ReoMabu

ReoMabu is the slash ship between Reo Niiboshi and Mabu Akutsu from the Sarazanmai fandom.

Canon
Reo and Mabu both originate from the manga series, "Reo to Mabu ~Together They're Saranzanmai~" In which the pair of cops find and raise a child they find seemingly abandoned on the street. Within the manga series, the nature of Reo and Mabu's relationship is peppered in on occassion, but not explicitly stated. Not to be mistaken for the anime, where Reo states that they are a couple, and Mabu confesses that he is in love with Reo. Aside from the two caring for their daughter, the manga shows that Mabu enjoys cooking for Reo because it allows him to see Reo happy, a theme that is common within both the manga series and Sarazanmai.

However, in Sarazanmai, Reo and Mabu are presented quite differently than their manga counterparts. Where in the manga, the two were in completely in sync with a palpable connection. In the anime, they appear colder, distanced. It is later revealed that Mabu had been killed by complications in tensions between Otters and Kappas in the past, a situation in which Reo is prompted by grief into making a deal with the Otters in exchange for Mabu's life.

After Mabu's revival the two inexplicably drift apart for most of the series, as Reo does not recognize the current Mabu as the man he had been prior to his death. This is later explored, and it is revealed that the Otter had placed conditions on Mabu's life and heart requiring him to break his connection with Reo and vow to never confess his feelings. It is explained that if he were to confess, his now cybernetic heart would serve as an explosive kill switch.

Later, Mabu is transformed into a Kappa Zombie in which Reo, who is revealed to be a Kappa as well, rushes to defeat upon realizing Mabu might not be a decoy after all. After Mabu's entirely defenseless surrender, Reo discovers Mabu's bargain with the Otter through his desires, and in turn, Mabu finds out why Reo distanced himself as well through his leak. While things seemed to be looking to be heading for clearer skies, in the end, Mabu's heart rules over his head. In a heated moment post-leak, Mabu confesses that he has and will always love Reo, causing his heart to detonate.

Reo is left in a rather demented state, and a grief-stricken rampage ensues. Reo violently attempts to recover the hope discs with bringing back Mabu again in mind, but he is shot and killed by Toi in the midst of mourning his sudden forgetfulness of who Mabu was, as Mabu had been erased from existence entirely after losing his shirikodama. After his death, Keppi erases Reo as Mabu had been and tells both of them to get some rest for now.

During this interaction, a shot is shown of two rings with their names on them, both linked, symbolizing that their connection was restored.

Fanon
The pairing first began gaining traction with the release of the manga series, being a light-hearted story about two men with an ambiguous relationship status raising a child, it was already guaranteed to attract an audience of some kind.

After that, traffic began to pour in far more heavily with the announcement and takeoff of the animated series, and an official Twitter account was even created for the two. While their relationship in the manga series was attractive for its slice of life appeal, their relationship in the series was advertised to be alluring for its complexity and mystery, the combination seemingly drew more people to the series out of curiosity.

A large portion of the fandom traffic consists of theories, which is to be expected when it comes to a series as complex as ''Sarazanmai. ''Theories such as the "Reset Theory" or other Sara-based theories have come to light as more about the story is unfolded, and as of late, theories about Reo and Mabu's possible return are on the rise.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

TWITTER

Trivia

 * Right after their deaths, ReoMabu's joint Twitter account was wiped and blacked out, the last tweet sent being, "Until now and forever more, I will always love you."
 * Similarly, the day Episode 10 aired, both Reo and Mabu were voided in a cafe collab as if they had never existed, mirroring their current status in the series.