Polyneed

Polyneed is the poly ship between Ichika Hoshino, Saki Tenma, Honami Mochizuki and Shiho Hinomori from the Project SEKAI fandom.

Canon
Ichika, Saki, Honami and Shiho are all childhood friends as well as members of the band Leo/need, where Ichika is their vocalist and guitarist, Shiho is their bassist, Honami is their drummer and Saki is their keyboardist. Their band's name comes from the meteor shower Leonids, which the four saw together when they were younger. They all also attend Miyamasuzaka Girls' Academy as first-year high school students.

Prior to the formation of Leo/need, the girls became estranged in middle school after Saki was hospitalized, Honami deciding to avoid getting bullied by only hanging out with one friend group, and Shiho refusing to associate herself with the other three so they wouldn't get badmouthed and bullied. When Saki is finally healthy enough to attend high school, she is shocked and sad to find out the three had been estranged, and the two then doing their best to get Honami and Shiho talk and hang out with them again.

After their shaky start, they end up becoming close again and regaining the bond they had in their childhood.

Their first arc focuses on them trying to find a way to move forward as band and finding out what they can do, with Shiho especially being conflicted after STANDOUT's leader and vocalist Iori tries scouting her to join her band due to their bassist Mio suddenly calling it quits. Shiho, now torn between staying with Leo/need and finding her true feelings with the help of VIRTUAL SINGERS, or joining the band that could guarantee her ticket to the pro music scene she admires and aims for, tries her best to hide her struggle, which doesn't go unnoticed by Honami. When the others run into Shiho turning down another one of Iori's attempts at scouting her, Shiho warns them how going pro wouldn't be as easy as they think.

Quotes
"(It was such a terrible session... Yet... I can't forget the music we made together that day... I wonder why?"

- Shiho in "Lingering Melody" first side story

"Such a nice breeze... We used to come here for picnics, I think... We'd lay out a big tarp, Saki's mom would bring us all snacks and... Oh, that was when Honami started developing a taste for apple pies too. There was also that time I ended up outside the park after looking so hard for a four-leaf clover, and made everyone look for me instead. Hehe. So many memories..."

- Ichika in Singing Among the Cherry Blossoms Chapter 5 - What We Took Back

Fanon
Polyneed is quite popular, mainly due to their status as childhood friends. Some people prefer shipping the girls separately, such as in the form of Ichisaki and Shihonami (which are the most popular ships for the girls respectively).

LN Ship Week was held between from February 13-19. The first day was dedicated to IchiShiho, the second day to HonaSaki, the third day to Shihonami, the fourth day to IchiSaki, the fifth day to IchiHona, the sixth day to ShihoSaki and the seventh free choice.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TWITTER
 * Polyneed Quotes Bot
 * Polyneed Quotes Bot

Trivia

 * They own matching Phenny plushies, which they bought while visiting Phoenix Wonderland when they were younger.
 * Shiho has also named all of them after who owns them, such as calling the yellow one "Saki Phenny".
 * One of their childhood group photos is purchasable in-game as one of the area items in the School SEKAI.
 * In one of Tsukasa's summer menu lines, he mentions that he and everyone else in Leo/need would often light fireworks together when they were younger.
 * Saki made a cake that had Leo/Need cake-toppers for Valentine's Day.

Variations

 * Honasaki refers to the ship between Honami and Saki
 * Ichihona refers to the ship between Ichika and Honami
 * Ichisaki refers to the ship between Ichika and Saki
 * Ichishiho refers to the ship between Ichika and Shiho
 * Shihonami refers to the ship between Shiho and Honami
 * Shihosaki refers to the ship between Shiho and Saki