I'd honestly be surprised if Yamato doesn't join the crew.

As for Carrot, I'm not sure - the scene with her in 1056 seemed like it was meant to wrap up her storyline until the Minks and everyone else returned for the final war, but if that's what it was meant to do, it seemed like a really awkward/rushed way to do it, with Carrot being forced into a role that she has no desire to fill and no confidence in her ability to do the job in question without having any say in the matter, and her only qualifications being "well, you left Zou for a week, so I guess that's good enough."

I don't know if it was hastily included as a way to acknowledge Carrot's popularity, but if that's the case, then you would think that she would have been convinced by the end of it, and she still looked unsure. (and the "your heart carries Pedro's will" claim seems weird in this context, since Pedro's will had nothing to do with leading Zou)

Either way, hopefully this will be made clear in the next few chapters. I'm guessing that Kinemon and Momo will get their big dramatic goodbyes next chapter, and the Straw Hats will be out at sea in 1058 - if either of them are joining, whether they got on at the end of Wano or have stowed away, it seems like it would be revealed there, though maybe we'll get reactions and news from around the world before we go back to following the Straw Hats out at sea.

I'd honestly be surprised if Yamato doesn't join the crew.

As for Carrot, I'm not sure - the scene with her in 1056 seemed like it was meant to wrap up her storyline until the Minks and everyone else returned for the final war, but if that's what it was meant to do, it seemed like a really awkward/rushed way to do it, with Carrot being forced into a role that she has no desire to fill and no confidence in her ability to do the job in question without having any say in the matter, and her only qualifications being "well, you left Zou for a week, so I guess that's good enough."

I don't know if it was hastily included as a way to acknowledge Carrot's popularity, but if that's the case, then you would think that she would have been convinced by the end of it, and she still looked unsure. (and the "your heart carries Pedro's will" claim seems weird in this context, since Pedro's will had nothing to do with leading Zou)

Either way, hopefully this will be made clear in the next few chapters. I'm guessing that Kinemon and Momo will get their big dramatic goodbyes next chapter, and the Straw Hats will be out at sea in 1058 - if either of them are joining, whether they got on at the end of Wano or have stowed away, it seems like it would be revealed there, though maybe we'll get reactions and news from around the world before we go back to following the Straw Hats out at sea.

@electricmastro:

Also, I originally wasn’t going to say this, but after realizing how long I’ve been seeing it, I have to mention that it’s getting a little ridiculous how often Carrot is getting brought up to counter just about any point with Yamato, as if Carrot is at war with Yamato. lol

I think it's because we're in an unusual case where there's two popular choices for the next crewmate who aren't competing for the same role like Franky and Paulie were, and the reasons why people view each character as being likely happen to be reasons why the other seems unlikely.

Carrot:

• strong bond with the crew, or at least the Whole Cake Island team (especially Nami, Chopper, and Sanji)
• very clear potential for a role on the crew (lookout)

• not much of a bond with Luffy (a few little moments, but not much)
• not much focus during Wano (even her plotline that had been built up since WCI was resolved in a way that seems weirdly pessimistic for One Piece)

Yamato:

• a large amount of focus since the character's introduction
• a strong bond with Luffy (at least, he trusts Yamato and said he owes him one, and Yamato knows Luffy's big dream that Roger also had)

• the rest of the crew barely knows that Yamato exists
• no clear role on the crew (sake brewer feels like a stretch to me - it seems like saying that the crew really needs a diplomat, scientist, or astronomer because someone really wants Vivi, Caesar Clown, or Monet to join and is working backwards from that)

I'd love it if both of them joined, but regardless of which one joins, or if both of them do, it's definitely being handled in a weird way. (I've only been around for Franky, Brook, and Jinbei joining, but in those cases, you could clearly call it well in advance, whereas in these cases, it feels like some significant pieces are missing from the puzzle)

At this point, I'd honestly be surprised if Yamato didn't join; I've seen some people bring up alternatives, but none of them have really made sense for me.

• stay in Wano as the shogun/guardian deity? Yamato's current goal is to get out of Wano as quickly as possible, and the only person pushing for Yamato to act as the shogun or guardian of Wano is Kaidou.

• stay in Wano as Momo's bodyguard? Momo already has the Nine Red Scabbards, Shinobu, various Kozuki loyalists, and in all likelihood he'll also have Tama and the Gifters to protect him, on top of him being physically older and having a better understanding of his DF. Not sure if the people who say this think that all of the Scabbards are going to die - if that's the case, I'm not sure if those people have read One Piece.

• form a crew with ex-Beast Pirates and join the Grand Fleet? Yamato's dislike of the Beast Pirates seems pretty clear, and it's getting exhausting to see the Grand Fleet get used as a dumping ground for potential crewmates because the commenter doesn't like them or want them to join. (Ex. "Despite a decade of build-up, Jinbei's going to join the Grand Fleet with his former crew instead of becoming an actual Straw Hat Pirate!" "Despite being among the youngest and least experienced of the Minks, Carrot's going to form the New Nox Pirates and they'll join the Grand Fleet!")

• setting out to sea solo? Luffy only survived that by pure luck in the East Blue, and this is the New World. Yamato's never even left Wano, as far as we know, and hasn't left Onigashima since the age of eight. Yamato's sailing knowledge, navigational skills, etc. are likely non-existent.

• dying? I don't even know why people would seriously consider this an option, but it gets brought up from time to time, at least on Reddit.

I'd like to see Carrot join the crew as well (she seems like she'd be a fun addition, she has some build-up towards the lookout position (which hasn't been filled on the Straw Hat crew), she's already gotten parallels with how Nekomamushi and Inuarashi joined Whitebeard and Roger, and it would be bizarrely downbeat and mean-spirited for Oda to end off her plotline with Carrot being told that she's worthless garbage and having the story do nothing to refute this), but unless she starts getting focus, I'm guessing that it won't happen. (at the very least, it's hard for me to be optimistic when her storyline that had been built up since WCI and followed through with seems to have ended with Carrot losing off-screen, and Perospero getting beaten by someone with no connection to the events at WCI while Carrot contributes absolutely nothing)

Luffy splitting the sky was great, and a definite sign of how far he's come, but otherwise, I wasn't a fan of this chapter. When I saw the early spoilers, I thought I might be jumping the gun, but my issues with those spoilers seem even worse in the context of the chapter.

A minor issue that I had was Momo biting Kaidou and making him scream out in pain. Given that Kaidou's skin has been built up to be extremely difficult to get through, with Luffy needing to specifically train in advanced armament haki to be able to do it, and the Nine Red Scabbards barely being able to pull it off, it seems weird that Momo can just do it without even knowing that it's a big deal. (it seems to undermine Kaidou's threat as a villain when someone who was an untrained eight year old five minutes ago, and still is one mentally, can make him scream out in pain)

My bigger problems were with Jack's portrayal and the whole Perospero plotline. When it comes to Jack, he's one of Kaidou's top minions, and yet he didn't even get a named attack, let alone a full chapter worth of fighting. (instead, throughout the arc, we've gotten a few snippets of fights that happened mostly off-screen, and the snippets that we got involved Jack getting his butt kicked) I get that he's been treated as though he's not as tough as King or Queen, but he's still a juggernaut with a billion Berry bounty - it seems weird to give him less focus than the Flying Six, or for someone like Holdem to have more named attacks than him. It would have been nice if it seemed like it took some actual effort to beat him, rather than having him go down in one good hit from a single member of the Scabbards. (I get that it's personal for Inuarashi, given what happened to Zou, but Jack's defeat seemed so effortless)

And then there's the Carrot-Pedro-Perospero plotline - what was the point of it? If it had just been dropped after Whole Cake Island, I could assume that people (myself included) were reading too deeply into a few panels, but then Perospero made it to Onigashima (the only member of the Big Mom Pirates, aside from BM herself, to do so), Carrot specifically went after him to avenge Pedro, and it seemed like the plot was actually building up to something…

...and then Carrot was beaten off-screen and mocked by Perospero for even thinking that she could stand a chance. Still, villains act arrogant in their own abilities all the time, and Perospero only won because the moon was covered up, so maybe...

...and then Nekomamushi, who had no idea who Perospero was, beats him in one attack while Carrot can only sit on the side and watch, despite the fact that Nekomamushi going into the Sulong state meant that Carrot should have been able to as well.

It just raises the question of why Carrot was involved in Whole Cake Island (if it was to make us feel sad about Pedro's death or introduce Sulong, Pekoms could have done both of those things), or why Perospero was brought into the raid when all he accomplished was allying with Marco for a chapter and occasionally attacking Marco or Chopper, or why that plotline was built up over the past year (more if we count Whole Cake Island) if all of that was going to amount to Perospero being beaten in one hit by someone who had no idea who he was a few minutes ago, while Carrot (who actually saw what happened) contributes nothing. Considering that Oda's someone who brought back the plotline of Captain John's treasure years later, across several arcs, it seems weird for him to abruptly rush through an entire plotline and two separate fights like this. (it also ends the plot on a note that's weirdly pessimistic for One Piece, with Perospero telling Carrot that she should have stayed home and never gone out to sea - that seemed like an opportunity to Carrot to prove him wrong and contribute to his defeat, but instead, we're left with the feeling that Perospero was right and Carrot should just stay in Zou instead of seeing the world)

Maybe I'm jumping the gun, and Jack will get up later to get an actual on-screen fight (he's been shown to be durable), or we'll get a conclusion to the plotline at the start of next week's chapter, but given that the narration at the end seems pretty definitive, I have my doubts.

Sorry for the rant; like I said earlier, I liked Luffy splitting the sky, but the rest of the chapter just seems like wasted potential.

@starlalilymoon:

The more I see advertising for Yamato like this is making me think this is a huge sign that she might join even more? First the towels, and now figurines? Hmmm. Or maybe it is all a coincidence with the timing.

It could be a sign that Yamato's joining, but it could also be taking advantage of Yamato's massive popularity. (seeing as she placed eleventh in a worldwide popularity poll before even appearing in the anime) From what I've read, Law was treated in a similar way in earlier pieces of merchandise.

It's been posted elsewhere, but the first part of the colour spread for this popularity poll has been released. (I'm assuming we can talk about it, since the chapter's been officially released)

I'm thinking that all of the Straw Hats (and a few others, like Crocodile or Enel) will be in the second colour spread, while the Roger and Whitebeard Pirates (and some others who are affiliated with them, like Sabo, or don't fit into other categories, like Carrot or Woop Slap) will be in the third. (I'm guessing that Shanks and Blackbeard will be in the other two corners, rather than Shanks and Whitebeard)

I find it weird that King had three separate introduction pages (I think - there were at least two), and yet his bounty's being revealed in a Vivre Card.

I feel like no matter what's listed for Yamato under gender (whether it's "female", "female (heart of a male)" (similar to what Kiku had), "female (heart of Oden)", or something else), there's going to be plenty of outrage.

I saw this on the One Piece subreddit:

This would be the ideal scenario for me; it would be great if both of them joined.

The story seems to clearly be building up to Yamato joining, given lines like "I'm going to sail the seas with Luffy, after I drive you out of Wano, Kaido!" (we haven't really gotten Luffy's perspective on it, but I don't see why he'd say no, even if we probably won't get his point of view until after Kaidou's beaten), but Carrot meshes well with the crew, and she'd make for a great contrast with Nami, Robin, and Jinbei, at the very least. (seeing as she's goofier than Nami and Robin and more willing to join in with Luffy/Usopp/Chopper's shenanigans or stuff like Pirate Robo: Big Emperor, and Jinbei and her have sun and moon imagery, along with Jinbei being an serious veteran who's unprepared for the wackiness of the Straw Hats while Carrot's a naive newcomer who goes with the flow of the crew)

I realize that people are likely going to prioritize different details for why someone should join (in this case, whether it's more important to interact with Luffy or to interact with the crew as a whole - Yamato has more of the former but barely any of the latter, and Carrot's the opposite), but I don't see why it's impossible for both of them to join.

@Blowfish:

I still think there's a decent chance they both join to be honest.

I think so too. At the very least, I could easily see it happening, and Moria (who has a grudge against Kaidou) is being set up to do something with Blackbeard. It would be kind of weird to bring Moria back into the story, in the arc where Kaidou is the main antagonist and his child is a front-runner for the Straw Hat's next crew member, and then kill Moria off-screen or something like that.

I've already stated my thoughts on Carrot elsewhere (the first Sulong appearance felt like a potential Straw Hat moment to me, like Brook slashing the spider-monkey or Jinbei being lined up with the crew at FI, and I've wanted to see a woman who would take part in Luffy/Usopp/Chopper's shenanigans join the crew), and Oda's clearly going somewhere with her story. (it wouldn't make sense to kill Pedro, have Carrot want to avenge Pedro, bring back the guy who got Pedro killed (and only him, not the rest of that crew), and then have Carrot lose off-screen and nobody ever mentions this plotline again)

Both of them joining would be ideal to me; here's hoping that it happens.

I'm guessing that the unexpected character is going to be Cooler, and if that winds up being the case, then I think we'll get a fusion between Cooler and Freeza. (they brought up fusion to Freeza in the last movie, and I figure they're going to follow up on that at some point)

Though maybe they should go in a different direction than that; the previous two movies and the final arc of Super had Freeza as a pretty major focus.