Oda has been going out of his way to connect Yamato to Luffy so much that it's pretty clear she's meant to be a SH. From knowing his true dream to understanding him without hearing his words (which only the SHs do). Doesn't make sense for there to be all this effort for a character meant to die or be a side character left in Wano.
General & Others Next Strawhat Crew Members and the Grand Fleet
- Thread starter Guan Yu
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Yup
What do you mean by that ?
Sanji vs Katakuri ? How was this even a debate ? lol
She did, for 2 chapter, but for the rest, It's will come don't worry
I have a theory about that (I wrote this in a private discord):
Wano is the climax of the Yonko saga, this is something Oda has been building up since the beginning of the story. And by "this" I mean the core of what the Yonko really is: - The large plot of Wano (The setup for the war and the war itself) - The few important storylines (Big Mom and Kaido / Yamato / The rise and fall of Onigashima / Luffy's rise to power / The strawhats / Momo's growth / The scabbard story / Oden and the Kozuki / Joyboy and the dawn.. - And mostly the themes (Parenthood / the Inherited will / The importance of the dawn / The legacy of Oden / the Japanese symbolism etc.) If you ask me what Oda is interested in right now, I'd say that his interest lies in those three things MOSTLY. And if I were to make a vast assumption.. I'd say that everything else is just optionnal to him at the moment (The little storylines / Characters development in the story [Sanji/Zoro] / The gestion of characters etc..) So if you'd ask me where is Carrot's place in all of that, I'd say, right at the bottom. If we follow the interview we knew to things: That Oda wasn't expecting to have such a long pretimeskip and that he has been wanting to write Wano for a very, very long time. So the themes and the overall plot must have taken such an important part of his mind that everything else became icing on the wedding cake.. and talking about wedding.. I would put my hand to the beast on the fact that Whole cake is actually an extension of Wano and that it was not here at first.
As I see it now, I think One Piece was just supposed to have a few islands to introduce the crew at first with a BIG middle point at Wano and the rest of the story being the race to the One Piece. So Oda might have had in mind most of his crew the end race of the story and of course the clash between the emperor at Wano.. I'd even go as far as saying that Big Mom and Kaido were supposed to be a couple during that arc a mom and a dad. But of course, when you write something so young, you are bound to make it grow, it how my.. does an idea grow and that without even thinking about it.. Oda then came up with Alabasta.. Vivi.. the shishibukai .. the supernovae .. maybe even Ace (that's debatable).. and the conflict that became Marineford.. Of course Oda didn't planned that at first.. We even have the clew in our interview taht Doffy was supposed to be a Wano fow, Dressora was therefore surely a late idea (I'd even bet on the date (2006) quote me on this lol).. Punk hazard being a dressrosa setup, it might have been the same) I'm still conflicted about Zou that might have been an earlier setup to Wano, Then (of before) Oda might have went with: "wait, what if I went rather for a "Mom" arc and a "Dad" arc instead of having two confused storylines in one..?" Whole cake was born. And with whole cake.. all the possibility of developping new characters.. like Carrot.. I often say that I think that Carrot was a late addition to the crew.. Carrot just feel like a narrative "DLC" (a good one) if we look closely at the story. I think (and I might be wrong on the pattern) that Oda had a plan for another strawhat, but that was not Carrot.. then he changed his mind.. and said to himself.. "why shouldn't I use the space of Whole cake to developp my new idea" Enters.. Carrot.. and all we know about her.. a strict construction of character during whole cake.. and then.. nothing..(almost)
I think that all of this is the reason why we don't see Carrot in Wano. This is not her story, she might have not even planned in it.. And Oda is so excited and focused on Wano that there is just no room for Carrot to grow. Does this mean that he forgot her ? NO. 1006 proved it. But he might only be able to do the minimum.. *
Of course all of this are nothing but assumptions. But this is what the story is whispering to me through it's construction.
In short, Wano is not Carrot's story, Oda is making Carrot stay low for now. Whole cake plots is the beginning of Carrot's character arc.. the end of it will come later.
Because narratively it seems like she needed to lose. In short. Oda needed to say to Carrot some hard things about life through Perospero, in order for her to become stronger and join the strawhat. At least that how the story seems to direct Carrot to.
Because Perospero is not Carrot's personnal main antagonist.
Same reasons. Oda only needed Perospero to defeat Carrot, the how was meaningless.
Because her fight was meaningless. The only thing that count was the end and the monologue of PErospero. For that Carrot needed to lose.
Luffyonly save the strawhats from themself. He helps them get over their personnal conflict. In the case of Carrot VS Perospero.. it's her battle, and therefore her lose.
For the same reason Luffy didn't intervene between Zoro VS mihawk, Luffy wouldn't have intervene for carrot here. Carrot needed that loss to grow.
Because Carrot don't need a flashback, every bits of element we need (usually bringing out from flashbacks) are present in the current timeline of the story.
Because .. "Laying low." As I see it, Oda stays very subtle with Carrot. He will only do the minimum in order to surprise us later. So, the next time you really see Carrot, will most likely be at the very end of the arc after the strawhat's departure.
Carrot, now, will most likely fight alongside the Minks and "maybe" find a way to join back with Nami.. If we are lucky, we might even get a reunion of all the strawhats in the big scene of the manor.
If Oda follow his consistancy with Carrot here and if I'm right.. You will most likely not see Carrot do anything major until the very end of the arc.
Yes, all of this matter.
If it hasn't happened but there are clews in the story that it will.. it's not just air. It probability
At this point, I'm done trying to convince you, I have enough content on my blog to do that, you will just have to read it if you dare.. No.. now I'm just trying to warn you about what will happen with Carrot and Yamato in order for the majority of you not to scream at Oda when he will do his final choices.
No. That's not how storytelling analysis works.
The narrative of the story is actually very clear. THeir are no headcanon is saying that Carrot is at the begiining of her journey. It's a narrative fact. But I can understand that it might be hard to see.
No. There is not.
Wrong
Right, but strenght is not a parameter of recrutment.
Wrong. If it was the case, it would have been stated Post timeskip.
Trust me, it will.
I'll make sure of that. I warn all of you right at the beginning that this was Carrot turf now.
Wrong. Narratively. yamato is closing in on a future role as a protector of Wano, and so, as a Wano citizen. Not a strawhat. This is undeniable, you can just check the 5 latest chapter where Yamato was in.
Freashness
Wonder
A new look out
A strong ally as a look out and a sentry
A knowledge of the Mink tribe and MAYBE .. the dawn
A new look on life
A lot of new shenanigans
Humor
The deconstruction of the stereotypical One Piece girl
A new friend
A new mouth to feed and a new way for Sanji to improve his skill (this one is for the trolls)
A new dynamique
A new potential for creativity
Dude, I'm not even trolling. The arguments for Carrot are a LOOOOOOOOOT stronger than those for Yamato. Basically, Yamato has 6 argument going for her.. and those 6 arguments can be debunked EASILY.
I don't have mercy anymore so.. face the warth of the copy paste.
Yamato
Yamato was first mentionned in chapter 977 and since her first apparition, Yamato gained a lot of popularity within the One Piece fanbase, some even calling her.. the next strawhat.
But, does Yamato really deserves all this hype and even more so, does Yamato has what it takes at the present time in the story to be considered the future best potential crewmate ?
To answer this question we need to go back to the story:
Chapter 983: Wearing a hannya mask (a mask representing a jealous oni, usually female, often used in japanese theater. ) Yamato appears in front of Luffy to smash Ulti with her kanabo.
Yamato's design is striking. In almost all parameters it ressemble the design of Oden with one exception, she doesn't use a Katana. Let's not forget that, this will become important later.
Yamato is a personnification of Oden, or rather, this is what she wants to accomplish. We understand later that she witnessed the hours of legend. She was so moved by Oden's action that since then, she has been wanting to become like him. But Yamato did not want only to be "like" Oden, she wanted to become Oden. First by calling herself "the son of Kaido" and becoming a man like Oden, then and after finding the book of Oden, by talking with his ideals and wishes.
After telling all of that to Kaido, the Yonku strended her on Onigashima. Because of that and the ideals of Oden, Yamato developped a strong desire of freedom and the goal to go on an adventure at sea. After meating Ace, Yamato's determination rised up until the meeting with Luffy but even more so, with Momonosuke. The encounter took Yamato to an unexpected turn.. making her actually care about the Kozukis and the futur shogun of Wano.
Now I will debunk some points made by the fanbase about Yamato in comparison to Carrot.
The respect of Luffy
Yamato really respects Luffy to the point of admiration and if we could take that as a real clue to her potential recruitment, there is also two catch:
- First the Strawhats (at least in the crew) don't admires Luffy, they only have a deep respect for him and right now, Yamato is leaning more toward admiration than respect
- That respect in based on the action of Luffy toward them and not his words. Each Nakama has been changed deeply by the presence of Luffy but it didn't happen to Yamato, Yet. Yes Yamato has been freed for her shakles, but not her mind.
Panel time
One of the parameters that is often discuss about is the amount of paneltime of Yamato compared to Carrot
First we must NOT forget that whole Cake happened, you can't just say it doesn't count anymore when the storylines from this arc are still being developped. The part of the story we are in is called the Yonko Saga for a reason, everything is linked together. And so, the screentime of Carrot during whole Cake is still relevant.
Now, let's get that out of the way to look at the content where Yamato appears: We can notice that almost every apparition of her are constructed to enhance another character. First it was Ace, then it was Luffy, then it was to Help Momonosuke then to stall down Kaido until the real battle of Luffy and finally recently with the interactions of several supernovae and Big Mom's fight. Aside from her fight and her flashback, the content is almost never focused on Yamato first.
It doesn't mean Yamato's panel time is irrelevant, it just means that we have to be careful with how much she is shown by Oda. Yamato is still a very important character, as important as an "arc character" like Kyros, Rebecca, Shiraoshi etc.
The heritage of Kaido and Oden
This point is very simple, it states that because Yamato is the "Son of Kaido" and heir of Oden, therefore a strong character, it gives her a place of choice in the strawhat crew.. This assertion is based on a bias. Luffy doesn't recruit character because they are strong or because they are the heir of someone.
The parrallel with Oden
The heritage of Oden is often used to show that Yamato wanting to be Oden will lead her to go.. Like Oden, on sea to see the world. If this could be true, this is also a hypothesis that ignores three important factor:
FIRST
We must not forget that the reason why Oden was accepted on Roger's ship, was to decifer the poneglyph. On the Sunny, someone already has that role.
SECOND
.. And this will be long. We must be VERY careful with the parrallelism as it is a big theorist trap and confirmation bias blackhole. Indeed there are elements indicating some similarities between the strawhats and the Roger pirates, it's undeniable.. BUT.. there is also evidences that those similarities are here to contrast the real differences between those two crews. Let me explain:
Yes Luffy is very much like Roger, their mindset are similar in a way. Also, like the Roger's Pirates, the crew is founded on a strong base of powerful people with some specific roles : Doctor / First hand man etc.. And of course, their is a very close bond between the members and there are also small similarities within the story..
But that just it.. within the scope of the crew itself.. we can't go farther.
For example, we can't expect the strawhats to be around 30 in numbers at the end of Raftel, it wouldn't make any sence. Plus, each strawhat is specialized, not Roger's crew. The same applies to the dynamic of the crew, yes Roger is familiar with his crewmate, but there are no evidences supporting the similarities between Luffy's view of the world of his crew and Roger's. Luffy would rather be an underlings of Big Mom rather than lost a crewmate..
Do we think that Roger would do that ? There are no evidences supporting it, and taking the character of Roger into account, it's debatable. Finally, Luffy doesn't recruit just for his purpose it goes a lot deeper than that.
THIRD
... and the most important one, there are reasons to believe their is much more to Yamato's character that meet the eye. Indeed Yamato was constructed as a conflicted character by Oda. How come such a strong character never tried to get the cuff off, how come such a spirited character had to wait Ace to express the desire to go to sea..
...I think that Yamato is a character ruled by Fear. The fear of taking her own freedom, the fear of taking action without thinking about the consequences.
I think that: is why Yamato loved Ace so much, that is why Yamato respects Luffy and that's why she wanted to become Oden.
All those character are free from their fears !! Those are the type of character Yamato follows.
That's why Luffy is not the one Yamato will follow but Momonosuke. Momonosuke's arc of character is all about concquering his fears and gaining his freedom in order to rule Wano. I think that those actions are what will lead Yamato to follow Momo and in a way completing the parrallel with Oden, by staying in Wano.
Time spent with Luffy
This one is also very simple. The argument rest on the fact that because Yamato had a conversation with Luffy, they have more chances to join the crew than Carrot. This can be debunked in two points;
- First Yamato didn't spent a lot of time with Luffy, only a few minutes, and most of the time, Luffy was more interested in saving Momo than hearing Yamato.
- For this moment to meant a real deal, Yamato would need to pass the "Nakama naming test" after the conversation. But it didn't happened. In fact Yamato was named Yama-o or Yama-bro by Luffy at the end of the scene. And even after being asked by Yamato to say it correctly Luffy proceed with Yama-O
Remember, a Nakama will always be named correctly when they reformulate their name to Luffy. This will be important when we will analyse Carrot later, you'll see.
The demand
This is one of the most frequent arguments in favor of Yamato. The argument is as follow:
"Yamato asked Luffy to join, this is therefore a foreshadow to the recruitment of Yamato in the crew."
Well.. This is where things gets interesting. Because the fact is, that demand is not a foreshadow, in fact it's not a demand at all.
- This argument ignores the fact that Yamato didn't asked Luffy, she affirmed that because Luffy was the brother of Ace, she would therefore have a place on the ship. But remember, Luffy don't like being push around and this is false logic.
- This affirmation is not a foreshadowing but something else, something I call a subversion dialogue.
Click HERE (link to my blog) to understand what a subversion dialogue is.
Yamato's "you should be giving me a ride on your ship" is a false promise (for the fan) from a Positive > to > a Negative and a Negative > to > a positive (for the character of Yamato).
The hint is the corruption of the promise. Yamato wants to go on the ship for the wrong reasons (not for Luffy but by simple "logic") and she doesn't ask, she states.
Imagine any other character having the same statement ("you should be giving me a ride on your ship") it would be clear that this is a false promise.
This is why I think that by understanding what they really wants, Yamato will change her goal and might realise that there is no need for her to go. A good reader of One Piece will know that all the Nakama will follow Luffy because of him first. That why here, The story hints us that Yamato is kinda lying to herself.
This "subversion dialogue" shows us two things:
- What Yamato said to Luffy won't happen, even if she becomes Nakama, that won't be for those reasons! So and even if it's still possible, the integration of Yamato to the crew is still unlikely.
- Oda is still playing with the "nakama" card and what better way to plan the surprise of the integration of a new crew member, that to make us believe another member will join. And if you don't believe me..
Remember that Oda already did that. With Vivi and Robin.
Now.. Here we are..
With 6 argument in favor of Yamato
Are they enough for Yamato to be considered a good recruit? No. I fact, each of them can be debunked.
Don't get me wrong, Yamato is a good character, she has some potential and Oda could surprise us with that character, but she is FAR from being as close as Carrot in the race for the Sunny right now.
The most obvious argument being the lack introduction as a future crewmate. Like previously mentionned, each strawhats are introduced EARLY with a clear capacities for a post on the ship. If that happened already for Carrot (and on her introduction), it did not for Yamato. Even in battle, Oda could be giving us hints. But there is nothing and we are far, now, from her introduction.. The chances for her to be introduced as a potential crewmate are therefore getting slimmer and slimmer.
Here, with that.. the argument in favor of Yamato are gone.. Piouff!! Just like that...
Nope. Not happening.
What do you mean by that ?
Sanji vs Katakuri ? How was this even a debate ? lol
She did, for 2 chapter, but for the rest, It's will come don't worry
I have a theory about that (I wrote this in a private discord):
Wano is the climax of the Yonko saga, this is something Oda has been building up since the beginning of the story. And by "this" I mean the core of what the Yonko really is: - The large plot of Wano (The setup for the war and the war itself) - The few important storylines (Big Mom and Kaido / Yamato / The rise and fall of Onigashima / Luffy's rise to power / The strawhats / Momo's growth / The scabbard story / Oden and the Kozuki / Joyboy and the dawn.. - And mostly the themes (Parenthood / the Inherited will / The importance of the dawn / The legacy of Oden / the Japanese symbolism etc.) If you ask me what Oda is interested in right now, I'd say that his interest lies in those three things MOSTLY. And if I were to make a vast assumption.. I'd say that everything else is just optionnal to him at the moment (The little storylines / Characters development in the story [Sanji/Zoro] / The gestion of characters etc..) So if you'd ask me where is Carrot's place in all of that, I'd say, right at the bottom. If we follow the interview we knew to things: That Oda wasn't expecting to have such a long pretimeskip and that he has been wanting to write Wano for a very, very long time. So the themes and the overall plot must have taken such an important part of his mind that everything else became icing on the wedding cake.. and talking about wedding.. I would put my hand to the beast on the fact that Whole cake is actually an extension of Wano and that it was not here at first.
As I see it now, I think One Piece was just supposed to have a few islands to introduce the crew at first with a BIG middle point at Wano and the rest of the story being the race to the One Piece. So Oda might have had in mind most of his crew the end race of the story and of course the clash between the emperor at Wano.. I'd even go as far as saying that Big Mom and Kaido were supposed to be a couple during that arc a mom and a dad. But of course, when you write something so young, you are bound to make it grow, it how my.. does an idea grow and that without even thinking about it.. Oda then came up with Alabasta.. Vivi.. the shishibukai .. the supernovae .. maybe even Ace (that's debatable).. and the conflict that became Marineford.. Of course Oda didn't planned that at first.. We even have the clew in our interview taht Doffy was supposed to be a Wano fow, Dressora was therefore surely a late idea (I'd even bet on the date (2006) quote me on this lol).. Punk hazard being a dressrosa setup, it might have been the same) I'm still conflicted about Zou that might have been an earlier setup to Wano, Then (of before) Oda might have went with: "wait, what if I went rather for a "Mom" arc and a "Dad" arc instead of having two confused storylines in one..?" Whole cake was born. And with whole cake.. all the possibility of developping new characters.. like Carrot.. I often say that I think that Carrot was a late addition to the crew.. Carrot just feel like a narrative "DLC" (a good one) if we look closely at the story. I think (and I might be wrong on the pattern) that Oda had a plan for another strawhat, but that was not Carrot.. then he changed his mind.. and said to himself.. "why shouldn't I use the space of Whole cake to developp my new idea" Enters.. Carrot.. and all we know about her.. a strict construction of character during whole cake.. and then.. nothing..(almost)
I think that all of this is the reason why we don't see Carrot in Wano. This is not her story, she might have not even planned in it.. And Oda is so excited and focused on Wano that there is just no room for Carrot to grow. Does this mean that he forgot her ? NO. 1006 proved it. But he might only be able to do the minimum.. *
Of course all of this are nothing but assumptions. But this is what the story is whispering to me through it's construction.
In short, Wano is not Carrot's story, Oda is making Carrot stay low for now. Whole cake plots is the beginning of Carrot's character arc.. the end of it will come later.
Because narratively it seems like she needed to lose. In short. Oda needed to say to Carrot some hard things about life through Perospero, in order for her to become stronger and join the strawhat. At least that how the story seems to direct Carrot to.
Because Perospero is not Carrot's personnal main antagonist.
Same reasons. Oda only needed Perospero to defeat Carrot, the how was meaningless.
Because her fight was meaningless. The only thing that count was the end and the monologue of PErospero. For that Carrot needed to lose.
Luffyonly save the strawhats from themself. He helps them get over their personnal conflict. In the case of Carrot VS Perospero.. it's her battle, and therefore her lose.
For the same reason Luffy didn't intervene between Zoro VS mihawk, Luffy wouldn't have intervene for carrot here. Carrot needed that loss to grow.
Because Carrot don't need a flashback, every bits of element we need (usually bringing out from flashbacks) are present in the current timeline of the story.
Because .. "Laying low." As I see it, Oda stays very subtle with Carrot. He will only do the minimum in order to surprise us later. So, the next time you really see Carrot, will most likely be at the very end of the arc after the strawhat's departure.
Carrot, now, will most likely fight alongside the Minks and "maybe" find a way to join back with Nami.. If we are lucky, we might even get a reunion of all the strawhats in the big scene of the manor.
If Oda follow his consistancy with Carrot here and if I'm right.. You will most likely not see Carrot do anything major until the very end of the arc.
Yes, all of this matter.
If it hasn't happened but there are clews in the story that it will.. it's not just air. It probability
At this point, I'm done trying to convince you, I have enough content on my blog to do that, you will just have to read it if you dare.. No.. now I'm just trying to warn you about what will happen with Carrot and Yamato in order for the majority of you not to scream at Oda when he will do his final choices.
No. That's not how storytelling analysis works.
The narrative of the story is actually very clear. THeir are no headcanon is saying that Carrot is at the begiining of her journey. It's a narrative fact. But I can understand that it might be hard to see.
No. There is not.
Post automatically merged:
Wrong
Right, but strenght is not a parameter of recrutment.
Wrong. If it was the case, it would have been stated Post timeskip.
Post automatically merged:
I wish the main topic of this thread didn't always come back to Carrot 
We're really going into 2022 debating the same arguments people used 5 years ago so that it justifies her complete irrelevance for the last 4 years and counting.
We're really going into 2022 debating the same arguments people used 5 years ago so that it justifies her complete irrelevance for the last 4 years and counting.
I'll make sure of that. I warn all of you right at the beginning that this was Carrot turf now.
Wrong. Narratively. yamato is closing in on a future role as a protector of Wano, and so, as a Wano citizen. Not a strawhat. This is undeniable, you can just check the 5 latest chapter where Yamato was in.
Post automatically merged:
Post automatically merged:
Freashness
Wonder
A new look out
A strong ally as a look out and a sentry
A knowledge of the Mink tribe and MAYBE .. the dawn
A new look on life
A lot of new shenanigans
Humor
The deconstruction of the stereotypical One Piece girl
A new friend
A new mouth to feed and a new way for Sanji to improve his skill (this one is for the trolls)
A new dynamique
A new potential for creativity
Post automatically merged:
Dude, I'm not even trolling. The arguments for Carrot are a LOOOOOOOOOT stronger than those for Yamato. Basically, Yamato has 6 argument going for her.. and those 6 arguments can be debunked EASILY.
I don't have mercy anymore so.. face the warth of the copy paste.
Yamato
Yamato was first mentionned in chapter 977 and since her first apparition, Yamato gained a lot of popularity within the One Piece fanbase, some even calling her.. the next strawhat.
But, does Yamato really deserves all this hype and even more so, does Yamato has what it takes at the present time in the story to be considered the future best potential crewmate ?
To answer this question we need to go back to the story:
Chapter 983: Wearing a hannya mask (a mask representing a jealous oni, usually female, often used in japanese theater. ) Yamato appears in front of Luffy to smash Ulti with her kanabo.
Yamato's design is striking. In almost all parameters it ressemble the design of Oden with one exception, she doesn't use a Katana. Let's not forget that, this will become important later.
Yamato is a personnification of Oden, or rather, this is what she wants to accomplish. We understand later that she witnessed the hours of legend. She was so moved by Oden's action that since then, she has been wanting to become like him. But Yamato did not want only to be "like" Oden, she wanted to become Oden. First by calling herself "the son of Kaido" and becoming a man like Oden, then and after finding the book of Oden, by talking with his ideals and wishes.
After telling all of that to Kaido, the Yonku strended her on Onigashima. Because of that and the ideals of Oden, Yamato developped a strong desire of freedom and the goal to go on an adventure at sea. After meating Ace, Yamato's determination rised up until the meeting with Luffy but even more so, with Momonosuke. The encounter took Yamato to an unexpected turn.. making her actually care about the Kozukis and the futur shogun of Wano.
Now I will debunk some points made by the fanbase about Yamato in comparison to Carrot.
The respect of Luffy
Yamato really respects Luffy to the point of admiration and if we could take that as a real clue to her potential recruitment, there is also two catch:
- First the Strawhats (at least in the crew) don't admires Luffy, they only have a deep respect for him and right now, Yamato is leaning more toward admiration than respect
- That respect in based on the action of Luffy toward them and not his words. Each Nakama has been changed deeply by the presence of Luffy but it didn't happen to Yamato, Yet. Yes Yamato has been freed for her shakles, but not her mind.
Panel time
One of the parameters that is often discuss about is the amount of paneltime of Yamato compared to Carrot
First we must NOT forget that whole Cake happened, you can't just say it doesn't count anymore when the storylines from this arc are still being developped. The part of the story we are in is called the Yonko Saga for a reason, everything is linked together. And so, the screentime of Carrot during whole Cake is still relevant.
Now, let's get that out of the way to look at the content where Yamato appears: We can notice that almost every apparition of her are constructed to enhance another character. First it was Ace, then it was Luffy, then it was to Help Momonosuke then to stall down Kaido until the real battle of Luffy and finally recently with the interactions of several supernovae and Big Mom's fight. Aside from her fight and her flashback, the content is almost never focused on Yamato first.
It doesn't mean Yamato's panel time is irrelevant, it just means that we have to be careful with how much she is shown by Oda. Yamato is still a very important character, as important as an "arc character" like Kyros, Rebecca, Shiraoshi etc.
The heritage of Kaido and Oden
This point is very simple, it states that because Yamato is the "Son of Kaido" and heir of Oden, therefore a strong character, it gives her a place of choice in the strawhat crew.. This assertion is based on a bias. Luffy doesn't recruit character because they are strong or because they are the heir of someone.
The parrallel with Oden
The heritage of Oden is often used to show that Yamato wanting to be Oden will lead her to go.. Like Oden, on sea to see the world. If this could be true, this is also a hypothesis that ignores three important factor:
FIRST
We must not forget that the reason why Oden was accepted on Roger's ship, was to decifer the poneglyph. On the Sunny, someone already has that role.
SECOND
.. And this will be long. We must be VERY careful with the parrallelism as it is a big theorist trap and confirmation bias blackhole. Indeed there are elements indicating some similarities between the strawhats and the Roger pirates, it's undeniable.. BUT.. there is also evidences that those similarities are here to contrast the real differences between those two crews. Let me explain:
Yes Luffy is very much like Roger, their mindset are similar in a way. Also, like the Roger's Pirates, the crew is founded on a strong base of powerful people with some specific roles : Doctor / First hand man etc.. And of course, their is a very close bond between the members and there are also small similarities within the story..
But that just it.. within the scope of the crew itself.. we can't go farther.
For example, we can't expect the strawhats to be around 30 in numbers at the end of Raftel, it wouldn't make any sence. Plus, each strawhat is specialized, not Roger's crew. The same applies to the dynamic of the crew, yes Roger is familiar with his crewmate, but there are no evidences supporting the similarities between Luffy's view of the world of his crew and Roger's. Luffy would rather be an underlings of Big Mom rather than lost a crewmate..
Do we think that Roger would do that ? There are no evidences supporting it, and taking the character of Roger into account, it's debatable. Finally, Luffy doesn't recruit just for his purpose it goes a lot deeper than that.
THIRD
... and the most important one, there are reasons to believe their is much more to Yamato's character that meet the eye. Indeed Yamato was constructed as a conflicted character by Oda. How come such a strong character never tried to get the cuff off, how come such a spirited character had to wait Ace to express the desire to go to sea..
...I think that Yamato is a character ruled by Fear. The fear of taking her own freedom, the fear of taking action without thinking about the consequences.
I think that: is why Yamato loved Ace so much, that is why Yamato respects Luffy and that's why she wanted to become Oden.
All those character are free from their fears !! Those are the type of character Yamato follows.
That's why Luffy is not the one Yamato will follow but Momonosuke. Momonosuke's arc of character is all about concquering his fears and gaining his freedom in order to rule Wano. I think that those actions are what will lead Yamato to follow Momo and in a way completing the parrallel with Oden, by staying in Wano.
Time spent with Luffy
This one is also very simple. The argument rest on the fact that because Yamato had a conversation with Luffy, they have more chances to join the crew than Carrot. This can be debunked in two points;
- First Yamato didn't spent a lot of time with Luffy, only a few minutes, and most of the time, Luffy was more interested in saving Momo than hearing Yamato.
- For this moment to meant a real deal, Yamato would need to pass the "Nakama naming test" after the conversation. But it didn't happened. In fact Yamato was named Yama-o or Yama-bro by Luffy at the end of the scene. And even after being asked by Yamato to say it correctly Luffy proceed with Yama-O
Remember, a Nakama will always be named correctly when they reformulate their name to Luffy. This will be important when we will analyse Carrot later, you'll see.
The demand
This is one of the most frequent arguments in favor of Yamato. The argument is as follow:
"Yamato asked Luffy to join, this is therefore a foreshadow to the recruitment of Yamato in the crew."
Well.. This is where things gets interesting. Because the fact is, that demand is not a foreshadow, in fact it's not a demand at all.
- This argument ignores the fact that Yamato didn't asked Luffy, she affirmed that because Luffy was the brother of Ace, she would therefore have a place on the ship. But remember, Luffy don't like being push around and this is false logic.
- This affirmation is not a foreshadowing but something else, something I call a subversion dialogue.
Click HERE (link to my blog) to understand what a subversion dialogue is.
Yamato's "you should be giving me a ride on your ship" is a false promise (for the fan) from a Positive > to > a Negative and a Negative > to > a positive (for the character of Yamato).
The hint is the corruption of the promise. Yamato wants to go on the ship for the wrong reasons (not for Luffy but by simple "logic") and she doesn't ask, she states.
Imagine any other character having the same statement ("you should be giving me a ride on your ship") it would be clear that this is a false promise.
This is why I think that by understanding what they really wants, Yamato will change her goal and might realise that there is no need for her to go. A good reader of One Piece will know that all the Nakama will follow Luffy because of him first. That why here, The story hints us that Yamato is kinda lying to herself.
This "subversion dialogue" shows us two things:
- What Yamato said to Luffy won't happen, even if she becomes Nakama, that won't be for those reasons! So and even if it's still possible, the integration of Yamato to the crew is still unlikely.
- Oda is still playing with the "nakama" card and what better way to plan the surprise of the integration of a new crew member, that to make us believe another member will join. And if you don't believe me..
Remember that Oda already did that. With Vivi and Robin.
Now.. Here we are..
With 6 argument in favor of Yamato
Are they enough for Yamato to be considered a good recruit? No. I fact, each of them can be debunked.
Don't get me wrong, Yamato is a good character, she has some potential and Oda could surprise us with that character, but she is FAR from being as close as Carrot in the race for the Sunny right now.
The most obvious argument being the lack introduction as a future crewmate. Like previously mentionned, each strawhats are introduced EARLY with a clear capacities for a post on the ship. If that happened already for Carrot (and on her introduction), it did not for Yamato. Even in battle, Oda could be giving us hints. But there is nothing and we are far, now, from her introduction.. The chances for her to be introduced as a potential crewmate are therefore getting slimmer and slimmer.
Here, with that.. the argument in favor of Yamato are gone.. Piouff!! Just like that...
Nope. Not happening.
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Carrot will join!!
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Or be a protector of Wano and the Shogun.. Wait.. this is actually what the story is hinting for... Were those fan all WrOoOnNnNgG ??
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Not me. Yamato is a good ally, and like I said earlier, one of the good parrallel to Katakuri.. It would be a shame to see her death.
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There are no connection between Yamato and Luffy beside Yamato's praises for Luffy's dream. remember, they only met 5 minutes. 5 Minutes
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How much time did you spend writing this?
Yup
What do you mean by that ?
Sanji vs Katakuri ? How was this even a debate ? lol
She did, for 2 chapter, but for the rest, It's will come don't worry
I have a theory about that (I wrote this in a private discord):
Wano is the climax of the Yonko saga, this is something Oda has been building up since the beginning of the story. And by "this" I mean the core of what the Yonko really is: - The large plot of Wano (The setup for the war and the war itself) - The few important storylines (Big Mom and Kaido / Yamato / The rise and fall of Onigashima / Luffy's rise to power / The strawhats / Momo's growth / The scabbard story / Oden and the Kozuki / Joyboy and the dawn.. - And mostly the themes (Parenthood / the Inherited will / The importance of the dawn / The legacy of Oden / the Japanese symbolism etc.) If you ask me what Oda is interested in right now, I'd say that his interest lies in those three things MOSTLY. And if I were to make a vast assumption.. I'd say that everything else is just optionnal to him at the moment (The little storylines / Characters development in the story [Sanji/Zoro] / The gestion of characters etc..) So if you'd ask me where is Carrot's place in all of that, I'd say, right at the bottom. If we follow the interview we knew to things: That Oda wasn't expecting to have such a long pretimeskip and that he has been wanting to write Wano for a very, very long time. So the themes and the overall plot must have taken such an important part of his mind that everything else became icing on the wedding cake.. and talking about wedding.. I would put my hand to the beast on the fact that Whole cake is actually an extension of Wano and that it was not here at first.
As I see it now, I think One Piece was just supposed to have a few islands to introduce the crew at first with a BIG middle point at Wano and the rest of the story being the race to the One Piece. So Oda might have had in mind most of his crew the end race of the story and of course the clash between the emperor at Wano.. I'd even go as far as saying that Big Mom and Kaido were supposed to be a couple during that arc a mom and a dad. But of course, when you write something so young, you are bound to make it grow, it how my.. does an idea grow and that without even thinking about it.. Oda then came up with Alabasta.. Vivi.. the shishibukai .. the supernovae .. maybe even Ace (that's debatable).. and the conflict that became Marineford.. Of course Oda didn't planned that at first.. We even have the clew in our interview taht Doffy was supposed to be a Wano fow, Dressora was therefore surely a late idea (I'd even bet on the date (2006) quote me on this lol).. Punk hazard being a dressrosa setup, it might have been the same) I'm still conflicted about Zou that might have been an earlier setup to Wano, Then (of before) Oda might have went with: "wait, what if I went rather for a "Mom" arc and a "Dad" arc instead of having two confused storylines in one..?" Whole cake was born. And with whole cake.. all the possibility of developping new characters.. like Carrot.. I often say that I think that Carrot was a late addition to the crew.. Carrot just feel like a narrative "DLC" (a good one) if we look closely at the story. I think (and I might be wrong on the pattern) that Oda had a plan for another strawhat, but that was not Carrot.. then he changed his mind.. and said to himself.. "why shouldn't I use the space of Whole cake to developp my new idea" Enters.. Carrot.. and all we know about her.. a strict construction of character during whole cake.. and then.. nothing..(almost)
I think that all of this is the reason why we don't see Carrot in Wano. This is not her story, she might have not even planned in it.. And Oda is so excited and focused on Wano that there is just no room for Carrot to grow. Does this mean that he forgot her ? NO. 1006 proved it. But he might only be able to do the minimum.. *
Of course all of this are nothing but assumptions. But this is what the story is whispering to me through it's construction.
In short, Wano is not Carrot's story, Oda is making Carrot stay low for now. Whole cake plots is the beginning of Carrot's character arc.. the end of it will come later.
Because narratively it seems like she needed to lose. In short. Oda needed to say to Carrot some hard things about life through Perospero, in order for her to become stronger and join the strawhat. At least that how the story seems to direct Carrot to.
Because Perospero is not Carrot's personnal main antagonist.
Same reasons. Oda only needed Perospero to defeat Carrot, the how was meaningless.
Because her fight was meaningless. The only thing that count was the end and the monologue of PErospero. For that Carrot needed to lose.
Luffyonly save the strawhats from themself. He helps them get over their personnal conflict. In the case of Carrot VS Perospero.. it's her battle, and therefore her lose.
For the same reason Luffy didn't intervene between Zoro VS mihawk, Luffy wouldn't have intervene for carrot here. Carrot needed that loss to grow.
Because Carrot don't need a flashback, every bits of element we need (usually bringing out from flashbacks) are present in the current timeline of the story.
Because .. "Laying low." As I see it, Oda stays very subtle with Carrot. He will only do the minimum in order to surprise us later. So, the next time you really see Carrot, will most likely be at the very end of the arc after the strawhat's departure.
Carrot, now, will most likely fight alongside the Minks and "maybe" find a way to join back with Nami.. If we are lucky, we might even get a reunion of all the strawhats in the big scene of the manor.
If Oda follow his consistancy with Carrot here and if I'm right.. You will most likely not see Carrot do anything major until the very end of the arc.
Yes, all of this matter.
If it hasn't happened but there are clews in the story that it will.. it's not just air. It probability
At this point, I'm done trying to convince you, I have enough content on my blog to do that, you will just have to read it if you dare.. No.. now I'm just trying to warn you about what will happen with Carrot and Yamato in order for the majority of you not to scream at Oda when he will do his final choices.
No. That's not how storytelling analysis works.
The narrative of the story is actually very clear. THeir are no headcanon is saying that Carrot is at the begiining of her journey. It's a narrative fact. But I can understand that it might be hard to see.
No. There is not.
Wrong
Right, but strenght is not a parameter of recrutment.
Wrong. If it was the case, it would have been stated Post timeskip.
Trust me, it will.
I'll make sure of that. I warn all of you right at the beginning that this was Carrot turf now.
Wrong. Narratively. yamato is closing in on a future role as a protector of Wano, and so, as a Wano citizen. Not a strawhat. This is undeniable, you can just check the 5 latest chapter where Yamato was in.
Freashness
Wonder
A new look out
A strong ally as a look out and a sentry
A knowledge of the Mink tribe and MAYBE .. the dawn
A new look on life
A lot of new shenanigans
Humor
The deconstruction of the stereotypical One Piece girl
A new friend
A new mouth to feed and a new way for Sanji to improve his skill (this one is for the trolls)
A new dynamique
A new potential for creativity
Dude, I'm not even trolling. The arguments for Carrot are a LOOOOOOOOOT stronger than those for Yamato. Basically, Yamato has 6 argument going for her.. and those 6 arguments can be debunked EASILY.
I don't have mercy anymore so.. face the warth of the copy paste.
Yamato
Yamato was first mentionned in chapter 977 and since her first apparition, Yamato gained a lot of popularity within the One Piece fanbase, some even calling her.. the next strawhat.
But, does Yamato really deserves all this hype and even more so, does Yamato has what it takes at the present time in the story to be considered the future best potential crewmate ?
To answer this question we need to go back to the story:
Chapter 983: Wearing a hannya mask (a mask representing a jealous oni, usually female, often used in japanese theater. ) Yamato appears in front of Luffy to smash Ulti with her kanabo.
Yamato's design is striking. In almost all parameters it ressemble the design of Oden with one exception, she doesn't use a Katana. Let's not forget that, this will become important later.
Yamato is a personnification of Oden, or rather, this is what she wants to accomplish. We understand later that she witnessed the hours of legend. She was so moved by Oden's action that since then, she has been wanting to become like him. But Yamato did not want only to be "like" Oden, she wanted to become Oden. First by calling herself "the son of Kaido" and becoming a man like Oden, then and after finding the book of Oden, by talking with his ideals and wishes.
After telling all of that to Kaido, the Yonku strended her on Onigashima. Because of that and the ideals of Oden, Yamato developped a strong desire of freedom and the goal to go on an adventure at sea. After meating Ace, Yamato's determination rised up until the meeting with Luffy but even more so, with Momonosuke. The encounter took Yamato to an unexpected turn.. making her actually care about the Kozukis and the futur shogun of Wano.
Now I will debunk some points made by the fanbase about Yamato in comparison to Carrot.
The respect of Luffy
Yamato really respects Luffy to the point of admiration and if we could take that as a real clue to her potential recruitment, there is also two catch:
- First the Strawhats (at least in the crew) don't admires Luffy, they only have a deep respect for him and right now, Yamato is leaning more toward admiration than respect
- That respect in based on the action of Luffy toward them and not his words. Each Nakama has been changed deeply by the presence of Luffy but it didn't happen to Yamato, Yet. Yes Yamato has been freed for her shakles, but not her mind.
Panel time
One of the parameters that is often discuss about is the amount of paneltime of Yamato compared to Carrot
First we must NOT forget that whole Cake happened, you can't just say it doesn't count anymore when the storylines from this arc are still being developped. The part of the story we are in is called the Yonko Saga for a reason, everything is linked together. And so, the screentime of Carrot during whole Cake is still relevant.
Now, let's get that out of the way to look at the content where Yamato appears: We can notice that almost every apparition of her are constructed to enhance another character. First it was Ace, then it was Luffy, then it was to Help Momonosuke then to stall down Kaido until the real battle of Luffy and finally recently with the interactions of several supernovae and Big Mom's fight. Aside from her fight and her flashback, the content is almost never focused on Yamato first.
It doesn't mean Yamato's panel time is irrelevant, it just means that we have to be careful with how much she is shown by Oda. Yamato is still a very important character, as important as an "arc character" like Kyros, Rebecca, Shiraoshi etc.
The heritage of Kaido and Oden
This point is very simple, it states that because Yamato is the "Son of Kaido" and heir of Oden, therefore a strong character, it gives her a place of choice in the strawhat crew.. This assertion is based on a bias. Luffy doesn't recruit character because they are strong or because they are the heir of someone.
The parrallel with Oden
The heritage of Oden is often used to show that Yamato wanting to be Oden will lead her to go.. Like Oden, on sea to see the world. If this could be true, this is also a hypothesis that ignores three important factor:
FIRST
We must not forget that the reason why Oden was accepted on Roger's ship, was to decifer the poneglyph. On the Sunny, someone already has that role.
SECOND
.. And this will be long. We must be VERY careful with the parrallelism as it is a big theorist trap and confirmation bias blackhole. Indeed there are elements indicating some similarities between the strawhats and the Roger pirates, it's undeniable.. BUT.. there is also evidences that those similarities are here to contrast the real differences between those two crews. Let me explain:
Yes Luffy is very much like Roger, their mindset are similar in a way. Also, like the Roger's Pirates, the crew is founded on a strong base of powerful people with some specific roles : Doctor / First hand man etc.. And of course, their is a very close bond between the members and there are also small similarities within the story..
But that just it.. within the scope of the crew itself.. we can't go farther.
For example, we can't expect the strawhats to be around 30 in numbers at the end of Raftel, it wouldn't make any sence. Plus, each strawhat is specialized, not Roger's crew. The same applies to the dynamic of the crew, yes Roger is familiar with his crewmate, but there are no evidences supporting the similarities between Luffy's view of the world of his crew and Roger's. Luffy would rather be an underlings of Big Mom rather than lost a crewmate..
Do we think that Roger would do that ? There are no evidences supporting it, and taking the character of Roger into account, it's debatable. Finally, Luffy doesn't recruit just for his purpose it goes a lot deeper than that.
THIRD
... and the most important one, there are reasons to believe their is much more to Yamato's character that meet the eye. Indeed Yamato was constructed as a conflicted character by Oda. How come such a strong character never tried to get the cuff off, how come such a spirited character had to wait Ace to express the desire to go to sea..
...I think that Yamato is a character ruled by Fear. The fear of taking her own freedom, the fear of taking action without thinking about the consequences.
I think that: is why Yamato loved Ace so much, that is why Yamato respects Luffy and that's why she wanted to become Oden.
All those character are free from their fears !! Those are the type of character Yamato follows.
That's why Luffy is not the one Yamato will follow but Momonosuke. Momonosuke's arc of character is all about concquering his fears and gaining his freedom in order to rule Wano. I think that those actions are what will lead Yamato to follow Momo and in a way completing the parrallel with Oden, by staying in Wano.
Time spent with Luffy
This one is also very simple. The argument rest on the fact that because Yamato had a conversation with Luffy, they have more chances to join the crew than Carrot. This can be debunked in two points;
- First Yamato didn't spent a lot of time with Luffy, only a few minutes, and most of the time, Luffy was more interested in saving Momo than hearing Yamato.
- For this moment to meant a real deal, Yamato would need to pass the "Nakama naming test" after the conversation. But it didn't happened. In fact Yamato was named Yama-o or Yama-bro by Luffy at the end of the scene. And even after being asked by Yamato to say it correctly Luffy proceed with Yama-O
Remember, a Nakama will always be named correctly when they reformulate their name to Luffy. This will be important when we will analyse Carrot later, you'll see.
The demand
This is one of the most frequent arguments in favor of Yamato. The argument is as follow:
"Yamato asked Luffy to join, this is therefore a foreshadow to the recruitment of Yamato in the crew."
Well.. This is where things gets interesting. Because the fact is, that demand is not a foreshadow, in fact it's not a demand at all.
- This argument ignores the fact that Yamato didn't asked Luffy, she affirmed that because Luffy was the brother of Ace, she would therefore have a place on the ship. But remember, Luffy don't like being push around and this is false logic.
- This affirmation is not a foreshadowing but something else, something I call a subversion dialogue.
Click HERE (link to my blog) to understand what a subversion dialogue is.
Yamato's "you should be giving me a ride on your ship" is a false promise (for the fan) from a Positive > to > a Negative and a Negative > to > a positive (for the character of Yamato).
The hint is the corruption of the promise. Yamato wants to go on the ship for the wrong reasons (not for Luffy but by simple "logic") and she doesn't ask, she states.
Imagine any other character having the same statement ("you should be giving me a ride on your ship") it would be clear that this is a false promise.
This is why I think that by understanding what they really wants, Yamato will change her goal and might realise that there is no need for her to go. A good reader of One Piece will know that all the Nakama will follow Luffy because of him first. That why here, The story hints us that Yamato is kinda lying to herself.
This "subversion dialogue" shows us two things:
- What Yamato said to Luffy won't happen, even if she becomes Nakama, that won't be for those reasons! So and even if it's still possible, the integration of Yamato to the crew is still unlikely.
- Oda is still playing with the "nakama" card and what better way to plan the surprise of the integration of a new crew member, that to make us believe another member will join. And if you don't believe me..
Remember that Oda already did that. With Vivi and Robin.
Now.. Here we are..
With 6 argument in favor of Yamato
Are they enough for Yamato to be considered a good recruit? No. I fact, each of them can be debunked.
Don't get me wrong, Yamato is a good character, she has some potential and Oda could surprise us with that character, but she is FAR from being as close as Carrot in the race for the Sunny right now.
The most obvious argument being the lack introduction as a future crewmate. Like previously mentionned, each strawhats are introduced EARLY with a clear capacities for a post on the ship. If that happened already for Carrot (and on her introduction), it did not for Yamato. Even in battle, Oda could be giving us hints. But there is nothing and we are far, now, from her introduction.. The chances for her to be introduced as a potential crewmate are therefore getting slimmer and slimmer.
Here, with that.. the argument in favor of Yamato are gone.. Piouff!! Just like that...
Nope. Not happening.
What do you mean by that ?
Sanji vs Katakuri ? How was this even a debate ? lol
She did, for 2 chapter, but for the rest, It's will come don't worry
I have a theory about that (I wrote this in a private discord):
Wano is the climax of the Yonko saga, this is something Oda has been building up since the beginning of the story. And by "this" I mean the core of what the Yonko really is: - The large plot of Wano (The setup for the war and the war itself) - The few important storylines (Big Mom and Kaido / Yamato / The rise and fall of Onigashima / Luffy's rise to power / The strawhats / Momo's growth / The scabbard story / Oden and the Kozuki / Joyboy and the dawn.. - And mostly the themes (Parenthood / the Inherited will / The importance of the dawn / The legacy of Oden / the Japanese symbolism etc.) If you ask me what Oda is interested in right now, I'd say that his interest lies in those three things MOSTLY. And if I were to make a vast assumption.. I'd say that everything else is just optionnal to him at the moment (The little storylines / Characters development in the story [Sanji/Zoro] / The gestion of characters etc..) So if you'd ask me where is Carrot's place in all of that, I'd say, right at the bottom. If we follow the interview we knew to things: That Oda wasn't expecting to have such a long pretimeskip and that he has been wanting to write Wano for a very, very long time. So the themes and the overall plot must have taken such an important part of his mind that everything else became icing on the wedding cake.. and talking about wedding.. I would put my hand to the beast on the fact that Whole cake is actually an extension of Wano and that it was not here at first.
As I see it now, I think One Piece was just supposed to have a few islands to introduce the crew at first with a BIG middle point at Wano and the rest of the story being the race to the One Piece. So Oda might have had in mind most of his crew the end race of the story and of course the clash between the emperor at Wano.. I'd even go as far as saying that Big Mom and Kaido were supposed to be a couple during that arc a mom and a dad. But of course, when you write something so young, you are bound to make it grow, it how my.. does an idea grow and that without even thinking about it.. Oda then came up with Alabasta.. Vivi.. the shishibukai .. the supernovae .. maybe even Ace (that's debatable).. and the conflict that became Marineford.. Of course Oda didn't planned that at first.. We even have the clew in our interview taht Doffy was supposed to be a Wano fow, Dressora was therefore surely a late idea (I'd even bet on the date (2006) quote me on this lol).. Punk hazard being a dressrosa setup, it might have been the same) I'm still conflicted about Zou that might have been an earlier setup to Wano, Then (of before) Oda might have went with: "wait, what if I went rather for a "Mom" arc and a "Dad" arc instead of having two confused storylines in one..?" Whole cake was born. And with whole cake.. all the possibility of developping new characters.. like Carrot.. I often say that I think that Carrot was a late addition to the crew.. Carrot just feel like a narrative "DLC" (a good one) if we look closely at the story. I think (and I might be wrong on the pattern) that Oda had a plan for another strawhat, but that was not Carrot.. then he changed his mind.. and said to himself.. "why shouldn't I use the space of Whole cake to developp my new idea" Enters.. Carrot.. and all we know about her.. a strict construction of character during whole cake.. and then.. nothing..(almost)
I think that all of this is the reason why we don't see Carrot in Wano. This is not her story, she might have not even planned in it.. And Oda is so excited and focused on Wano that there is just no room for Carrot to grow. Does this mean that he forgot her ? NO. 1006 proved it. But he might only be able to do the minimum.. *
Of course all of this are nothing but assumptions. But this is what the story is whispering to me through it's construction.
In short, Wano is not Carrot's story, Oda is making Carrot stay low for now. Whole cake plots is the beginning of Carrot's character arc.. the end of it will come later.
Because narratively it seems like she needed to lose. In short. Oda needed to say to Carrot some hard things about life through Perospero, in order for her to become stronger and join the strawhat. At least that how the story seems to direct Carrot to.
Because Perospero is not Carrot's personnal main antagonist.
Same reasons. Oda only needed Perospero to defeat Carrot, the how was meaningless.
Because her fight was meaningless. The only thing that count was the end and the monologue of PErospero. For that Carrot needed to lose.
Luffyonly save the strawhats from themself. He helps them get over their personnal conflict. In the case of Carrot VS Perospero.. it's her battle, and therefore her lose.
For the same reason Luffy didn't intervene between Zoro VS mihawk, Luffy wouldn't have intervene for carrot here. Carrot needed that loss to grow.
Because Carrot don't need a flashback, every bits of element we need (usually bringing out from flashbacks) are present in the current timeline of the story.
Because .. "Laying low." As I see it, Oda stays very subtle with Carrot. He will only do the minimum in order to surprise us later. So, the next time you really see Carrot, will most likely be at the very end of the arc after the strawhat's departure.
Carrot, now, will most likely fight alongside the Minks and "maybe" find a way to join back with Nami.. If we are lucky, we might even get a reunion of all the strawhats in the big scene of the manor.
If Oda follow his consistancy with Carrot here and if I'm right.. You will most likely not see Carrot do anything major until the very end of the arc.
Yes, all of this matter.
If it hasn't happened but there are clews in the story that it will.. it's not just air. It probability
At this point, I'm done trying to convince you, I have enough content on my blog to do that, you will just have to read it if you dare.. No.. now I'm just trying to warn you about what will happen with Carrot and Yamato in order for the majority of you not to scream at Oda when he will do his final choices.
No. That's not how storytelling analysis works.
The narrative of the story is actually very clear. THeir are no headcanon is saying that Carrot is at the begiining of her journey. It's a narrative fact. But I can understand that it might be hard to see.
No. There is not.
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Wrong
Right, but strenght is not a parameter of recrutment.
Wrong. If it was the case, it would have been stated Post timeskip.
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Trust me, it will.
I'll make sure of that. I warn all of you right at the beginning that this was Carrot turf now.
Wrong. Narratively. yamato is closing in on a future role as a protector of Wano, and so, as a Wano citizen. Not a strawhat. This is undeniable, you can just check the 5 latest chapter where Yamato was in.
Post automatically merged:
Post automatically merged:
Freashness
Wonder
A new look out
A strong ally as a look out and a sentry
A knowledge of the Mink tribe and MAYBE .. the dawn
A new look on life
A lot of new shenanigans
Humor
The deconstruction of the stereotypical One Piece girl
A new friend
A new mouth to feed and a new way for Sanji to improve his skill (this one is for the trolls)
A new dynamique
A new potential for creativity
Post automatically merged:
Dude, I'm not even trolling. The arguments for Carrot are a LOOOOOOOOOT stronger than those for Yamato. Basically, Yamato has 6 argument going for her.. and those 6 arguments can be debunked EASILY.
I don't have mercy anymore so.. face the warth of the copy paste.
Yamato
Yamato was first mentionned in chapter 977 and since her first apparition, Yamato gained a lot of popularity within the One Piece fanbase, some even calling her.. the next strawhat.
But, does Yamato really deserves all this hype and even more so, does Yamato has what it takes at the present time in the story to be considered the future best potential crewmate ?
To answer this question we need to go back to the story:
Chapter 983: Wearing a hannya mask (a mask representing a jealous oni, usually female, often used in japanese theater. ) Yamato appears in front of Luffy to smash Ulti with her kanabo.
Yamato's design is striking. In almost all parameters it ressemble the design of Oden with one exception, she doesn't use a Katana. Let's not forget that, this will become important later.
Yamato is a personnification of Oden, or rather, this is what she wants to accomplish. We understand later that she witnessed the hours of legend. She was so moved by Oden's action that since then, she has been wanting to become like him. But Yamato did not want only to be "like" Oden, she wanted to become Oden. First by calling herself "the son of Kaido" and becoming a man like Oden, then and after finding the book of Oden, by talking with his ideals and wishes.
After telling all of that to Kaido, the Yonku strended her on Onigashima. Because of that and the ideals of Oden, Yamato developped a strong desire of freedom and the goal to go on an adventure at sea. After meating Ace, Yamato's determination rised up until the meeting with Luffy but even more so, with Momonosuke. The encounter took Yamato to an unexpected turn.. making her actually care about the Kozukis and the futur shogun of Wano.
Now I will debunk some points made by the fanbase about Yamato in comparison to Carrot.
The respect of Luffy
Yamato really respects Luffy to the point of admiration and if we could take that as a real clue to her potential recruitment, there is also two catch:
- First the Strawhats (at least in the crew) don't admires Luffy, they only have a deep respect for him and right now, Yamato is leaning more toward admiration than respect
- That respect in based on the action of Luffy toward them and not his words. Each Nakama has been changed deeply by the presence of Luffy but it didn't happen to Yamato, Yet. Yes Yamato has been freed for her shakles, but not her mind.
Panel time
One of the parameters that is often discuss about is the amount of paneltime of Yamato compared to Carrot
First we must NOT forget that whole Cake happened, you can't just say it doesn't count anymore when the storylines from this arc are still being developped. The part of the story we are in is called the Yonko Saga for a reason, everything is linked together. And so, the screentime of Carrot during whole Cake is still relevant.
Now, let's get that out of the way to look at the content where Yamato appears: We can notice that almost every apparition of her are constructed to enhance another character. First it was Ace, then it was Luffy, then it was to Help Momonosuke then to stall down Kaido until the real battle of Luffy and finally recently with the interactions of several supernovae and Big Mom's fight. Aside from her fight and her flashback, the content is almost never focused on Yamato first.
It doesn't mean Yamato's panel time is irrelevant, it just means that we have to be careful with how much she is shown by Oda. Yamato is still a very important character, as important as an "arc character" like Kyros, Rebecca, Shiraoshi etc.
The heritage of Kaido and Oden
This point is very simple, it states that because Yamato is the "Son of Kaido" and heir of Oden, therefore a strong character, it gives her a place of choice in the strawhat crew.. This assertion is based on a bias. Luffy doesn't recruit character because they are strong or because they are the heir of someone.
The parrallel with Oden
The heritage of Oden is often used to show that Yamato wanting to be Oden will lead her to go.. Like Oden, on sea to see the world. If this could be true, this is also a hypothesis that ignores three important factor:
FIRST
We must not forget that the reason why Oden was accepted on Roger's ship, was to decifer the poneglyph. On the Sunny, someone already has that role.
SECOND
.. And this will be long. We must be VERY careful with the parrallelism as it is a big theorist trap and confirmation bias blackhole. Indeed there are elements indicating some similarities between the strawhats and the Roger pirates, it's undeniable.. BUT.. there is also evidences that those similarities are here to contrast the real differences between those two crews. Let me explain:
Yes Luffy is very much like Roger, their mindset are similar in a way. Also, like the Roger's Pirates, the crew is founded on a strong base of powerful people with some specific roles : Doctor / First hand man etc.. And of course, their is a very close bond between the members and there are also small similarities within the story..
But that just it.. within the scope of the crew itself.. we can't go farther.
For example, we can't expect the strawhats to be around 30 in numbers at the end of Raftel, it wouldn't make any sence. Plus, each strawhat is specialized, not Roger's crew. The same applies to the dynamic of the crew, yes Roger is familiar with his crewmate, but there are no evidences supporting the similarities between Luffy's view of the world of his crew and Roger's. Luffy would rather be an underlings of Big Mom rather than lost a crewmate..
Do we think that Roger would do that ? There are no evidences supporting it, and taking the character of Roger into account, it's debatable. Finally, Luffy doesn't recruit just for his purpose it goes a lot deeper than that.
THIRD
... and the most important one, there are reasons to believe their is much more to Yamato's character that meet the eye. Indeed Yamato was constructed as a conflicted character by Oda. How come such a strong character never tried to get the cuff off, how come such a spirited character had to wait Ace to express the desire to go to sea..
...I think that Yamato is a character ruled by Fear. The fear of taking her own freedom, the fear of taking action without thinking about the consequences.
I think that: is why Yamato loved Ace so much, that is why Yamato respects Luffy and that's why she wanted to become Oden.
All those character are free from their fears !! Those are the type of character Yamato follows.
That's why Luffy is not the one Yamato will follow but Momonosuke. Momonosuke's arc of character is all about concquering his fears and gaining his freedom in order to rule Wano. I think that those actions are what will lead Yamato to follow Momo and in a way completing the parrallel with Oden, by staying in Wano.
Time spent with Luffy
This one is also very simple. The argument rest on the fact that because Yamato had a conversation with Luffy, they have more chances to join the crew than Carrot. This can be debunked in two points;
- First Yamato didn't spent a lot of time with Luffy, only a few minutes, and most of the time, Luffy was more interested in saving Momo than hearing Yamato.
- For this moment to meant a real deal, Yamato would need to pass the "Nakama naming test" after the conversation. But it didn't happened. In fact Yamato was named Yama-o or Yama-bro by Luffy at the end of the scene. And even after being asked by Yamato to say it correctly Luffy proceed with Yama-O
Remember, a Nakama will always be named correctly when they reformulate their name to Luffy. This will be important when we will analyse Carrot later, you'll see.
The demand
This is one of the most frequent arguments in favor of Yamato. The argument is as follow:
"Yamato asked Luffy to join, this is therefore a foreshadow to the recruitment of Yamato in the crew."
Well.. This is where things gets interesting. Because the fact is, that demand is not a foreshadow, in fact it's not a demand at all.
- This argument ignores the fact that Yamato didn't asked Luffy, she affirmed that because Luffy was the brother of Ace, she would therefore have a place on the ship. But remember, Luffy don't like being push around and this is false logic.
- This affirmation is not a foreshadowing but something else, something I call a subversion dialogue.
Click HERE (link to my blog) to understand what a subversion dialogue is.
Yamato's "you should be giving me a ride on your ship" is a false promise (for the fan) from a Positive > to > a Negative and a Negative > to > a positive (for the character of Yamato).
The hint is the corruption of the promise. Yamato wants to go on the ship for the wrong reasons (not for Luffy but by simple "logic") and she doesn't ask, she states.
Imagine any other character having the same statement ("you should be giving me a ride on your ship") it would be clear that this is a false promise.
This is why I think that by understanding what they really wants, Yamato will change her goal and might realise that there is no need for her to go. A good reader of One Piece will know that all the Nakama will follow Luffy because of him first. That why here, The story hints us that Yamato is kinda lying to herself.
This "subversion dialogue" shows us two things:
- What Yamato said to Luffy won't happen, even if she becomes Nakama, that won't be for those reasons! So and even if it's still possible, the integration of Yamato to the crew is still unlikely.
- Oda is still playing with the "nakama" card and what better way to plan the surprise of the integration of a new crew member, that to make us believe another member will join. And if you don't believe me..
Remember that Oda already did that. With Vivi and Robin.
Now.. Here we are..
With 6 argument in favor of Yamato
Are they enough for Yamato to be considered a good recruit? No. I fact, each of them can be debunked.
Don't get me wrong, Yamato is a good character, she has some potential and Oda could surprise us with that character, but she is FAR from being as close as Carrot in the race for the Sunny right now.
The most obvious argument being the lack introduction as a future crewmate. Like previously mentionned, each strawhats are introduced EARLY with a clear capacities for a post on the ship. If that happened already for Carrot (and on her introduction), it did not for Yamato. Even in battle, Oda could be giving us hints. But there is nothing and we are far, now, from her introduction.. The chances for her to be introduced as a potential crewmate are therefore getting slimmer and slimmer.
Here, with that.. the argument in favor of Yamato are gone.. Piouff!! Just like that...
Nope. Not happening.
I dont want to know how much time you have invested in discussing Carrot all these years. And at the end it will be for nothing.
I dont believe you in the slightest that no Carrot on board wont effect you after all this time spend on her. You will be crushed. Absolutely crushed. I cant imagine in what horror your mind will be after you realize whats up. I definetely dont want to be you at the end of Wano
I dont believe you in the slightest that no Carrot on board wont effect you after all this time spend on her. You will be crushed. Absolutely crushed. I cant imagine in what horror your mind will be after you realize whats up. I definetely dont want to be you at the end of Wano
You see.. your first mistakes was to think that my work will have been done for nothing.
For two reasons:
1 - Carrot will become a strawhat so, this will confirm what I have stated all. The story is going my way, not the opposite.
2 - Even if Carrot doesn't join the crew.. this work was intended to train me in understanding how Oda is constructing his story. So trust me that, as a creator.. the amount of things that I learned is gold material!
Then..
You think that I will be crushed..
And here comes your second and biggest mistake: you are not a good observer.
If you were one, you would have noticed that I almost NEVER use my own enjoyement of the story and personnal appreciation of the character to analyse the storylines concerning either Carrot or Yamato.
Yes .. you and most of the people here, are failing to see the obvious:
Carrot becoming a strawhat or not, will only have an impact on my future as a creator. If I'm right, my journey is nearing its end and if I'm wrong.. I'll still have a lot to learn. In BOTH cases, this is very exciting to me.
But Carrot is just a character that I like. I liked a ton of character who didn't join the crew. I'm only attached to her because of what she represent in the story for me. It's not even my favourite one, there are two maybe three character in front of her concerning One Piece..
If Carrot were to have a different road that I have in mind.. I would be sad for a few seconds maybe.. (the time to say good bye to this cahracter) but I would turn the page in fact very easily.
Because .. like I said.. you are (almost) all missing the obvious:
By thinking that I'm defending Carrot because I like her, (and therefore thinking that I will absolutely get crushed if she doesn't join) you are blinding yourself to the truth (and blinding yourself from an actual analysis of the story):
1 - I'm not defending Carrot, I'm defending the CarrotforNakama theory I always have been.
2 - I'm not defending this theory because of Carrot, but because it's a challenge against myself.
And there is something I didn't revealed to you guys:
Like I already hinted to you, I come from a sceptical background, I love the truth more than anything in the world. So.. even if I love to be right, I LIVE for being proven wrong!
So don't worry about me.. In either cases..
I'll be just fine!
:cheers:
For two reasons:
1 - Carrot will become a strawhat so, this will confirm what I have stated all. The story is going my way, not the opposite.
2 - Even if Carrot doesn't join the crew.. this work was intended to train me in understanding how Oda is constructing his story. So trust me that, as a creator.. the amount of things that I learned is gold material!
Then..
You think that I will be crushed..
And here comes your second and biggest mistake: you are not a good observer.
If you were one, you would have noticed that I almost NEVER use my own enjoyement of the story and personnal appreciation of the character to analyse the storylines concerning either Carrot or Yamato.
Yes .. you and most of the people here, are failing to see the obvious:
Carrot becoming a strawhat or not, will only have an impact on my future as a creator. If I'm right, my journey is nearing its end and if I'm wrong.. I'll still have a lot to learn. In BOTH cases, this is very exciting to me.
But Carrot is just a character that I like. I liked a ton of character who didn't join the crew. I'm only attached to her because of what she represent in the story for me. It's not even my favourite one, there are two maybe three character in front of her concerning One Piece..
If Carrot were to have a different road that I have in mind.. I would be sad for a few seconds maybe.. (the time to say good bye to this cahracter) but I would turn the page in fact very easily.
Because .. like I said.. you are (almost) all missing the obvious:
By thinking that I'm defending Carrot because I like her, (and therefore thinking that I will absolutely get crushed if she doesn't join) you are blinding yourself to the truth (and blinding yourself from an actual analysis of the story):
1 - I'm not defending Carrot, I'm defending the CarrotforNakama theory I always have been.
2 - I'm not defending this theory because of Carrot, but because it's a challenge against myself.
And there is something I didn't revealed to you guys:
Like I already hinted to you, I come from a sceptical background, I love the truth more than anything in the world. So.. even if I love to be right, I LIVE for being proven wrong!
So don't worry about me.. In either cases..
I'll be just fine!
:cheers:
Yup
What do you mean by that ?
Sanji vs Katakuri ? How was this even a debate ? lol
She did, for 2 chapter, but for the rest, It's will come don't worry
I have a theory about that (I wrote this in a private discord):
Wano is the climax of the Yonko saga, this is something Oda has been building up since the beginning of the story. And by "this" I mean the core of what the Yonko really is: - The large plot of Wano (The setup for the war and the war itself) - The few important storylines (Big Mom and Kaido / Yamato / The rise and fall of Onigashima / Luffy's rise to power / The strawhats / Momo's growth / The scabbard story / Oden and the Kozuki / Joyboy and the dawn.. - And mostly the themes (Parenthood / the Inherited will / The importance of the dawn / The legacy of Oden / the Japanese symbolism etc.) If you ask me what Oda is interested in right now, I'd say that his interest lies in those three things MOSTLY. And if I were to make a vast assumption.. I'd say that everything else is just optionnal to him at the moment (The little storylines / Characters development in the story [Sanji/Zoro] / The gestion of characters etc..) So if you'd ask me where is Carrot's place in all of that, I'd say, right at the bottom. If we follow the interview we knew to things: That Oda wasn't expecting to have such a long pretimeskip and that he has been wanting to write Wano for a very, very long time. So the themes and the overall plot must have taken such an important part of his mind that everything else became icing on the wedding cake.. and talking about wedding.. I would put my hand to the beast on the fact that Whole cake is actually an extension of Wano and that it was not here at first.
As I see it now, I think One Piece was just supposed to have a few islands to introduce the crew at first with a BIG middle point at Wano and the rest of the story being the race to the One Piece. So Oda might have had in mind most of his crew the end race of the story and of course the clash between the emperor at Wano.. I'd even go as far as saying that Big Mom and Kaido were supposed to be a couple during that arc a mom and a dad. But of course, when you write something so young, you are bound to make it grow, it how my.. does an idea grow and that without even thinking about it.. Oda then came up with Alabasta.. Vivi.. the shishibukai .. the supernovae .. maybe even Ace (that's debatable).. and the conflict that became Marineford.. Of course Oda didn't planned that at first.. We even have the clew in our interview taht Doffy was supposed to be a Wano fow, Dressora was therefore surely a late idea (I'd even bet on the date (2006) quote me on this lol).. Punk hazard being a dressrosa setup, it might have been the same) I'm still conflicted about Zou that might have been an earlier setup to Wano, Then (of before) Oda might have went with: "wait, what if I went rather for a "Mom" arc and a "Dad" arc instead of having two confused storylines in one..?" Whole cake was born. And with whole cake.. all the possibility of developping new characters.. like Carrot.. I often say that I think that Carrot was a late addition to the crew.. Carrot just feel like a narrative "DLC" (a good one) if we look closely at the story. I think (and I might be wrong on the pattern) that Oda had a plan for another strawhat, but that was not Carrot.. then he changed his mind.. and said to himself.. "why shouldn't I use the space of Whole cake to developp my new idea" Enters.. Carrot.. and all we know about her.. a strict construction of character during whole cake.. and then.. nothing..(almost)
I think that all of this is the reason why we don't see Carrot in Wano. This is not her story, she might have not even planned in it.. And Oda is so excited and focused on Wano that there is just no room for Carrot to grow. Does this mean that he forgot her ? NO. 1006 proved it. But he might only be able to do the minimum.. *
Of course all of this are nothing but assumptions. But this is what the story is whispering to me through it's construction.
In short, Wano is not Carrot's story, Oda is making Carrot stay low for now. Whole cake plots is the beginning of Carrot's character arc.. the end of it will come later.
Because narratively it seems like she needed to lose. In short. Oda needed to say to Carrot some hard things about life through Perospero, in order for her to become stronger and join the strawhat. At least that how the story seems to direct Carrot to.
Because Perospero is not Carrot's personnal main antagonist.
Same reasons. Oda only needed Perospero to defeat Carrot, the how was meaningless.
Because her fight was meaningless. The only thing that count was the end and the monologue of PErospero. For that Carrot needed to lose.
Luffyonly save the strawhats from themself. He helps them get over their personnal conflict. In the case of Carrot VS Perospero.. it's her battle, and therefore her lose.
For the same reason Luffy didn't intervene between Zoro VS mihawk, Luffy wouldn't have intervene for carrot here. Carrot needed that loss to grow.
Because Carrot don't need a flashback, every bits of element we need (usually bringing out from flashbacks) are present in the current timeline of the story.
Because .. "Laying low." As I see it, Oda stays very subtle with Carrot. He will only do the minimum in order to surprise us later. So, the next time you really see Carrot, will most likely be at the very end of the arc after the strawhat's departure.
Carrot, now, will most likely fight alongside the Minks and "maybe" find a way to join back with Nami.. If we are lucky, we might even get a reunion of all the strawhats in the big scene of the manor.
If Oda follow his consistancy with Carrot here and if I'm right.. You will most likely not see Carrot do anything major until the very end of the arc.
Yes, all of this matter.
If it hasn't happened but there are clews in the story that it will.. it's not just air. It probability
At this point, I'm done trying to convince you, I have enough content on my blog to do that, you will just have to read it if you dare.. No.. now I'm just trying to warn you about what will happen with Carrot and Yamato in order for the majority of you not to scream at Oda when he will do his final choices.
No. That's not how storytelling analysis works.
The narrative of the story is actually very clear. THeir are no headcanon is saying that Carrot is at the begiining of her journey. It's a narrative fact. But I can understand that it might be hard to see.
No. There is not.
Wrong
Right, but strenght is not a parameter of recrutment.
Wrong. If it was the case, it would have been stated Post timeskip.
Trust me, it will.
I'll make sure of that. I warn all of you right at the beginning that this was Carrot turf now.
Wrong. Narratively. yamato is closing in on a future role as a protector of Wano, and so, as a Wano citizen. Not a strawhat. This is undeniable, you can just check the 5 latest chapter where Yamato was in.
Freashness
Wonder
A new look out
A strong ally as a look out and a sentry
A knowledge of the Mink tribe and MAYBE .. the dawn
A new look on life
A lot of new shenanigans
Humor
The deconstruction of the stereotypical One Piece girl
A new friend
A new mouth to feed and a new way for Sanji to improve his skill (this one is for the trolls)
A new dynamique
A new potential for creativity
Dude, I'm not even trolling. The arguments for Carrot are a LOOOOOOOOOT stronger than those for Yamato. Basically, Yamato has 6 argument going for her.. and those 6 arguments can be debunked EASILY.
I don't have mercy anymore so.. face the warth of the copy paste.
Yamato
Yamato was first mentionned in chapter 977 and since her first apparition, Yamato gained a lot of popularity within the One Piece fanbase, some even calling her.. the next strawhat.
But, does Yamato really deserves all this hype and even more so, does Yamato has what it takes at the present time in the story to be considered the future best potential crewmate ?
To answer this question we need to go back to the story:
Chapter 983: Wearing a hannya mask (a mask representing a jealous oni, usually female, often used in japanese theater. ) Yamato appears in front of Luffy to smash Ulti with her kanabo.
Yamato's design is striking. In almost all parameters it ressemble the design of Oden with one exception, she doesn't use a Katana. Let's not forget that, this will become important later.
Yamato is a personnification of Oden, or rather, this is what she wants to accomplish. We understand later that she witnessed the hours of legend. She was so moved by Oden's action that since then, she has been wanting to become like him. But Yamato did not want only to be "like" Oden, she wanted to become Oden. First by calling herself "the son of Kaido" and becoming a man like Oden, then and after finding the book of Oden, by talking with his ideals and wishes.
After telling all of that to Kaido, the Yonku strended her on Onigashima. Because of that and the ideals of Oden, Yamato developped a strong desire of freedom and the goal to go on an adventure at sea. After meating Ace, Yamato's determination rised up until the meeting with Luffy but even more so, with Momonosuke. The encounter took Yamato to an unexpected turn.. making her actually care about the Kozukis and the futur shogun of Wano.
Now I will debunk some points made by the fanbase about Yamato in comparison to Carrot.
The respect of Luffy
Yamato really respects Luffy to the point of admiration and if we could take that as a real clue to her potential recruitment, there is also two catch:
- First the Strawhats (at least in the crew) don't admires Luffy, they only have a deep respect for him and right now, Yamato is leaning more toward admiration than respect
- That respect in based on the action of Luffy toward them and not his words. Each Nakama has been changed deeply by the presence of Luffy but it didn't happen to Yamato, Yet. Yes Yamato has been freed for her shakles, but not her mind.
Panel time
One of the parameters that is often discuss about is the amount of paneltime of Yamato compared to Carrot
First we must NOT forget that whole Cake happened, you can't just say it doesn't count anymore when the storylines from this arc are still being developped. The part of the story we are in is called the Yonko Saga for a reason, everything is linked together. And so, the screentime of Carrot during whole Cake is still relevant.
Now, let's get that out of the way to look at the content where Yamato appears: We can notice that almost every apparition of her are constructed to enhance another character. First it was Ace, then it was Luffy, then it was to Help Momonosuke then to stall down Kaido until the real battle of Luffy and finally recently with the interactions of several supernovae and Big Mom's fight. Aside from her fight and her flashback, the content is almost never focused on Yamato first.
It doesn't mean Yamato's panel time is irrelevant, it just means that we have to be careful with how much she is shown by Oda. Yamato is still a very important character, as important as an "arc character" like Kyros, Rebecca, Shiraoshi etc.
The heritage of Kaido and Oden
This point is very simple, it states that because Yamato is the "Son of Kaido" and heir of Oden, therefore a strong character, it gives her a place of choice in the strawhat crew.. This assertion is based on a bias. Luffy doesn't recruit character because they are strong or because they are the heir of someone.
The parrallel with Oden
The heritage of Oden is often used to show that Yamato wanting to be Oden will lead her to go.. Like Oden, on sea to see the world. If this could be true, this is also a hypothesis that ignores three important factor:
FIRST
We must not forget that the reason why Oden was accepted on Roger's ship, was to decifer the poneglyph. On the Sunny, someone already has that role.
SECOND
.. And this will be long. We must be VERY careful with the parrallelism as it is a big theorist trap and confirmation bias blackhole. Indeed there are elements indicating some similarities between the strawhats and the Roger pirates, it's undeniable.. BUT.. there is also evidences that those similarities are here to contrast the real differences between those two crews. Let me explain:
Yes Luffy is very much like Roger, their mindset are similar in a way. Also, like the Roger's Pirates, the crew is founded on a strong base of powerful people with some specific roles : Doctor / First hand man etc.. And of course, their is a very close bond between the members and there are also small similarities within the story..
But that just it.. within the scope of the crew itself.. we can't go farther.
For example, we can't expect the strawhats to be around 30 in numbers at the end of Raftel, it wouldn't make any sence. Plus, each strawhat is specialized, not Roger's crew. The same applies to the dynamic of the crew, yes Roger is familiar with his crewmate, but there are no evidences supporting the similarities between Luffy's view of the world of his crew and Roger's. Luffy would rather be an underlings of Big Mom rather than lost a crewmate..
Do we think that Roger would do that ? There are no evidences supporting it, and taking the character of Roger into account, it's debatable. Finally, Luffy doesn't recruit just for his purpose it goes a lot deeper than that.
THIRD
... and the most important one, there are reasons to believe their is much more to Yamato's character that meet the eye. Indeed Yamato was constructed as a conflicted character by Oda. How come such a strong character never tried to get the cuff off, how come such a spirited character had to wait Ace to express the desire to go to sea..
...I think that Yamato is a character ruled by Fear. The fear of taking her own freedom, the fear of taking action without thinking about the consequences.
I think that: is why Yamato loved Ace so much, that is why Yamato respects Luffy and that's why she wanted to become Oden.
All those character are free from their fears !! Those are the type of character Yamato follows.
That's why Luffy is not the one Yamato will follow but Momonosuke. Momonosuke's arc of character is all about concquering his fears and gaining his freedom in order to rule Wano. I think that those actions are what will lead Yamato to follow Momo and in a way completing the parrallel with Oden, by staying in Wano.
Time spent with Luffy
This one is also very simple. The argument rest on the fact that because Yamato had a conversation with Luffy, they have more chances to join the crew than Carrot. This can be debunked in two points;
- First Yamato didn't spent a lot of time with Luffy, only a few minutes, and most of the time, Luffy was more interested in saving Momo than hearing Yamato.
- For this moment to meant a real deal, Yamato would need to pass the "Nakama naming test" after the conversation. But it didn't happened. In fact Yamato was named Yama-o or Yama-bro by Luffy at the end of the scene. And even after being asked by Yamato to say it correctly Luffy proceed with Yama-O
Remember, a Nakama will always be named correctly when they reformulate their name to Luffy. This will be important when we will analyse Carrot later, you'll see.
The demand
This is one of the most frequent arguments in favor of Yamato. The argument is as follow:
"Yamato asked Luffy to join, this is therefore a foreshadow to the recruitment of Yamato in the crew."
Well.. This is where things gets interesting. Because the fact is, that demand is not a foreshadow, in fact it's not a demand at all.
- This argument ignores the fact that Yamato didn't asked Luffy, she affirmed that because Luffy was the brother of Ace, she would therefore have a place on the ship. But remember, Luffy don't like being push around and this is false logic.
- This affirmation is not a foreshadowing but something else, something I call a subversion dialogue.
Click HERE (link to my blog) to understand what a subversion dialogue is.
Yamato's "you should be giving me a ride on your ship" is a false promise (for the fan) from a Positive > to > a Negative and a Negative > to > a positive (for the character of Yamato).
The hint is the corruption of the promise. Yamato wants to go on the ship for the wrong reasons (not for Luffy but by simple "logic") and she doesn't ask, she states.
Imagine any other character having the same statement ("you should be giving me a ride on your ship") it would be clear that this is a false promise.
This is why I think that by understanding what they really wants, Yamato will change her goal and might realise that there is no need for her to go. A good reader of One Piece will know that all the Nakama will follow Luffy because of him first. That why here, The story hints us that Yamato is kinda lying to herself.
This "subversion dialogue" shows us two things:
- What Yamato said to Luffy won't happen, even if she becomes Nakama, that won't be for those reasons! So and even if it's still possible, the integration of Yamato to the crew is still unlikely.
- Oda is still playing with the "nakama" card and what better way to plan the surprise of the integration of a new crew member, that to make us believe another member will join. And if you don't believe me..
Remember that Oda already did that. With Vivi and Robin.
Now.. Here we are..
With 6 argument in favor of Yamato
Are they enough for Yamato to be considered a good recruit? No. I fact, each of them can be debunked.
Don't get me wrong, Yamato is a good character, she has some potential and Oda could surprise us with that character, but she is FAR from being as close as Carrot in the race for the Sunny right now.
The most obvious argument being the lack introduction as a future crewmate. Like previously mentionned, each strawhats are introduced EARLY with a clear capacities for a post on the ship. If that happened already for Carrot (and on her introduction), it did not for Yamato. Even in battle, Oda could be giving us hints. But there is nothing and we are far, now, from her introduction.. The chances for her to be introduced as a potential crewmate are therefore getting slimmer and slimmer.
Here, with that.. the argument in favor of Yamato are gone.. Piouff!! Just like that...
Nope. Not happening.
What do you mean by that ?
Sanji vs Katakuri ? How was this even a debate ? lol
She did, for 2 chapter, but for the rest, It's will come don't worry
I have a theory about that (I wrote this in a private discord):
Wano is the climax of the Yonko saga, this is something Oda has been building up since the beginning of the story. And by "this" I mean the core of what the Yonko really is: - The large plot of Wano (The setup for the war and the war itself) - The few important storylines (Big Mom and Kaido / Yamato / The rise and fall of Onigashima / Luffy's rise to power / The strawhats / Momo's growth / The scabbard story / Oden and the Kozuki / Joyboy and the dawn.. - And mostly the themes (Parenthood / the Inherited will / The importance of the dawn / The legacy of Oden / the Japanese symbolism etc.) If you ask me what Oda is interested in right now, I'd say that his interest lies in those three things MOSTLY. And if I were to make a vast assumption.. I'd say that everything else is just optionnal to him at the moment (The little storylines / Characters development in the story [Sanji/Zoro] / The gestion of characters etc..) So if you'd ask me where is Carrot's place in all of that, I'd say, right at the bottom. If we follow the interview we knew to things: That Oda wasn't expecting to have such a long pretimeskip and that he has been wanting to write Wano for a very, very long time. So the themes and the overall plot must have taken such an important part of his mind that everything else became icing on the wedding cake.. and talking about wedding.. I would put my hand to the beast on the fact that Whole cake is actually an extension of Wano and that it was not here at first.
As I see it now, I think One Piece was just supposed to have a few islands to introduce the crew at first with a BIG middle point at Wano and the rest of the story being the race to the One Piece. So Oda might have had in mind most of his crew the end race of the story and of course the clash between the emperor at Wano.. I'd even go as far as saying that Big Mom and Kaido were supposed to be a couple during that arc a mom and a dad. But of course, when you write something so young, you are bound to make it grow, it how my.. does an idea grow and that without even thinking about it.. Oda then came up with Alabasta.. Vivi.. the shishibukai .. the supernovae .. maybe even Ace (that's debatable).. and the conflict that became Marineford.. Of course Oda didn't planned that at first.. We even have the clew in our interview taht Doffy was supposed to be a Wano fow, Dressora was therefore surely a late idea (I'd even bet on the date (2006) quote me on this lol).. Punk hazard being a dressrosa setup, it might have been the same) I'm still conflicted about Zou that might have been an earlier setup to Wano, Then (of before) Oda might have went with: "wait, what if I went rather for a "Mom" arc and a "Dad" arc instead of having two confused storylines in one..?" Whole cake was born. And with whole cake.. all the possibility of developping new characters.. like Carrot.. I often say that I think that Carrot was a late addition to the crew.. Carrot just feel like a narrative "DLC" (a good one) if we look closely at the story. I think (and I might be wrong on the pattern) that Oda had a plan for another strawhat, but that was not Carrot.. then he changed his mind.. and said to himself.. "why shouldn't I use the space of Whole cake to developp my new idea" Enters.. Carrot.. and all we know about her.. a strict construction of character during whole cake.. and then.. nothing..(almost)
I think that all of this is the reason why we don't see Carrot in Wano. This is not her story, she might have not even planned in it.. And Oda is so excited and focused on Wano that there is just no room for Carrot to grow. Does this mean that he forgot her ? NO. 1006 proved it. But he might only be able to do the minimum.. *
Of course all of this are nothing but assumptions. But this is what the story is whispering to me through it's construction.
In short, Wano is not Carrot's story, Oda is making Carrot stay low for now. Whole cake plots is the beginning of Carrot's character arc.. the end of it will come later.
Because narratively it seems like she needed to lose. In short. Oda needed to say to Carrot some hard things about life through Perospero, in order for her to become stronger and join the strawhat. At least that how the story seems to direct Carrot to.
Because Perospero is not Carrot's personnal main antagonist.
Same reasons. Oda only needed Perospero to defeat Carrot, the how was meaningless.
Because her fight was meaningless. The only thing that count was the end and the monologue of PErospero. For that Carrot needed to lose.
Luffyonly save the strawhats from themself. He helps them get over their personnal conflict. In the case of Carrot VS Perospero.. it's her battle, and therefore her lose.
For the same reason Luffy didn't intervene between Zoro VS mihawk, Luffy wouldn't have intervene for carrot here. Carrot needed that loss to grow.
Because Carrot don't need a flashback, every bits of element we need (usually bringing out from flashbacks) are present in the current timeline of the story.
Because .. "Laying low." As I see it, Oda stays very subtle with Carrot. He will only do the minimum in order to surprise us later. So, the next time you really see Carrot, will most likely be at the very end of the arc after the strawhat's departure.
Carrot, now, will most likely fight alongside the Minks and "maybe" find a way to join back with Nami.. If we are lucky, we might even get a reunion of all the strawhats in the big scene of the manor.
If Oda follow his consistancy with Carrot here and if I'm right.. You will most likely not see Carrot do anything major until the very end of the arc.
Yes, all of this matter.
If it hasn't happened but there are clews in the story that it will.. it's not just air. It probability
At this point, I'm done trying to convince you, I have enough content on my blog to do that, you will just have to read it if you dare.. No.. now I'm just trying to warn you about what will happen with Carrot and Yamato in order for the majority of you not to scream at Oda when he will do his final choices.
No. That's not how storytelling analysis works.
The narrative of the story is actually very clear. THeir are no headcanon is saying that Carrot is at the begiining of her journey. It's a narrative fact. But I can understand that it might be hard to see.
No. There is not.
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Wrong
Right, but strenght is not a parameter of recrutment.
Wrong. If it was the case, it would have been stated Post timeskip.
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Trust me, it will.
I'll make sure of that. I warn all of you right at the beginning that this was Carrot turf now.
Wrong. Narratively. yamato is closing in on a future role as a protector of Wano, and so, as a Wano citizen. Not a strawhat. This is undeniable, you can just check the 5 latest chapter where Yamato was in.
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Freashness
Wonder
A new look out
A strong ally as a look out and a sentry
A knowledge of the Mink tribe and MAYBE .. the dawn
A new look on life
A lot of new shenanigans
Humor
The deconstruction of the stereotypical One Piece girl
A new friend
A new mouth to feed and a new way for Sanji to improve his skill (this one is for the trolls)
A new dynamique
A new potential for creativity
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Dude, I'm not even trolling. The arguments for Carrot are a LOOOOOOOOOT stronger than those for Yamato. Basically, Yamato has 6 argument going for her.. and those 6 arguments can be debunked EASILY.
I don't have mercy anymore so.. face the warth of the copy paste.
Yamato
Yamato was first mentionned in chapter 977 and since her first apparition, Yamato gained a lot of popularity within the One Piece fanbase, some even calling her.. the next strawhat.
But, does Yamato really deserves all this hype and even more so, does Yamato has what it takes at the present time in the story to be considered the future best potential crewmate ?
To answer this question we need to go back to the story:
Chapter 983: Wearing a hannya mask (a mask representing a jealous oni, usually female, often used in japanese theater. ) Yamato appears in front of Luffy to smash Ulti with her kanabo.
Yamato's design is striking. In almost all parameters it ressemble the design of Oden with one exception, she doesn't use a Katana. Let's not forget that, this will become important later.
Yamato is a personnification of Oden, or rather, this is what she wants to accomplish. We understand later that she witnessed the hours of legend. She was so moved by Oden's action that since then, she has been wanting to become like him. But Yamato did not want only to be "like" Oden, she wanted to become Oden. First by calling herself "the son of Kaido" and becoming a man like Oden, then and after finding the book of Oden, by talking with his ideals and wishes.
After telling all of that to Kaido, the Yonku strended her on Onigashima. Because of that and the ideals of Oden, Yamato developped a strong desire of freedom and the goal to go on an adventure at sea. After meating Ace, Yamato's determination rised up until the meeting with Luffy but even more so, with Momonosuke. The encounter took Yamato to an unexpected turn.. making her actually care about the Kozukis and the futur shogun of Wano.
Now I will debunk some points made by the fanbase about Yamato in comparison to Carrot.
The respect of Luffy
Yamato really respects Luffy to the point of admiration and if we could take that as a real clue to her potential recruitment, there is also two catch:
- First the Strawhats (at least in the crew) don't admires Luffy, they only have a deep respect for him and right now, Yamato is leaning more toward admiration than respect
- That respect in based on the action of Luffy toward them and not his words. Each Nakama has been changed deeply by the presence of Luffy but it didn't happen to Yamato, Yet. Yes Yamato has been freed for her shakles, but not her mind.
Panel time
One of the parameters that is often discuss about is the amount of paneltime of Yamato compared to Carrot
First we must NOT forget that whole Cake happened, you can't just say it doesn't count anymore when the storylines from this arc are still being developped. The part of the story we are in is called the Yonko Saga for a reason, everything is linked together. And so, the screentime of Carrot during whole Cake is still relevant.
Now, let's get that out of the way to look at the content where Yamato appears: We can notice that almost every apparition of her are constructed to enhance another character. First it was Ace, then it was Luffy, then it was to Help Momonosuke then to stall down Kaido until the real battle of Luffy and finally recently with the interactions of several supernovae and Big Mom's fight. Aside from her fight and her flashback, the content is almost never focused on Yamato first.
It doesn't mean Yamato's panel time is irrelevant, it just means that we have to be careful with how much she is shown by Oda. Yamato is still a very important character, as important as an "arc character" like Kyros, Rebecca, Shiraoshi etc.
The heritage of Kaido and Oden
This point is very simple, it states that because Yamato is the "Son of Kaido" and heir of Oden, therefore a strong character, it gives her a place of choice in the strawhat crew.. This assertion is based on a bias. Luffy doesn't recruit character because they are strong or because they are the heir of someone.
The parrallel with Oden
The heritage of Oden is often used to show that Yamato wanting to be Oden will lead her to go.. Like Oden, on sea to see the world. If this could be true, this is also a hypothesis that ignores three important factor:
FIRST
We must not forget that the reason why Oden was accepted on Roger's ship, was to decifer the poneglyph. On the Sunny, someone already has that role.
SECOND
.. And this will be long. We must be VERY careful with the parrallelism as it is a big theorist trap and confirmation bias blackhole. Indeed there are elements indicating some similarities between the strawhats and the Roger pirates, it's undeniable.. BUT.. there is also evidences that those similarities are here to contrast the real differences between those two crews. Let me explain:
Yes Luffy is very much like Roger, their mindset are similar in a way. Also, like the Roger's Pirates, the crew is founded on a strong base of powerful people with some specific roles : Doctor / First hand man etc.. And of course, their is a very close bond between the members and there are also small similarities within the story..
But that just it.. within the scope of the crew itself.. we can't go farther.
For example, we can't expect the strawhats to be around 30 in numbers at the end of Raftel, it wouldn't make any sence. Plus, each strawhat is specialized, not Roger's crew. The same applies to the dynamic of the crew, yes Roger is familiar with his crewmate, but there are no evidences supporting the similarities between Luffy's view of the world of his crew and Roger's. Luffy would rather be an underlings of Big Mom rather than lost a crewmate..
Do we think that Roger would do that ? There are no evidences supporting it, and taking the character of Roger into account, it's debatable. Finally, Luffy doesn't recruit just for his purpose it goes a lot deeper than that.
THIRD
... and the most important one, there are reasons to believe their is much more to Yamato's character that meet the eye. Indeed Yamato was constructed as a conflicted character by Oda. How come such a strong character never tried to get the cuff off, how come such a spirited character had to wait Ace to express the desire to go to sea..
...I think that Yamato is a character ruled by Fear. The fear of taking her own freedom, the fear of taking action without thinking about the consequences.
I think that: is why Yamato loved Ace so much, that is why Yamato respects Luffy and that's why she wanted to become Oden.
All those character are free from their fears !! Those are the type of character Yamato follows.
That's why Luffy is not the one Yamato will follow but Momonosuke. Momonosuke's arc of character is all about concquering his fears and gaining his freedom in order to rule Wano. I think that those actions are what will lead Yamato to follow Momo and in a way completing the parrallel with Oden, by staying in Wano.
Time spent with Luffy
This one is also very simple. The argument rest on the fact that because Yamato had a conversation with Luffy, they have more chances to join the crew than Carrot. This can be debunked in two points;
- First Yamato didn't spent a lot of time with Luffy, only a few minutes, and most of the time, Luffy was more interested in saving Momo than hearing Yamato.
- For this moment to meant a real deal, Yamato would need to pass the "Nakama naming test" after the conversation. But it didn't happened. In fact Yamato was named Yama-o or Yama-bro by Luffy at the end of the scene. And even after being asked by Yamato to say it correctly Luffy proceed with Yama-O
Remember, a Nakama will always be named correctly when they reformulate their name to Luffy. This will be important when we will analyse Carrot later, you'll see.
The demand
This is one of the most frequent arguments in favor of Yamato. The argument is as follow:
"Yamato asked Luffy to join, this is therefore a foreshadow to the recruitment of Yamato in the crew."
Well.. This is where things gets interesting. Because the fact is, that demand is not a foreshadow, in fact it's not a demand at all.
- This argument ignores the fact that Yamato didn't asked Luffy, she affirmed that because Luffy was the brother of Ace, she would therefore have a place on the ship. But remember, Luffy don't like being push around and this is false logic.
- This affirmation is not a foreshadowing but something else, something I call a subversion dialogue.
Click HERE (link to my blog) to understand what a subversion dialogue is.
Yamato's "you should be giving me a ride on your ship" is a false promise (for the fan) from a Positive > to > a Negative and a Negative > to > a positive (for the character of Yamato).
The hint is the corruption of the promise. Yamato wants to go on the ship for the wrong reasons (not for Luffy but by simple "logic") and she doesn't ask, she states.
Imagine any other character having the same statement ("you should be giving me a ride on your ship") it would be clear that this is a false promise.
This is why I think that by understanding what they really wants, Yamato will change her goal and might realise that there is no need for her to go. A good reader of One Piece will know that all the Nakama will follow Luffy because of him first. That why here, The story hints us that Yamato is kinda lying to herself.
This "subversion dialogue" shows us two things:
- What Yamato said to Luffy won't happen, even if she becomes Nakama, that won't be for those reasons! So and even if it's still possible, the integration of Yamato to the crew is still unlikely.
- Oda is still playing with the "nakama" card and what better way to plan the surprise of the integration of a new crew member, that to make us believe another member will join. And if you don't believe me..
Remember that Oda already did that. With Vivi and Robin.
Now.. Here we are..
With 6 argument in favor of Yamato
Are they enough for Yamato to be considered a good recruit? No. I fact, each of them can be debunked.
Don't get me wrong, Yamato is a good character, she has some potential and Oda could surprise us with that character, but she is FAR from being as close as Carrot in the race for the Sunny right now.
The most obvious argument being the lack introduction as a future crewmate. Like previously mentionned, each strawhats are introduced EARLY with a clear capacities for a post on the ship. If that happened already for Carrot (and on her introduction), it did not for Yamato. Even in battle, Oda could be giving us hints. But there is nothing and we are far, now, from her introduction.. The chances for her to be introduced as a potential crewmate are therefore getting slimmer and slimmer.
Here, with that.. the argument in favor of Yamato are gone.. Piouff!! Just like that...
Nope. Not happening.
:cheers: and
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