Naoichi

Naoichi is the friendship between Shuichi Saihara and Naoto Shirogane from the Danganronpa and Persona fandoms.

Canon
Shuichi is a character from the third game in the Danganronpa franchise, New Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. Naoto is a character from the fourth game in the Persona franchise, Persona 4. As such, the two are unable to share any canon interactions and would be considered a "crackship".

Shuichi and Naoto share a number of important similarities with each other. Their most important similarity is that they are both detectives ranked in high esteem. While Naoto is referred to as the "Detective Prince", Shuichi has earned the title of "Ultimate Detective". They both come from families of detectives, which helped them enter the field. Naoto comes from a long line of detectives, and was raised by her detective grandfather following the deaths of her parents. Shuichi, on the other hand, has absent parents. As such he lives with his uncle, who runs a detective agency.

They also tend to dress similarly, with both wearing hats and high-collared outfits in dark colours. They both seem to use their hats as a means of hiding part of themselves; in Naoto's case her gender, and in Shuichi's case his eyes. Naoto and Shuichi both start their respective series feeling self-conscious and unsure of themselves. However, through the course of their stories and through the help of their friends they gain confidence and are able to share the parts of themselves that they had previously kept hidden.

Fanon
The Persona and Danganronpa game series bare a lot of similarities, and often attract similar fans. As such, many fans of one series are familiar with the other, making the comparisons between Naoto and Shuichi that much more apparent. Jokes abound about Danganronpa V3 "copying" the character of Naoto when creating Shuichi.

Fans like to run wild with ideas about the two interacting, or switching places and entering the others' game. Many enjoy the possibilities between the two characters, such as seeing them support each other in gaining self-confidence. Others think that, as a detective pair, the two would be unstoppable. Some fans even like to headcanon the idea that Tsumugi Shirogane, from Danganronpa V3, is related to Naoto due to their shared family name. This would create another tie between Shuichi and Naoto, and would allow for an easier crossover opportunity.

Shuichi and Naoto are both popular characters to receive trans headcanons, which is another thing that fans use to tie the two together. While Naoto seems to have canon evidence for being transgender or non-binary, the same does not exist for Shuichi. Still, many Danganronpa fans like the idea of Shuichi being transmasc, and this can be incorporated into fan works and headcanons about Naoichi.

There is currently only one work for this pairing on AO3. The majority of their fanwork tends to exist in fanart.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION


 * FAN ART
 * Shuichi and Naoto say "Trans Rights!" by snowylynxx
 * Detectives That I Love to Death by natsumiheart