This was another big red flag.

Jun 9, 2021
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/4010893

"Secondly, if he is to "sail with Luffy," then it really disrupts the power dynamic of the SHs. It would essentially make him the second strongest in the crew."

Folklore Reasons

5. Guardian Deity of Wano Country Devil Fruit - This was biggest in-universe red flag and tons of people just flat out ingnored it because it wasn't convenient to what they wanted. Oda gave Yamato a devil fruit that specifically tied him to Wano for a reason.

People still went on and on about how he would still leave, but why in the hell would the person who ate the Guardian Diety of Wano DF not want anything to do with Wano? Chaka and Pell have DFs that are also considered guardian diety DFs and we know how they turned out. We were also told that zoan DFs have a will of their own, which again points to Yamato's DF choosing him.

Beyond that, his DF wasn't created out of thin air. It was based on Japanese folklore. In this case, from the story of Yamato Takeru. Yamato Takeru was the son of an emperor. In ancient times, a white wolf (Ooguchi no Magami) appeared to him. Yamato commanded the white wolf to stay behind to protect the land.

Aug 1, 2021
https://ralphhaussler.weebly.com/wolf-mythologie-japan.html

"The wolf as god is above all worshipped under the name of Ooguchi no Magami, the "Large-Mouthed Pure God." Ancient historic accounts from Japan report this mythical story how the wolf deity, a white wolf, in times of need suddenly appeared to Yamato Takeru, son of Emperor Keikko. Takaru got lost on a road near Mitakesan when a local demon shapeshifted into a white deer and obstructed the road. The white wolf showed him the way and led his army on the right path and Takeru commanded the white wolf to stay in Mitakesan as a true god, in order to slay any local demons."

Aug 1, 2021
https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/4020821

"As such, it would be really unusual to see the "Spirit Guardian" of a country ditching the country asap to go off and do their own thing."

So that's it. There was more obviously, but these five made my job much easier. I've been in countless back and forth conversations with people over the past two years trying to tell people why they should be skeptical, but more and more people chose to ignore every point that I brought up that went against the concept of Yamato joining. It's funny looking back now and seeing how many people actually took the bait...

@Kishido said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Yamato will join. Her role will be being the destroyer of fanfic M3 and wings… The dream a lot of people had since Robin will finally be archived

@Alfiere said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

I think this as a good time as any to (re)state that i (and i believe many others as well) don't think Yamato will join because he's a particularly likeable (i like him fine though) or in any way well handled charachter, but rather because if he doesn't anything about him till now would have been an enormous, meaningless waste of time.
After having him state hel'll join at every occasion, share meaningful moments with Luffy, being the only truly proactive actor on the alliance side in the entire raid, being on the cover of the 100th volume… how would any other outcome make sense or be even remotely satisfying?

@electricmastro said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Luffy is going to get even cooler with the new Commander Trio he'll receive after Wano.

@Dorob333Neko said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

See the thing about Yamato is that Oda designed and wrote a new main character to be a new main character.

If he was just a Wano character, he would have been designed with that in mind instead. But that's not what happened. Oda just made a new main character and is not the asshole you want him to be with red herrings. Because that would be a huge waste of our time and insulting.

This is truly like fighting that Chopper would not be joining after reading all of Drum Island but have yet to see him get on the boat.

The sadder thing is people will still be doubting Yamato after his cheers with the crew on the boat.

@Zhenja said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@Deicide:

So, you are dismissing what's being told us in the story because you don't like it.
Nice way to analyze anything.

Says the guy who ignores Yamato stating she wants to sail with Luffy on every possible occasion…

Great fucking analytic skills...

@Zik said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

LOL @ Yamato being like Vivi.

Have we gotten to the point where fan fiction is being used to support arguments now?

There's plain as day evidence in the manga of Yamamoto saying he wants to leave, saying he will leave, proclaiming he'll leave with Luffy. Where is there any implication he wants to stay in Wano? That any part of his dreams require him to be like Vivi when it was time for the strawhats to leave?

A lot of struggle for the Yamato wont join side.

In order to avoid getting duped like this in the future, my advice would be to remain objective and don't just listen to the words a character says. Look at everything and be more like me.

Really awesome to know you spend two years struggling against the idea of Yamato joining and ending up winning the argument. That takes a lot of gusto to maintain. I'm not sure I could have done the same.

That said, let me add one more reasons for Yamato not having ended up joining Luffy's crew. When this special fact got confirmed, I had my doubts of Yamato joining, but i didn't completely write the character off yet.

I'm talking about the power of Conqueror's Haki. I'm going to say this now...no Yonko crew, old or new, has more than two Conqueror's Haki users. Having Conqueror's Haki means that character is downright powerful, if not the most powerful among their respective crew, depending who they are.

For the Yonkos, prior to Blackbeard, three of the four original Yonko each have/had exactly TWO Conqueror's Haki users, not more, not less:

Whitebeard Pirates:

• Whitebeard/Edward Newgate
• Portgas D. Ace

Big Mom Pirates:

• Big Mom/Charlotte Linlin
• Charlotte Katakuri

Beast/Animal Kingdom Pirates:

• Kaido
• Yamato (Yamato was Kaido's child, so yeah)

While not classed as a Yonko crew themselves, even the Roger Pirates only limited themselves to having two Conqueror's Haki users, that being Roger and Rayleigh. Now we can argue that the Roger Pirates are the exception, and maybe they are, given Shanks has Conqueror's, and was part of Roger's said crew, although we never saw him use CH as a kid, but as a adult, awakened that power and formed the Red Haired Pirates later on.

That said, coming to the Red Haired Pirates in question, besides knowing Shanks has Conqueror's Haki, I will take a guess and say Ben Beckmann will have it too, given he's said to be equal to Shanks in strength, if not renown. If so, this once again would match that the strongest crews have only two CH users, and not more than that, with one CH user being the absolute bare minimum.

Then we get Luffy's crew, newly ascended to the Yonko rank. Guess what, Luffy himself, as well Zoro have Conqueror's Haki, no one else, once again matching the other 2 person setups of the other Yonko crews. On this point, given we know Yamato has Conqueror's too due to Kaido's lineage, this would have made Luffy's crew extremely powerful, if not maybe unbalanced, had Yamato indeed joined said crew.

Couple this with the fact that Luffy's DF is also Mythical Zoan, the same type that Yamato has, just hammers this point more, because I believe no high level crew will ever have more than one Mythical Zoan on their team, mainly given how this type of fruit is the rarest type in the verse.

Now, the only wildcards in this, is of course Buggy's crew, as well Blackbeard Pirates for the latter was never shown to have Conqueror power. Given they are a Yonko level crew however, I expect some of them, if not Teach himself to have Conqueror's too.

[pokebat7]

@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):

@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):

@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):

@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):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

Maybe, but considering that the Daimyo accepted her following in Oden's footsteps I don't think that the whole of Wano would any less different.

Heh, why should I believe all the Wano citizens are the same as the Daimyo?

Fair enough, I just think that the general Wano populous won't hold opinions all that different from the Daimyo's but it has been 20 years maybe Oden's been more deified since then.

Well, I just imagine some stranger barging in proclaiming to have be a hero that the citizens have understood to be long thought dead and doesn't even resemble him, and I can't help but feel there would be negative reactions coming from that, leaving Yamato to questions why Oden's people don't accept her as Oden.

I suppose it would be like someone coming into an American town proclaiming to be a soldier who fought on D-Day, or proclaiming to be a firefighter who risked life and limb to rescue people trapped in the Twin Towers on 9/11, and give the bad impression of capitalizing on that soldier and firefighter's sacrifices and struggles they went through to preserve to help preserve America's safety.

It would be quite different than the Daimyo who at least had the context of a child's admiration towards Oden. Still given how friendly the common folk seem to be, and how brash and unafraid Yamato is. I can't quite see anything at the level of what you suggest.

It will be up to Oda for us to see whenever he wants to explore beyond Yamato's brash and unafraid attitude then in the event he gets to that then. Oda has explored beyond the surface before, like revealing Senor Pink to have dramatic tragedy after exploring the surface of his baby costume for example. So if Yamato's impersonation is just seen as a gag now, then I'd say it's possible for there to be drama beyond that gag too.

I agree giving Yamato that amount of depth would do wonders for her character. But, we know why Yamato wants to live like Oden, she was inspired by his death, and that idea was then reinforced by reading his diary with the Daimyo.
This Chapter did give us Yamato acknowledging that she knew little of the world which could lead her to develop beyond the Oden persona. However, she was never given a panel to reflect on herself she has always moved forward.

[SeaOfHope]

After 2 years of debating, it's really nice to just say "I told you so."

Granted, the reason for why Yamato decided to stay behind is completely inane and dissolves her off any chance of developing as a character, but the simple notion that she was a red herring all along and that I and many others were right in being skeptical makes this kinda worth it.

[electricmastro]

@pokebat7 said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@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):

@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):

@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):

@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):

@electricmastro
Neither, even if all of Wano said she wasn't Oden, Yamato would still beilieve and strive to be Oden as it is more a goal she aspires to be rather than something that can be determined by other.

I suppose we'll have to see in the event Oda tackles this then:

that if Yamato will still try to be Oden no matter what Oden's people say or how they resent her for the impersonation, or if she does actually care, and that she possibly feels bad after realizing she made herself appear she's capitalizing on Oden's sacrifice.

Maybe, but considering that the Daimyo accepted her following in Oden's footsteps I don't think that the whole of Wano would any less different.

Heh, why should I believe all the Wano citizens are the same as the Daimyo?

Fair enough, I just think that the general Wano populous won't hold opinions all that different from the Daimyo's but it has been 20 years maybe Oden's been more deified since then.

Well, I just imagine some stranger barging in proclaiming to have be a hero that the citizens have understood to be long thought dead and doesn't even resemble him, and I can't help but feel there would be negative reactions coming from that, leaving Yamato to questions why Oden's people don't accept her as Oden.

I suppose it would be like someone coming into an American town proclaiming to be a soldier who fought on D-Day, or proclaiming to be a firefighter who risked life and limb to rescue people trapped in the Twin Towers on 9/11, and give the bad impression of capitalizing on that soldier and firefighter's sacrifices and struggles they went through to preserve to help preserve America's safety.

It would be quite different than the Daimyo who at least had the context of a child's admiration towards Oden. Still given how friendly the common folk seem to be, and how brash and unafraid Yamato is. I can't quite see anything at the level of what you suggest.

It will be up to Oda for us to see whenever he wants to explore beyond Yamato's brash and unafraid attitude then in the event he gets to that then. Oda has explored beyond the surface before, like revealing Senor Pink to have dramatic tragedy after exploring the surface of his baby costume for example. So if Yamato's impersonation is just seen as a gag now, then I'd say it's possible for there to be drama beyond that gag too.

I agree giving Yamato that amount of depth would do wonders for her character. But, we know why Yamato wants to live like Oden, she was inspired by his death, and that idea was then reinforced by reading his diary with the Daimyo.
This Chapter did give us Yamato acknowledging that she knew little of the world which could lead her to develop beyond the Oden persona. However, she was never given a panel to reflect on herself she has always moved forward.

That's what I think Wano may end up doing depending on what Yamato cares about and really takes pride in, that if the Oden persona is the only thing she cares about or if she's caring about something to gain with it other than freedom, giving her more cause to reflect on her decisions and actions.

[theackwardstation]

About Yamato's reasons presented in this chapter, I think most people are missing out that Yamato didn't choose to stay in Wano only to travel around the country first... at least that's not what the dialogue with Kinnemon seems to point out (IMO). If we look at the timeline of Yamato's decision-making process, he made up his mind about travelling the land of Wano last chapter (1056), AFTER his talk with Luffy when he communicated his decision to stay to the crew, which is made very clear by the chapter since Kinnemon even highlights this detail. So it seems like there's something else omitted to the readers. How important it is, I don't know.

My theory is that Yamato is waiting to "open the borders of Wano", as was Oden's final wish. And, btw, the name Yamato is also a reference to a japanese battleship, and we know that opening Wano is releasing Pluton, a battleship, so...

[electricmastro]

@Galleon-Panthera said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Really awesome to know you spend two years struggling against the idea of Yamato joining and ending up winning the argument. That takes a lot of gusto to maintain. I'm not sure I could have done the same.

Not that I think anything of value was really won here, but I'm curious. How many people were struggling against the idea of Jinbe joining after the repeatedly left Luffy to go and do other things anyway?

[Galleon Panthera]

@electricmastro said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@Galleon-Panthera said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Really awesome to know you spend two years struggling against the idea of Yamato joining and ending up winning the argument. That takes a lot of gusto to maintain. I'm not sure I could have done the same.

Not that I think anything of value was really won here, but I'm curious. How many people were struggling against the idea of Jinbe joining after the repeatedly left Luffy to go and do other things anyway?

I have no idea on that, given I wasn't a member of this forum, and back then I wasn't also much into One Piece besides finding it a fun show to watch. No I didn't read the manga until much later, having started the show first.

[electricmastro]

@Galleon-Panthera said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@electricmastro said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@Galleon-Panthera said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Really awesome to know you spend two years struggling against the idea of Yamato joining and ending up winning the argument. That takes a lot of gusto to maintain. I'm not sure I could have done the same.

Not that I think anything of value was really won here, but I'm curious. How many people were struggling against the idea of Jinbe joining after the repeatedly left Luffy to go and do other things anyway?

I have no idea on that, given I wasn't a member of this forum, and back then I wasn't also much into One Piece besides finding it a fun show to watch. No I didn't read the manga until much later, having started the show first.

Well, in any case, for me I was interested in the idea of Yamato joining, but never assumed Yamato presently had everything she needed to be a Straw Hat before Chapter 1057, with me always nothing that she wasn't really being herself and lacked greater purpose to the extent of having a shared dream with someone that was close to her, since just sailing to see the world is uninteresting if you ask me. Even other people felt the Wano was rushed, and I figured Oda would have time to explore more of those things before Wano arc ended, but it seems he has chosen to have some things on pause for now while other things develop.

So yeah, even keeping in mind of how Chapter 1057 turned out, I respectfully keep in the back of my mind Yamato being one of several developments that could have been tackled in Wano now, but aren't, and am willing to believe they will be touched on more for as much attention Oda gave to them prior. I don't say this as if to win some contest or anything, but simply as an interested enthusiast of this series.

[pokebat7]

@electricmastro said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

@Galleon-Panthera said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Really awesome to know you spend two years struggling against the idea of Yamato joining and ending up winning the argument. That takes a lot of gusto to maintain. I'm not sure I could have done the same.

Not that I think anything of value was really won here, but I'm curious. How many people were struggling against the idea of Jinbe joining after the repeatedly left Luffy to go and do other things anyway?

A fair amount of people thought Jinbe wouldn't join. But to be fair discussion of him joining happened before his formal introduction to the series.

[Galleon Panthera]

Looking back at this scene...I always thought that this action impressed Luffy so much that it would be amazing if he had added a Mink to the crew right then and there, given their powerful loyality to their friends. Having someone like that on your crew is just downright amazing. Little did we know that two minks would be helping out the Straw Hats for the upcoming WCI arc back then...that being Carrot and Pedro.

Now maybe we can have that desire come through with Carrot joining...that is if it happens in next chapter.

[electricmastro]

@Galleon-Panthera said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Looking back at this scene...I always thought that this action impressed Luffy so much that it would be amazing if he had added a Mink to the crew right then and there, given their powerful loyality to their friends. Having someone like that on your crew is just downright amazing. Little did we know that two minks would be helping out the Straw Hats for the upcoming WCI arc back then...that being Carrot and Pedro.

Now maybe we can have that desire come through with Carrot joining...that is if it happens in next chapter.

If Carrot is there, I'd anticipate her taking up a shared dream with Pedro of somehow carrying out the Dawn and dedicating that to herself and Pedro, in addition to also taking pride in being a productive and interesting member of the crew like the rest. Def something that's not "just sailing to see the world," since it's honestly not that interesting of a dream. lol

[Deicide]

@Kurloz I think that the 11th has been defined for a long time and Oda is just throwing almost-candidates to keep people engaged and speculating. Arcs without new crewmates would end up “empty” so Oda introduces characters like Wiper, Rebecca or Kyros. However, I don’t know why introduce someone like Yamato in a bloated arc like Wano.

[Shiebs]

I still think if Carrot, Vivi or an unknown character doesn’t join, Kuma could join, he definitely needs saving and since he now has hundreds of look alikes maybe it’s possible he’ll get a new body, I mean it would be kind of weird for such a powerful character to look exactly like a character all the cast can one shot, like if they had Kyle REN wear a storm trooper outfit instead of the suit he does wear

And again the straw hats owe him big time and I have no doubt they’ll try to repay that debt

Only problem is if his paw paw fruit isn’t nerfed, especially the whole take away someone’s pain and fatigue

Again though Vegapunk would be a cool member too, a mad scientist would be fun

[SeaOfHope]

@Deicide Oda has been pretty good with improvising random characters and integrating them into the story. That's how we got characters like Vivi and Law (byproduct of the 11 Supernovas). Yamato was introduced way too late and that by itself made her strange as a character and awkwardly stand out. Hence why Oda had her giving us an exposition of her backstory a few chapters after meeting her.

I guess naratively he needed someone who could help properly guide Momonosuke to action and someone who would know his devil fruit well. Even her concept notes prioritized her relationship with him. I guess he wanted to rile the fanbase with the prospect with another character joining.

[electricmastro]

@Shiebs said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

I still think if Carrot, Vivi or an unknown character doesn’t join, Kuma could join, he definitely needs saving and since he now has hundreds of look alikes maybe it’s possible he’ll get a new body, I mean it would be kind of weird for such a powerful character to look exactly like a character all the cast can one shot, like if they had Kyle REN wear a storm trooper outfit instead of the suit he does wear

And again the straw hats owe him big time and I have no doubt they’ll try to repay that debt

Only problem is if his paw paw fruit isn’t nerfed, especially the whole take away someone’s pain and fatigue

Again though Vegapunk would be a cool member too, a mad scientist would be fun

Franky is basically the mad scientist. lol

[Kfunk]

Hopefully the whole Yamato thing will be a hard-learned lesson for some users, no more gaslighting. I never felt that Yamato was written like a straw hat but it was a waste of time trying to discuss it here

[electricmastro]

@Kfunk said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Hopefully the whole Yamato thing will be a hard-learned lesson for some users, no more gaslighting. I never felt that Yamato was written like a straw hat but it was a waste of time trying to discuss it here

Nah, I don't feel like I've wasted my time. Discussing Yamato got me thinking more about purpose, and motivation, and details, and how things could change depending on what may have come before. I think that's valuable use of time, as far as manga forums go anyway. I had fun doing it too, so I think I'm fine.

[rayleigh92]

As both Momo and Kin made a jong journey on the Sunny (even longer than Vivi's on the Merry) and by Luffy calling both of them nakamas, even inviting 'em to join his crew whenever they want, do you think they could just be acknowledge as Vivi's "special crewmate" status?

(The same should go for Yamato as he's been in the very same panels and got the very same treatment, but haven't ever took the sea with them it could sound a bit odd)

[Deicide]

@rayleigh92
I think Vivi is on her own level still.

From a meta (non-story) perspective, while Kin’emon and Momo were always treated as companions, while Vivi was treated as a crewmate, even appearing in color spreads.

Also, while Kin and Momo were just a few of the tagalongs during their time on the crew, sharing panel time with Law and even Kanjurou for a time, Vivi had all the attention on her.

[rayleigh92]

@Deicide Kin'emon and Momo (and Law) actually appeared on at least two color spread, but I get your point.

From an in-story perspective, their journey on the Sunny has lasted three months (while Vivi should amount to less than one) but their presence has been distracted by 1. Law, 2. Dressrosa's splitting, 3. WCI's splitting.

I just feel like them being called nakama is also a reward for the readers who had to follow their path for so much time.

[electricmastro]

@rayleigh92 said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

As both Momo and Kin made a jong journey on the Sunny (even longer than Vivi's on the Merry) and by Luffy calling both of them nakamas, even inviting 'em to join his crew whenever they want, do you think they could just be acknowledge as Vivi's "special crewmate" status?

(The same should go for Yamato as he's been in the very same panels and got the very same treatment, but haven't ever took the sea with them it could sound a bit odd)

I get the feeling Momo and Kinemon won't change their minds about leaving unless it's absolutely necessary.

[Cockycent]

There was turbulence along the way, but he came into Wano a SH and leaves Wano a SH. He lost his mother and she abandoned him before it happened. He has a new family now. I look forward to his bickering with Sanji, fights alongside Nami, and his future growth as a character.

[Hakase]

@Kfunk said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):

Hopefully the whole Yamato thing will be a hard-learned lesson for some users, no more gaslighting. I never felt that Yamato was written like a straw hat but it was a waste of time trying to discuss it here

We're already being gaslit into the arguments people have brought to this thread being good cause the result turned out true.
It's just going to be a circle that's going to go on until we see what Oda intends to do with the character.
He for sure didn't make a clean cut on the character despite having the chance to do so by offscreening the actual reason for the last minute change of heart.

[GreatLiver]

And here I thought this thread would finally be able to experience the sweet release of death. So be it.

[zeltrax225]

Vivi is 100% the politician role in the crew and I'm all for her coming back. Kinemon and Momo have never reached her level of importance in the story whereas Vivi shared moments and have a bond with each of the original East Blue and Chopper. You can't say that for Law, Kinemon and Momo and even Yamato. That's why she is THE honorary straw hat.

[Cockycent]

The whole Kuma bit is weird. Is he still there mentally? Did Sabo rescue an empty vessel? I don't remember any follow up to whatever deal Kuma and VP made. Just seen Kuma being used as a horse. This is messed up.

If anything, Kuma not only protected the ship, his decision to send the crew around the world was so clutch. This guy has been part of so many intense impactful moments. I am not worthy.