Nozomi doesn’t think she’s ever seen Honoka so… quiet before. It’s not very surprising, since it isn’t every day that one hears such a shocking confession. Tense moments pass by before Honoka finally nods, and Nozomi can see resolve and determination shining in her eyes. It makes her smile; it’s what she loves best in Honoka. But Nozomi knows she isn’t the one who Honoka will look at with those eyes, watching as Honoka runs off to the student council room, to where Eli is.
Honoka stood there, agasp. She then smiled a bright smile and made her way to the student council room. From there, Nozomi could hear the ginger shout-
Since I haven’t been contributing anything to the fandom lately, I would like to take this time to share what I think of the Honoka ships that are most likely to happen, to least likely and why. I won’t put in Honoka/Tsubasa in this because people already knows why it’s possible without me screaming into their face. This post is inspired by all those Nicomaki fans who comes into that Honomaki doujin and rants “WHY U DO DIS WHERE IS NICO PLS GIB MOAR NICOMAKI WE NEEDS MOAR PLOX” without even trying to hide their disgrace. People like these are the thorns in the world of yuri.
I’ll be using the data I collected from the anime, and not from the SID. There’s not much I can gather out of that with my lack of knowledge in the NIHONESE language. Basically, I don’t read moonrunes and so let’s just use the data from the anime.
I’d like to start this post off with an honorable mention.
* HONOKA/UMI
The reason why I didn’t put HonoUmi in the rankings, is because the relationship between the two is complicated and is divided into two. First off is their SID version which shows them to be really, really close while the other is their anime selves which isn’t as close as the SID, but still the best of childhood friends.
If you guys don’t know about SID HonoUmi and why it’s so strong, I recommend you read @xox1melly1xox‘s long post about SID HonoUmi here.
I didn’t want to put it in the list because the SID portrays HonoUmi to be so close that their relationship is unshakable by any means. In the anime however, their relationship is less complicated, but more stressful to decipher.
Honoka views Umi as one of her best friends, and Umi is a worrywart- often worried over Honoka’s constant laziness and forceful attitude. melly gave us an in-depth look at anime HonoUmi as well, and I’d say that their relationship is...
Normal.
Sure, there’s a lot of moments here and there where Honoka, with her lack of consideration for others’ personal space, would become intimate with Umi but that’s just normal. Honoka’s intimate with everyone and there’s no real meaning behind all of those chaste touches. To find out how the ship is strong or not, we can’t depend on Honoka. Thus is why we have to find out if Umi has a thing for Honoka. And with my research,
No.
There aren’t any.
She considers Honoka as her best friend who she worries over from time to time, no matter how many times Honoka called her names in response to her harsh attitude. Umi knows Honoka the best, as she was able to tell when Honoka gained weight, when Honoka’s pushing herself, and also why Honoka doesn’t want to proceed to the second Love Live.
If there’s one thing we could learn from the anime HonoUmi, it’s that Umi respect Honoka so much but never shows it openly to her childhood friend. But that’s just it. There aren’t anything more between them. No hints of them actually dating like NicoMaki, no hints of Umi getting jealous of anyone getting close to Honoka like PanaRin, and no openly gay interest like TsubaHono.
What makes HonoUmi special though, is that their relationship is hard to explain and they had a lot more time together than most of the others.
What I’m trying to say is that, HonoUmi might be... ‘shippable’ in the anime, but it’s not strong enough to be compared to with the other ships. SID HonoUmi is surely able to pull it off, as it is easily one of the strongest ships in the series if you take SID into account, but that’s only if you count it. Their anime counterparts however, is just your normal childhood friends.
Now I’m not saying childhood friends can’t become anything more. It’s just that Anime HonoUmi lacks the dynamics and the history of SID HonoUmi and thus it looks plain compared to it and other ships. However, there’s one childhood friend who passed the childhood friend stereotype, only to find herself favouring one childhood friend than the other. There’s-
1. HONOKA/KOTORI
Ah, the original childhood duo. There’s a LOT of things one can say about this ship, and if I can be honest right here, it’s that this ship is far stronger than the main ship, KotoUmi.
If we talk about Honoka’s relationship in SID, we’d think about HonoUmi. If we talk about Honoka’s relationship in the anime, it differs. A lot. But one thing’s for certain, nobody can separate Honoka and Kotori. You can say what you want about KotoUmi, but there’s no way you can prove to me that anime KotoHono isn’t stronger than anime KotoUmi.
Don’t get me wrong. I know how strong KotoUmi’s relationship is. I know of Kotori’s ‘onegai’ and,... frankly, I don’t know much after that... Oh, there’s that one time Kotori told Umi instead of Honoka about her transfer first so that’s a plus. And uh... Kotori seems to be the one who calms down Umi most of the time? Oh, and they act like Honoka’s parents or something!
Heh. I totally know about KotoUmi.
Okay, now about KotoHono.
Kotori openly looks up to Honoka, always following her everywhere she goes and seeks her help the most. Honoka thinks of Kotori as that kind aunt who gives you sweets from time to time. Ah, I miss my candy mach- I mean, my aunt.
From start to finish, Kotori always follows Honoka. No. Matter. Where. When Umi was still rejecting Honoka’s proposal to become school idols, Kotori didn’t even need to think. As Honoka wants Umi to join them, Kotori tries her best to persuade her blue-haired childhood friend and succeeded by the end of it. Whenever faced with a decision, she would always say that she’d ‘follow Honoka-chan’ because no matter what Honoka’s decision may be, she knows it to be the best one.
When faced with difficulties, she would always scream out Honoka’s name for help. During that Wonder Zone episode where Kotori is forced to write lyrics, and fails to do so because she couldn’t write jack, she calls out Honoka’s aide, screaming “Honoka-chan!!!” in a desperate plea. The same thing happened during the card game against Umi-chan ROUND 2 when she’s forced to stay up all night because Umi’s a sore loser.
When in need of help, she goes to Honoka.
That is proven to be true when she’s trying to make a decision to transfer abroad. She didn’t look for Eli, the sane one. She didn’t look for Nozomi, the wise one. Instead, she looked for Honoka, a member of the three idiots for help. To ask her what she should do. To ask Honoka to decide for her. To see if Honoka wants her to leave or not.
She didn’t tell Umi because she wanted to at first, it was because Umi actually noticed something was wrong with Kotori, unlike Honoka who was too fixated on becoming a school idol. She wanted to tell Honoka first.
She wanted Honoka to know first.
And what did Honoka do when she was told of this? She was furious. Honoka was never furious. She never raised her voice against Kotori like that. Her tone indicated that she was irritated that Umi found out before she could. Was it of jealousy? Who knows.
In the end, they reconciled because Honoka doesn’t want Kotori to leave her side. She wants the three childhood friends to always stay together through thick and thin. And Kotori was happy.
Honoka is Kotori’s most important person. That’s undeniable.
2. HONOKA/ELI
If that’s not the look of someone in love, then I don’t know what is
STOP! Put down the pitchforks and nobody gets hurt! Let me explain myself first, okay? Okay! Sheesh, I thought the NicoMaki shippers were toxic. Damn.
So yeah, HonoEli. Bet you didn’t expect this at number 2, huh. But hear me out on this, and you may find yourself surprised by my superior yuri goggles 2.0. That, or you’d find me crazy. The latter, most likely.
Now, where should I even begin?
First, let’s talk TsubaHono. What’s the main reason people started shipping TsubaHono in the first place? Yes, yes, the Tsubasa being totally gay for Honoka thing is a factor, but there’s also another. It’s because TsubaHono is a rivalry ship.
As I researched Yuri as a whole, I realized that there’s no fiercer rivalry, than the one behind the sheets. Therefore, rivals most certainly shall be shipped with each other. Harry and Draco, Eri and Yakumo, and Urumi and Miyabi, to name a few.
But wait, only Harry and Draco are fully rivals! The others shared another similar trait. The same trait as some of the biggest yuri ships in the yuri fandom. Madoka and Homura, Nanoha and Fate, Satsuki and Ryuuko. All of the yuri ships shared a common bond.
They are all rivals, that became friends.
And what is HonoEli? They were once rivals to save the school from shutting down, but due to their different methods, they separated from each other, doing their own thing. But after a series of mishaps and lols, Eli admitted that she wanted to join Honoka, she wanted to be a school idol as well, but it was too late. Sulking by herself, she then noticed someone’s hand next to her and she saw that it was Honoka and her group, smiling at her. Eli accepted her hand and the two became the pillars of Muse. While Honoka led the way towards greater heights, Eli became the group’s emotional support whenever Honoka couldn’t.
Their dynamic is far more interesting than the others’, considering that not many people see them to be an item.
When Honoka was down in the dumps because Kotori was leaving, it was Eli who pulled her into the light again and became Honoka’s emotional support, just as Honoka did for her when she joined the group. This shows how much Eli cared for Honoka. Probably even far more than Umi, who was leaving Honoka to her own device.
And don’t tell me you forgot THIS scene.
When she got to the Snow Halation stage, did she go to Nozomi and hugged her because boobs? Did she go to Nico because she’s a bro? Did she go to Hanayo because I don’t know, rice? NO. She went straight to Eli and cried her eyes out. It was one of the most beautiful scenes in this goddamn series and if you didn’t feel like crying as well, you’re a monster.
Just kidding, I didn’t cry. Nope. Not even a little.
The dynamic between these two are perfect. And did I mention TsubaHono? Because I’m gonna mention it again!
During the movie, Honoka was called over by Tsubasa to meet up with her. Honoka practically ran there, out of breath and everything. But what makes it interesting is after that. (after the whole Future Honoka thing and flying and stuff) Eli texted her the details, saying that they all agreed and came to a decision. Normally, when it’s information as critical as that, one would think it be better to call instead of texting it to the other person, but Eli only texted her. Why? Right after Honoka met up with Tsubasa, as well. Coincidence, I’ll let you figure it out.
Anyway, these two are so shippable, it’s a shame it’s a crack ship. Sadly, nothing can be done about that. Speaking of shame-
3. HONOKA/MAKI
^i’ve watched this show like months ago and i can definitely confirm this happened. if you don’t remember, then shame on you.
Ah, where to begin? The ship everyone thought was going to happen early in the game. It’s like the writers wanted to ship HonoMaki at first, but then realized they’re doing it wrong and then put Nico and Maki together because fuck all the shippers.
It’s like HibiEu all over again. It was all a lie.
So yeah, back to the ship of shame.
I’m going to be honest with you guys. I’ve actually thought HonoMaki was going to end up being shipped a heck of a lot during the second episode. Heck, my yuri radar even rang during the first episode because goddamn Honoka’s so gay for Maki. And Maki’s adorable with her.
But did it happen, tho?
Nope. It was all a bait. Bloody writers ain’t got no curr.
Anyway, let’s just analyze what happened that made this ship form.
Remember when Tsubasa tried to talk Honoka for the first time and everyone thought that she’s gay for her? The same thing happened, but this time Honoka was the one acting all gay over Maki.
The Aishiteru Banzai scene was what sparked it all, to be honest. Maki was just spending her days being the lonely first year that she is, and then BOOM Honoka happened and memes were created with Honoka’s stupid face as she clapped for the lonely redhead’s lonely performance of loneliness.
Honoka wanted to recruit Maki, and with the skills befitting a porn recruiter, she made Maki blush bright red (like her favourite food). But still, Maki refused because she ain’t got no time for stupid shit like that. She needs time to be lonely and stuff.
Then after some time, Honoka came again, and with her the choice for Maki to change her future. She wanted Maki to be the one to make the song for her, but still as usual, Maki refused because goddammit Honoka get the message already. But Honoka didn’t back down. Oh, no. Instead, she challenged Maki and showed her how hard it is to become an idol.
Maki failed the challange, and realized for the first time that being an idol isn’t as fun and games as people make it to be. Honoka then asked one last time for her to help them make it. She promised that if Maki declines one more time, she would gladly not bother her any more. So Maki thought about it. She thought about it so much that she practically stalked Honoka like one of those stalkers out of love. Then came another stalker and Nozomi budged into and molested Maki because why not.
In the end, Maki helped Honoka make a song and the two became the best of friends. Or something like that.
Now let’s analyze.
First of all, Maki blushed. That’s a good start. Not to say it ain’t easy to make her blush, considering she blushes like every episode, but still.
Honoka, being Honoka, pushed all of Maki’s buttons and made the girl give into Honoka’s request with her porn recruiting skills.
Maki could have still refused Honoka but why didn’t she? If she just refused her and went along, then the story could have been different. Honoka wouldn’t have come to contact with her at all after that. Yet she still helped her, and even went so far as to stalk her that one time.
And did anyone remember the season 1 finale arc scene when Maki was playing the piano being lonely again and looked at the door, hoping, praying that Honoka would barge in there and grabbed her arms to show her a whole new world?
That shows just how much Maki depends on Honoka. How much she needs her. If Nico were to build a new team, I doubt Maki would join. Don’t get me wrong. Maki may love Nico and everything, but Nico doesn’t have it in her to become the leader of the group. She’s not Honoka. Past experiences showed that.
And remember the season 2 finale? The throwback of Aishiteru Banzai? Maki was practically brimming with happiness as they sang that song. Probably because she remembers that this song is what started it all- this song was how she met Honoka and became a new person. This song changed her.
And that’s pretty much it. There aren’t that many things I could talk to you about HonoMaki because there’s only one gay scene and a few questionable scenes here and there.
The HonoMaki ship was once a mighty big ship, but it sank to give way to the NicoMaki ship because why not.
Adele was probably a HonoMaki shipper to be honest.
We could’ve had it all? Rolling in the deep (filth of the HonoMaki fandom)? They say the time’s supposed to heal ya, but I ain’t done much healing? Hello from the other side (to the NicoMaki shippers)?
The ship of shame, I tell you.
Well, at least we know now that Maki’s a stalker, so that’s a thing.
Speaking of stalkers,
4. HONOKA/NOZOMI
Nozomi Tojo. The molester, the stalker, the cow. The woman with many names, but in this post, she shall be named, Nozomi.
Not many can be said about this ship, since there aren’t many scenes the two communicated in private. But I’ll try to crack down this ship with speculations, instead of the usual analysis. Since, this IS a crack ship, after all.
Now, as we did talk about how Maki stalked Honoka that one time when the ginger was practicing, let’s talk about that one time Nozomi stalked Honoka before everything actually moved into motion.
Let’s be real. Nozomi didn’t know much about Honoka, yet she helped her behind the scenes and listened in on the cards. Why? Because she sees something in Honoka that not even Eli could. She knew that Honoka can one day save the school, but not without help. She trusted her that much and she didn’t even know her.
Remember when I said that Eli and Honoka are the pillars of the group? Well, Nozomi is the mother of the group. She’s the one who nurtured the group to be what it became today.
You could also picture the group as a family. Nozomi is the mother. Honoka is the father who leads everyone and created the group in the first place. Eli is the firstborn son who takes over his father’s job when the father is occupied or is unable to. What a loving family.
Nico’s probably the grandma or something.
^the dad and the ever so teasing mother
Family hierarchy also states that the mom can tease the hell out of the kids while the dad can only watch because dad jokes are better.
In the Center episode when the others thought about who should be the leader, Nozomi asked why Honoka was the leader. Ever thought why Nozomi asked that? She’s Nozomi. She knows EVERYTHING. Why would she ask something so obvious? If she stalked Honoka then she must know why Honoka is leader-material.
That’s because she wants everyone to see what she sees. What she saw in Honoka. What Umi and Kotori knew Honoka can do. She wants the others to know that as well. That shows how much she cares for Honoka and she trusts that the others can see the same thing she saw in Honoka.
In the Season 2 beginning, when Honoka was lost, Nozomi stood out of the shop gazing at some UTX thingy I couldn’t recall. Then Honoka came, two drinks in hand. If you looked closely, they act as if they’re on a date or something. THEY PROBABLY ARE AND THE OTHERS ARE JUST PIGMENTS OF THEIR IMAGINATIONS OR SOMETHING.
And here’s something I noticed a while back about that episode where they held their Live at UTX.
I’d like to remind you guys that while everyone else was getting reading trying out their dresses and whatnot (which would take about half an hour or something), Honoka and Nozomi were the two who went scouting and basically just enjoyed their time looking at things. And the other members were practically cool with it!
Umi would usually scold Honks for not taking things seriously, but at the end she didn’t even mention it! It’s like an everyday occurrence which she wouldn’t want to bring up and probably didn’t even have any authority to get mad at the ginger or her fellow bluenette.
So my take on the theory is that Honks and Nozomi were the two who would just love to play around and do things together like exploring and stuff. My OTHER theory is that they’re dating and they were trying out another school’s rooftop sex. The latter sounds way more fun.
Yes, I know, Honoka. My theories are so well-founded.
5. HONOKA/NICO, HONOKA/RIN, IDIOT TRIO
I’ve put this in the same category, since they both are pretty much the same, to be honest. But let’s try to put this in a way that doesn’t make me sound like I love the trio so much I’d give my firstborn to make this happen.
Let’s start with what Honoka did for them.
Honoka gave Nico her dreams. She helped Nico to overcome her past and move forward with the idol group Honoka herself made. At first, the ever so popular Nico Nico Ni didn’t want to join them, afraid that they will leave them like her previous group did. But Honoka managed to persuade her into joining using the Friend plan and Nico gave in, adding the group a member more.
Honoka didn’t just help her overcome her past. She also helped Nico look good in front of her sisters. She gave Nico the Center to make Nico’s family proud of her and Nico’s happy for that. She’s indebted to Honoka. Yet, Honoka could ask nothing in return.
The same goes for Rin. Honoka helped Rin overcome her insecurities of becoming ‘girly’. At first Rin didn’t want to wear that stupid dress and put the job on Hanayo because Kayochin would look more beautiful in it. Honoka still wanted Rin to wear it because she knows Rin can do it if she tried. Rin wore the dress in the end, but not without the help of everyone in the team.
And did you see how the two were sleeping so adorably together? That was just way too cute and if you didn’t realize they go well together then shame on you.
The idiot trio are most likely to be shipped as friends- bros, even. Rin is always with Honoka and seems to feel the most comfortable doing stuff with her and Nico is indebted to Honoka. The three have the same wavelength and are the three members of the ‘chill’ team because freakin Umi can’t just take a chill pill.
All in all, the three can be shipped together because of Honoka’s contributions. Sadly, there hasn’t been any hints of the two of them doing something for Honoka so that’s why this is still a crack ship material.
But hey, it’s still possible.
6. HONOKA/HANAYO
The final member of Printempts. The other ginger. The lover of rice that puts even Honoka’s obsession for bread to shame. She’s also the one you mistook for Honoka in some images because goddamn their hair colour is far too similar.
I don’t really have much to say on this pairing because I know how and why this can happen, but their dynamics seem too bland to me. Nevertheless, I shall crack this pairing up for you.
Being the only sane member of Printempts, Hanayo is able to accomplish many things in her life. Except taking that one small step. She wasn’t able to be brave enough to join Honoka’s ragtag group of special individuals because she’s insecure (the same as Rin).
As she took the small step, she’s able to face Honoka the way she wanted to. With a smile on her face, and a handshake. Ah, young love.
People have been saying to me that Hanayo and Honoka are possible because of their obsession with rice and bread respectively, and considering that bread and rice are the two main dishes of eastern and western culture, that would be possible.
Except, Honoka isn’t that obsessed with bread. She doesn’t really care about what she eats. She mentioned in the beginning that she’s eating bread simply because she couldn’t while she’s at home, due to her family’s line of work. The other times she’s eaten bread is due to that, she simply craved for it because she couldn’t eat it at home.
Honoka’s obsession with bread isn’t as strong as Hanayo’s love for all things rice. The fandom is just overthinking things, yet again. Though it is quite funny sometimes so I’ll let that slide.
Therefore, even though Honoka’s favourite food is bread, Hanayo’s obsession with rice if far deeper that it doesn’t make the ship equal. That’s why you don’t ship it because of their favourite food.
What makes it shippable is that one scene where they were drilled by demon Umi because they’ve gained weight. (kudos to Umi for noticing Honoka’s increase of weight, by the way. She could tell Honoka couldn’t fit in her costume with but a glance. Maybe this HonoUmi ship is real after all.) While the two of them were exercising, perhaps they could find a better way to lose weight? In bed.
After that, there’s not much you can ship them with. Their personalites are different, but not too different to afford the night and day ship package. They aren’t the BEST of friends, since they don’t look it. The only upside is that Hanayo respects Honoka.
When Hanayo is at loss as to what to do with Rin and her refusal to wear a flippin’ dress, she calls Honoka for help. She knows Honoka can help her and she trusts Honoka’s judgment, even going so far as to ask her what would Honoka do if she were present, to which Honoka replied that it’s up for her to decide.
But hey, maybe they’d do some phone sex after. Who knows.
7. HONOKA/SINGER
You know that this is pretty much selfcest and you should be ashamed of yourself for ever thinking about this.
“But we didn’t think of this.”
... Huh? It’s just me?
gdamit
CONCLUSION
Most of the ships are shippable, some are more obvious that the others but most importantly, all of them could happen. Honoka is one of the rare girls in the fandom that could be shipped with pretty much everyone. Maki could be shipped with anyone sans Kotori, Nozomi can be shipped with everyone because she can just molest everyone and be done with it, Eli can be shipped with anyone, except for Rin and Hanayo. The reason some of them can’t be shipped with another is because there aren’t any real moments of them interacting in a way that could be misleading, or because they haven’t any strong link with one another. Nozomi can be shipped with anyone, but that’s because she pretty much admits that she loves the members and shows this by groping everyone because why not?
Honoka however, can be shipped with everyone because she shares moments with each and every one of them and the members respect her as the leader and the one who shows them a whole new world.
So if you ask again why would anyone ship Honoka with xxxx and not with xxxx, be sure to slap yourself in the butt and keep flying on the rainbow of delusion where you’re meant to be.
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