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ShuMako is the het ship between Joker/Akira Kurusu/Ren Amamiya and Makoto Niijima from the Persona fandom.
Canon[]
Makoto and Ren's first meeting doesn't start off on the right foot. After Kamoshida's confession, being the Student Council President, Principal Kobayakawa pressures her to investigate the Phantom Thieves to save the school's reputation in exchange for a college letter of recommendation. She complies at first, and begins suspecting Ren and the others, even going so far as to stalk him inside and outside of school, with her face buried in a book she pretends to read. If Ren approaches her and strikes up a conversation, her reaction varies from making a casual comment about Ren and the others, to nervously acting surprised for "coincidentally" meeting Ren. Yet she would continue to follow Ren when he starts gaining distance. This would go on for a few days. In Persona 5 Royal, she would be more persistent that she even takes Ren around the new area, Kichijoji.
The investigation escalates and Makoto finally gets the proof she's looking for but she starts to question her actions. She even wonders if her father would side with the Phantom Thieves if he was still alive. She's willing to erase the proof if the Phantom Thieves prove their justice by changing the heart of a mafia boss who's behind the blackmailing of Shujin's students, Kaneshiro. This leads to Makoto's awakening her persona and becoming a member of the Phantom Thieves. Her analytical skill gains her the role of the team's strategist, and to a certain extend, assumes responsibility as second in command, supporting Ren as the leader. Their dynamic as leader & co-leader is noticeable during some of the canon moments after Makoto joins the team. Sometimes Makoto sets out a plan for the team's next move and she also consults Ren for his approval before the team comes to a decision.
On 7/24, the Phantom Thieves visits Sojiro's house at night to resolve the situation about Futaba. Upon realizing Sojiro isn't there, they decide to sneak inside to see Futaba themselves. As they walk down the hallway, thunder can be heard from the distance and it knocks out the power in the house. Everything goes dark suddenly and they can hear someone screaming from inside the house. Makoto gets frightened, so she asks to hold onto Ren's arm for comfort. As they start walking, Makoto's legs won't move. When they stop, they can feel someone's presence behind them, both Makoto and Ren turns around, and Makoto is so shocked to see Futaba's face so close to her, she ends up completely latching onto Ren's leg. Sojiro shows up right after to check on Futaba, he immediately mistakes them as a couple.
When the Phantom Thieves reaches the top of the pyramid inside Futaba's palace, cognitive Wakaba shows up and produces a strong wind that blows debris in Makoto's direction. Covering her face with her arm, she's unable to see a large pillar flying towards her. She was too late to react after Ryuji warns her, but Ren dives in and saves her at the last second.
After they successfully defeat cognitive Wakaba and return to reality, Makoto asks Ren to accompany her to check up on Futaba immediately after her awakening. They end up contacting Dr. Takemi and get Futaba to rest in her room before they sort things out with Sojiro.
During Haru's arc, together with Ren, Makoto also takes charge to confront Haru about the Phantom Thieves suspicion of her identity as "Beauty Thief".
When the Phantom Thieves figure out Akechi aims to murder Ren after the infiltration into Sae's palace, Makoto is the one who sets out a plan to trick Akechi and make sure Ren comes out alive from the interrogation.
If the correct dialogue options are chosen within Makoto's social link, Ren is able to romance Makoto, this will unlock many extra dates with her, including an exclusive valentine's day cutscene on 2/14 in-game, examples of these dates are shown in the "Videos" section.
Moments[]
Persona 5/Royal
- On 6/20, when the mafia boss Kaneshiro sees that Makoto's phone is in a call with Ren, he asks if it's her boyfriend's number.
- Eiko remarks about the "rumored transfer student" being Makoto's boyfriend when Makoto and Ren interrogate her regarding her job in a red-light district cafe. Makoto repeatedly disclaims the possibility of it. However, later in her confidant, Ren has to pretend to be her boyfriend so that they can go on a double date with Eiko and her boyfriend.
- Ren has the option to tease her with "Boop boop." after she comments how upset she is about Eiko thinking her as a robot.
- When Phantom Thieves visits Sojiro's house, a thunder strike causes a blackout. Makoto, scared of the dark, asks Ren if she can hold his hand.
- Instead of holding Ren's hands as she have mentioned, she hold on to Ren's shoulder.
- After Makoto sees Futaba sneaking up behind them, she immediately clings to Ren's legs as she panically begging for her sister to save her.
- Sojiro asks if Makoto is dating Ren when he finds Makoto clinging to Ren's legs. Makoto abashedly tries to deny it.
- Ren saves Makoto from a falling pillar when Wakaba Isshiki's cognition attacks the Phantom Thieves.
- In Persona 5 Royal, Makoto can ask Ren to join her investigation to the Planetarium in Ikebukuro. This is based on a complaints directed towards the student council regarding a suspicious character spotted there. They meet Mishima in the planetarium and Mishima questions what the two of them are doing there, he suspects they're on a date.
- If Makoto is chosen for the date on Christmas Eve, she will playfully wipe the cream off Ren’s nose and tease him for it, leaving him feeling a little flustered.
Persona 5 Strikers
- In the middle of investigating Alice's case, Makoto can be seen pondering about the newest Yakuza movie in front of the theater, likely assuming she is alone. The player can choose the dialogue option that asks her if he should grab a couple of tickets.
- If Makoto is chosen for a date on the Ferris Wheel in Sapporo, she will show her determination to help Ren clear his name.
- When the team is eating at Okinawa beach, Makoto expresses her concern over losing track of her diet. The player can choose to compliment her instead.
- Upon entering Okinawa's Jail, the Thieves all notice Makoto being scared due to the jail's creepy vibe. She then gets more frightened at a sudden noise of a can hitting the ground that she ends up clinging on to Ren's leg again.
Quotes[]
Persona 5 Royal[]
- Makoto – “...Do you remember how Eiko said I would flunk a test about love? Well, um... I don't know how to study that subject. I can't learn about romance all by myself.”
- Joker – “I'll be your study partner.”
- — Joker to Makoto if he chooses to confess to Makoto regarding his romantic interest
- “I was thinking.... maybe we could study some things we don't have experience in yet... [...] ...I want to be with you.”
- — Makoto to Joker during Rank 10
- “...I forgive you. But you need to stop shouldering all the burdens on your own, okay? I want to support you, especially when you're hurting. We can get through our problems together.”
- — Makoto to Joker during Valentine's Day
Persona 5 Strikers[]
- “I want to stick with the Phantom Thieves for as long as possible-you, most of all. That's why we have to solve this case and clear your name, no matter what.”
- — Makoto to Joker during Ferris Wheel date
Fanon[]
The name of the ship came from combining Makoto and Shujinkō, a Japanese term for hero/main character/protagonist. With Makoto Niijima as a fan favorite from the Persona 5 series along with Makoto Niijima being a romancable character, ShuMako quickly became a fan favorite ship within the Persona 5 fandom. There are many examples of fanwork of ShuMako including fanfiction, fan accounts, and even a dedicated subreddit with 6800+ active members.[1] On March 16th, 2017, a poll was made by a fan, surveying participants on their favorite Persona 5 ship. This poll had a total of 1735 votes, and the most popular ship was Shumako, obtaining 21% (362 votes) of the entire poll's votes.
A Twitter fan page named Shumako Hub, hosts an annual week-long event, "Shumako Week." The event usually takes place during the first quarter of the year. Outside of the annual event, the fan page shares the fan arts and fanfics by content creators around the Internet.[2]
Fandom[]
FAN FICTION
- Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto tag on AO3
- Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 tag on AO3
- Makoto N./Ren A. tag on FanFiction.Net
- Makoto N./Joker tag on FanFiction.Net
- Queen/Joker tag on FanFiction.Net
- Queen/Ren A. tag on FanFiction.Net
DEVIANT ART
- Shumako tag on DeviantArt
FORUMS
- /r/ShuMako subreddit on Reddit
TUMBLR
PIXIV
Gallery[]
Persona 5[]
Persona 5: The Animation[]
Videos[]
