Yama the sheep guy knows about it, it doesn’t make her stand out. Actually including her in the conversation would have made her stand out.
My point is that she wasn't needed there since she already knows the info they were learning. Sure she could've been there but it hardly makes a difference. Kanjuro being one of the many people in the tree at the time make absolutely zero difference to how people viewed his character. Carrot's significance came in her being the first mink introduced after the straw hats arrive on the back of Zou and then being the surprise addition to WCI.
She also expressed interest with the dead walking and talking back on Thriller Bark in the same scene, that doesn’t mean she’s going to hunt down Moria so he can show his fruit off.
It’s comparing apples and oranges. The scene on Zou was the climax of the arc and one of the most important exposition drops in the series. The bath scene was a relatively minor one in WCI. It did not give us any gamechanging information, neither Luffy or Usopp (who will be the main figure in Elbaf) were involved, and Carrot herself has a completely negligible role in the conversation.
The difference is that Elbaf is very likely our next destination. I'm not saying it's this incredibly important moment. I'm saying it's simple set up for Elbaf and Oda included Carrot in the conversation expressing an interest. That's just something we should note.
The whale tree scene was important because of the ponegliff info. Again, Carrot did not need to be there since she already knew all about that. Her not being there means as much as Kanjuro being there. Little.
A scene where all the majority of the interesting information was omitted from the reader, and where again, Carrot played no role whatsoever. I said I wanted Carrot to have been included in the discussion, maybe I should have specified that means participation. Not floating around in the background occasionally inserting some inane comment about how wonderful adventures are, actually driving the conversation and making us think “yes, Oda is setting this character up to be a Strawhat.” Take Carrot out of the two scenes you’ve mentioned, and nothing changes. The conversation continues in the exact same way. Her presence is completely meaningless.
Sure. That would've been good and preferable. But it's hardly a killer blow against her chances. We're not talking about the most perfect candidate possible here.
I can’t see the picture, is it the Zou volume cover with Swirlyhats in the middle and the two Mink sides running parallel to them?
If it is- that’s not counting as a hint. There is no indication that Carrot is using a weapon given to her by Pedro, because there’s no indication Pedro had anything to do with the claws. Nobody looked at that and thought, ah, I bet Pedro was the one to give her those, because we had absolutely no reason to think that, because the two gave no indication that they had anything resembling a more than casual relationship until the chapter Pedro blew himself up.
As to the colour argument- the manga’s in black and white. We didn’t know there was a colour split to how the Minks dressed until WCI had already begun. When reading Zou, we couldn’t tell that Wanda was wearing a blue cape and Carrot a green. We’re looking for things that made Carrot stand out at the time, not retrospectively looking over minutiae to try and answer her lack of presence.
I meant this.
You're right that there's no indication that Pedro had anything to do with the claws. If there was, then that wouldn't just be a "hint" at a relationship between the two, that would be
telling us the two of them had some kind of a relationship. The fact that every single musketeer has a sword except Carrot who fights with unusual weapons (just like the guardians) is the hint that she's got a connection to the other side of the minks.
And sure the colour scheme can't be noticed in the manga, but it's not a big deal. It's just a small thing that could be noticed if we paid attention to the volume cover. The point is that Oda always had in mind that Carrot was different from the regular minks.
It still displays how Oda failed to make Carrot stand out in the Zou arc though, and how Oda has failed to give Carrot consistent relevance. Imagine if the Zou flashback had been framed from Carrot’s perspective, giving us some insight into her daily life, wish to escape and go on an adventure, a training session or something with Pedro, interrupted by Jack’s invasion, with the final scene being her wondering what Pedro means when he talks about the world waiting for Inu and Neko. And then her getting invited or sneaking into the talk in the Whale Tree and expressing a desire to help in the fight against Kaido, being told no because she’s too young, and then sneaking out and going to the Sunny anyway. That’s a strong setup for Carrot to be an important future character and Strawhat character.
Yeah I agree. That would be strong setup. But unlike all straw hats except Robin and Jinbe, Carrot didn't join in the arc she was introduced, hence her development was spread out across arcs. WCI allowing her to bond closer with the crew, show some of her skills, save them and to stand out.
What's important though is that despite having never had any driving role in the narrative (as of yet), Carrot's still the most significant mink, above even Inu and Neko.
She's significant, but yet she has no apparent reason to be. This could be related to the PK and Pedro's words that "everyone has their moment to shine". How she goes from a regular mink to the one that announces Luffy's role in the dawn. As people on both sides have been saying, the Perospero fight holds all the answers. If absolutely nothing comes of that and the plot gets completely resolved, then yeah Carrot's obviously finished. But I'm counting on that developing something new for her based on the previous setup from Pedro's final words.
