Shipping

"*I have an older sister that went away to get married. Hmmm… by any chance, Eli might be a good girlfriend. Eli and I, huh... there's only a year between us. Even now, why do I always feel like silently surrendering to her? If I don't think about it I may not be able to find an explanation as to why.*"
―Umi Sonoda, School Idol Diary ~Umi Sonoda~
**Shipping**, initially derived from the word relationship, is the desire by fans for two or more people, either real-life people or fictional characters (in film, literature, television, etc.) to be in a romantic relationship. It is considered a general term for fans' emotional involvement with the ongoing development of a relationship in a work of fiction. Shipping often takes the form of creative works, including fanfiction and fan art, most often published on the internet.

In the *Love Live!* franchise, shipping is very common for the fandom, regardless if they're (nearly) canon or fanon, or they're in the same or different age, or in some dissonant cases; siblings.

## List of ships

'***NOTE: More than 50+ fanarts of the pairing will be labelled as "Major", while pairing fanarts that are lower than 50 will be labeled under the "Other" heading.***
### Love Live!

#### Major

* NozoEli (Nozomi Toujou + Eli Ayase)
* KotoUmi (Kotori Minami + Umi Sonoda)
* RinPana (Rin Hoshizora + Hanayo Koizumi)
* TsubaHono (Honoka Kosaka + Tsubasa Kira)
* NicoMaki ( Maki Nishikino + Nico Yazawa)

### Love Live! Sunshine!!

#### Major

* Youhane ( You Watanabe + Yoshiko Tsushima)
* ChikaYou (Chika Takami + You Watanabe)
* YoshiRiko/YohaRiko/YohaRiri (Yoshiko Tsushima + Riko Sakurauchi)
* RubyMaru (Ruby Kurosawa + Hanamaru Kunikida)
* KanaMari (Kanan Matsuura + Mari Ohara)

### Love Live! All Stars/Nijigasaki School Idol Club

#### Major

* ShizuKasu (Shizuku Osaka + Kasumi Nakasu)
* AnaPomu (Yuu Takasaki (Anata-chan) + Ayumu Uehara)
* EmmaKarin/KarinEmma (Emma Verde + Karin Asaka)
* RinaAi/AiRina (Rina Tennouji + Ai Miyashita)

#### Other

* KariAi (Karin Asaka + Ai Miyashita)
* Shizuku Osaka + Drama Club President
* Karin Asaka + Himeno Ayanokoji
* Nana Nakagawa/Setsuna Yuki + Unnamed Vice President

### Love Live! Superstar!!

#### Major

* SumiKu/Ke or KeSumi (Sumire Heanna + Keke Tang)
* KanonKuu/Ke or KuuKaa (Kanon Shibuya + Keke Tang)
* KanoChi (Kanon Shibuya + Chisato Arashi)
* ShikiMei Shiki Wakana + Mei Yoneme

#### Other

* SumiRen (Sumire Heanna + Ren Hazuki)
* SayaRen (Saya (The Hazuki Household Maid) + Ren Hazuki)

## Canon cases

Despite the ship-teasing in the series, whether some or most of the pairings mentioned above are truly an official couple is currently a huge matter of debate, though so far, there is only one canonical pairing in the franchise, such as Hanayo Koizumi and Rin Hoshizora.

## Shipping Voice Actresses

In real life, many of the fans ship their favorite voice actresses due to their repeated teasing in photoshoots and live shows. Several of them, notably Kusuda Aina and Yoshino Nanjo, don't mind as such. Likewise, they're similar to Hitomi Nabatame (one of the Voice actresses for *Doki Doki! Precure*), who is previously known as a "Lesbian seiyuu" by many otakus due to her having (at least ***4***) "secret wives".

Even though parts of the fandom loves romantic lesbian (sub)text in fiction, take note that this is **not a wise thing** to pair them *to the point of wanting them to be together as a genuinely queer couple since their future is decided on their own* (For example, Mimori's marriage to Okada).

## Notes & Trivia

* Shipping one character with another over the current one may result in a ship war.
* However, officially confirming a couple may alienate shippers of other pairings and possibly damaging the franchise's merchandise sales.
	+ This was not the case for Rin and Hanayo, where the former confessed to her romantically in the School Idol Diary continuity.
* Depending on the individual fanbase, some pairings may be considered as divisive in sharp comparison to being adored by Japanese fans.
* Both Riko Sakurauchi and Yu Takasaki are labeled as "harem masters" due to their interactions with multiple girls (the visuals for the former, and the video game for the latter).