MocaRan

MocaRan is the femslash ship between Moca Aoba and Ran Mitake from the BanG Dream! fandom.

Canon
Moca and Ran are both guitarists for the band Afterglow, which is a group of of childhood friends. They are also both students at Haneoka Girls' High School.

Despite everyone in Afterglow being very close, it is mentioned multiple times that Ran and Moca have a very special bond that not even other Afterglow members have with either of them, this can be highlighted in when fellow Afterglow member, Tomoe, says, "[Moca and Ran] don't even need words to communicate any more. It's all pure feelings." and when Ako, Tomoe's sister, says "Every member of Afterglow's cool, but the whole thing [Moca] and Ran-chan have where you don't have to say what you mean to understand each other? Don't you think that's cool?" Another case would be when Tsugumi, another Afterglow member, says, "...We're all great childhood friends, but [Ran and Moca] have something special. On stage and off, they're like two bodies with one mind." There's no denying that Ran and Moca have a very special bond, whether platonic or romantic.

Moca often teases or flirts with Ran, who blushes or bickers with her most times. Some examples of this being when Moca called Ran 'dear' and said "You know you're the cutest when you smile~" to Ran and even asked her if the song she's writing is, "...a love song, about your dearest Moca~", all of these being from Afterglow's First Band Story. Another being a lounge conversation between Ran and Moca in which Moca said that the words Ran and Pan sound similar, comparing Ran with her favorite thing in the world, bread. Ran, of course, got flustered and told Moca not to compare her to bread, and Moca said that it's the best compliment anyone could ever receive. And another would be when Ran went to the convenience store while Moca was working and Moca jokes that Ran missed her and proceeded to hand Ran a note with her phone number on it and said, "Call me later~". And lastly, but there are definitely other moments, is when Moca found Ran on the roof and saw her writing in her journal, Moca took a peek and the journal said, "Happy Birthday Moca. Thanks for everything." and Moca said, "So rock and roll~ Moca-Chan's in love~" as a response.

Moca also talks about Ran a lot at her convenience store job with her friend Lisa. This is shown in both their Band Stories, when Moca asks for advice to help Ran, and in a lounge conversation between Lisa and Ran, where Lisa tells Ran that Moca talks about her a lot at work.

Moca is a key character in Ran's development. When Ran was having family issues, it was Moca who pushed her to confront her dad and her problems and then begin making the change so that Afterglow could continue performing and playing together as a band. To go even further back, Moca was the one to get Ran out of her shy shell as a child. We definitely wouldn't have the same Ran today without Moca's childhood bakery. Ran even makes a flower arrangement for Afterglow using camellias, which is the flower that Ran used to pay Moca for her bread in this childhood bakery. Ran was upset when Moca of all the girls didn't recognize it, showing how much this flower and the start of their friendship means to her. Fans have also found that camellias also can represent love, adoration, and longing in Japan, adding even more to the meaning between them.

The Separating Paths, Connecting Sky Event was centered around Moca not being sure of how to handle her negative feelings of feeling like she was 'losing sight' of Ran, showing just how much she cares for Ran and being by her side. The event ends on a positive note of Moca and Ran promising to never have to have serious talks again and to be together forever, and Ran even says, "Take care of me from now on." (*Note that this event has not been officially translated yet, so this quote may be subject to change later) which some shippers choose to interpret as a proposal of sorts. Moca and Ran are often joined at the hip, however after the event Moca and Ran have been appearing in less events together, but still very much have the same strong bond together, even more improved at this point considering they don't need to always be together to keep it strong.

Moca and Ran care for each other a ton and are there for each other all the time. It's said many times how they can follow each other easily, tying in with the fact they don't need words to understand each other. Both girls struggle with expressing their feelings as well, so the fact that they don't need to talk in order to comfort each other is even better for them. Examples of them being able to help each other are throughout many different stories, one being when Tomoe mentions the future which throws off Ran as she was having family issues with inheriting her family's flower school, but everything was quickly recovered thanks to Moca. Another one being in the Separating Paths, Connecting Sky Event where Moca confides in Ran, and vice versa in Chapter 11 of Afterglow's First Band story. Communication is key, and the two of them can have a serious discussion when absolutely necessary.

Fanon
It's obvious why this ship is popular among fans of the series, the Childhood Friends to Lovers dynamic is one of the most popular tropes in ships, as well as them being great examples of the Opposites Attract trope creating many sweet bickering moments between the two, making them seem like an old married couple.

They have a ton of potential and are popular in both the Western and Eastern sides of the fandom. Both because of their cute moments of teasing/flirting, but also for their more emotional and deep scenes where both characters show how much they care for one another.

And although some may see the ship as nothing more than a mainstream and 'basic ship where one teases and the other blushes and is only popular because they interact a lot', it's truly much more complicated and complex than that when looked into deeper. For all reasons already listed, some may argue that they are the ideal partner for each other and can perfectly fill in each others weaknesses with their own strengths.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

PIXIV

TWITTER

Trivia

 * A new BGM, a ballad version of one of Afterglow's original songs, True Color, was created just for a scene between the two in the "Separating Paths, Connecting Sky" event.
 * Moca and Ran have a variety of matching items, including: Matching mugs, winter shoes, and flower tattoos.
 * Ran has a picture of Moca in her room, while Moca has a picture of Ran's guitar in her room.
 * Moca's Valentine's Day card has a chocolate with "Dear Ran" written on it.
 * They have a total of three duets together, two of them being original songs (Sasanqua and Off we go.), and one of them being a cover song (Roki).
 * Moca wrote a song for Ran's birthday, but it has yet to be released.