The relevant factor isn't just focus, when you look at the basic level of roles or even dreams, Carrot vastly surpasses Yamato.
The lookout role has never once been mentioned in the series and Usopp can do it.
Carrot had a bog-standard wish to go to sea because she was bored or something. It was never Strawhat worthy Yamato had the exact same wish except bolstered by her being imprisoned by her father and wanting to emulate Oden.
When you look at things like power it's the same, you couldn't have Yamato on the crew without substancially changing the crew dynamic, Yamato is essentially stronger than Zoro
Utterly irrelevant. Same argument was made for Jinbei. Oda will always end up making it 1) Luffy 2) Zoro 3) Sanji
And i don't understand this idea that Carrot got sidelined. For the better part of the last 2 arcs, Carrot was a defacto Strawhat,
Momo and Kine’mon were de-facto Strawhats. That’s why they got an invite to join the crew whenever they want.
Carrot’s just another one in a host of characters who spent time with the Strawhats. Shinobu spent more time with the Strawhats on Wano than Carrot did. Was way more important as well.
if she officially joined we would be talking about how she got sidelined like Brook did
Getting Brook was the main purpose of the Thriller Bark arc. Carrot’s never had that level of relevancy, even in WCI or Zou.
and if her fight wasn't offscreen she'd have as much focus as Brook had
Yeah, so if we lived in a parallel universe where Oda actually bothered to spend time on Carrot maybe she might have been treated better in the end.
Not much of an argument.
When she's already had all crew interactions
Less than Law, Kine’mon and Momo had, making her… not special in the slightest.
and the back story (kinda)
Like three panels of her talking to Pedro.
Terrible dream and irrelevant role, sure
basically the full package if not slighty underdeveloped.
Carrot is a basic ass secondary character and that‘s all she ever was or will be. She’s not a Strawhat, she’s not even close to being a Strawhat and that’s why Oda didn’t even bother showing her saying good bye.
This is even worse than the delusions when she was actually playing a part in the story and people were trying to say that she would have a big role in the future. It never happened, but at least when you’re talking about the future something isn’t completely impossible, no matter how unlikely. Now we know the full story, we know everyone saying she was unimportant is right and we’re still getting this gibberish about how she’s basically a Strawhat? It’s crazy.