Bubblegum Rock

Bubblegum Rock is the slash ship between Kazuichi Soda and Leon Kuwata from the Danganronpa fandom.

Canon
Leon Kuwata is a character in Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc, and Kazuichi Soda is a character from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. As such, the characters do not share a "canon" and do not interact. They also do not share any direct interactions in the non-canonical Ultimate Talent Development Program or Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp. However, that does not dissuade people from shipping them. As they come from different games in the franchise, they would be considered a crossover ship, or a cross-game ship.

Leon and Kazuichi do share a scene in Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp, with Mondo Owada, Chihiro Fujisaki, and Kiyotaka Ishimaru. However, they do not directly interact with one another and do not even appear on screen at the same time. Kazuichi brings a jet-propelled raft to their hang out, and Chihiro and Mondo are both incredibly impressed by his craftsmanship. Kiyotaka expresses his concern about the speed limit of such a vehicle, but Leon quickly shuts him down. He reminds Kiyotaka that they can't die in the virtual world, but both Chihiro and Mondo agree that going too fast would still be dangerous. This is the only interaction that Leon and Kazuichi share in canon, despite them not sharing a direct conversation with each other.

The characters bare very similar designs, with brightly coloured hair that appears spiky in nature. They both also seem to have a more "punk rock" appearance to them, with Leon's jacket and piercings, and Kazuichi's dyed hair and braid. The characters also both come across as incredibly chill and laidback at first, but are revealed through the course of the game to be quite the opposite. They both seem to put on a front, which breaks down as the respective protagonists get to know them through the course of the Free Time Events. Finally, both of them seem to be quite interested in girls; Kazuichi with Sonia Nevermind and Leon with Sayaka Maizono specifically. This makes for an interesting pairing, when taking two rather girl-crazy guys and putting them into a ship together.

Leon and Kazuichi would have both attended Hope's Peak Academy at the same time. Leon was in Class 78, and Kazuichi was in Class 77. Although we never see them interact in the anime Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, that doesn't mean that the two never met off-screen.

Fanon
Bubblegum Rock is one of the more popular cross-game ships in the Danganronpa franchise. The ship likely sailed as a result of the similarities between Leon and Kazuichi. Works about them often feature the two characters as close friends, and their relationship becoming more than that over the course of the fanfiction. Art of the characters seems to rely heavily on the aesthetic of the two characters, with bright colours being a very popular choice. In fanon, they both are also often portrayed as wearing eyeliner, which can sometimes be utilized as a helpful trope in both fanfiction and fanart.

Bubblegum Rock is a fairly popular ship, with more than 50 works on AO3. However, it is often overshadowed by my popular ships such as Leosaya for Leon and Soudam for Kazuichi.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION


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Trivia

 * The English voice actors for Leon and Kazuichi also voice Shuichi Saihara and Kaito Momota respectively, a very popular ship in its own right (Saimota)
 * Both characters canonically dye their hair; Kazuichi's black to pink, and Leon's an unknown colour (perhaps a darker red, based on the CG of him playing baseball in the prologue) to bright red