I'm telling you, there is definitely some connection between Yamato/Otama.
At first the Ace thing seems coincidental, but we still have no idea what that timeline even looked like in that instance and how he met both.
Both characters:
- Met Ace
- Wanted to join his crew
- Now know he's dead
- Established a connection to Luffy, his brother
- Are trapped on Wano
- Share a very similar name backwards
Not saying that its on the nose that they are the same character, but I think it might be important to note that Yamato may not be an afterthought like many people think. Otama is the first Wano inhabitant Luffy met on Wano, whom went into discussions about Ace and wanting to leave.
The first actual downtime Luffy had at Onigashima, the SAME exact thing happened. He encounters Yamato, who also has a cliffhanger remark about knowing Ace and also wanting to leave.
This CANT just be coincidence, it's so on the nose and totally an Oda thing to do.