Mizuena

"And if that's what you're dealing with, Mizuki, I don't mind. You don't have to tell me if you really can't right now... But that doesn't mean I'm giving up! I don't want to see you with that awful look on your face, and I want to help you in whatever way I can... So please, tell me when you feel you're ready. I'll be waiting until then."

- Ena to Mizuki in What lies behind. What lies ahead. Episode 8 "My Lie"

Mizuena is the non-binary ship between Mizuki Akiyama and Ena Shinonome from the Project SEKAI fandom.

Canon
Mizuki is a second year at Kamiyama High School who tends to skip school and has horrible attendance. Ena is a third year who attends night classes at Kamiyama High school. They are both part of the music circle "Nightcord at 25:00", also known as Niigo, which also includes Mafuyu Asahina and Kanade Yoisaki. Mizuki being the animator of the group under the alias of "Amia", and Ena, the illustrator with the alias of "Enanan", the two work on the music videos together, also sharing an interest in fashion.

Mizuki is seemingly carefree, though they act as the most mature member of Niigo, mediating the arguments. They hide a secret from the rest of the group and is afraid of them finding it out, however, Ena is aware they are hiding something. Ena is strong-willed and attention-craving. She suffers from feeling that her art is not good enough, and that she is talentless. Despite this, the rest of Niigo has complimented her art and said that it is good. She uses her social media to escape from that feeling and to get attention and compliments. Mizuki describes her as a "tsundere", and the two bicker a lot.

Most of Mizuena's development takes place within events and card stories.

Secret Distance
Niigo go on a mystery tour. During the tour, Mizuki tells Ena a scary legend about the tunnel they are currently in, and Ena gets annoyed at them for telling those kinds of stories in a dark place like that. After Kanade disappears, Mizuki and Mafuyu go look for her, leaving Ena behind. Ena sees someone's shadow and starts to believe the legend Mizuki told her, until it turned out the shadow was just Kanade. Niigo then continues on their tour, with Ena getting annoyed at Mizuki for telling scary stories about the locations they visit.

On the way back, on the train while everyone else is sleeping, Mizuki thinks about how they want to stay with Niigo, but feels that the others will no longer want to be around them if they find out their secret. Ena wakes up and notices something off about Mizuki's expression, while Mizuki starts building a wall between them and Niigo.

What's On Your Mind? Exciting Picnic!
Ena is still worried about what she saw on the train. She asks Mizuki if something happened during the tour, saying they seemed off. They deny anything was wrong, and before Ena can say anything else, the two are interrupted by Kanade logging on. Ena thinks that recently Mizuki always hangs up on their Nightcord call earlier.

Ena manages to convince Mizuki to go with her, Airi Momoi, and Shizuku Hinomori on a picnic. When the topic of spreading hope is brought up during lunch between the four of them, Mizuki gets sad for a moment, which Ena noticed and thought looked like their expression on the train during Secret Distance.

While Ena and Shizuku, and Airi and Mizuki split into pairs, Airi decides to try to find out what's bothering Mizuki, and Mizuki ends up talking about Ena with her. While talking to Airi, Mizuki realizes Ena invited them on this picnic because she was worried about them. Meanwhile, Ena and Shizuku are talking about Mizuki. Ena complains that at that rate, she'll go home without finding out anything, and also worries that maybe she shouldn't be sticking her nose into Mizuki's business. Shizuku assures Ena that it might be better that she's trying to figure out what's bothering Mizuki.

After meeting back up, things take a turn for the worse when Ena and Airi slide down a cliff and can't get back up. Unfortunately, it also starts raining. Mizuki starts having bad thoughts in the rain about being unable to tell their secret while running to get help, but remembering Ena worrying about them, they become determined to help Ena and Airi, deciding that even if they can't stay with Niigo in the future, they want to stay with them right now.

Once Ena and Airi are rescued, Ena notices that Mizuki's outfit got dirty and apologizes, saying that it was her fault. Mizuki tells her it doesn't matter. Handing Ena a hankerchief, they say that knowing Ena and Airi are safe is enough for them. Ena decides that she wants to help Mizuki after seeing the expression they made.

Later, Rui notes that while trying to save Ena and Airi, Mizuki had a sort of desperation he'd never seen them with. Ena tells Airi and Shizuku on a call that after today, she wants to help Mizuki like they helped her.

Ena hopes that Mizuki will be able to smile a lot. She knows what she's doing is meddlesome, but she can't just leave them be.

What lies behind. What lies ahead.
In this Mizuki focus event, N25 meets the members of Vivid Bad Squad. They exchange pleasantries, then, Ena asks Mizuki's friend, An, what they're like at school. Mizuki starts getting nervous since An knows about their secret, but she protects it, and doesn't mention anything about it, to Mizuki's relief. Still, later at home, they start feeling anxious about their groupmates learning about their secret. They feel that they'll accept them, but due to bullying in middle school, they feel scared, to the point where they can't do N25's usual meeting on Nightcord.

The next day, Mizuki logs onto Nightcord and asks Ena, Kanade, and Mafuyu to go but VR games with them. Mafuyu's busy, and Kanade doesn't like VR games, so Ena agrees to go when she's not busy.

In the Empty SEKAI, Ena sees MEIKO and Luka talking about Mizuki, and wonders what's going on.

Ena agrees to go with Mizuki to buy VR games, but it was because she was worried about them. When they meet up, Ena immediately notices something's up, with their face looking off. Mizuki deflects this with a joke, however. When they start looking at stores, Ena goes to use the restroom. When she comes back, Mizuki has a dark look on their face. Ena asks what's wrong, but Mizuki tries to deflect. Ena says that they need to talk to her, but their expression changes to a dark one, and they say there's nothing they can tell her. Ena is shocked and confused, and Mizuki realizes what they've done, and apologizes and runs off. At home, Mizuki feel guilty for making her worry about them, and throws up from stress.

At home, Ena is wondering how to help Mizuki, and decides to go to the Empty SEKAI. There, MEIKO tells her that even talking with Mizuki can still hurt them. Therefore, Ena decides to meet them on the rooftop, and tell them something else.

Ena meets Mizuki on their school rooftop, and they start deflecting Ena's questions with jokes. But then, they fail and they're scared Ena's going to ask about their secret. But then, Ena says that they don't have to tell her anything now. But, if they feel like talking someday, then she'll be ready to hear them out. Mizuki asks what would happen if they never told her, and she says she'll wait forever. Mizuki is about to crack a joke, but then realizes Ena is serious. Ena calls them their best friend, and Mizuki is so happy they consider telling her their secret. But then, a memory from middle school, of a student calling them weird comes to mind.

Mizuki smiles at Ena and says that they can't tell her right now, but if they do in the future, they would like her to hear her out. Ena agrees and realizes it's almost class time, and after saying goodbye to Mizuki, leaving them on the rooftop. There, they are angry at themselves, saying that they lied to her. They say they were thinking that if they never told their secret, they could stay with her forever. Then they say that there's no such thing as forever, but even if their time with Ena was limited to one day or even one second, they would still want to enjoy it to the fullest. Then, they think "I'm sorry, Ena.", feeling regretful they cannot tell a person that means so much to them their secret.

Quotes
"Happy birthday, Mizuki. Did you have fun during the party at school? I guess I could just ask Akito about how it went... But it seems better to ask you personally, so let me know what it was like sometime. I'll be waiting on Nightcord! See you!"

- Ena's birthday message for Mizuki from Happy Birthday!! (Mizuki) second side story

"(I want Mizuki to smile like that more... But I can't ignore this anymore. Because Mizuki's my friend... Because Mizuki's someone I really care about.)"

- Ena in What's On Your Mind? Exciting Picnic! Episode 8 "Talk To Me, One Day"

"You're joking, right? There's nothing else to it. I'm gonna wait for as long as I need to until you're ready to talk to me about this... I'll just have to wait patiently by your side until then. Oh, FYI, I'm not letting you run away from this or me, okay?"

- Ena in What lies behind. What lies ahead. Episode 8 "My Lie"

"(Ena really means that...? I'm her friend? Oh no... I don't know what to say...)"

- Mizuki in What lies behind. What lies ahead. Episode 8 "My Lie"

"(That's a lie... I just lied to her. The idea that she'd stay my friend forever if I never tell her actually crossed my mind... No, there's no such thing as "forever". But I want to enjoy every second of what I have now... I want to keep having fun with N25... With Ena... So... I'm such an awful person... Haha. Ena's gonna be so mad when she realizes that... She will... Right...?)"

- Mizuki in What lies behind. What lies ahead. Episode 8 "My Lie"

"How are you two able to do this every night...?"

- Mafuyu watching Mizuki and Ena argue in "Behind The Scenes At The Sports Festival" second side story

"Happy birthday, Mizuki. I found this bow that I thought really suits you, so this'll be your birthday present."

- Ena's Line for Mizuki's Birthday (2021)

"Hey, I heard it's your birthday. I think Ena's getting something ready for you, so make sure to pick up if she calls later."

- Akito's Line for Mizuki's Birthday (2021)

Fanon
Mizuena is one of the most popular ships in the fandom. However, it is rivaled by ships such as Mafuena, Mizumafu, Kanaena and Mizurui. Polyniigo, the poly ship for the entirety of Niigo, is also pretty popular. On AO3, it is currently both of their most popular ships. It is usually shipped alongside Kanamafu.

People tend to enjoy Mizuena due being entertained by their bickering and natural chemistry together. Starting from the "Secret Distance" event, people also started enjoying seeing how much they care about each other. The ship was also boosted especially by the "My Footprints, Your Destination" event. In the fandom, the fandom usually depicts Mizuena as either Ena being a tsundere and Mizuki teasing her, or angst with Mizuki being unable to tell Ena their secret.

Due to the "What lies behind. What lies ahead." event, some see Mizuena as semi-canon, as best friends with mutual feelings.

At the same time, some people find the ship too prominent, feeling that Niigo doesn't get treated as a whole group by the developers and is instead split into two ships as stories have shifted Ena's character and focus to being worried about Mizuki or thinking about them. This belief was especially reinforced due to the "And Now, the Ribbon is Tied" event, where Niigo's story was retconned, as it tells the story of how Ena and Mizuki joined the group at the same time while working together on a MV that would impress Kanade. However, previous stories and information had flat out said this was not the case, and that Mizuki did not know of Ena's art account.

Meanwhile in the Western fandom, Mizuena shippers' rivalry against Mafuena shippers is somewhat known, as some Mizuena shippers have claimed that "Mizuena is not toxic like Mafuena" or "Mizuena is healthy unlike Mafuena".

It is currently the 3rd most written Project SEKAI ship on AO3. Though listed as a non-binary ship, a big portion of the fandom treats it as a femslash ship.

The first Mizuena Week was held on June 18-24, 2022, under the. The prompt for the first day was "Charles", "Keitai Renwa" for the second day, "Kagirinaku Haiiro e" for the third day, "IDSMILE" for the fourth day, "Venom" for the fifth day, "Lower" for the sixth day, and seventh and last day was "Nomad". The second Mizuena Week was held from July 9-15, 2023, under the. This time the prompts for the first day were "soulmates or symbolism", "childhood friends or domestic" for the second day, "fairy tale or royalty" for the third day, "model" for the fourth day, "swap" for the fifth day, "post-canon or college" for the sixth day, and seventh and last day was free choice.

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Trivia

 * Their ship name is referred to with the "🎀🎨" emojis.
 * They currently have three events centered around them as the featured characters.
 * Their Kizuna rank titles include: "Let's Make MVs", "Because We're Friends", and "Crossing the Boundary One Day".
 * Some of their Cheerful Carnival Team names are "I Want to Help", "Because You're My Dear Friend", "I'll Always Wait With Open Arms" and "Please Don't Change".
 * Mizuki follows Ena's social media. They occasionally talk about it with her, usually criticizing Ena's selfies.
 * Mizuki and Ena have covered three songs together (, and ). They also sing  with Miku, and have solo alt versions for Mizuki's second focus song.
 * In Mizuki's second focus song, Lower, they share a lot of lines, many of which are about connecting. Just before the song's final chorus in the MV, the texts that flash for Mizuena say "Is it still okay to keep drawing?" and "If I don't give up, could I change?".
 * In Mizuki's first focus song,, Mizuki and Ena sing the "Hey, could we stay this way, just like this?" line together twice, during the first and final choruses.
 * In Ena's first focus song,, Mizuki and Ena sing the line "Look only at me and convey your love" together with Rin three times. Some fans like to joke, or took this is as a confirmation that Mizuki and Ena are in love with each other.
 * Mizuki calls Ena's little brother, Akito, "otouto-kun", which translates to "little brother-kun" (translated as li'l bro or li'l brosef in the English version). Some Mizuena fans like to imply that they call him this because Mizuki is Akito's sibling-in-law.
 * In Niigo's event 3DMVs, Ena and Mizuki have been shown wearing different variations of each others' outfits (Ena wearing Mizuki's outfit in IDSMILE and 's, and Mizuki wearing Ena's outfit in Kagirinaku Haiiro e and 's).
 * In 's 3DMV on the official Project SEKAI YouTube channel, Ena wears Mizuki's outfit from the "Someday, From the Depths of Despair" event.
 * A lot of their area conversations involve going places together. Some people like to joke that they're going on dates.
 * The Colorful Stage EN Twitter account posted a 1koma with Mizuki and Ena, and captioned it with "Mizuki is as cute as a cat~🐈 To Ena, Mizuki is...👀" implying that Ena thinks Mizuki is cute.
 * In the original VOCALOID version for Lower, in Nulut's music video, a maid is shown to betray her master, a witch. This relates to Ena's and Mizuki's relationship. Some have taken this as confirmation that the two have feelings for each other, as in the MV, the maid is shown to fall in love with her master before they betray each other.
 * Due to numerous Mizuena fans spamming Mizuki's "I just lied to her" quote on different shipping/quote-related accounts on Twitter, a meme about Mizuena shippers having only one joke was born.