@wolfwood I think Wano sucked the air out of the Nakama debate. lol
Best posts made by Zin Magala
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
Bonney would need something deeper than "Defeating the Celestial Dragons" to join the SHs. If that is her only goal then she can join the Revolutionaries like her father did.
I'm still waiting to see what Oda does with Bonney, but right now I'm not convinced.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
You bring up some good points and I'm no way saying Law won't be relevant for the rest of the story. I think Law will be back next arc and will be sticking around for a while. However, just because him and his crew were defeated that doesn't mean their story is over. The crew isn't dead and a ship can be replaced. Law's crew is important to him just like Luffy's crew is important to Luffy. I agree there will be some things for the Heart Pirates to figure out but ultimately I think they will be amongst the fleet (or an ally) as oppose to Law joining the crew. I think that will all go down in Elbaf, along with the Kidd Pirates.
Law is very interested in the Will of D, prior to being defeated by BB, and it's not written anywhere that you have to be a SH to pursue that mystery. If those answers are in Laughtale, I don't think there is anything stopping the Heart Pirates traveling with the SHs to find those answers. Same thing applies to Vivi. Both characters don't have to be SHs, though Vivi is technically one already, to have a huge role in the story. Vivi's is being laid out in front of her and Law's path will be address during the next couple of arcs.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
An Apprentice is about lack of experience and Bonney has been a captain since her debut. Bonney having that role doesn't make any sense to me, especially after the last arc when we had three popular choices who had zero experience.
As far as the Nika stuff, I don't see it being any different than "The Dawn" from the last few years. We have nine crew members and none of them joined because they believe Luffy will be the savior of the world. Luffy won them over. They believe Luffy will become King of the Pirates and traveling with him is the best way for them to achieve their own dreams. That last part is key. Currently, Bonney doesn't have a dream other than saving Kuma and Vegapunk is the only one that has the ability to do that. Maybe this changes by the end of the arc but not having a SH-like dream is just another reason why Bonney wasn't created to join the crew.
I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but no matter what angle I look, Bonney feels very underdeveloped as a crew member and there's simply no excuse at this stage of the game.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
You go down with that ship. Make those dreams come true. lol
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
Yeah, I'm not understanding where this "Oda keeps us guessing" and "Red Herrings" when it comes to nakama is coming from. Robin is the only one I would consider a surprise out of the nine and I don't subscribe to the idea that Oda is placing characters in arcs to fuel nakama discussion. Most of the time characters in a story are just characters in a story. Yamato is the only one where Oda truly tried to fool the reader, as it stands now, though technically he did join.
As far as Yamato not having a character arc, both Nami and Robin joined without getting a character arc until later. Robin joined without anything checked off. Certain events needed to happen before Oda could tell that story and who's to say that's not the case for Yamato. Sorry, Oda doesn't work on your timetable and he's not sitting at home thinking, "Welp, I didn't do a thing in Wano so I have to scrap Yamato and come up with a new character to be the last SH." Now I have no idea if Yamato is joining or not and I'm not the type of person to put all his money on one character and ride it to the end. As long as there is an ancient weapon sitting under Wano, I don't think it's a stretch for people to think there is a chance.
It's certainly isn't more of stretch than Viva abandoning Alabasta, Kuma leaving Bonney, Smoker quitting the Marines, or Boa leaving Amazon Lily to join the crew. I get we hope/think certain characters will join but at the end of the day only one character was possibly created to be the last crew member and the rest never really had a chance.
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Hello
Hey, everyone, long time lurker. Now we are in the final saga, I felt it was time to dive into all the different discussions going on.
Looking forward to talking to everyone.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Hey, I'm new to the forum so I figured I would jump right into the deep end. lol
I'm not backing any character yet. I do feel like we will get one more SH and I think they will have to join while the SHs are in this area of the sea (Wano/Sphinx/Hachinosu/Elbaf). I feel like after that it will be all end game story beats and fights. I'm leaning towards a character we already know because the idea of Oda speed running a new character sounds terrible to me. I'm hoping this character joins before Elbaf as I feel it will be last non end game arc. Having Elbaf be last would solve any "spend time with the crew" issues a lot of candidates would have.
Right now I'm waiting for certain things to happen to narrow my pick down.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Well I definitely have thoughts and theories about the different candidates so I’m down to talk about whoever. I just feel it’s too early jump all in on anyone yet since Oda can have character x show up at Sphinx, hand in their last SH forms, and it’s a done deal.
The past decade has made me a cautious person. lol
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I really don’t want Yamato to be the best Oden she can be. I want Yamato to be the best Oni Princess she can be. That’s what I want to see when it comes to her character arc. Otherwise she hasn’t really changed just doubled down.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I don’t consider Carrot a candidate so Carrot fans probably don’t want me chiming in. lol
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
I highly doubt McDonalds has the inside scoop on who the next straw hat is going to be.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@Deicide Then go for it. Just because I don't see that way, doesn't mean you can't be intrigued by it. Whatever speculation you come up with, I'm down to read it.
@electricmastro I like the idea of Yamato becoming the next Oden in the sense of being an inspiration to others. Yamato's feats inspiring the next generation. Yamato dropping the Oden stuff and embracing the "Oni Princess" would add an extra layer of depth to it. How does one with a very infamous father become a symbol of freedom to all? This is assuming Oda gives us something new in our return trip to Wano and this idea works regardless if Yamato joins the SHs or not.
It's way better than "I want to go out to sea."
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@Deicide I mean Jinbei was at the forefront from Impel Down till the end of Fishman Island. I don't see Jinbei getting a coin being any different than Yamato getting a towel under the circumstances. Yes, Jinbei ended up being a crew member but I doubt they were told that at the time.
Using marketing and promos as some sort of evidence is just going to open the floodgates of everything and anything being on table. At that point we get to have a lovely discussion on what counts and what doesn't.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
After Wano's ending, Oda is going to have to really sell me on the idea that character X is the final straw hat. I need that character development and my heartstrings torn, prior to their joining. I would like to see some justification on why he did what he did. Having someone join without hitting me with something new isn't going to cut it for me.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
I think you're mixing up general 1v1s with 1v1s with all crew members, which is what I'm referring to. Yes, One Piece mostly has 1v1s but we haven't had 1v1s for the entire crew in one arc since Alabasta. Even then I could be a jerk and say one of those battles was a 2v2. So no, Oda hasn't historically given us arcs where every SH has a 1v1 fight with the main villains.
As far as using that as some sort of proof we're not going to get any new SHs: That's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is that it doesn't matter how many opponents are in a rival faction because chances are we're not getting 1v1s for each crew member anyway. The HKs could have 9 or 20 members and that wouldn't affect the number of SHs because not everyone is guaranteed a 1v1 fight with them.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
I just want to get back to Egghead to see where all these pieces fall. Make me a believer, Oda.
Make me believe there is one more.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
She had a crew and they followed her, age has nothing to do with it. Doesn't matter if she was playing captain or not. She has way more experience than Carrot, Yamato, and Tama combined. All three of those characters had way more going for them as potential crewmates and they would make more sense in that role. You said it yourself, "she's far better than the average apprentice." So if she has more experience than your average apprentice then she really isn't qualified to be one.
Bonney being a crew member isn't hinging on Kuma's fate. The fact that she has nothing going for her, from a purely SH perspective, is the problem. She is perfectly fine as an arc princess, but she is severely underdeveloped as a SH right now. She is missing all the key ingredients and time isn't on her side. It's obvious she isn't joining because Oda didn't give her everything she needs to go from arc character to SH. He had since Saboady to figure all of this out and give her a grand showing during this arc. Instead she is essentially a character in Kuma's story.
It's Rebecca/Kyros all over again, with Kyros/Kuma being the star. Bonney and Kuma may or may not get a happy ending, but neither of those paths lead to being a SH. Revolutionary? Absolutely, that makes way more sense considering her past and what's happening in this arc.
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RE: Chapter 1085: The Death of Nefeltari Cobra
That's a good point. I can see them passing info to each other but I don't think the SHs and Vivi will reunite until much later. Both parties have their own stuff to do first.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Hopefully next chapter we'll get some answers on the whereabouts of certain characters. I'm waiting on Boa, Viva, Caribou, and Blackbeard info.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I’m not counting Yamato out yet, but more pieces need to move around for her to be in the running again. More than anything, those pieces need to lead to a character arc.
Right now I’m staying in “wait and see” mode for all candidates.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Well if this is part one of her story then it does make sense that Oda is keeping it under wraps because that could very well be a part of her character arc.
All we know right now is she went from “I’m Oden, I want to go out to sea” to “I’m Oden, I want to stay in Wano.” Staying in Wano isn’t very Oden so there’s definitely something else at play there. It could be helping defend Wano or it could be something that plays into her backstory.
It’s hard to say what Oda’s plan is. Maybe there is more to see or he simply got carried away with the character. At this point it could go either way.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
That’s the thing though, is she following in Oden’s footsteps or is she using that as an excuse and hiding something else? If you think Yamato is coming back to the story then you would have to believe there is more going on, we just don’t know the details yet.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
We will get answers soon. Time is running out so whatever Oda’s plan is for the 11th (if there is one) we will know sooner rather than later.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Idk, I feel like if Oda has more for Yamato then she would have to be hiding something that's closer to who she really is and not Oden related. She is using Oden as an excuse not to leave, not because she wants to follow in his footsteps but there is something deeper going on.
To me that would be more interesting to explore and make her more of a possible SH in my eyes.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I have other thoughts and theories about Yamato (some I just came up with today) but I'm going to hold off until we find out what Caribou/Blackbeard are up to. I don't want to get attach to any one character yet and suffer more heartbreak. lol
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Yamato would have knowledge about what Momo can do with his Devil Fruit, but that would be about it. The Scabbards would cover being and fighting like a samurai. They, along with Hiyori, would cover the ins and outs of Wano.
I think Momo triggered Yamato changing her mind but I believe the reason has nothing to do with him. If Oda has more plans for Yamato, think of it like Nami and Arlong’s bounty poster or Robin and Aokiji/CP9.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Nami and Robin’s backstories are more about fear and that fear keeping them in their bad situations.
If you apply that to Yamato it would be fear of being herself and that fear is keeping her from leaving Wano.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I feel like the toast has already happened. Maybe Oda has something more grand plan for when the last SH joins to make up for Jinbei's being off panel. Highly doubt it wasn't shown because we are getting a new SH in the next chapter or two.
The whole end of Wano felt like it was shorten so we can get the ball rolling on what's next.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Unless an Oni is required to pilot Pluton, I don't see how it's connected to Yamato. At least by the information the manga has provided. That's a rabbit hole I'm going to need more details before I go down it. I don't think the requirements are going too strict because I believe the opening shot to kick off the final war is Blackbeard coming for Pluton and Van Augur destroying the SHs flag.
Back to the Jinbe toast, we also need to consider that story beats may not play out the same way as they did in the past. If Oda is rushing towards the final war, he might prioritize certain beats over others to get to wherever he needs to go. We could get the 11th SH and not get a toast until the arc before it's final war time.
I think the next three arcs are going to be on the short side, all building towards the final war. I wouldn't be surprised if Oda waited until the dust settles and the SHs can catch their breath and prepare for what's to come.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Logkeeper makes more sense as a role to jump in and out of. I don’t know if that would of been Yamato’s role. I can see her writing a journal for herself. It feels a little late for logging the SHs journeys. I thought Apprentice would have worked for Yamato. That felt like a very Oda move. If Zoro ever moved up to Vice Captain then Yamato could have taken over Combatant. Wait, is Combatant still a thing after the last set of bounties?
Beyond that I have no idea. She hasn’t shown any skills other than putting clubs to faces.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
That just sounds like Zoro’s bartender. lol
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I'm open to Oda convincing me. Those are just my thoughts on the matter.
That's the thing though, Chopper and Usopp are not always guarding the ship. It's shared amongst the crew so it's not always the same character(s) being stuck in that position.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I figured Vivi would eat a Devil Fruit or maybe learn a fighting style on Elbaf.
The Kuma theory is not looking so great right now.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
We don’t know where Vivi is so rescue could still be in play.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I agree that Carrot’s ending is completely out of left field but it feels more like a consolation prize than a last minute subversion (I hate myself) to me. If Carrot had more panel time and development throughout Wano, I would be on that boat with you.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I’m sorry. I’ve been mindful of it all week and I can’t believe I slipped up so easily.
I’ve been lurking here for a while now and I should know better. I’ll make sure my future embarrassments will be less spoilery.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I think us getting a new character as the 11th has the lowest chance of happening. We only have 100 to 150 chapters left and I don't see us getting anymore lengthy island arcs. Obviously Zoro exists but he had the benefit of the entire series ahead of him. Not so much for a new character at this point.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
This chapter was all I needed to see when it comes to Hancock. She had a very small chance in my eyes, but I was willing to wait and see based on her status. I've settled on Hancock and Vivi not being the 11th.
I guess I'm riding the "nobody is joining" train until something interesting happens.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
Geez, where to start.....
Luffy's Dream: I agree with others that this was a big deal. I wouldn't go as far as saying close the thread, but it makes no sense for Oda to do this now if a new crew member is around the corner. You can remove this scene from the chapter and it changes nothing. This was definitely a statement on Oda's part and I don't see Luffy revealing his dream until he is mid confrontation with one of the remaining antagonists. This was a pretty big loss for most of the candidates.
Carrot: She's done. I can't see how anyone can be on the Carrot train after this chapter. It has been days since Wano and Luffy just revealed his dream to the crew with no Carrot in sight. I'm sorry, Carrot fans, Oda did you all dirty and you deserve a goodbye scene.
Bonney: I never believed she was crewmate material and with her showing up after the Luffy's dream part, I stand by that opinion. lol
Vivi: This chapter points to us not reuniting with Vivi for a while. Vivi is going to be off doing her own thing and will reunite with the crew when it's Final War time. I'm excited to see what Oda has plan for her.
Yamato: I feel like Yamato got a win this week. Maybe even multiple ones? Yamato now shares something with the entire crew in Luffy's dream. That something no other candidates can say. Caribou being on the ship means his contact coming for Wano is in play and if Imu does have Uranus, that means someone is coming for Pluton. If someone attacks Wano then the SHs are obligated to come back for aid, otherwise their flag has no meaning. We'll see what happens when Caribou's contact is revealed.
Right now I'm sticking with the "No One Joining" train, mostly because the idea of someone joining right before the Final War starts sounds terrible to me. If we do end up going back to Wano, I'll probably hop over to the Yamato train. I'm not going to be happy though because Oda clearly chose surprise over spending time with the crew. If someone new joins, I think fans should get to see at least one adventure with the completed crew, outside of war stuff.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@electricmastro I think you are going to see more and more people either not caring or jumping on the nobody joining bandwagon, at least until something significant happens. Egghead hasn't changed anything as I see very few people considering Bonney or Vegapunk as a possible crew member.
Neither one of them are joining anyway so it is a wise choice not to fall for the obvious Nakama bait.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@electricmastro I have no issue with people believing there will be one more SH. I still have hope for an 11th, I just don't see anyone to root for right now.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@danie said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead):
Oda loves his "parallels", so I expect Kuma's daughter will join Dragon's son for a bit after Egghead. Hopefully just for her to reunite with Kuma and Luffy to finally meet Dragon!
That's what I'm hoping for: Bonney is Luffy's gateway to meeting Dragon.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
Well we can’t get past the door if the character can’t walk through it. lol
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
I've had my fill of bait and switches from Oda. lol
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@Rean You beat me to it. lol
I was thinking last night that Robin really doesn't have a good BB match-up and Blackbeard would need a scientist for Ponegliff and future event reasons. I guess they could kidnap Robin but I don't think Oda is going to pull that trigger a second time. Now we know that Devon and Lafitte are on their way, I doubt BB would send only two crewmembers for Robin. They are probably coming to grab Vegapunk, or a Satellite, which would give them control over the Seraphim and help achieve BB's dreams. York is a great candidate for that and I find Robin vs. York a more fitting match-up than the other crewmembers.
On the Yamato subject, I have a very hard time believing that a writer who prides himself in sending the reader home happy would purposely trick them for two years and give them nothing in return. Sorry, I don't believe Yamato got away from Oda. He could have simply stop having Yamato talk about being a crewmember and could have avoided this situation entirely. For me there are two scenarios:
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Oda decided that 11 SHs was too much to deal with how quickly he wants to wrap up the story. I don't find this likely because how are you going to sideline someone you been planning for 20+ years but sometimes hard decisions need to be made so it's far from impossible.
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Yamato is joining later, probably after Pluton is taken. This makes a little more sense but I think Oda miscalculated how much a negative impact his rug pull would cause. It's going to be impossible to get everyone back on board and it certainly won't stick the landing for anyone if Oda doesn't have something new for readers to chew on. The reaction may have altered his plans as well.
This why I think nothing will happen in this arc for any potential crewmember. The smartest play is to let things cool down and rebuild what he broke. Kuzan being announced as the 10th could be the first seed planted to, at the very least, put the idea in readers heads, but Oda knows that it's far from enough to win people back. There is zero chance he wins everyone back, however I fully expect Oda to try.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
At this point I expect Yamato to be beaten when Teach comes to claim Pluton. From there Oda has a few options:
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Do nothing. Yamato is treated like all the other Wano side characters.
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Yamato joins the crew with zero changes.
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Uses this opportunity to reintroduce Yamato with a new story beat and a deeper backstory. This could lead to continuing to stay in Wano or join the crew.
We'll see what happens. I'm expecting the next arc to be Blackbeard centric and the SHs will bounce around between a few places. This would open the door for a few characters to jump back into the story. I think the next arc will finally give us an answer.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@Deicide It's going to come down to that return trip to Wano. Your suggestion is definitely a possibility. Regardless of where it leads, I would like Yamato to have new motivations after what happened at the end of Wano. The last thing I want to see is nothing changing. That's really going to rub me the wrong way, though nothing changing and Yamato joining is far worse in my eyes.
I see the next arc jumping between a few places so who knows which characters we will run into. BB pirates been making moves lately so the justification of character x showing up is there. Right now the more I think of Elbaf and what could possibly happen, the more I believe the crew will be complete when we get there.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
People are hungry for the next straw hat.
I'll see myself out.