That's a good question and easily the biggest reason why Carrot as a crewmember is seen as unlikely. I will preface that some of my points rely on the unknown future, but I will try to present my thoughts on this as nuanced as possible so here goes.
I want to first focus on her treatment during Wano, specifically after Chapter 1006 since I believe that's the exact point where Carrot's stocks as a crewmate sunk for a good chunk of the community. I say this because after skimming through the earlier parts of Wano I noticed that Carrot's presence was actually not too bad. Nothing front and center but she at least had a presence. During this time the events of WCI were fresh in the minds of the audience so there was no real need for her to take center stage for a little while.
But now we're at the point where the freshest memory we have of Carrot is her defeat to Perospero, she can't rely on WCI anymore as that happened years ago. Not only that but she's been largely absent since 1006 as well, the only check-ins being mostly unmemorable. This meant that for this entire year her most memorable moment is her getting kicked through the dirt by Perospero. Now she can't do another goofy stowaway gag to join the crew as mostly everyone (including me) would not be satisfied as she didn't "earn it" in a lot of people's eyes.
So the question now is, how does she come back from this? As you said, she would have to reconnect herself to the themes of the current story as well as remind the audience of her previous moments. She needs to earn it like she arguably did in WCI.
This is where the unknown future comes in, I think the optimal way to do this is through giving her a moment that applies what happened during this saga as a whole and not just Wano. Basically, a redemption that helps people forgive her defeat from Perospero and instead see the foundation that she has built. What that moment would be I would not know. But I think it might include both the wild card elements of the BM Pirates and the WG as well as a potential power-up with Sulong. Of course, it would also have to involve the Straw Hats as well.
Basically, Carrot was arguably fine during early Wano because WCI was fresh in people's minds. 1006 changed that and now that's all a majority of people remember. I would argue that the foundation she built since Zou is the main thing keeping her afloat. She will either get a redeeming moment to cross the roadblock in front of her, or she will get the Rebecca treatment and get a proper send-off from the main story instead of joining the crew. Considering the current Wano wildcards it all really depends on what she does before the arc ends.
Appreciate that you're taking into account her current standing. You'd be surprised how many people here ignore it as fluff like the same Oda that wrote WCI didn't write Wano right after.
As for Carrot's future, people write it off since there's nothing left to go into this arc. The most emotional fight she could have and her main plotline from WCI was with Perospero, which ended with her learning nothing. No newfound drive to get stronger. No realization that the revenge plot was dumb. She went right back to happy-go-lucky. Oda left no foundation and essentially shot himself in the foot if he had any plans to explore her character.
Appreciate that you're taking into account her current standing. You'd be surprised how many people here ignore it as fluff like the same Oda that wrote WCI didn't write Wano right after.
As for Carrot's future, people write it off since there's nothing left to go into this arc. The most emotional fight she could have and her main plotline from WCI was with Perospero, which ended with her learning nothing. No newfound drive to get stronger. No realization that the revenge plot was dumb. She went right back to happy-go-lucky. Oda left no foundation and essentially shot himself in the foot if he had any plans to explore her character.
I will admit there is a lot of finger-crossing right now when it comes to Carrot. I think the true last nail (or last-second save) will come when it eventually cuts back to Carrot. If we see her being all happy-go-lucky with the rest of the minks then it would be a bit more clear where she's headed. But at the same time, there's a chance for something to happen. I'm not a fan of relying on the unknown this way, so I'm hoping that one or the other happens relatively soon.
Thank fuck, finally Carrot fans with brain cells. I've been waiting for someone who's not delusional who still believes in Carrot. @Pot Goblin I really hope you stick around. Your girl is being repped by morons, so you being here making actual arguments should help ease up on the Carrot hate wagon. I would still love for her to join personally. I'd hate to see what is imo Oda's best character design be wasted on a side character. I hope you can convince me to have faith in her again.
Thank fuck, finally Carrot fans with brain cells. I've been waiting for someone who's not delusional who still believes in Carrot. @Pot Goblin I really hope you stick around. Your girl is being repped by morons, so you being here making actual arguments should help ease up on the Carrot hate wagon. I would still love for her to join personally. I'd hate to see what is imo Oda's best character design be wasted on a side character. I hope you can convince me to have faith in her again.
Thanks, I plan on staying here for a while! It is was my goal to try to add more civil discussion around this topic because I feel there are some legitimate arguments in favor of Carrot. I'm going to focus on more pro-Carrot arguments rather than being anti-Yamato. At most, I have some thoughts on what Yamato's future might be if she doesn't end up joining.
Of course Carrot's design is special it's a white rabbit Mink. In the world of One Piece, it's quite special. That's not because you have a lot of rabbit character like in the real world that Carrot is not special. You need to take the character in her own context.
Carrot as a simple yet very efficient design. Instantly memorable.
I will admit there is a lot of finger-crossing right now when it comes to Carrot. I think the true last nail (or last-second save) will come when it eventually cuts back to Carrot. If we see her being all happy-go-lucky with the rest of the minks then it would be a bit more clear where she's headed. But at the same time, there's a chance for something to happen. I'm not a fan of relying on the unknown this way, so I'm hoping that one or the other happens relatively soon.
As the others said, we need more rational Carrot fans so its good you're here. This thread is pretty much ran on using C4N as a punching bag since most of us agree Yamato is the next SH. I'll focus on the problems I see though instead of comparing her to Yamato.
The panel below is the nail in the coffin imo. She's happy with the results and Neko essentially cut her off from any fighting by warning her about sulong. That is Oda's style when characters are finished up for the arc, especially after their major plotline. It doesn't make sense either for there to be something bigger for her character with the BM pirates or anyone else when she already avenged Pedro as she wanted. It's like expecting another character driven fight from Sanji after he finished up Queen. That's why we should take this as how Oda chose to conclude her character arc in Wano.
Of course Carrot's design is special it's a white rabbit Mink. In the world of One Piece, it's quite special. That's not because you have a lot of rabbit character like in the real world that Carrot is not special. You need to take the character in her own context.
Carrot as a simple yet very efficient design. Instantly memorable.
The argument that it's special because it's a white rabbit Mink escapes me. How is her design memorable? She is just as memorable as many other minks, the antilope or the goat doctor have just as "simple" and "special" designs. And these two are just from the top of my head.
Pedro is memorable because he does MEMORABLE stuff. Just as the king cat and the king dog. That's how you make a character memorable. Jimbe went one on one with big mom, had a flashback and did countless stuff before joining the crew.
Brook is connected to volume 11 of One piece, has a fantastic flashback and is deeply connected with the arc he is introduced.
Carrot is a mascot character in an arc not about her and arrived in wano she is just lost in a miriad of just as forgettable characters.
Appreciate that you're taking into account her current standing. You'd be surprised how many people here ignore it as fluff like the same Oda that wrote WCI didn't write Wano right after.
As for Carrot's future, people write it off since there's nothing left to go into this arc. The most emotional fight she could have and her main plotline from WCI was with Perospero, which ended with her learning nothing. No newfound drive to get stronger. No realization that the revenge plot was dumb. She went right back to happy-go-lucky. Oda left no foundation and essentially shot himself in the foot if he had any plans to explore her character.
Wrong. Again, I want to talk about this in the future but Oda did narratively set up a base for Carrot's future. In fact it happens right in chapter 1006.
Sigh.. I Guess I will have to explain this here first:
The whole arc of Carrot until now revolved around her appreciation of the sea. Carrot is very naive and mostly appreciative of the world.. so when Pedro died Carrot was attacked directely into the core of her character.
Basically since that moment there was a potential subtext with Carrot "how can the sea be so wonderfull if I loose friends on it?"
Until chapter 1006 it was just a potential subtext as there was no actual clews that this was actually what Carrot was thinking but Oda choosed to make Perospero say those few words :
"Vengeance for Pedro? What did you think would happen ? That you'd waltz into our home and set up a nice little picnic in the territory of the dreaded Big Mom Pirates ?"
By saying that, Oda is directly attacking Carrot's character into her core: Her joy in front of the world, her constant wonder, her naivety.
In basic narration, what Oda did is setup a base for a potential and little character arc (but a very important one, you will understand).
Let's explicit Perospero's words shall we: The first half of his sentence is therefore: "you are too naive and too cheerfull to become a pirate and that's why you won't be able to get over your friends being in danger"
You see the problem ?
1. Perospero is a bad guy, he has been depicted like it and has been acted like it and because of that, what he said to Carrot is actually not what should happen in the near future. Writers tends to make bad guys provoc the protagonists to make them go stronger and to prove that there are wrong. This is also the case here:
2.. Oda here is attacking himself with the opposite message he is trying to convey since the beginning of the story: Being naive and cheerful are actually quite the qualities to become a pirates (hi Luffy) or to sail on the sea, not the opposite.
Then Perospero adds
"[...] you should have stayed in the forest and nibbled at your grass Rabbit!! That's were you belong."
Here you can translate that as "because of what I said you don't belong on the sea, you belong on your island"
This is the most important part of the dialogue. This is a narrative challenge on Carrot related to what Perospero just said:
> Either Perospero is true, and being cheerful and naive is a bad thing to be a pirate and Carrot belong to her island
> Or Perospero is wrong, being cheerful and naive is not a bad thing t to be a pirate and Carrot do has a shot on the seas.
What do you think is the right answer here ?
Of course, the second. That's why I think this defeat for Carrot was actually a little setup to make us (and Carrot) understand that, it's okay to be all cheerful and all, People are gonna get in danger, but that doesn't negate the wonder of the seas. And that should not stop you from wanting adventure.
I think Oda will come back to this actual dialogue, at the very moment when Carrot must make a choice. To be a stowaway again (because she loves adventure) or staying back with the mink on Zou..
And that's why this little dialogue was so important. Rather that diminishing Carrot chances.. it did the opposite, it setupe Carrot as a true pirate and a strawhat.
The argument that it's special because it's a white rabbit Mink escapes me. How is her design memorable? She is just as memorable as many other minks, the antilope or the goat doctor have just as "simple" and "special" designs. And these two are just from the top of my head.
Pedro is memorable because he does MEMORABLE stuff. Just as the king cat and the king dog. That's how you make a character memorable. Jimbe went one on one with big mom, had a flashback and did countless stuff before joining the crew.
Brook is connected to volume 11 of One piece, has a fantastic flashback and is deeply connected with the arc he is introduced.
Carrot is a mascot character in an arc not about her and arrived in wano she is just lost in a miriad of just as forgettable characters.
How is her design memorable ? From an artistic stand point:
- Because of her white color
- Because of her blond hair
- Because her outfit is echoing her name, a carrot.
- Because of the way she acts
If you don't think Carrot is memorable, you should take a look at twitter and see how people are joining the One Piece train just because of this character, you can also check the reactions of people or the discussions.. i don't know make a guess.
Carrot makes one of the most memorable thing in the story : a shining nakama action. (link to my blog and a post on this subject)
A shining Nakama action is not just something "you forget" it's one of the most important action a character can make in the story of One Piece. So yeah.. Carrot is ALSO memorable because of her actions.
If you don't see what Carrot's potential is, again.. you should reread whole cake, it's everywhere.
Would fucking give a damn if she would have a power creep or a broken DF, if she returns on board as final SH giving a big middle finger to Yamato, Carrot and everyone else.
She still has by far the best character and deeper connection to the crew than all of the post TS candidates (Jinbe NOT included)
I will stop answering, i don't even regret clicking that link. Linking a website where you write your own theory as support of your theory.
I kneel witnessing such fanatism.
Would fucking give a damn if she would have a power creep or a broken DF, if she returns on board as final SH giving a big middle finger to Yamato, Carrot and everyone else.
She still has by far the best character and deeper connection to the crew than all of the post TS candidates (Jinbe NOT included)
I will stop answering, i don't even regret clicking that link. Linking a website where you write your own theory as support of your theory.
I kneel witnessing such fanatism.
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Even Rebecca has more of a connection than carrot.
A shining nakama action lol.
I almost never theorize, that's for bland youtubers. Like I already said, my background is in storytelling so I analyse the narration. I do understand that you might see some points as odd, but trust me, everything is very carefully thought.
The reason I'm so much is the Carrot for Nakama theory is because its a storytelling challenge, it made me understand a lot about the crafting of One Piece. But I guess i'm talking with pidgeons...
I almost never theorize, that's for bland youtubers. Like I already said, my background is in storytelling so I analyse the narration. I do understand that you might see some points as odd, but trust me, everything is very carefully thought.
The reason I'm so much is the Carrot for Nakama theory is because its a storytelling challenge, it made me understand a lot about the crafting of One Piece. But I guess i'm talking with pidgeons...
I perfectly understand your impartial opinion, I see you are coming from a position with no bias at all. I respect that you have the humility to come down and speak to us from such an enlightened point, but you have to understand that not all of us are ready for the truth.
I almost never theorize, that's for bland youtubers. Like I already said, my background is in storytelling so I analyse the narration. I do understand that you might see some points as odd, but trust me, everything is very carefully thought.
The reason I'm so much is the Carrot for Nakama theory is because its a storytelling challenge, it made me understand a lot about the crafting of One Piece. But I guess i'm talking with pidgeons...
I perfectly understand your impartial opinion, I see you are coming from a position with no bias at all. I respect that you have the humility to come down and speak to us from such an enlightened point, but you have to understand that not all of us are ready for the truth.
You hit that wrong. I do am bias. Analysing a story does not come without it. But cognitive bias are not important when we are talking about the actual technique of a craft.
The story does not care if I like Carrot or not, the way Carrot is represented still remains.
What I'm describing in my blog is the technique, I only extrapolate that, to understand how this technique can be applied to the case of Carrot.
And yes.. in the case of Carrot, that technique can be very .. subtle. And that's why it's so cool.
Taking the example of the "Nakama shining action" (that I linked previously) this is not just a "theory" but an actual "technique". Why can I say that ? Because of the story and the many evidences in it. This "technique" is recurrent. each times those specific elements are put together it for a clear purpose (making the SH character shine). There is a pattern, it's factual. That's why I can safely link the action of Carrot in chapter 888 is the same nature as all the other similar actions of the strawhats. I only choosed to name it "Nakama shining action" because this was not something that has been analysed before.
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