I don't think Usopp would have been so quick to run if Robin wasn't turned into a toy. Usopp probably doesn't even remember Robin, so to him he was just betraying the Dwarves that he just met the day before. The fact that he came back to save them, even though he barely knows them says a lot about his character.
It's obvious that we're going to have different opinions about this. I personally think Sugar stands out from the other females that have been introduced in this arc, and you, well, you probably don't agree with me. Her ability to turn people into toys is one of the most fascinating abilities so far in the series, or so I think, and it's far more interesting than the ability to turn oneself into any weapon or the ability to read minds.
The 'problem' I have with the other females is that they're too open to romance, with the exception of Rebecca. Viola is too friendly with Sanji, and there are times one may wonder if she has feelings for him or not. This alone sends Viola down under most candidates on my list of 'next Strawhat'. I'm not saying it's impossible that she'll join the crew in the end, but because she's the princess of Dressrosa, I find it more likely that she'll end up staying.
The problem with Baby 5 goes without saying. She would obviously go as far as to marry someone if she's ever under the impression that she's needed. It would get tiring if she'd get emotional every single time a person from the crew asked her for help or ordered her around. And I can't imagine how she would react to Sanji, who'd probably flirt with her every single day. To me, it's these small things that decide whether one become a crew mate or not.
I don't really have anything against Rebecca as a character, but still, there are things about her that bothers me. She holds back while fighting; she's a pacifist, and she doesn't believe in fighting. She can't hold back when she travels around with the Strawhats. Another thing is that she looks exactly like Nami, except her coloring. I don't know about you, but I want each crew member to have unique features and looks. So, no, I just don't see her joining the crew.
So, out of all the females, Sugar is the only one that stands out, or that's what I think at least. It's clearly just my wishful thinking, but that doesn't mean I don't think it will happen. You said that we can't say much about her backstory, but we can actually. Her devil fruit abilities made her age freeze, so who knows how old she really is. For all we know, she could've been born centuries ago. If that is so, we can only imagine how lonely she is if the people around her died one after another. That's why, once again, I think her backstory has lots of potential.
This isn't really an opinion, at least not when it concerns who currently has the highest chance of joining the Strawhats for so far there is someone. Till this chapter there was absolutely nothing that even remotely hinted that Sugar would ever join the Strawhat nor anything that, as you say, makes her stand out, especially when you follow the standards you yourself mentioned. If you follow those, then someone like Violet has severe edge on Sugar. This chapter we just got two very small panels of Sugar that indicate there is definitely going to happen something with her, but that and joining the Strawhats are worlds apart. Bon Clay also was very friendly with the Strawhats, but never joined them either and again then there are several other characters to whom it already applies. Violet also originally had to take down the Strawhats, but ended up helping them.
You can have your own preference of who you want to join the Strawhats of course, but with the current info we have of Sugar, saying that she currently stands out is simply not true, especially not when you would follow most of the aspects you listed yourself which apply as much, or even more, to several other characters. So how is it possible that she then stands out more than others?
What is an interesting ability however is an opinion as it's very subjective. Personally I find her ability not that interesting, it seems something that was specifically created to fit this situation as there isn't any kind of connection between turning people into toys and people having collective amnesia about that person. Also whether she has an interesting ability or not really doesn't matter. Even if Luffy continuously invites people to his crew because they're whack, plotwise they only really joined the crew after the plot unfolded. Likewise you could say that Violet's ability is far more useful to the Strawhats than Sugar.
I don't really get what romance has to do with this. Romance is barely a theme in OP and when it happens, often it's half and half for comical relief and among the Strawhats there has been barely any kind of romance. The only one is Sanji, but he simply drools over any beautiful woman, I wouldn't call that romantic and even though I don't see him hitting on a kid, the fact is that Sugar is still a woman and emotionally she already a grown up woman as her body just stopped aging. Sanji would probably draw the oni-chan card or something. In fact because Violet seemingly shows some interest in Sanji, which is something new, it increases rather than decreases her chances of joining the Strawhats. What kind of romance was there with Robin? Or Nami? None. The fact that there is more than one princess makes that argument pretty weak.
Your comments about Rebecca and Baby5 are mainly reasons as why you don't want them in the Strawhats and not real arguments as why they will not join, but that doesn't take away that Sugar has absolutely nothing going for her either. You are just saying you prefer her over other characters, but that's something very differently from saying that she clearly stands out and that she's going to become the next Strawhat. The only thing she has are two small panels with a weird look that can mean a hundred things and, as I said at the beginning, it annoys me that just based on something so vague, something that has no relation directly to joining the Strawhats people directly go to "that one is going to join".
Sugar doesn't stand out. Her DF made her body stop aging, but that doesn't mean she's immortal and is 500 years old. The fact that she was part of Doflamingo's original crew, which one by one are fiercely loyal to him, doesn't work in her favor either. We know much more about Violet's and Rebecca's backgrounds than her.
Personally I don't see anyone joining. People always fall back on what Luffy said all the way back at the start of the series, but who says that even still applies? So it's not certain anyone is going to join. Then it's not confirmed either it's a woman, that's just the most logical assumption as there are already so many males in the crew, still that doesn't rule out the possibility. And then people start saying for every character that simply makes an appearance that it's going to join the crew. That you had to start listing all those female characters and say why you don't want them, that you had to use the process of elimination of other characters rather than supporting arguments for Sugar, shows that there is barely anything that supports her.
I don't see nor really want Sugar, Rebecca or any other character shown so far to join the Strawhats nor has any of them had anything going for them to indicate they might join. It just bugs me that people go so easily for no reason at all the 'joining the Strawhat' road. You can prefer Sugar, the only female character I ever preferred myself was Jewelry Bonney, but I never claim and never will claim that she stands out or that she will join the crew as there is nothing that points into that direction. It's just a personal preference and it's something I only started considering during the timeskip.
Realistically speaking if there is anyone who is standing out to join Strawhats, it's Violet. What first appeared as just one of DD's cronies again, she's in fact someone who suffered years for her family serving the man who murdered some of her kin, she has a useful ability and already created good relationships with several Strawhats. Also it seems very fun to see how she starts stabbing Sanji whenever he would hit on Robin or Nami. That, unlike Vivi, she is not an only child, she isn't so bound to her country. Not that I want her to join or that that are very strong indicates that she's going to join, but it's more than Sugar who was till this chapter just one of the many DD supporters.
This isn't really an opinion, at least not when it concerns who currently has the highest chance of joining the Strawhats for so far there is someone. Till this chapter there was absolutely nothing that even remotely hinted that Sugar would ever join the Strawhat nor anything that, as you say, makes her stand out, especially when you follow the standards you yourself mentioned. If you follow those, then someone like Violet has severe edge on Sugar. This chapter we just got two very small panels of Sugar that indicate there is definitely going to happen something with her, but that and joining the Strawhats are worlds apart. Bon Clay also was very friendly with the Strawhats, but never joined them either and again then there are several other characters to whom it already applies. Violet also originally had to take down the Strawhats, but ended up helping them.
You can have your own preference of who you want to join the Strawhats of course, but with the current info we have of Sugar, saying that she currently stands out is simply not true, especially not when you would follow most of the aspects you listed yourself which apply as much, or even more, to several other characters. So how is it possible that she then stands out more than others?
What is an interesting ability however is an opinion as it's very subjective. Personally I find her ability not that interesting, it seems something that was specifically created to fit this situation as there isn't any kind of connection between turning people into toys and people having collective amnesia about that person. Also whether she has an interesting ability or not really doesn't matter. Even if Luffy continuously invites people to his crew because they're whack, plotwise they only really joined the crew after the plot unfolded. Likewise you could say that Violet's ability is far more useful to the Strawhats than Sugar.
I don't really get what romance has to do with this. Romance is barely a theme in OP and when it happens, often it's half and half for comical relief and among the Strawhats there has been barely any kind of romance. The only one is Sanji, but he simply drools over any beautiful woman, I wouldn't call that romantic and even though I don't see him hitting on a kid, the fact is that Sugar is still a woman and emotionally she already a grown up woman as her body just stopped aging. Sanji would probably draw the oni-chan card or something. In fact because Violet seemingly shows some interest in Sanji, which is something new, it increases rather than decreases her chances of joining the Strawhats. What kind of romance was there with Robin? Or Nami? None. The fact that there is more than one princess makes that argument pretty weak.
Your comments about Rebecca and Baby5 are mainly reasons as why you don't want them in the Strawhats and not real arguments as why they will not join, but that doesn't take away that Sugar has absolutely nothing going for her either. You are just saying you prefer her over other characters, but that's something very differently from saying that she clearly stands out and that she's going to become the next Strawhat. The only thing she has are two small panels with a weird look that can mean a hundred things and, as I said at the beginning, it annoys me that just based on something so vague, something that has no relation directly to joining the Strawhats people directly go to "that one is going to join".
Sugar doesn't stand out. Her DF made her body stop aging, but that doesn't mean she's immortal and is 500 years old. The fact that she was part of Doflamingo's original crew, which one by one are fiercely loyal to him, doesn't work in her favor either. We know much more about Violet's and Rebecca's backgrounds than her.
Personally I don't see anyone joining. People always fall back on what Luffy said all the way back at the start of the series, but who says that even still applies? So it's not certain anyone is going to join. Then it's not confirmed either it's a woman, that's just the most logical assumption as there are already so many males in the crew, still that doesn't rule out the possibility. And then people start saying for every character that simply makes an appearance that it's going to join the crew. That you had to start listing all those female characters and say why you don't want them, that you had to use the process of elimination of other characters rather than supporting arguments for Sugar, shows that there is barely anything that supports her.
I don't see nor really want Sugar, Rebecca or any other character shown so far to join the Strawhats nor has any of them had anything going for them to indicate they might join. It just bugs me that people go so easily for no reason at all the 'joining the Strawhat' road. You can prefer Sugar, the only female character I ever preferred myself was Jewelry Bonney, but I never claim and never will claim that she stands out or that she will join the crew as there is nothing that points into that direction. It's just a personal preference and it's something I only started considering during the timeskip.
Realistically speaking if there is anyone who is standing out to join Strawhats, it's Violet. What first appeared as just one of DD's cronies again, she's in fact someone who suffered years for her family serving the man who murdered some of her kin, she has a useful ability and already created good relationships with several Strawhats. Also it seems very fun to see how she starts stabbing Sanji whenever he would hit on Robin or Nami. That, unlike Vivi, she is not an only child, she isn't so bound to her country. Not that I want her to join or that that are very strong indicates that she's going to join, but it's more than Sugar who was till this chapter just one of the many DD supporters.
You're right, it was never really hinted that Sugar would join the Strawhats, and yes, it is more my wishful thinking getting ahead of itself. However, whether I'm right or wrong, I still think Sugar is more likely to join the crew, at least more than the other females on Dressrosa. Just think back to Alabasta, when Robin was part of Baraque works; there were never shown any hints or indications that she would join the crew before the last chapters of the arc, and it surprised most of us readers. Robin hadn't met all the crew members, no one really recongnized her as a Strawhat, and we didn't get to know her backstory before much later. And just look now, after bringing out all her potential, Oda managed to put her among the readers' favorite characters. What I'm trying to say is that Oda surprised us once, has done it countless of times, and can easily do it again.
That's exactly it; we barely have any information on Sugar and her character, and I think that's exactly why she stands out more than the others. Maybe you're right, maybe it really is just about preferences, but when I look at the other female characters, like Violet or Rebecca, I just don't see that 'Strawhat heart' to them. That's mostly because we already know a whole lot about at this point, that their potential as characters is runnning out. That's what I think at least, and I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me.
Not sure if you're already aware of this or not, but when Oda made Sugar's abilities, he used the known idea and fact that childhood toys actually tend to be forgotten over the years when a child grows up. It isn't completely random. Personally I think that's a really fascinating ability, and I think such a factor matters for the next Strawhat. I'm not saying that the character with the most interesting ability is automatically the next member of the crew, nor am I saying that a character really does have to have some kind of unique fight style, but I find it important that new members from now on ends up fighting with more than swords or fists. It would make future fights more interesting as well.
When I said romance I didn't mean a lovey-dovey couple nor anything relatively close to that, I was talking about characters who're more emtional towards the opposite ***. The 'romance', if I can use that word, would most likely turn into some comic relief every now and then, yes. However, I disagree with you when it comes to Violet's chances of joining the crew. There has yet to be any real romance between the members of the crew, as you said, but you can't really use Nami and Robin as examples when they don't show any interest back, unlike Violet. It's probably going to be used as comic relief, as you said, but I still think it decreases her chances rather than increasing it.
My arguments and comments about the other females are both reasons why I don't want them to join and why I think their chances has decreased. They're not just about my preferences, as I honestly do think my arguments from earlier do decrease their chances to join, especially my comments about Rebecca's fighting style and looks. I'm not completely blind by what I want and don't want to happen, you know.
We really can't say if Sugar is immortal or not without Oda confirming it, but you're most likely right. Oda probably used the idea that 'those who don't grow up won't forget their toys', or something along those lines. Still, I wouldn't rule out the idea that she's immortal just yet. It's merely speculation, but we can't say for sure if her age froze along with her body. Still, whether she's twenty or fifty years old, I still think her background story has a lot of potential. But that can be said about most characters, before their past is actually revealed. And as I said, we really have no idea how old she really is, so we can't say for sure if the Donquixote Pirates is the first crew she joined. She could be like Robin who joined crew after crew to protect herself, or maybe there are other reasons why she went out to the sea to become a pirate. And your comment that we know more about Violet and Rebecca's pasts is kind of weak. As I mentioned earlier, we didn't get to know about Robin's past before hundreds of chapters after she joined the crew, so I don't think that's really a factor for one to join the crew or not, as the revelation of one's past can always come later on.
I'd prefer if more characters joined the crew actually, but I don't deny the possibility that the series will end with nine members. Personally I think the series will end with thirteen members, including Luffy. There were four characters who joined in East Blue, four who joined in the first half of the Grand Line, and then there's the New World, where I think another four members will join. This pattern isn't really safe to count on, but I like it, and I like the idea of four more members. That's really just what I prefer, and I have no idea what Oda is thinking about this matter. And you're right, there's little to nothing that supports the idea of Sugar joining the crew, but one can still see similarities between her and Robin. Someone once compared Dressrosa to Alabasta, found a bunch of similarities, and by using this little comparison, one could say Sugar is Dressrosa's Robin; a girl who seem have some doubts about what she's doing. I could be wrong, but it's interesting to note.
I honestly think you're looking at it the wrong way. Since you're mentioning Vivi, let's use her as an example. She had created good relationships will all of the Strawhats, much more so than Robin, but we all know who actually joined in the end. I'm not sure, but from what I've read, the majority thought Vivi was going to join the crew, because they didn't think of the possibility that a former enemy would join. That's why I find it more likely that Sugar will join. That other characters have better relationships with members of the crew, that their backstories have been revealed before Sugar's, or that we know a lot more about them, doesn't really matter to me. Nor should it to you.
It came to my attention that Sugar's voice actor is actually an extremely popular one, especially in Japan. On MyAnimeList, a website many of you probably know of, one can find a poll of all the voice actors and other famous people one can possibly list, or at least most of them, and she's currently right behind first place.
You must be registered for see images
It seems like she's voiced a lot of main characters, including important supportive characters. Doesn't really mean anything, but it's interesting to note. If, by any chance, Oda spoke with the ones who produce and animate the series, it's a possibility that they know if Sugar is going to have a bigger role in the near future or not.
It came to my attention that Sugar's voice actor is actually an extremely popular one, especially in Japan. On MyAnimeList, a website many of you probably know of, one can find a poll of all the voice actors and other famous people one can possibly list, or at least most of them, and she's currently right behind first place.
You must be registered for see images
It seems like she's voiced a lot of main characters, including important supportive characters. Doesn't really mean anything, but it's interesting to note. If, by any chance, Oda spoke with the ones who produce and animate the series, it's a possibility that they know if Sugar is going to have a bigger role in the near future or not.
You're right, it was never really hinted that Sugar would join the Strawhats, and yes, it is more my wishful thinking getting ahead of itself. However, whether I'm right or wrong, I still think Sugar is more likely to join the crew, at least more than the other females on Dressrosa. Just think back to Alabasta, when Robin was part of Baraque works; there were never shown any hints or indications that she would join the crew before the last chapters of the arc, and it surprised most of us readers. Robin hadn't met all the crew members, no one really recongnized her as a Strawhat, and we didn't get to know her backstory before much later. And just look now, after bringing out all her potential, Oda managed to put her among the readers' favorite characters. What I'm trying to say is that Oda surprised us once, has done it countless of times, and can easily do it again.
That's exactly it; we barely have any information on Sugar and her character, and I think that's exactly why she stands out more than the others. Maybe you're right, maybe it really is just about preferences, but when I look at the other female characters, like Violet or Rebecca, I just don't see that 'Strawhat heart' to them. That's mostly because we already know a whole lot about at this point, that their potential as characters is runnning out. That's what I think at least, and I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me.
Not sure if you're already aware of this or not, but when Oda made Sugar's abilities, he used the known idea and fact that childhood toys actually tend to be forgotten over the years when a child grows up. It isn't completely random. Personally I think that's a really fascinating ability, and I think such a factor matters for the next Strawhat. I'm not saying that the character with the most interesting ability is automatically the next member of the crew, nor am I saying that a character really does have to have some kind of unique fight style, but I find it important that new members from now on ends up fighting with more than swords or fists. It would make future fights more interesting as well.
When I said romance I didn't mean a lovey-dovey couple nor anything relatively close to that, I was talking about characters who're more emtional towards the opposite ***. The 'romance', if I can use that word, would most likely turn into some comic relief every now and then, yes. However, I disagree with you when it comes to Violet's chances of joining the crew. There has yet to be any real romance between the members of the crew, as you said, but you can't really use Nami and Robin as examples when they don't show any interest back, unlike Violet. It's probably going to be used as comic relief, as you said, but I still think it decreases her chances rather than increasing it.
My arguments and comments about the other females are both reasons why I don't want them to join and why I think their chances has decreased. They're not just about my preferences, as I honestly do think my arguments from earlier do decrease their chances to join, especially my comments about Rebecca's fighting style and looks. I'm not completely blind by what I want and don't want to happen, you know.
We really can't say if Sugar is immortal or not without Oda confirming it, but you're most likely right. Oda probably used the idea that 'those who don't grow up won't forget their toys', or something along those lines. Still, I wouldn't rule out the idea that she's immortal just yet. It's merely speculation, but we can't say for sure if her age froze along with her body. Still, whether she's twenty or fifty years old, I still think her background story has a lot of potential. But that can be said about most characters, before their past is actually revealed. And as I said, we really have no idea how old she really is, so we can't say for sure if the Donquixote Pirates is the first crew she joined. She could be like Robin who joined crew after crew to protect herself, or maybe there are other reasons why she went out to the sea to become a pirate. And your comment that we know more about Violet and Rebecca's pasts is kind of weak. As I mentioned earlier, we didn't get to know about Robin's past before hundreds of chapters after she joined the crew, so I don't think that's really a factor for one to join the crew or not, as the revelation of one's past can always come later on.
I'd prefer if more characters joined the crew actually, but I don't deny the possibility that the series will end with nine members. Personally I think the series will end with thirteen members, including Luffy. There were four characters who joined in East Blue, four who joined in the first half of the Grand Line, and then there's the New World, where I think another four members will join. This pattern isn't really safe to count on, but I like it, and I like the idea of four more members. That's really just what I prefer, and I have no idea what Oda is thinking about this matter. And you're right, there's little to nothing that supports the idea of Sugar joining the crew, but one can still see similarities between her and Robin. Someone once compared Dressrosa to Alabasta, found a bunch of similarities, and by using this little comparison, one could say Sugar is Dressrosa's Robin; a girl who seem have some doubts about what she's doing. I could be wrong, but it's interesting to note.
I honestly think you're looking at it the wrong way. Since you're mentioning Vivi, let's use her as an example. She had created good relationships will all of the Strawhats, much more so than Robin, but we all know who actually joined in the end. I'm not sure, but from what I've read, the majority thought Vivi was going to join the crew, because they didn't think of the possibility that a former enemy would join. That's why I find it more likely that Sugar will join. That other characters have better relationships with members of the crew, that their backstories have been revealed before Sugar's, or that we know a lot more about them, doesn't really matter to me. Nor should it to you.
You pretty much proven yourself right now that there is nothing that points towards Sugar joining and that you simply prefer her joining.
I just used Violet as an example to show what you see as things that point towards Sugar joining can easily be done for other characters too. With other words Sugar doesn't have anything special going for her. If you check all the other characters that joined, their backgrounds were given sometimes before they joined, sometimes after and sometimes nearly at the same time. Some characters were obvious, others not even remotely. So all the comparisons with Robin are void as you can easily make comparisons for other characters too, the fact that there are also very clear differences between Dressrosa and Alabasta, can very well be interpreted as that she will not join just as much as she will join and that's my point: you can easily interpret stuff like this in many ways, but still people automatically go to 'next Strawhat'. This arc alone I have heard that Law, Sugar, Rebecca, Violet, Ceasar, Bartolomeo, Bellamy and even Monet will join. For all of them you can easily start giving comparisons with other Strawhats as how they are standing out for one reason to another and that their background was shown then and then etc.
That we don't have much info on her doesn't make her stand out. You're just intrigued by her for some reason and prefer her to join, but realistically right now she doesn't stand out and she has as much of a 'Strawhat' heart as other characters. Franky's history, like other characters, was completely revealed before he joined. That Strawhat heart stuff again is simply something you are saying because you want particular characters not to join while you do want another to join, but in reality that's worth nothing as it has happened before. You are simply stating reasons why you do not want particular characters to join, however those are not reasons as why they could not join. Their potential has not run out, in fact it's the opposite as people as Rebecca and Violet have been stuck under Doflamingo's 'cage' of years now, so they would become whole new characters in the case they became a Strawhat as a new world opens up for them. See again you can easily interpret it in another way.
That's a nice idea behind the Hobby fruit, however as far as I know that is not something confirmed unless it was very recently in a recent SBS and even if it's true, for me that doesn't change much as then I still would feel that it was in the fist place a DF to create this situation.
My point of Violet was, as said before, that what you say about Sugar can easily apply to other characters too. Because Violet has a certain romantic feelings, that alone can be a reason for her to join just because she is 'different'. That's what you do with Sugar and that's the thing I've said since the beginning: people interpret things in a way just so they can see 'that one will join', but disregard that you can interpret it in a lot of ways. You find that that is something that will not make a character join, but something else then you find something that will make a character join, while you can easily switch the two around. That there are romantic feelings is as much a reason for someone to join as it is for that character not to join. It doesn't decrease necessarily the chance to join, it just decreases that character's chance in your own personal perception, but that's not the case seeing from a neutral perspective.
Most things you said about other characters were reasons as why you don't want them to join and not reasons as why their chances decreases other than in your own personal perspective. Sanji joined while he can't find women drools all the time over him while Zoro gets lost all the time. Especially the first one caused quite a few problems, so that Baby 5 would not join because of her need to feel needy is not a reason for her chances to decrease, you would just find it annoying if she would join. About Rebecca I already said that her character is currently strongly defined by the context she's trapped in. In the hypothetical case they beat DD and Dressrosa is free, then you get a whole new context and who knows how Rebecca then would be? After being stuck so long in the Colosseum she might consider traveling with the Strawhats as the ultimate freedom and that might show in her fighting style. The fact is that she just attacked Diamante and that she is participating to win the Mera Mera no Mi, so she would be forced either way to fight offensively at one point. On top of that she wants the fruit to defeat DD, so she isn't that much of a pacifist. I think her attitude was more a sign of pride rather than just pacifism, that she refuses to slaughter people to amuse DD. Again most of these reason you gave where reasons you gave as why you do not want them to join, not real arguments to say they really will not. That she has a strong resemblance to Nami is everything considered still very minor.
My argument about Violet's and Rebecca's history are weak? With that again you have proven my point, they're indeed weak and it's no different for Sugar, which was the reason I mentioned it. Comparing to Robin is void as if that's an argument, then that of Violet and Rebecca is too. You can not support your own arguments about why she stands on without contradicting yourself. She doesn't stand out, it's just your personal preference.
I'm not looking at it the wrong way as I'm looking at this from the perspective of someone who is sick of people saying of every new character that that character will join for no particular reason as there aren't any significant differences with earlier characters that did not join. That has been my point all along. Characters that have been elaborated on a lot and 'strongly' hinted they will join, do not join while others with barely any info then join and vice versa, strongly elaborated characters join while others don't. There can be new Strawhats, likewise there can be none. There is no pattern when it comes to joining the Strawhats, hence why I'm so annoyed every time people bring up 'this character' will join as it kinda ruins the story for me a bit (as apparently there are no other possibilities) + the discussion of who then might join because by default it's said of every character. I had similar feelings with 'who is Tobi' as people mentioned nearly every character.
Reality is, is that there's only one real 'solid' thing that can be used as a measuring stick for joining the Strawhats as it's the only thing all of them have had in common so far and that's what position they have in the crew:
Captain
Vice-Captain
Cook
Navigator
Sniper (though cannoneer would probably be more correct)
Doctor
Shipwright
Musician
Archeologist (though I prefer the term scholar, which seems more in place)
Only the last one is a bit out of place, however Robin is necessary plotwise because of her knowledge about the poneglyphs and the Void Century and thus can be considered a 'position'. What position is there then left? If you can find that out and find a connection between that and a character, then you might have found something substantial to say of that character he/she stands out. But other than that it's just people fencing with each other with personal preferences as why they want that character to join, but not other.
Currently I don't see any character joining, maybe tagging along, maybe be invited, but in the end declining for one reason or another.
It came to my attention that Sugar's voice actor is actually an extremely popular one, especially in Japan. On MyAnimeList, a website many of you probably know of, one can find a poll of all the voice actors and other famous people one can possibly list, or at least most of them, and she's currently right behind first place.
You must be registered for see images
It seems like she's voiced a lot of main characters, including important supportive characters. Doesn't really mean anything, but it's interesting to note. If, by any chance, Oda spoke with the ones who produce and animate the series, it's a possibility that they know if Sugar is going to have a bigger role in the near future or not.
At best that can be an indication she will play a role that's not just limited to this arc, but again that's something very different then joining the Strawhats. Sabo's voice actor is the one who voices Naruto. Does that mean he too will join the Strawhats? I haven't seen the anime for a while. Also Kinemon and Momo have been tagging along for +- two arcs and probably will be for a while, but still aren't Strawhats. Does that mean they are going to join too?
My point, as I said all the way at the beginning, is that people should stop interpreting stuff like this so easily as 'the next Strawhat'. Is it possible Sugar will join? Yes. Is there anything that actually points strongly in that direction? No. Everything you said easily applies and has applied to many other characters and can easily interpreted in different ways other than 'the next Strawhat'. As it stands now, if Sugar would join, then you saying she would join in the future was nothing more than a guess, your preference as why you wanted her.
Don't want to bump my old thread just to say this, but I think Luffy and Doffy are somehow related. Don't know if that's been revealed yet or not. But the way Mono got a flash of Doffy when Luffy was telling him to get up was very suspicious to me, it's a common thing some manga do when foreshadowing the relation of 2 characters.
Probably not directly related, but through Sabo. Maybe Sabo is directly blood related to him, both of them being from high status families and all. And with him and Luffy being family, that could be the relation.
I know it's irrelevant to what is going on atm, but I just wanted to get that off my chest.
You pretty much proven yourself right now that there is nothing that points towards Sugar joining and that you simply prefer her joining.
I just used Violet as an example to show what you see as things that point towards Sugar joining can easily be done for other characters too. With other words Sugar doesn't have anything special going for her. If you check all the other characters that joined, their backgrounds were given sometimes before they joined, sometimes after and sometimes nearly at the same time. Some characters were obvious, others not even remotely. So all the comparisons with Robin are void as you can easily make comparisons for other characters too, the fact that there are also very clear differences between Dressrosa and Alabasta, can very well be interpreted as that she will not join just as much as she will join and that's my point: you can easily interpret stuff like this in many ways, but still people automatically go to 'next Strawhat'. This arc alone I have heard that Law, Sugar, Rebecca, Violet, Ceasar, Bartolomeo, Bellamy and even Monet will join. For all of them you can easily start giving comparisons with other Strawhats as how they are standing out for one reason to another and that their background was shown then and then etc.
That we don't have much info on her doesn't make her stand out. You're just intrigued by her for some reason and prefer her to join, but realistically right now she doesn't stand out and she has as much of a 'Strawhat' heart as other characters. Franky's history, like other characters, was completely revealed before he joined. That Strawhat heart stuff again is simply something you are saying because you want particular characters not to join while you do want another to join, but in reality that's worth nothing as it has happened before. You are simply stating reasons why you do not want particular characters to join, however those are not reasons as why they could not join. Their potential has not run out, in fact it's the opposite as people as Rebecca and Violet have been stuck under Doflamingo's 'cage' of years now, so they would become whole new characters in the case they became a Strawhat as a new world opens up for them. See again you can easily interpret it in another way.
That's a nice idea behind the Hobby fruit, however as far as I know that is not something confirmed unless it was very recently in a recent SBS and even if it's true, for me that doesn't change much as then I still would feel that it was in the fist place a DF to create this situation.
My point of Violet was, as said before, that what you say about Sugar can easily apply to other characters too. Because Violet has a certain romantic feelings, that alone can be a reason for her to join just because she is 'different'. That's what you do with Sugar and that's the thing I've said since the beginning: people interpret things in a way just so they can see 'that one will join', but disregard that you can interpret it in a lot of ways. You find that that is something that will not make a character join, but something else then you find something that will make a character join, while you can easily switch the two around. That there are romantic feelings is as much a reason for someone to join as it is for that character not to join. It doesn't decrease necessarily the chance to join, it just decreases that character's chance in your own personal perception, but that's not the case seeing from a neutral perspective.
Most things you said about other characters were reasons as why you don't want them to join and not reasons as why their chances decreases other than in your own personal perspective. Sanji joined while he can't find women drools all the time over him while Zoro gets lost all the time. Especially the first one caused quite a few problems, so that Baby 5 would not join because of her need to feel needy is not a reason for her chances to decrease, you would just find it annoying if she would join. About Rebecca I already said that her character is currently strongly defined by the context she's trapped in. In the hypothetical case they beat DD and Dressrosa is free, then you get a whole new context and who knows how Rebecca then would be? After being stuck so long in the Colosseum she might consider traveling with the Strawhats as the ultimate freedom and that might show in her fighting style. The fact is that she just attacked Diamante and that she is participating to win the Mera Mera no Mi, so she would be forced either way to fight offensively at one point. On top of that she wants the fruit to defeat DD, so she isn't that much of a pacifist. I think her attitude was more a sign of pride rather than just pacifism, that she refuses to slaughter people to amuse DD. Again most of these reason you gave where reasons you gave as why you do not want them to join, not real arguments to say they really will not. That she has a strong resemblance to Nami is everything considered still very minor.
My argument about Violet's and Rebecca's history are weak? With that again you have proven my point, they're indeed weak and it's no different for Sugar, which was the reason I mentioned it. Comparing to Robin is void as if that's an argument, then that of Violet and Rebecca is too. You can not support your own arguments about why she stands on without contradicting yourself. She doesn't stand out, it's just your personal preference.
I'm not looking at it the wrong way as I'm looking at this from the perspective of someone who is sick of people saying of every new character that that character will join for no particular reason as there aren't any significant differences with earlier characters that did not join. That has been my point all along. Characters that have been elaborated on a lot and 'strongly' hinted they will join, do not join while others with barely any info then join and vice versa, strongly elaborated characters join while others don't. There can be new Strawhats, likewise there can be none. There is no pattern when it comes to joining the Strawhats, hence why I'm so annoyed every time people bring up 'this character' will join as it kinda ruins the story for me a bit (as apparently there are no other possibilities) + the discussion of who then might join because by default it's said of every character. I had similar feelings with 'who is Tobi' as people mentioned nearly every character.
Reality is, is that there's only one real 'solid' thing that can be used as a measuring stick for joining the Strawhats as it's the only thing all of them have had in common so far and that's what position they have in the crew:
Captain
Vice-Captain
Cook
Navigator
Sniper (though cannoneer would probably be more correct)
Doctor
Shipwright
Musician
Archeologist (though I prefer the term scholar, which seems more in place)
Only the last one is a bit out of place, however Robin is necessary plotwise because of her knowledge about the poneglyphs and the Void Century and thus can be considered a 'position'. What position is there then left? If you can find that out and find a connection between that and a character, then you might have found something substantial to say of that character he/she stands out. But other than that it's just people fencing with each other with personal preferences as why they want that character to join, but not other.
Currently I don't see any character joining, maybe tagging along, maybe be invited, but in the end declining for one reason or another.
Personally I think you're wrong; of course there are things that points towards Sugar joining the crew, but much more indirectly than directly. Actually, our discussion would go nowhere if I were to concentrate on other characters, like Violet and Rebecca, so let's just look at Sugar from now on. All characters we've mentioned have cons and pros to why they should join the crew or not, and in the end it's all about preferences, so looking at Sugar's chances of joining will help us pushing this discussion forward, or so I think. When you look at these two arcs, Dressrosa and Alabasta, you see too many similarities for it to actually be a coincidence. Like you mentioned earlier, there are indeed many differences, but one can't and shouldn't expect two arcs to be completely alike. That's why interpreting it the way you do, saying Sugar may as well not join because of these differences, is not much of an argument. Neither is my argument actually, because there are no guarantees that she'll join, however, one shouldn't turn a blind eye to the similarities.
The Strawhats enter a new sea. They're quickly targeted by a Shichibukai. The enemy use an illigal/underground substance for their own interests. Our heroes disguise themselves as citizens the moment they reach the enemy's whereabouts. The Shichibukai is viewed as a hero by the people. An unfortunate royal princess infiltrated the enemy ranks. A rebellion rise up against the king. The Shichibukai disgraced the former/current king at some point in the series. A brotherly reunion takes place in the midst of it all. The enemy's plan depends on the ability of one girl who is specifically viewed as a tool. The girl shows doubt before the final battle. And I may as well add that both Gladius and Machvise have similar abilities to two officers of Baraque Works, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine.
Comparing her to Robin, like I just did now, is not 'void', as you called it. Even though this little green-haired girl may not join the crew in the end, one can't deny that there is a pattern (or formula) here, and one can't deny that she's most likely a parallel to Robin. Whether she joins or not is anyone's guess, but saying that she has nothing going for her is false. However, you're right by saying that most characters can be compared to other members in the crew, but why should that apply now? The reason I'm mentioning Alabasta is because it's a parallel to Dressrosa, and it's the same reason with Robin, who is a parallel to Sugar. Starting to compare Violet to other members of the crew, like Franky, is illogical.
Of course you're looking at it the wrong way if you think, like you said, that Violet has a better chance of joining because she's created better relationships with members of the crew, or that Rebecca stands a better chance because we know more about her past, when Robin's character has already proven that way of thinking wrong. Their pasts, how they interact with the Strawhats, or which side they're on, does not matter at all. It neither increases nor decreases the chances of them joining, but as it stands now, Sugar does stand out by being in a similar position to that of Robin's. Like I've already said, this does not necessarily mean that she'll join in the end, but it really is interesting to note. Whether you agree with me on this is, in the end, up to you; I'm just trying to show you that there could be more to her than meets the eye.
You're right, a member does need a position in the crew, obviously, and it's what they all have in common. It's far too early for us to say what position someone like Sugar could fill, and anything I say would be just be pure guesswork on my side. It's not like I haven't thought about it before though. At first I was thinking that originally, in her past, she could've been an artist, one that made dolls and such, but it doesn't really seem very pirate-ish. It's not enterily impossible though, because, if you think about it, such a proffesion wasn't all too unusual around the age and time when pirates roamed freely, but I still doubt it. However, such a thing can always be revealed later on, considering the fact that Robin's interest in archeology wasn't revealed before the last chapters of Alabasta.
At the end of the day, I personally think Sugar stands out from the other characters that have been introduced lately, while you clearly don't agree with me. She may join, she may just turn out to be an ally, or she could actually stay at Doflamingo's side. No one really knows. I'm basing most of my arguments on a comparison between two arcs, so it's not like I can't see why you'd disagree with what I'm saying now, in case you do, but saying that there's nothing that points in the direction of her joining is wrong. She's clearly a parallel to Robin, and even though it doesn't automatically turn her into a member of the crew, it should make one think. It's your choice if you want to think of her as the next 'Robin' or not, I just know I do.
At best that can be an indication she will play a role that's not just limited to this arc, but again that's something very different then joining the Strawhats. Sabo's voice actor is the one who voices Naruto. Does that mean he too will join the Strawhats? I haven't seen the anime for a while. Also Kinemon and Momo have been tagging along for +- two arcs and probably will be for a while, but still aren't Strawhats. Does that mean they are going to join too?
My point, as I said all the way at the beginning, is that people should stop interpreting stuff like this so easily as 'the next Strawhat'. Is it possible Sugar will join? Yes. Is there anything that actually points strongly in that direction? No. Everything you said easily applies and has applied to many other characters and can easily interpreted in different ways other than 'the next Strawhat'. As it stands now, if Sugar would join, then you saying she would join in the future was nothing more than a guess, your preference as why you wanted her.
I never once said that this means she'll join the crew, I simply meant that this could mean her role in the series is bigger than we first thought. Sabo's role in the series is obviously bigger than we first thought when he was introduced, and it was early on indicated that he was going to be something more important, due to his voice actor. And for Kinemon and Momo; no, we've already gone through this. One's relationship with the crew doesn't really matter, and the fact that Vivi traveled with them all for a very long time, but still ending up staying in her country as its princess, makes the answer obvious.
Nothing really points strongly towards her joining the crew, nor are there any 'solid' proof that she'll join or become an ally, but I personally think I've given good enough points to actually make someone out there think about it. Again, I'm not saying that she'll join, I'm just saying that one shouldn't ignore this parallel I've been talking about in my last two posts. And if theorizing and guessing who the next member could be really ruins a part of the series for you, then I'll respect that and be one of the few to actually stop. "I'd lose some sleep if I let that happen", like Usopp would say, if I ruined some of it for you, even the slightest.
Don't want to bump my old thread just to say this, but I think Luffy and Doffy are somehow related. Don't know if that's been revealed yet or not. But the way Mono got a flash of Doffy when Luffy was telling him to get up was very suspicious to me, it's a common thing some manga do when foreshadowing the relation of 2 characters.
Probably not directly related, but through Sabo. Maybe Sabo is directly blood related to him, both of them being from high status families and all. And with him and Luffy being family, that could be the relation.
I know it's irrelevant to what is going on atm, but I just wanted to get that off my chest.
The image of Dofy was most likely due to Momo having a past with Doflamingo, even further supported by the fact that Dofy wants him, that's why Momo is afraid of him and that's why there was Dofys face
I was looking around for spoilers and stuff and came across something along the lines of: Ussop plants the Candy thing in a bag marked *Ussop's Candy* and then he gets turned into a toy, and with Trebol and Sugar forgetting him, Trebol gives the candy bag to Sugar, ending with her eating the Candy they wanted her too, and then everybody turning back into humans.
The story is getting interesting and I admit that look from Sugar was weird but it can mean too many things to be immediatly associated with a new strawhat. I don't also think the story follows that pattern so I don't think it would do much to it to add Sugar.
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PS- Sugar is also old...its her DF that gives her a youthful appearance.
