RyuMako

RyuMako is the femslash ship between Ryuko Matoi and Mako Mankanshoku from the Kill La Kill fandom.

Canon
In the series, Mako is very loving and affectionate towards Ryuko, and is always ready to help her when needed. Mako has often gone into "Mako Theater" mode when Ryuko is in trouble. For example, she does this when Tsumugu was trying to destroy Senketsu, who is Ryuko's Kamui. She is also very supportive of Ryuko, telling her to be confident and even "get naked" when Ryuko is embarrassed to wear Senketsu in the beginning of the show. Mako also consistently compliments Ryuko's looks.

From the very beginning they have been very close. Specifically, when they first meet in episode 1. In the first episode, Ryuko saves Mako from being fried after discovering Senketsu's power. After this, Mako notices that Ryuko doesn't have anywhere to go and invites her to live with herself and the rest of her family. They live together for the rest of the series.

As mentioned previously, they care a lot for each other, and are willing to make grave sacrifices for each other. A great example of this is when Ryuko is brainwashed by Ragyo. During this period, she is trapped inside a fake wedding, Before getting "married" Mako crashes the wedding and saves Ryuko from this state.

Ryuko, like Mako, cherishes her very much. Ryuko has saved Mako many times and even let herself get beat up by Mako to save her. The both of them lean on each other for support, and trust each other almost more then anyone else. Senketsu even stated that Mako is the key to getting Ryuko to calm down.

Before Ryuko's finale battle with Ragyo, Mako asks her on a “date” which she explains is just a hangout, and kisses her during one of her Mako Theaters. You can also see them holding hands, sitting on a bench during this Mako Theater. Ryuko agrees to this date, before going off into to space to defeat Ragyo. In the credits of the last episode, you can see the two girls going on this very date.

Finally, in the 2019 fighting game, Kill La Kill IF, when fighting against Inumuta, Mako will directly state "My heart belongs to a girl named Ryuko!", and outright call Ryuko her "beloved". Although it's worth noting this isn't the real Mako, as IF is a fever dream made by junketsu, and Mako is Junketsu's interpretation of the real Mako.

Fanon
The ship RyuMako is more popular in the fanfiction community then in the actual main fanbase. The ships between RyuSai and IraMako are significantly more popular in the fanbase. However, Trigger does like to tease fans about this ship by posting art (Official and fanmade) on their Twitter account. They have also done this with many of their other series. Unfortunately, there is a large part of the Kill La Kill fanbase who dislikes this ship, and saying that Ryuko and Mako are nothing more than friends/sisters to each other. Many shipping wars have been started do to the hinted canonicity of this ship.

Fandom
FANFICTION