Rinako

"No matter what happens, the sacred but abyssal fallen angel, Princess Ako, will protect you!"

- Ako to Rinko in "Err on the Side of Caution"

Rinako is the femslash ship between Ako Udagawa and Rinko Shirokane from the BanG Dream! fandom.

Canon
Ako and Rinko are best friends and members of Roselia; Ako is their drummer, and Rinko is their keyboardist. While Ako is a second-year student Haneoka Girls' High School, Rinko is a first-year student at Yotsuba Women's University's Department of Fine Arts. Ako is very energetic, a huge chuunibyo and speaks her mind easily, while Rinko is more introverted and anxious, and tends to stutter while speaking. The two initially got to know each other through their MMORPG, Neo Fantasy Online, where Ako uses the name "Demon Princess Ako", and Rinko uses the name "RinRin", which is also the nickname Ako uses for Rinko in real life (Rin-rin). While Ako plays as the Necromancer class, Rinko plays as the Fire Wizard class. In the four-frame comic "Rinko's Story", Rinko monologues that meeting Ako was the "beginning of her story," and how before that she was nothing but just a girl who "likes books and games".

The two are always very supportive of each other and Ako constantly pushes Rinko to try and experience new things. In addition to this, Rinko often helps Ako come up with new cool phrases, or help her find new cool things or trends; as a result Ako has called Rinko her "partner-in-cool" before. According to the four-frame comic "Team Work", when Rinko and Ako first started meeting each other in real life, they'd go to a net cafe to play Neo Fantasy Online, where they would also "improve their team work" (by having Ako order food because Rinko was too shy and anxious, and by having Rinko come up with cool phrases for Ako). This has also been shown in other four-frame comics. In the one titled "Lisa's Song-Writing Themes", Ako grieves over the fact she can't "copy-paste all of Rin-rin's cool phrases in real life", and in another titled, "The Path to Wisdom", it is shown that Rinko lends books about different kinds mythologies and fantasy things and reads and learns about them in Ako's stead.

Rinko and Ako's friendship is first shown in Roselia's First Band Story, specifically in chapters 2 and 3 as Ako and Rinko are hanging out at the Live House CiRCLE's café while chatting. Rinko is confused as she keep hearing sounds coming from it, before Ako proudly explains what a live house is, and how she's really been into the live music scene as of late. She invites Rinko to come watch a concert with her, which leads to Rinko panicking due to her fear of crowds, but also Ako reassuring that she'll be fine because Ako will be with her. As the two get inside, Ako notes that Rinko looks like she's about to faint, before Yukina - who soon becomes Roselia's vocalist and leader - comes onstage and performs. Both of them are smitten by her singing voice, and Ako proceeds to fangirl over Yukina, saying she is "one of the coolest people ever". After the performance, the two stay around as Rinko panics and Ako asks Yukina if they could form the "world's coolest band" with her. However Yukina keeps turning her down, with one of the main reasons being that Ako's keeps calling herself the "world's 2nd coolest drummer" (because according Ako, the title of "world's coolest drummer" is reserved to Ako's older sister Tomoe), and Yukina doesn't want someone who "takes pride in second place". In Chapter 4, after multiple attempts, Ako is down in the dumps and chats about the situation with Rinko. Rinko suggests that if words aren't enough to convince Yukina, Ako should try showing off drumming skills to show just how serious is. Ako takes her advice to heart, and proceeds to practice so hard her music sheets become tattered and torn.

In Chapter 6, Rinko congratulates Ako for passing the audition and joining Yukina's band. Ako says that the moment they started playing music, her body just kept moving on its own as if it were magic, or they were fated to play together. She cheerfully says that being in a band is the greatest feeling, which makes Rinko think how she has always played the piano alone and never thought about performing with others. Ako suggests Rinko should start playing an instrument, which leads to Rinko realize she had never told Ako about her past with the piano. Rinko stays quiet for a while, before Ako asks if she's online and ready to play, but Rinko tells her that she wants to hear more about Ako's band instead. Before the scene ends, Rinko thinks to herself how fun it is just listening to Ako talking about the band. In the next chapter, Ako is once again talking about the band and their hard rehearsals. Ako proceeds to show her a video of them playing (which Yukina had allowed her to record). Rinko thanks her for showing just how amazing it is, but before Ako can reply, she falls asleep on the spot. Rinko thinks back on the video, how she feels "it is almost calling me", and wonders what it would sound like if they added her piano into the mix. Rinko proceeds to play along to the video and comes to realization just how fun it is to play together.

Right in the next chapter, Ako, Lisa, Yukina and Sayo are in trouble as they need to find a keyboardist due to an upcoming concert. Weeks pass but they haven't found a keyboardist who fits their standards and expectations. As Rinko keeps thinking back on how fun it is to play along to the video, Ako logs in to tell her about their current dilemma and asks if Rinko knows anyone who can play. This leads to Rinko confessing that she can indeed play it, shocking Ako. The very next day, she comes along with Ako to the studio and meets the rest of the band members. Rinko gets nervous as Yukina asks if she is capable enough of performing Roselia's songs, before Sayo reveals that Rinko won a music contest when she was younger. They proceed to play a song and everyone, including Rinko, is shocked over how well they are harmonizing. Rinko, in a daze, keeps thinking how she doesn't want to stop playing, and easily passes the audition, officially becoming the last member to join Roselia.

In most official artwork, the two are almost always drawn next to each other or hugging.

Quotes
"I want to make... Ako-chan... happy... She's... given me... so much... So now... I want to give back to her..."

- Rinko talking about Ako in "I'll Be Your Santa"

Fanon
Rinako is one of the more popular ships within the fandom. Similarly to ships like Ayachisa, it is mostly seen as a wholesome ship. It is both Ako and Rinko's most popular as well as their most written ship on AO3. Although Ako and Rinko are almost exclusively paired together, the ship is sometimes rivaled by other Ako ships like Akorokka and Asuako, or other Rinko ships like Sayorin, Lisarin or rarepairs like Aririnko. Some artists have also drawn ageswaps of them, where Ako is the older and taller one, or headcanonned that Ako will become even taller than Rinko after she has her growth spurt. The ship has also had some discourse in the Western fandom, as some have claimed that the age gap between the two is "problematic".

Fandom
FAN FICTION

FAN ART

Trivia

 * In addition to sewing Roselia's stage outfits, Rinko has also sewn many of Ako's outfits.
 * Ako is a member of Haneoka's dance club and loves moving her body, while Rinko is bad at all kinds of sports.
 * The two have small duet parts in the following songs: "UNIONS" Road, Proud of oneself and overtuRe.