Kanamafu

"...So now, I've made up my mind. I... No matter what you say, I will never leave Mafuyu's side."

- Kanade to Mafuyu's mother in Immiscible Discord Chapter 8

Kanamafu is the femslash ship between Kanade Yoisaki and Mafuyu Asahina from the Project SEKAI fandom.

Canon
Kanade and Mafuyu are both members of the small, online-based music group 25-ji, Nightcord de. (Nightcord at 25:00), working as composer "K" and lyricist "Yuki" respectively. Mafuyu is a second-year in High School attending Miyamasuzaka Girls Academy, while Kanade is also a second-year attending online classes.

Kanade is speculated to be 17-years-old from Honami's side story, but Mafuyu's official age isn't clarified in-game. Its speculated that she is 16-17 due to the fact they're both canonically in the second year of high school and her birthday being in February. However, they will be aged up in the 3rd Anniversary of the game.

Kanade, grief-stricken and disordered, composed and posted songs online with the goal of "saving someone". By chance, Mafuyu happened to stumble upon one of her songs and instantly found that it made her feel an emotion she had long lost to strangling feelings of numbness and strife. After attempting to recreate Kanade's song with a synth, she uploaded it online, silently leaving a link to it in one of Kanade's comment sections. Kanade would kater on go on to listen to the song and message Mafuyu with the goal of potentially partnering up. The two then grew to be acquainted over the online chatting app "Nightcord" through voice chats and DMs, using aliases, never even knowing each other's real names or faces until the events of 25-ji's Main Story.

In 25-ji's Main Story, the group's kind-hearted and selfless lyricist, "Yuki", suddenly disappears for days on end. Kanade and the other group members, "Enanan" and "Amia", soon find themselves worried. Through the discovery of a mysterious place called SEKAI, Kanade and the two relocate Yuki, who to their surprise, is extremely displeased to see them.

She bluntly and without explanation ushers them out so that she may "disappear" in peace. The other members eventually revisit Yuki with newfound resolve. Despite Kanade and Amia's attempts to convince Yuki to leave the sekai and not give up on her life, they seem to be making no progress. Only when Enanan barges in, expressing grand feelings of frustration and jealousy towards Yuki in a fit of anger yet honesty, does the tide start to shift.

From there Kanade attempts to sympathize with Yuki. Kanade speaks of her own traumatic experiences and wishes to disappear, explaining her motivation and desire to save the girl. While Yuki fights back, screaming of her own suffering and deep desire to quit trying, Kanade pushes forward, vowing that she won't stop trying until she can "save" her. With this promise, Yuki tells Kanade that she will keep trying for just a little longer, and sheepishly asks if she will really keep making songs for her, to which Kanade reassures her that she will save her someday. This is the start of a closer and more meaningful bond between the two that only deepens as they continue to reveal more of themselves.

When they finally meet up in person for the first time, they all learn that Yuki's real name is Mafuyu.

Carnation Recollection
After playing the demo for a song that fails to resonate with Mafuyu, Kanade meets Luka in the SEKAI with a revised demo. After giving it a listen, Luka prompts Kanade to think about where she wants the song to lead, saying that a song without a destination would only cause Mafuyu to become lost even further.

The next day, Kanade visits her father at the hospital. On the way back, as she's feeling regret over putting her father in that condition, she runs into Mizuki. After visiting a café, they find the park full of carnation flowers that Kanade used to visit with her parents before her mother passed away. This helps Kanade remember one of the memories from her childhood and she ends up crying. Later, as she mulls over the love and warmth she felt from her father's songs, Kanade asks herself how she wants Mafuyu to feel. She realizes that she wants to lead Mafuyu to a place full of happiness and warmth and wants Mafuyu to smile.

The next day, Kanade plays a new demo for everyone in the SEKAI. While Ena and Mizuki are more focused on the technical aspects of the song, Mafuyu listens and smiles, without even realizing it, and says "I think I felt warm."

Mirage of Light
While returning home from visiting her father in the hospital, Kanade comes across Mafuyu sitting at a bench by herself outside. Realizing that Mafuyu is sick, Kanade takes her to her house and tries to take care of her. She makes applesauce for Mafuyu, and as she's about to leave the room, Mafuyu pleads for her not to leave. Kanade replies with a soft smile, telling Mafuyu to hold her hand and that she'll never be alone.

Immiscible Discord
Kanade is messaged by Mafuyu's mother through Nightcord asking if they can meet up. Kanade agrees. During the meeting, Kanade tells Mafuyu's mother about Niigo, and Mafuyu's mother asks Kanade to tell Mafuyu to quit the group, saying that Mafuyu wants to be a doctor and Niigo is distracting her from her studies. Internally, Kanade is confused, since Mafuyu has never told her that she wanted to be a doctor. She tries to tell Mafuyu's mother that music is good for Mafuyu, even going as far as revealing to her that Mafuyu wanted to disappear and that music is helping. However, Mafuyu's mother merely laughs off Kanade's seriousness and says that she'll just talk to Mafuyu later.

It's at this point that Kanade thinks back to the warmth and love she felt from her own parents, and realizes that Mafuyu's mother doesn't really care about or love Mafuyu. Kanade then declares that she will never trust Mafuyu's mother, and that no matter what she says, Kanade will never leave Mafuyu's side. Now realizing the true severity of the situation Mafuyu's in, and learning how cold Mafuyu's mother and life have been, her resolve to save Mafuyu is even stronger than before. Kanade realizes that she's deeply loved by her parents, and she thinks that if Mafuyu wants to distance herself from her mother, then showing her "that kind of love" is all she can do.

Saying Goodbye to My Masked Self
When Mafuyu's mother takes away Mafuyu's phone, Mafuyu realizes that her true wish all along was to be close to people who were suffering, mirroring how Kanade has always wanted to save those who suffer as well. Then when Mafuyu finally tells her mother how she feels, she says that she doesn't want to stop making songs with Kanade, nor the others (Ena and Mizuki.) Mrs. Asahina then becomes angry, and afraid, Mafuyu runs to Kanade's house. Kanade finds her outside in the rain and goes over to comfort her, hugging her and reassuring her that everything would be okay. Mafuyu is now presumably living at Kanade's house.

Quotes
"Don't worry, Yuki. I will surely save you one day."

- Kanade in Niigo's Main Story Chapter 18

"Ah, that happens sometimes. That just makes you kinda cute. And unique."

- Mafuyu in an Area Conversation with Kanade

"...But Kanade found me. That's why...I'm still here."

- Mafuyu in Insatiable Pale Color Chapter 5

"I see. It's alright. I'll always be here with you. ......Hold my hand. You're not alone."

- Kanade in Mirage of Lights Chapter 5

"I just told Hoshino-san about Kanade, and delivered Hoshino-san's CD to Kanade. ...That's all. But, I was able to be of help to Kanade. Just from that, my chest feels warm. ...I wonder why. I don't really get it, but this feeling...it's not a bad feeling, I think."

- Mafuyu in Intersecting Melodies, Illuminating Warmth Chapter 8

"...Because you helped find me again, Kanade."

- Mafuyu in "To Not Let Go of That Hand" first side story

"...Mafuyu. As long as you're fine with me, then no matter how many times, I will always come find you."

- Kanade in "To Not Let Go of That Hand" first side story

"It felt like we were both in a place of such deep despair back then... We struggled and suffered, but that despair was also the reason we were able to find each other... So in that sense, that period of our lives wasn't so terrible."

- Kanade in "Someday, From the Depths of Despair" Virtual Live

"Once again, happy birthday, Mafuyu. This has been in my mind for a while, but it's also thanks to you that I've been changing. I'm sure that I'll be able to make a song that can save you one day. So just wait for it a little longer, okay?"

- Kanade in Mafuyu's first birthday card second side story

"Happy birthday, Kanade... I'm not sure what to call this feeling, but whenever I'm with you... It's like my heart becomes restless... And I'll be waiting... For when you'll fulfill your promise to me, someday."

- Mafuyu in Kanade's first birthday card second side story

Fanon
Kanamafu is both Kanade and Mafuyu's most popular ship, rivaled only by other femslash ships such as Honakana and Mafuena. Kanamafu is mostly shipped alongside Mizuena. Kanamafu and Mafukana are both widely used ship names in the fandom, and neither seems to really have been adopted as the true or most common one. Japanese fans of this pairing also tend to use another variation of their ship name, called Yoiasa and Asayoi.

Kanamafu shippers usually portray Mafuyu as blunt and unusual, doing strange things that make Kanade surprised or embarrassed. It is common for them to be depicted with Kanade smiling softly and Mafuyu poker-faced. However, many fan-artists will also display their relationship as Kanade managing to do something that breaks through Mafuyu's generally emotionless exterior, making her grow flustered or out of character.

Lately there has been a small rise in people who believe much of the softer side of their relationship to be simple fanservice and a dip in writing quality for both characters. Similarly like in Mizuena's case, many people have felt that Niigo doesn't get treated as a whole group by the developers and is instead split into two ships.

The biggest cause of this was the "Mirage of Light" event which featured Kanade taking care of Mafuyu when she was sick, Mafuyu expressing that she didn't want Kanade to leave her alone, and the two holding hands. Some people found this out of character, as Kanade, who is unable to properly take care of herself, is now able to look after and care for the sick Mafuyu. There is also a faction in the fandom that also considers their relationship to be toxically co-dependent due to Kanade's guilt-ridden personality and willingness to neglect her health, all for the sake of creating a song that could save the lost Mafuyu. As such, in the Western fandom it has been a big source of arguments and discourse to talk about whether Kanamafu would be unhealthy as a romantic relationship or whether Kanade or Mafuyu would even be ready or healthy enough to have romantic relationships with others.

However, the majority of Kanamafu shippers seems to be very happy with their development, and the two tend to receive mass quantities of fanart whenever they have an event focused on them and their relationship.

In 2022, a Kanamafu Ship Week was held from June 21-27 under the. Prompts for the first day were "genuine or past", "lost or bunny" for the second day, "promise or cutlery" for the third day, "resolve or longing" for the fourth day, "gentle or AU" for the fifth day, "healing or sakura" for the sixth day, and "melody or free day" for the seventh and final day.

It is currently the 6th most written Project SEKAI ship on AO3.

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Trivia

 * Their ship is referred to with the "🎼❄️" emojis.
 * Their Kizuna Rank titles include: "The Sky Lights Up With You", "Their Curse", and "I'll Save You".
 * Some of their Cheerful Carnival Team names are "First Time Looking After Someone", "I'll Definitely Save You" and "Before This Feeling Rots Away".
 * Kanade is 154 cm tall while Mafuyu is 164 cm, giving them a height difference of 10 cm.
 * Kanade and Mafuyu have covered four songs together (,, and Kokoronashi). They also have solo versions for Mafuyu's second focus song , and the cover song.
 * As of Guiding a Lost Child to What Lies Beyond, they have held hands thrice.
 * Similarly to Mizuena, in Niigo's event 3DMVs, Kanade and Mafuyu have been shown wearing different variations of each others' outfits (Kanade wearing Mafuyu's outfit in Saisei and 's, and Mafuyu wearing Kanade's outfit in 's).
 * Kanade's last name, "Yoisaki" (宵崎) doesn't exist outside of Project SEKAI. It was made to counter "Asahina" (朝比奈), Mafuyu's last name, as Yoi (宵) means "night" and Asa (朝) means "morning".
 * Kanade and Mafuyu's 3D models are the only models in the game that are incapable of emoting properly.
 * In Kanade's 4* card "Determination Ignited", the butterfly in her trained art represents Mafuyu.
 * They are the only characters with multiple sets of matching cards.
 * In each others' 3rd focus events, their respective 2* cards are hinted at to be matching as well.
 * Kanade has appeared in Mafuyu's cards 7 times, whilst Mafuyu has appeared in her cards 5 times.
 * They are the two oldest characters ingame, excluding the VIRTUAL SINGERS.
 * Their trained anniversary cards match (Kanade's has white lilies, while Mafuyu's has black lilies.)
 * In the Lower one's eyes 2DMV, Kanade's moon and Mafuyu's moon create a full moon (similar to Ena and Mizuki's moons.)