Kaochisa

Kaochisa is the femslash ship between Kaoru Seta and Chisato Shirasagi from the BanG Dream! fandom.

Canon
Kaoru and Chisato are childhood friends that grew up together, mostly due to their parents who were acquainted with one another. The two go on to become close friends and join their bands respectively, Kaoru being the guitarist of the band Hello, Happy World! and Chisato being the bassist to the idol band, Pastel*Palettes. Both girls are third-years but while Chisato attends Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy, Kaoru attends Haneoka Girls' Academy. They follow the childhood friends to lovers trope.

The two have a complicated relationship following up into middle and high school, and they started attending different schools as well. At first, as shown in two area conversations, Chisato dislikes Kaoru's advances and prince-like persona, stating that she knows "The real Kaoru." Kaoru does not seem to mind this, and the two continue to be friends.

A Rose's Name in a Transient World
The event begins with Kaoru inviting Chisato to play Juliet in her school's play of "Romeo and Juliet" for the Cultural Festival, where Kaoru would be playing Romeo. Chisato accepts the invite, and continues to audition and get the role as Juliet. As she enters, Kaoru comes in and refers to Chisato as her "Juliet", and continues to refer to her as Juliet throughout the event. After the two do the reading of the script together, Chisato goes up to Maya and compliments how good Kaoru's acting is. In the later chapters, Chisato talks to Kaoru about the play, and their past together. She mentions their childhood nicknames for each other where Chisato would call Kaoru "Kao-chan" and Kaoru would call Chisato "Chi-chan". The mention of her old nickname flusters Kaoru, and she asks Chisato not to bring the name up. Chisato continues to call Kaoru that, since her being flustered is cute. After another reading of the script, Chisato goes back to Maya to talk to her about Kaoru, mentioning that they might be more simple when alone together. In Chisato's Card Story for the event, Kaoru is confused on why Chisato has had some change of heart, in which she replies "When I'm with you, I can be a version of Chisato Shirasagi who is not a performer or entertainer."

Shadows of Days Past Remain
During the event, Kaoru and Chisato's friendship and relationship back in elementary school is shown as they reminisce their past together in Hazawa Coffee. Chisato was already starring in different TV shows and plays, and Kaoru admired her. In Chapter 1, Kaoru and Chisato are talking about Chisato's latest role and how cool she was. Two of their classmates then approach them and tell her while the play was cool, Chisato was too scary for them. Kaoru denies that she isn't like that, but Chisato coolly defends herself saying it's all just an act and not real, and then reassures Kaoru it's fine because what she just heard is common in the actors' world. Kaoru denies it and compliments Chisato for how nice she is, while in turn, Chisato thanks Kaoru and reassures her once more that she's fine. She then invites Kaoru to come and play with her pet dog Leon, and reassures Kaoru that she'll do fine with him (as she's a bit afraid of him). In Chapter 2, when Kaoru goes over to Chisato's house, Kaoru finds her script for the next drama and starts reading it, while Chisato recites her lines. Kaoru is amazed at how Chisato can remember all her lines, compliments her for being a hardworker, and then asks just what inspired Chisato become an actress. After Chisato explains her reasons, she asks if Kaoru wants to practice with her. Kaoru reads the very first line and then cries how she can't say any of the mean lines to Chisato, making Chisato giggle and express just how kind Kaoru is.

In Chapter 3, Kaoru finds Chisato's classmates calling her a heartless and evil person because of her lines in the drama. Just as Kaoru is about to approach them, their classmates leave and Kaoru is sad over the fact she couldn't defend Chisato. Chisato once again reassures that she's okay and their classmates just can't realize that it's all just acting. Kaoru tells Chisato how she's so cool because she's a strong person, after which Chisato breaks down; she describes how she doesn't want things to be like this, she wants to play and get along with everyone, but has to be afraid of what the other kids will say and think of her the day after the drama gets broadcasted, and how her agency had told her she needs to keep all her sad feelings bottled up, causing to her wonder if she'll never feel sad again when she can't cry or express her discomfort. The very next day, Kaoru thinks to herself how she couldn't comfort Chisato and how much of a coward she is for not being able to defend her. Chisato then tells her she and her classmates agreed to pretend to be characters from Chisato's drama, and then they would become friends; Kaoru suspects it, but goes along with the plan. Later on Chisato gets a role in a detective drama, and her classmates completely change their opinions about her and start acting kindly towards Chisato. Kaoru is dissatisfied with this, but Chisato confesses that as long as Kaoru and her family knows who the "real Chisato" is, then she'll be fine, and how she's becoming more professional and accepting the fact that she may not know what it feels to be truly sad anymore.

Afterwards, their relationship became a bit estranged, and the two ended going to different middle schools. In middle school, just as Kaoru is thinking how she needs and wants to change in order to become a strong person like Chisato, she decides to try becoming an actor by joining Haneoka's drama club (translated as the "theater club" in the English server). When Chisato saw her drastic new side for the first time, she was very shocked and could not believe she was looking at her childhood friend.

Anime
In episode 24 of BanG Dream! GARUPA☆PICO ~Ohmori~, Kaoru and Chisato find themselves together at Hazawa Coffee. The two sit at different tables, and Kaoru throws compliments over to Chisato as she waits for Kanon to come by. The two help each other look for Kanon, and as she arrives, Kaoru mentions that Chisato being in a panic was cute. This flusters Chisato, and in retaliation, she calls Kaoru "Kao-chan", which also flusters Kaoru.

Quotes
"Oh? Is it truly that surprising for us to be a team? I see... So I've never mentioned this. Actually, Chisato and I are longtime companions. Certainly a long-term relationship is something, but I could feel our bond deepening as the rehearsals were added to the mix. It was possibly... the sensation of our hearts simultaneously opening up, even wider than before. Because of that, we were able to deliver a harmonious performance. Including the two girls from earlier, all of the spectators were elated. I am glad we decided to ask Chisato to play Juliet. Without her, such a coordinated performance would certainly not have been possible. In what way did our hearts open up? *blush* Th-that... That... is a secret, between Chisato and me. For me to carelessly divulge that information would be discourteous to her... Wh-why don't we talk about something else? Aren't you curious to know more about me? Go on, ask whatever your heart desires!"

- Kaoru speaking to the Player Character in Kaoru's Special Episode, "Experience Transience"

"How did I finally grasp the role of Juliet? Fufu, you want to know? ... I didn't really want to say it, but actually, it was because of Kaoru. When I'm with her, I'm not the me who's part of Pastel＊Palettes. I'm the longtime friend of Kaoru. Similar to how Juliet was able to love Romeo and not be bound by her name. And because I was a version of me not bound by my own name, I was able to play the role of Juliet. Now that I think about it, not being able to get past my own thoughts to play a role means I have a long way to go. And to think Kaoru was the one that helped me... Not that she seems to realize it in the least..."

- Chisato speaking to the Player Character in Chisato's Special Episode, "The Color of a Rose"

"Alright... Then I'll start with the way Kaoru speaks. Sometimes her words seem like something out of a play... If you really don't understand what she's saying, just smile and nod... Any other reaction will just prolong the conversation. What else is there...? Kaoru loves helping others, so if you need something, I wouldn't hesitate to ask her. Even if it's something out of her immediate control, she'll still try to do something... She's always more than happy to help. If she does seem hesitant or unsure, I would quietly take a step back and leave her be. A lot can happen if you let yourself get swept up in her actions..."

- Chisato speaking to Eve and giving advice on spending time with Kaoru in "Advice from the Others"

Fanon
Kaochisa is one of the most popular pairings in the fandom. It's Kaoru's most popular ship, and Chisato's second most popular. It has a lot of work made surrounding it, and is currently the 3rd most written ship on AO3. It is often rivaled by Chisato's other main ship Ayachisa, and more recently has started getting a rivalry with Tomokao and Kaomisa. Although while it is one of the popular more notable pairings in the fandom, a big part of the fandom also has a generally mixed response to this ship. Some fans have claimed that Chisato's actions towards Kaoru are "toxic" or "abusive" and that ship in general is unhealthy because Chisato is cold to Kaoru.

Other fans appear to think otherwise, that the ship is healthy and that the two have a healthy dynamic, since the two understand each other. Other factors that makes this pairing shipped often is their complimentary colors (yellow/purple), the childhood friends trope going on, and the fact that Chisato not only is somewhat unfazed by Kaoru's persona, but has successfully made her blush several times. After "Shadows of Days Past Remain", the ship was less hated on and got much more approval.

Their unique Takarazuka dynamics adds a special charisma to their pairing, as both characters were inspired by different Takarazuka's tropes. For example, Kaoru's androgyny and her exaggerated image of a ladies' man was inspired by otokoyaku, the actresses who played male roles in Takarazuka, while Chisato, with her idealized femininity and maternal character, was inspired by musumeyaku, female actresses respectively. This was especially highlighted by their paired theatrical events, which only added fuel to this dynamic.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

PIXIV
 * かおちさ posts on Pixiv

Trivia

 * In Chisato's Card Episode for the "A Sigh After the Rainfall" event, Chisato gifts Kaoru yellow hydrangeas. Hydrangeas are often given with the meaning of "apology" and "gratitude".
 * In the 1-Koma "A Shining Aura", Kaoru's bandmate Kanon makes a comment that Chisato and Kaoru "shine so bright they could guide Santa's sleigh."