RinMaru

RinMaru is the femslash ship between Rin Hoshizora and Hanamaru Kunikida from the Love Live! fandom.

Canon
Rin and Hanamaru never meet, but Hanamaru looks up to Rin as idols. When looking at μ's magazines, seeing Rin's picture from when she was the center in  inspired Hanamaru to give being an idol a shot. Afterwards when she gave up the Trial Period, she was seen looking at the same picture again, and sadly said "goodbye" as she closed the magazine. Rin thought she wasn't fit for a school idol, even though she actually really wanted to do it, just like Hanamaru. Ruby gave Hanamaru a push to feel confident in being a school idol, like how Rin needed a push to be confident as the center in Love wing bell.

Both girls fulfill the Smile attribute of the first years, and are the 5th members to join their respective idol groups. Both are part of the Pure sub-unit of their respective idol groups, and also have the image colour yellow. Both have a shy, idol-loving best friend who they look up to and care for. Hanamaru and Rin are similar yet different in the way that Hanamaru is quiet but can be surprisingly outgoing, and Rin is outgoing but can be surprisingly shy sometimes. Both do their best to remain positive to the others, while often hiding their insecurities at the same time.

Both have a word they attach into their sentences: Rin says "nya" and Hanamaru says "zura". Hanamaru occasionally ends her sentences with zura with the same inflection as Rin, such as when she says Ikuzura! the same way Rin says Ikunya! While Rin much more explicitly cat-themed, Hanamaru is like a cat too. She wears a paw print on her practice shirt, is posed like a cat at the end of , and in one episode lays in the warm sun and refuses to move.

In ''Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS'', Hanamaru's side story "Watching Out For Mistakes" is with Rin. Rin cheerfully says it's been so long since the two of them have met up, and declares they're going to have a blast at the sports rec park. Hanamaru is also glad to meet up, and that Rin is doing well, to which Rin responds that Hanamaru is looking chipper. Hanamaru worries that she might not end up having fun since she's not good at physical education. Rin says it's okay, since she can come to her if she has any questions, but she also says that sometimes she messes up at sports things too. Hanamaru gets excited that she'll see another side of Rin, which embarrasses her because she doesn't want Hanamaru to see her messing up. Hanamaru apologizes and says if Rin did mess up, Hanamaru wouldn't look and would go save her.

Fanon
RinMaru is a less popular ship in the fandom due the two having never met in the canon storyline. The ship is more popular than other cross-idol group ships due to both being the Smile first-years of their respective idol groups, and because of how similar the two are. In the begininning, Hanamaru seemed very different compared to Rin, due to having long hair, appearing much more shy, being unathletic and more studious, so people didn't associate them together. As Hanamaru's similarities to Rin shone through, the ship became more popular. Cat motifs and the color yellow are fairly common in fanworks. Love wing bell and Rin giving Hanamaru confidence are also often referenced. The ship is often compared to other cross-idol group ships like HonoChika and RubyPana.

Fandom
FANFICTION

INSTAGRAM

PIXIV

Trivia

 * Hanamaru dislikes noodles, while Rin loves them (specifically ramen).
 * In 2018, SEGA did a collab with School Idol Festival where Rin and Hanamaru were chosen to get a UR card of them and Sonic the Hedgehog.