History FanPreferredCouple / AnimeAndManga

* ''Franchise/{{Beyblade}}'':
** The most popular ship for the original ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'' anime bar none is Takao/Kai.
** ''Anime/MetalFightBeyblade'' fans often ship Ginga and his rival Kyoya.
** Shipping Valt and his best friend Shu has caught on with ''Anime/BeybladeBurst'' fans, especially in Japan.

* ''Manga/FoodWars'': [[TheHero Soma Yukihira]] and [[AlphaBitch Erina]] [[{{Tsundere}} Tariki]] tends to be the most supported pairing in fan works and forum discussions, despite [[{{Deuteragonist}} Megumi Tadokoro]] having a number of ShipTease moments with Soma.

** [[HoYay Naruto/Sasuke]] has been going strong ever since their AccidentalKiss in Chapter 3. Naruto/Sasuke is the most popular pairing on [=FanFiction.net=] and [=ArchiveOfOurOwn.org=]. It helps that the anime showcases a lot of rather... romantic moments between them, either in {{Filler}} or the openings and endings. You can see the [[{{HoYay/Naruto}} Naruto Ho Yay page]] for more details, where they have an entire ''folder''.
** Tsunade and Jiraiya, before the latter died. The latter's love for the former is canonical but {{unrequited|LoveLastsForever}}, both before she met Dan, her canonical boyfriend, and after Dan died. Though with that said Tsunade did say to Jiraiya she might’ve give him a chance [[spoiler: then he dies soon after while Tsunade hides her tears and remains single forever]].

%%* ''Franchise/{{Beyblade}}'':
%%** The most popular ship for the original ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'' anime bar none is Takao/Kai.
%%** ''Anime/MetalFightBeyblade'' fans often ship Ginga and his rival Kyoya.
%%** Shipping Valt and his best friend Shu has caught on with ''Anime/BeybladeBurst'' fans, especially in Japan.

** ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': Ruki Makino is more commonly shipped with costar Takato (in the west), superseding the [[OfficialCouple canonical]] [[PuppyLove Takato/Juri]], and has a large number of interpretations ranging from MasculineGirlFeminineBoy (Ruki's Tsundere and Takato's Adorkable) to SlapSlapKiss to TwiceShy.

*** Takeru and Hikari (Yamato and Taichi's younger siblings, respectively) were the show's most popular ToyShip, period, which unfortunately led to some vicious ShipToShipCombat when ''02'' fashioned a LoveTriangle with them and newcomer Daisuke, though Takeru remains the more popular suitor, if only because he's the incumbent.

** ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': Ruki Makino is Tamers' LauncherOfAThousandShips, and is more commonly shipped with costars Takato (in the west) or Jianliang (in Japan) than she is with Ryo, who's the closest thing she has to a canonical LoveInterest. The Ruki/Takato pairing even supersedes the [[OfficialCouple canonical]] [[PuppyLove Takato/Juri]], and has a large number of interpretations ranging from MasculineGirlFeminineBoy (Ruki's Tsundere and Takato's Adorkable) to SlapSlapKiss to TwiceShy. Meanwhile, Ruki and Jian are commonly portrayed as RedOniBlueOni (in that order) with a few shades of SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl.
** ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': [[BelligerentSexualTension Takuya and Izumi]] were {{Implied Love Interest}}s to each other and Junpei had [[AllLoveIsUnrequited quite an obvious crush on the latter]], but the fan community (especially the Japanese) lean more towards [[HoYay Takuya/Kouji]], [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Kouji/Izumi]], or [[BroodingBoyGentleGirl Kouichi/Izumi]].
** ''Anime/DigimonFusion'': Zenjirou has a [[DoggedNiceGuy crush]] on Nene, and despite [[ShipTease teasings]] for Taiki/Akari and Kiriha/Nene in ''[[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersWhoLeaptThroughTime Hunters]]'', Kiriha/Taiki and Taiki/Nene are much more popular.

** Shuuichi, Kumiko's official love interest, is largely treated as a non-entity by fans. Until proven otherwise the anime is unofficially a YuriGenre series themed around high school band club members. The original light novel is more direct about Shuuichi and Kumiko as the OfficialCouple, while the anime emphasizes Kumiko's budding friendship with Reina and has incredibly heavy HoYay between them, treating Shuuichi like a platonic childhood friend. WordOfGod in the between-seasons period was somewhat rudely dismissive of Kumiko/Reina (despite the obvious [[BaitAndSwitchLesbians baiting]] in the anime). Just to make things even more confusing, [[spoiler:Kumiko seemingly confesses to a ''different'' female band member at the end of the second season]], but this may also turn out to be [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship misleading]].

* Due to the [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys nature of]] ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', fans tend to prefer the [=JoJos=] with their {{Heterosexual Life Partner}}s or {{Rival}}s instead of their canon love interests (if they even have one). The top picks seem to be Joseph/Caesar, Jotaro/Kakyoin, Josuke/Okuyasu (in western countries), Josuke/Rohan (in eastern countries), Giorno/Mista, Jolyne/Ermes, and Johnny/Gyro. Jonathan/Erina and Josuke/Yasuho are pretty much the only canon protagonist romances to stick. Of the non-[=JoJo=] related couples, Bruno/Trish and Diego/Hot Pants prove to be quite popular.

* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'': Despite some hinting towards Akko/Andrew, fans (and even some of the crew) would much rather have Akko/Diana as the end game, given the large amount of development their relationship had over Akko's relationship with Andrew. Enough so that Andrew's original intent as a canonical love interest was vetoed early in development; aforementioned hintings being a compromise/reference to his initial purpose. Not enough, however, to make the preferred pairing canonical, as they've gone on record saying it will never leave the realm of fanworks.

* ''Manga/{{Wagnaria}}'' has Souta/Poplar, as they seem to actually treat each other nicely, as opposed to Souta's almost-OfficialCouple Inami, whom he has what can only be called BelligerentSexualTension [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale gone wrong]].

* ''Manga/{{Working}}'' has Souta/Poplar, as they seem to actually treat each other nicely, as opposed to Souta's almost-OfficialCouple Inami, whom he has what can only be called BelligerentSexualTension [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale gone wrong]].

* In the ''Manga/BinbogamiGa'' fandom, the Pixiv fanartists are ''very'' much in favor of Ichiko and Momiji over the former's canonical love interest Keita.

* A lot of ''Anime/AquarionEvol'' fans, at least in the U.S., preferred [[spoiler: Amata to be with Zessica and Mikono to be with Kagura.]]

** Eren/Levi without a doubt, to the point that it ranked 5th in Tumblr's 2014 most reblogged ships of '''all''' fandoms [[http://yearinreview.tumblr.com/post/104214981882/most-reblogged-ships as seen here]].
** Connie and Sasha are BirdsOfAFeather, and seeing them paired with anyone else is incredibly rare.

* ''Franchise/{{Beyblade}}'':
** The most popular ship for the original ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'' anime bar none is Takao/Kai.
** ''Anime/MetalFightBeyblade'' fans often ship Ginga and his rival Kyoya.
** Shipping Valt and his best friend Shu has caught on with ''Anime/BeybladeBurst'' fans, especially in Japan.

** The major slash pairings are Ikkaku/Yumichika, Kyouraku/Ukitake and Yoruichi/Soifon. Canonically, the first two are both HeterosexualLifePartner examples and the third is a mentor/student UndyingLoyalty relationship. However, both the fandom and the animators love shipping them together and find any excuse to do so.

* The most popular ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' couples are [[BodyguardCrush Alucard/Integra]], [[MentorShip Alucard/Seras]], [[SlapSlapKiss Pip/Seras]] and [[HoYay Alucard/Walter]] (the young or Dark Walter versions...which is ironic since canonically [[spoiler:Alucard refers to Walter's natural, elderly body as being trillions of times more beautiful than his artificially youthened one]]).
** Walter/Girlycard. Sometimes, the fans make Alucard take his girl form (aka [[FanNickname Girlycard]]) in Alucard/Walter stories.

* There's the popular pairing of Ruri/Akito in ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico''. This is also kind of aided by the fact that their seiyuu, Omi Minami and Yuji Ueda, are married in real life.

* ''Anime/PrettyCure'' has quite a few (it ''is'' a [[GirlsLove yuri]]-implied series, after all)

** ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' has Hibiki/Kanade.
** ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'':
*** If pixiv art is any indication, [[FoeYay Miyuki and]] [[InterspeciesRomance Wolfrun]].
*** [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Nao]] [[LesYay and]] [[MoeCouplet Reika]], who are childhood friends, are already proving to be quite a popular couple as well, and have several hints scattered around. The "Nissan combo", Nao and Akane, just about rival them in popularity.
*** Also, [[FoeYay Joker and Reika]], despite the fact that the two times they've actually interacted, in episode 23 and 43, they were fighting against each other, with Joker being as creepy as he always was.
** ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'':
*** [[ChildhoodFriends Mana/Rikka]], having plenty of LesYay moments, is very popular in this season.
*** ... which has led to ShipToShipCombat thanks to the ShipTease of [[spoiler:[[FoeYay Mana/Regina and Rikka/Ira]]]]. Fans were not pleased.
* ''Anime/ProjectK'' has Kuroh/Shiro, and Mikoto/Munakata to the point where it's rare to see them shipped with anyone else. Though the best example in the series is probably the Fushimi/Yata ship that has both very overwhelming and enthusiastic support from both the Japanese and western fandoms. The creators are very aware of the fan preferred couples and often [[ShippingFuel pander to them.]]

** While Sakura does marry Sasuke and have his child, a good many fans still prefer her with either Rock Lee, Ino, or the aforementioned Naruto simply because Sasuke treats her [[WouldHitAGirl so goddamn terribly]]. Kishimoto did acknowledge the flaws in Sakura’s love for Sasuke, but stated she would be a “terrible person” if she moved on from her SingleTargetSexuality--though given she’s labeled as TheScrappy by a majority of fans ''[[LoveMartyr because]] [[LoveMakesYouStupid of her obsession with Sasuke]]'', having her [[CharacterDevelopment move on]] like Ino (who was also very attracted to Sasuke) did when she married Sai would’ve likely been a point in Sakura’s favour. Especially to the unforgiving fandom.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': During the early parts of the series, it was heavily implied that [[ImpliedLoveInterest Shiho/Ai]], was in love with the main character [[OblivioustoLove Shinichi/Conan]]. Both characters had personalities that fans found complemented each other more naturally with the whole DeadpanSnarker schtick. However as the series went on, the creators almost completely erased all mention of Shiho/Shinichi ShipTease material and now, they’re just TrueCompanions. A large majority of fans of the series still prefers Shiho/Shinichi due to how their personality plays off each other as opposed to the canon [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Ran/Shinichi]].

** While Sakura does marry Sasuke and have his child, a good many fans still prefer her with Rock Lee, Sai and aforementioned Naruto simply because Sasuke treats her [[WouldHitAGirl so goddamn terribly]]. Kishimoto did acknowledge the flaws in Sakura’s love for Sasuke, but stated she would be a “terrible person” if she moved on from her SingleTargetSexuality--though given she’s labeled as TheScrappy by a majority of fans ''[[LoveMartyr because]] [[LoveMakesYouStupid of her obsession with Sasuke]]'', having her [[CharacterDevelopment move on]] like Ino (who was also very attracted to Sasuke) did when she married Sai would’ve likely been a point in Sakura’s favour. Especially to the unforgiving fandom.

* Anime/ZombieLandSaga:
** [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaFranchouchou Ai Mizuno and Junko Konno]] exploded in popularity as a paring, and is easily the largest ship tag related to the series on Pixiv. Once they became popular together, a lot of official art with the two was released. Season 2 certainly plays into the interest of them being together, and episode 4 is pretty much nothing but [[LesYay pandering to their relationship]].
** [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Sakura Minamoto]] and [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaFranchouchou Saki Nikaido]] are another popular pairing. The two have a strong dynamic thanks to their [[OppositesAttract contrasting personalities]] and the show has many plots centering around the two.

** [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaFranchouchou Ai Mizuno and Junko Konno]] exploded in popularity as a paring, and is easily the largest ship tag related to the series on Pixiv. Once they became popular together, a lot of official art with the two was released. Season 2 certainly plays into the interest of them being together, and episode 4 is pretty much nothing but [[LesYay pandering to thei relationship]].

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': The series allows each of the three love interests an equal shot to star in the spotlight and to hook up with the main character. But because the story is so intertwined with the girl at the route’s center, judging her relationship’s own merits with Shirou is tricky because fans can let their personal liking for the girl or her route influence their opinion of the ship. On top of this, all the routes are dictated to be just as canon as the others, leaving which ship counts as the fan-preferred one down to which of the main character’s ships is the most popular.
** The general trend seems to favor Shirou/Saber of the Fate route. Storywise, the first route blends the heroic optimism and some cynical deconstruction of the two other routes, providing a little something for everyone. Saber is generally considered the “best girl” of the three- for fans and for the leading man himself, thanks to her iconic portrayal which defined the modern {{Kuudere}}. Unlike the other girls, Saber is a Magical Lady Knight who works with Shirou as partners, allowing their romance to bloom on roughly equal terms. Her take-charge attitude guides the two through the war and pushes the [[ExtremeDoormat normally passive Shirou]] to stand up for himself while his compassionate nature pushes Saber to [[DefrostingIceQueen follow her conscience and do the right thing]]. It also helps that Saber acts as the {{Deuteragonist}} throughout the prequel series and Light Novel Fate/Zero – she also has the most screentime and development as the main character himself and more than anyone else.
* ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Rider/Waver is so popular that it is virtually canon given how many ShipTease moments it gets. WordofGod states they most likely [[IntimateHealing replenished prana ''that'' way]], and that Waver goes on to be completely disinterested in women [[IncompatibleOrientation despite]] being an enormous ChickMagnet, contrasted with his continual desire to see Rider and be with him again, which is strongly implied to be [[TheLostLenore romantic]] in nature. There was even an April Fool's Day manga about an otaku Rider and a female Waver falling in love.
* ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'':
** Fans tend to find Jeanne/Sieg very dull, whether it's due to being too similar to the already lukewarm Shirou/Saber, their lack of chemistry, the apparent jump to love interests [[StrangledByTheRedString happening far too quickly,]] or just not liking Sieg. Because of this, people who like Sieg tend to prefer him with Astolfo, who is more popular, contrasts Sieg better, and has more evident chemistry. It also frees up Jeanne, who can end up with Mordred, [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Marie Antoinette, or her own Alter counterpart.]] This one even got some official acknowledgement in ''Learning with Manga'', where Gudao watching the show ''immediately'' interprets the two as a couple, and even gets jealous over it.
** Mordred/Frankenstein is pretty common, due to their cheerful BashBrothers relationship and contrasting personalities. It even gets some apparent ShipTease in some stories (such as the ''Grand Order'' fifth anniversary, which has Fran blushing over Mordred).

* [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaFranchouchou Ai Mizuno and Junko Konno]] exploded in popularity as a paring, and is easily the largest ship tag related to the series on Pixiv. Once they became popular together, a lot of official art with the two was released. Season 2 certainly plays into the interest of them being together, and episode 4 is pretty much nothing but [[LesYay pandering to thei relationship]].
* [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Sakura Minamoto]] and [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaFranchouchou Saki Nikaido]] are another popular pairing. The two have a strong dynamic thanks to their [[OppositesAttract contrasting personalities]] and the show has many plots centering around the two.

* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'':
** Ryoga Hibiki is almost always paired with Ukyo Kunoji, rather than their respective canon suitors, Akari Unyuu and Konatsu the kunoichi, due to the fact that most of their "romance" felt like a tacked-on LastMinuteHookup with no development.
** In Japan, the anime was shown out of order [[AdaptationalEarlyAppearance to introduce Shampoo earlier]] to boost ratings, since she was the fan favorite fiancée.

** The general trend seems to favor Shirou/Rin of Unlimited Blade Works. Storywise, the middle route blends the heroic optimism and cynical deconstruction of the two other routes, providing a little something for everyone. Rin is generally considered the “best girl” of the three- for fans and for the leading man himself, thanks to her iconic portrayal which defined the modern {{Tsundere}}. Unlike the other girls, Rin is a fellow (if magically-superior) Master who works with Shirou as partners, allowing their romance to bloom on roughly equal terms. Her take-charge attitude guides the two through the war and pushes the [[ExtremeDoormat normally passive Shirou]] to stand up for himself while his compassionate nature pushes Rin to [[DefrostingIceQueen follow her conscience and do the right thing]]. It also helps that Rin acts as the {{Deuteragonist}} throughout the novel- even outside of her own route as she and Shirou will cooperate with each other during the war- giving her almost as much screentime and development as the main character himself and more than anyone else save Saber.
** Thanks to the Fate route's VanillaProtagonist portrayal of Shirou (as well as his [[MartyrWithoutACause well-intentioned]] but sexist treatment of his Servant), Gilgamesh's cut-throat courtship of Saber has drawn as many supporters as the route's actual romance. While Gil's treatment of Saber is even more sexist with his [[EntitledToHaveYou attitude]] (among other things[[note]]in the visual novel he outright declares that he will rape Saber, clearly understanding that she does not want any part of it[[/note]]) he also regards Saber as a WorthyOpponent and even respects and loves that she won't submit to him [[ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou which only makes Gilgamesh want her all the more]]. On her part, Saber refuses to tolerate Gilgamesh's attitude and fights him at every turn as an equal as kings and combatants, retaining her dignity in a way that some fans found lacking in her relationship with Shirou.
* ''LightNovel/FateZero'': While popular before, Gilgamesh/Saber rose to definite top status with the prequel showing them interacting as relative equals. Though he, and by proxy the ship, is still twisted, Gilgamesh is more humane and sane in this version[[note]]as it turns out, the Grail '''did''' in fact corrupt Gilgamesh, which is the reason he is so unhinged in the original[[/note]] and even gets a few PetTheDog moments. Gilgamesh tortures others for his own amusement but also saves Saber from Berserker and spares [[spoiler:Waver for his loyalty to Rider]]. In general, Gilgamesh shows respect and affability to his fellow kings- especially through defending a shaken Saber’s ideals from the disapproving Iskander. As such, the anime sets the groundwork for an outright MindGameShip for shippers to build off of.
** Rider/Waver is so popular that it is virtually canon given how many ShipTease moments it gets. WordofGod states they most likely [[IntimateHealing replenished prana ''that'' way]], and that Waver goes on to be completely disinterested in women [[IncompatibleOrientation despite]] being an enormous ChickMagnet, contrasted with his continual desire to see Rider and be with him again, which is strongly implied to be [[TheLostLenore romantic]] in nature. There was even an April Fool's Day manga about an otaku Rider and a female Waver falling in love.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' gets a lot of this. While no OfficialCouple is present, most fans want Touma and Mikoto to hook up. [[Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun Mikoto/Kuroko]] is also quite popular among the {{Yuri Fan}}s.
** [[ActionGirl Kanzaki Kaori]] is also a more popular pairing with the main character (Touma) than the titular character.

* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'':
** [[TheHero Nagisa]]/[[TheChick Kayano]]
** [[BullyHunter Karma]]/[[MadScientist Okuda]]
** Sugino/Kanzaki.
** [[ColdSniper Chiba/Hayami]].
** Isogai/Kataoka.
** [[HandsomeLech Maehara]]/[[{{Tsundere}} Okano]]
** [[HetIsEw With the]] YaoiFangirls, the most popular couple is Nagisa/Karma, followed by [[ChildhoodFriends Maehara/Isogai]].

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'':
** There have been some similar LesYay debates over ''Azumanga Daioh'', mainly involving ShrinkingViolet Sakaki. The most popular Fanfic pairings for her seems to be with Kagura.
** Chiyo/Osaka seems to be another favored pairing in the fandom.
** The Tomo/Yomi pairing is outright considered {{Fanon}}. As is Yukari/Nyamo, with many assuming the once mentioned "[[NoodleIncident Love Letter]]" was to Yukari from Nyamo.

* In the ''Manga/BinbogamiGa'' fandom, the Pixiv fanartists are ''very'' much in favor of Ichiko and Momiji.

* If the forums of various sites are to be believed, then Akira/Rion is by far the most popular pairing in ''Manga/CageOfEden'', and for good reason, due to their willingness to protect and take care of each other, no matter what happens. Akira/Mami seems to be gaining popularity quickly, though.

* In ''Anime/TheCatReturns'', Haru/Baron is one of the most impossible couples to actually get together (except through very powerful magic, more so than the Cat Kingdom's cat turning abilities), with Baron being a foot-high, half cat living statue and Haru being a fully human, normal height school girl. Doesn't stop the fans from shipping them.

* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': Although by far one of the most popular couples, the mind-numbingly obvious pairing of Allen and Lenalee has accumulated a fair amount of haters. Most of the remaining in the fandom are proud [[PortmanteauCoupleName Yullen]] (Kanda/Allen) fans because of a "hate/love" appeal.

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'':
** ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' had a ship war between the 74th Class trio. Munakata/Juzo vs Munakata/Chisa vs Juzo/Chisa, being that there were heavy implications that Munakata and Chisa were an OfficialCouple. Ultimately, with TheReveal that [[spoiler: Chisa was a Remnant of Despair who had been actively pushing Munakata into despair and took part in killing Chiaki]] and Episode 10 of Side:Despair revealing that [[spoiler:Juzo was in love with Munakata, ultimately, doing a HeroicSacrifice and saving the last participants of the Final Killing Game in exchange of bleeding to death]], Juzo/Munakata quickly toppled the other two ships.
** Continuing from the [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc first]] [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair two]] games, Makoto/Kyoko and Hajime/Chiaki were widely rooted for by the fandom, thanks to the piles of ShipTease and ImpliedLoveInterest vibes the anime added on. The fandom outright ''rioted'' when [[spoiler:both girls were apparently killed off (Kyoko got better; Chiaki didn't)]]. Izuru/Chiaki also started becoming popular in its own right, although that's a weird case as [[spoiler:Izuru has Hajime's body, [[DeathOfPersonality but a different personality]].]]

* [[FoeYay L/Light]] and [[HoYay Mello/Matt]] are the [[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Death_Note most popular ships]] in the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fandom.
** While the slash fans dominate the fandom, L/Misa fans contribute their share of fan art as well.
* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' has Marcile/Falin. Marcille is very close with Falin, is the most torn-up about losing her, and she does spend an awful lot of time blushing around her. Also, they share a bed and bathe together. A WhatIf even suggested that if they weren't in the party, they'd be living together. Though this one may end up becoming an OfficialCouple, so who knows.
** Laios/Kabru seems to be the second most popular ship, owing to their contrasts, good looks, and Kabru's [[FoeYayShipping obsessiveness]] towards Laios.

*** Koushiro/Mimi is one of the most popular ships in Japan, often going toe-to-toe with [[ToyShip Takeru/Hikari]] (In the West, it's not as popular as [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight Yamato/Mimi]] or [[LikeBrotherAndSister Jyou/Mimi]]). Must have something to do with {{Opposites Attract}}. It seems the writers have caught on as well, since in ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventureTri tri.]]'' Koushiro now develops an explicit crush on Mimi, and they share plenty of ShipTease with each other.
*** Mimi is also frequently paired up with [[TeamDad Joe]] by the western fanbase, not at all hurt by the fact that some of the dub writers shipped it too and added some cute little {{Ship Tease}}s between them.

** On the actual Digimon (as in, the creatures) side of things, lots of people tend to ship in the ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 Adventure/02]]'' canon either [[OppositesAttract Veemon/Tailmon]], [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Patamon/Tailmon]] or [[IOweYouMyLife Wizarmon/Tailmon]], based on the opposites or similarities the formers have (and their connections to the Daisuke/Hikari and Takeru/Hikari pairings) or the deep friendship the latter [[spoiler:had]]. Meanwhile, in the ''[[Anime/DigimonTamers Tamers]]'' section of the fandom, people seem overly fond of the [[LadyOfWar Renamon]]/[[TheImp Impmon]] ship, based on their chemistry and {{Ship Tease}} moments. Some people have even come to ship [[AngelDevilShipping their]] [[{{Miko}} Mega]] [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils forms]].

* As Fleur got more CharacterDevelopment, and Naru became TheScrappy, fans of ''Anime/EurekaSevenAO'' started migrating more toward a Fleur/Ao pairing.
* Though they're only hinted in ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', Sena/Suzuna and Hiruma/Mamori do have their own followings.

* Just a little over the first year of its serialization, fans of ''Manga/FoodWars'' have already been pairing off [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl Akira Hayama/Jun Shiomi]]; the fact it can spark a TeacherStudentRomance fuels the preference further. Similarly, the majority of the fandom likes to imagine there's a SubordinateExcuse for Ryou Kurokiba's loyalty to Alice Nakiri. Meanwhile, there's also [[VitriolicBestBuds Koujirou Shinomiya/Hinako Inui]], with many readers claiming the VolleyingInsults between as a sign of BelligerentSexualTension.
** In the case of [[TheHero Soma Yukihira]], ShipToShipCombat ensues as fans are split between pairing him with [[AlphaBitch Erina]] [[{{Tsundere}} Nakiri]] and [[CharacterDevelopment Megumi]] [[{{Deuteragonist}} Tadokoro]]. However, Erina tends to win out in the amount of fan works and forum discussions.
* In the ''Anime/{{Free}}'' fandom, judging by the nigh-constant [[ShipToShipCombat Ship To Ship Combat]] between the two pairings' supporters, fan preference seems to be split between Rin/Haruka and Makoto/Haruka. Of course, Nagisa/Rei may transcend both sheerly because they work as [[ShipMates Ship Mates]] to any combination of main-character ships in the series.
** The sequel season finally managed to turn the tides by introducing a new character for fans to ship Rin with. Sosuke's incredibly homoerotic bromance with Rin was powerful enough that it either changed Rin/Haru shippers' minds or it pushed those torn between Rin or Mako for Haru to choose to [[PairTheSpares pair Rin off with Sosuke to free Haru for Mako.]] Rin/Haru is still more popular than Rin/Sosuke, though.
* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' is a shipping goldmine! While many support the canical Kyo/Tohru, Yuki/Tohru and Kyo/Kagura complete the love triangle with a large fan base. On the yaoi side, Yuki/Kyo and Yuki/Hatsuharu are pretty popular too.

* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' has so far no {{Official Couple}}s, and the chances of there being any are slim, but this has not daunted the shippers in any way. Okita/Kagura, due to the FoeYay and BelligerentSexualTension between them, are ardently shipped together. A close second would be Gintoki/Tsukuyo, especially after the {{Ship Teas|e}}y Red Spider arc. {{Yaoi}} couples such as Gintoki/Hijikata and Hijikata/Okita are also hugely popular due to a large part of the fanbase consisting of YaoiFangirls.

* ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'', like a lot of sports series, has a large shipping community that predominantly supports male/male ships, with almost every major character being in at least one super popular one. Among the largest are Kageyama/Hinata, Daichi/Sugawara, Oikawa/Iwaizumi, Bokuto/Akaashi, Tsukishima/Yamaguchi, Asahi/Nishinoya, and Kuroo/Kenma. It helps that characters are usually introduced in duos, either as best friends/on-court-partners or rivals.
* ''Manga/HanaNoKishi'' has [[OppositesAttract Ibara/Ran]] and [[BodyguardCrush Rei/Sei]]. [[spoiler:They both end up becoming the {{Official Couple}}s.]]

* A ''lot'' of people who have read the ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' novels are of the opinion that Kyon/Yuki is the perfect couple. This can be attributed to the 4th novel, ''Disappearance'', which [[ShipTease focuses majorly on Yuki and Kyon]], as well as the fact that Haruhi tends to go OutOfFocus, while Yuki becomes more focused on, all combined with an utter lack of any major Haruhi/Kyon hints. The fact that the author himself has said Yuki is his favourite character may also help. It may also help that Yuki is beloved by an enormous portion of the fandom, individuals at worst not expressing any interest in her, while Haruhi, though popular as well, has acquired a significant force of haters due to the more abrasive and violent portions of her personality. It also doesn't hurt that there's [[Manga/TheDisappearanceOfNagatoYukiChan an entire AU spinoff devoted to this ship]].
* In the ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' fandom the majority of fans seem to be divided between Hayate/Hinagiku and Hayate/Athena. While Hinagiku continues to [[EnsembleDarkHorse completely overshadow the entire cast in terms of popularity]], Athena is a firm second and discussions on the forums can be split pretty evenly. Notably neither of the girls is one of the main heroines, those being Nagi and Maria who have more supporters than the other 'auxiliary' pairings but not nearly enough to compete for fan-favor.
** Wataru/Saki is also incredibly popular among the fandom despite Wataru being interested in Isumi and Sonia having an obvious interest in him. Recently in the manga it seems [[spoiler: that the Wataru/Saki shippers might have won after all, as Wataru confessed to Isumi that he ''loved'' her and has since dropped out of Hakuou to focus on his business with Saki]].

* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' has quite a number of them, thanks to the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters and large amounts of ShipTease in the series. Of these, America/England usually gets the most fan attention and the lion's share of fanworks, especially in Western fandom. In Japanese fandom, it's sometimes overshadowed by England/Japan but still one of the biggest ships and more popular than every other America and England pairing.
** For pairings that don't feature America or England, Germany/Italy, Sweden/Finland, and Spain/Romano are by far the most popular ones due to them being the slash pairings that come the closest to being confirmed as canon: Germany's heavily-implied past self, the Holy Roman Empire, was explicitly in love with a young Italy (although he mistakenly thought Italy was a girl); Sweden outright calls Finland his "wife" which flusters Finland but doesn't stop him from constantly spending time with him; and Spain once proposed marriage to Romano (albeit only after Italy, his first choice, had rejected him) who didn't seem entirely opposed to the idea.

* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'':
** Most fans ship Takashi with Saeko, because of her unbridled AxCrazy [[LadyOfWar badassery]] and because [[MsFanservice she's hot.]] Though a fair amount of the pairing's popularity stems from shippers simply not liking Rei [[DieForOurShip for being Saeko's competition]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpUmjfJfTEY because Takashi reciprocates.]]
** Saya and Hirano have a respectable fanbase as well, thanks to the manga giving them ample amounts of ShipTease. By chapter 29, they're [[LikeAnOldMarriedCouple all but married]] [[http://www.mangareader.net/high-school-of-the-dead/29/32 with a kid.]]
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'':
** The fandom is split on who Keiichi should be with, with ''all'' of the girls claiming a share of fans. Rena and Mion being the most popular, with Mion having more fanworks than Rena in the end (early on it was the other way around).
** The most popular ship for Rika is her and Satoko together. It is far more popular than Rika/Hanyuu, Satoko/Hanyuu, or Rika/Keiichi.

* [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Miki/Makoto]] seems to be for a major part of the ([[EvenTheGirlsWantHer mostly female]]) ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'' fanbase (or at least based on what you see on Comiket and other [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Doujinshi amateur publication]] events).
* If the sheer amount of fan arts on likes of Pixiv are anything to go by, Shibuya Rin and the Producer pairing is the most popular pairing in ''Anime/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls''. This is probably helped by the fact that those two are often shown onscreen together, more frequently than any other characters in the anime.
* Any talk of shipping with fans of ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'' will more or less revolve around pairing [[UnluckyEverydude Ichika]] with [[EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench Charlotte]], due to her being the least likely to go angry at him among the other girls pining for him. The end result: she achieves BreakoutCharacter status, by becoming the first to have her own spin-off manga. And that is not even counting the fact that the ending for the said spin-off has been declared BetterThanCanon.
** Due to how incredibly dorky Laura is after her [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]], many fans add her into the Ichika/Char pairing as an OT3.

* ''Anime/IzettaTheLastWitch'': People were already pairing Izetta with Princess Finé even before the series began airing due to the HoYay promotional artwork. Those feelings intensified after the series began airing. It's [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship technically]] not a YuriGenre series, though, so it never makes this official despite ludicrous amounts of subtext.

* ''Franchise/KagerouProject'' Has [[BroodingBoyGentleGirl Shintarou/Ayano]], [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy Haruka/Takane]], [[HugeGuyTinyGirl Seto/Mary]], And [[BelligerentSexualTension Kano/Kido.]] It helps that the author often writes these as duos with gracious amounts of [[ShipTease ship tease]].
* Within the ''Manga/KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl'' fandom it's extremely rare to see someone who ships Hazumu and Yasuna. This is despite, or maybe because, she was the girl Hazumu was going after for most of the series. The shipping was so noticeable that [[spoiler:an anime {{OVA}} came out that [[ShipSinking killed the Hazumu/Yasuna]] ship with a flimsy excuse, to get Hazumu and [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend Tomari]] [[RelationshipUpgrade together]]]]. It has a mild excuse in the anime, where the ending before the {{OVA}} does have aspects of AssPull. It's also worth noting that the manga ''did'' have Hazumu end up with Tomari at the end. The anime came out before the manga ended, though, so it's possible that the manga's ending was influenced to some extent by the popularity of Hazumu/Tomari.
* ''Manga/KOn'':
** [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Mio/Ritsu]] is easily the most popular ship in the series. This is because [[OddCouple their role as foils to each other make for a very compatible ship]], and the way that [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Ritsu]] and [[{{Tsundere}} Mio]] act towards each other just screams BelligerentSexualTension. Not to mention the episodes devoted to their relationship, including the ''Romeo and Juliet'' two-parter (and yes, [[LesYay they play the titular couple]] since the series takes place in an all-girls school).
** [[SempaiKouhai Yui/Azusa]] is also very popular, due to Yui [[CuddleBug showering Azusa with affection very often]] and [[{{Tsundere}} Azusa often trying to reject her, but always letting up in the end]]. Season 2 sees the two of them forming a music duo named [=YuiAzu=], which is basically WordOfGod giving the two an official PortmanteauCoupleName.
** It's very common for ''K-On!'' shipping fics to have Ritsu/Mio, Yui/Azusa, sometimes Ui/Jun, and [[PairTheSpares Mugi/Sawako]]. Since the latter is a TeacherStudentRomance, another option is making Mugi the token heterosexual of the group and pairing her off with a male OC (usually a self-insert).
* [[ForTheLulz Shizuku]] and [[CluelessChickMagnet Natsuru]] in ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'' are essentially this in the eyes of the fans, who love seeing Shizuku trolling the hell out of Natsuru. The OfficialCouple according to the LightNovel is Natsuru and Akane, while the anime opted for the "everyone wins" route. [[spoiler: The manga has Shizuka winning.]]

* ''Manga/KissHimNotMe'': The series has a rather unfortunate plot involving a girl, Kae Serinuma, who starts being romantically pursued by four boys the moment she loses weight. Three of these boys did not care much or at all for her when she was fat; but the fourth boy, Mutsumi, was very kind to her, already seemed to have feelings for her before the weight loss, was the only one to recognize her after it, and does not care that she has socially unacceptable hobbies. So, a lot of readers immediately latched onto Serinuma/Mutsumi as the ideal ship of the series.
** For those who like yuri, Serinuma/Nishina is probably the preferred ship, helped by the fact that Nishina is legitimately [[GayOption part]] of Serinuma's harem and she shares a lot of good points with Mutsumi.
* In terms of the SiblingTriangle in ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'', fans originally liked to ship Tsukimi with [[WholesomeCrossdresser Kuran]][[AgentPeacock osuke]] [[AlmostKiss for]] [[MeetCute various]] [[LadykillerInLove reasons]]; the main one being that he likes her for the [[LovableNerd jellyfish otaku she is]] as opposed to [[LovesMyAlterEgo Shu]], who can't even tell that [[ClarkKenting "Before" and "After" Tsukimi are the same person]]. As the manga progressed more preference has slowly shifted toward Shu though. Anime-only fans are still heavy on Kuranosuke/Tsukimi. Only in the manga did Shu discover that "Before" and "After" Tsukimi are the same person. His conclusion? He doesn't care, still loves her, and is willing to even go along with her Jellyfish obsession.

* Many ''Manga/LuckyStar'' fans like to ship Konata and Kagami together, and there have been some ''slight'' {{Ship Tease}}s, mainly on Kagami's part.
** However, there's also some other websites that seem to be in favor of Konata and Tsukasa, though just as many go for the obvious BetaCouple of Tsukasa and Miyuki.
** Yutaka/Minami is another pairing that has ''a lot'' of Ship Tease backing it up. Hiyori/Patricia to a lesser extent.
** There are quite a few fans who believe that Ayano isn't dating Misao's older brother, but rather, this is a euphamism to cover up her relationship with Misao herself.
* ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' is infamous for its ShipTease -- sometimes ''metric tons'' of it -- for couples that are not official at all. And that means basically all potential pairings, since there's exactly one OfficialCouple in canon to date... an off-screen hookup between a member of the supporting cast and a glorified extra. The fans have responded with {{Fan Preferred Pairing}}s for most of the main cast, particularly Nanoha/Fate (which later got promoted to [[WordOfGay official status]]), Suzuka/Arisa, Subaru/Teana, Caro/Erio/Lutecia, and Vivio/Einheart. Hayate is a special case, with Hayate/Vita, Hayate/Reinforce and [[MarryThemAll Hayate/Harem]] being about equally popular, often with the same people.
* Nanashi/Dorothy is largely supported in the ''Manga/{{MAR}}'' fandom due to their BelligerentSexualTension that they have.

*** Basically, disregarding OCs and self-inserts, the most popular ships seem to be Ginta X Alviss, Ginta X Phantom, Alviss X Phantom, or some combination thereof, though some might argue the Yaoi fans are an extremely vocal minority. As far as heterosexual pairings go, Ginta is almost exclusively shipped with Snow, and Dorothy is near-universally paired with Nanashi. Jack is either left alone or paired with Pano, or rare cases with Snow. Alviss is... Unsurprisingly almost never paired heterosexually, but in the rare instance he is, it's usually Belle.

* ''Anime/MyHime'':
** Many fans are convinced that the [[TallDarkAndSnarky dark and suave]] student-council vice-president Reito Kanzaki makes a much better match for Mai than male main character Yuuichi Tate, since Reito openly acknowledges his crush on her early on while Yuuichi [[CannotSpitItOut tends to skirt the issue]]. [[YuriFan Others]] believe that Mikoto Minagi would be a better pairing option for her (hard not to see, since [[LesYay the two of them are attached at the hip throughout most of the series]]). Keep in mind that Reito and Mikoto [[spoiler:are brother and sister]], but that's needlessly complicating things.
** [[SchoolgirlLesbians Natsuki/Shizuru]] is also overwhelmingly popular. There are more Natsuki/Shizuru fanfics in the ''My-[=HiME=]'' section of fanfiction.net than there are ''all other stories combined.'' They ''are'' a couple in ''Anime/MaiOtome'', but that's a different continuity.
* The only [[OfficialCouple official couples]] in ''Manga/NabariNoOu'' are Thobari/Hanabusa and Kouichi/Raimei. However, thanks to the [[SerialEscalation sheer amount of]] ShipTease Yoite/Miharu and Raikou/Gau get, fans overwhelmingly prefer to {{Squee}} over those pairings instead.

** For most of the manga's run, anyone familiar with the conventions of {{Shonen}} would have told you that the "obvious" candidate for the titular character's final love interest was Sakura Haruno, the {{Tsundere}} object of his [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]]. Yet throughout the narrative, most of the fandom preferred for Naruto to turn his romantic attention towards Hinata Hyūga, the resident NiceGirl and ShrinkingViolet who was in love with him. Despite the relative lack of interaction in the manga, Naruto/Hinata had been popular enough to get plenty of ShipTease in {{Filler}}, a date in a HighSchoolAU bonus feature, and a canon-defying RelationshipUpgrade in [[VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm2 a video game adaptation series]]--and it's worth mentioning that [[CreatorPreferredAdaptation the video game series is preferred by the author himself]]. Only after nearly a decade of running-time did the manga start to treat Naruto/Hinata as a serious possibility, and it took about another half-decade to go from "possibly" to "huh, this might actually be happening", and from there to "''huh'', this ''is'' happening." While the manga certainly took long enough to get there, when it ''did'', most of the fandom got what they wanted: There is the manga's [[DistantFinale epilogue]] which shows Naruto and Hinata being HappilyMarried with two children; [[Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie a post-manga movie]] dedicated to the tale of how they fell in love; a two-page manga short written by [[Creator/MasashiKishimoto the author himself]] dedicated to their first date; [[LightNovel/KonohaHidenThePerfectDayForAWedding a post-manga light novel]] dedicated to their wedding; [[Anime/BorutoNarutoTheMovie a sequel movie]] starring their son; and [[Manga/{{Boruto}} a sequel manga]] starring their son. In post-series interviews, [[WordOfGod the author has repeatedly related]] the amount of {{trolling|Creator}} that had gone into the Hinata/Naruto/Sakura LoveTriangle. According to him, [[IntendedAudienceReaction all of the above transpired according to his design]] that dates back to the early stages of the manga; Sakura's apparent position as the "obvious" candidate was a deliberate RedHerring; and as stated in [[http://www.saiyanisland.com/2017/01/naruto-creator-masashi-kishimoto-2017-interview/ this 2017 Jump Festa interview]], [[OldShame he now regrets]] burdening the story with the "messy love triangle" in the first place, because he chose to focus more on the actual genre of the manga and he decided that Naruto/Hinata were always going to get together and get married anyways, ever since "pretty early on" and "from an early stage."
** Shikamaru is so frequently paired up with Temari by fans in Japan, the West, and pretty much anywhere the manga is known that many assume it is already canon, even though they haven't ''technically'' gone on a date, although Naruto incorrectly [[ShipperOnDeck assumed they had]] when he saw them walking together just after the TimeSkip, and another girl named [[OpaqueNerdGlasses Shiho]] has shown romantic interest in Shikamaru. The series does hint heavily at something being there--they keep getting ShipTease [[ShippingGoggles half-invisible to the naked eye]]--and WordOfGod agrees there is something between them, but seems to suggest it's just not important enough for us to get to see it happen on-panel until the DistantFinale which came with a RelationshipUpgrade for many couples. Much like the aforementioned Naruto and Hinata, Shikamaru and Temari are shown to be HappilyMarried with a son. [[LightNovel/ShikamaruHidenACloudDriftingInSilentDarkness Shikamaru's post-manga light novel]] also includes Shikamaru asking Temari out on a date.

** Kakashi and Anko, Kakashi and Ayame, Kakashi and Rin, Kakashi and {{Filler}} character Hanare. Screw it Kakashi with '''any''' female Jonin who isn’t already married. The fandom finds it outrageous that Kakashi a man [[SoBeautifulItsACurse so handsome]] that a single glimpse of his unmasked face made a man and woman fall in love with him remains [[ChasteHero single]] to this day.
*** On the Yaoi side, Kakashi is overwhelmingly shipped with Iruka to the point of it eclipsing every other Kakashi-related ship regardless of gender. Even merchandise would depict the two together.
*** But as the story went on, Iruka appeared less often while [[HeterosexualLifePartners Might Guy]] appeared more, both in the story and with Kakashi as well. This subtly but noticeably shifted the shipping tides towards Kakashi and Gai.
** Rock Lee and Tenten, also {{Filler}} and video games [[ShipTease weren't]] [[https://youtu.be/ED0fzEGOkx4?t=200 helping]] ease matters. A good percentage of people assumed Metal Lee in ''Boruto'' was her and Lee’s kid, but egregiously Metal Lee is just [[MissingMom motherless]] and Tenten is single.
** Prior to the release of the ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' anime, people began shipping the Konoha 11's kids together. The most popular pairings were Boruto/Sarada, Shikadai/Yodo, and Inojin/Himawari. The last one [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight didn't even interact]] in ''Anime/BorutoNarutoTheMovie'', ''Manga/NarutoGaiden'', or the DistantFinale; however fans began shipping them anyway. This is due to Inojin's and Sarada's mothers being best friends, and the Yamanaka's being florists while "Himawari" means "sunflower." Inojin/Himawari actually got an episode [[ADayInTheLimelight dedicated to them]] in the ''Boruto'' anime, in which [[CommonalityConnection they share their passion for drawing]] and ends with Inojin calling Himawari "sensei".
** In the manga, Sumire states that she likes Boruto outright which fueled Boruto/Sumire. Their shippers particularly appreciate that while at first glance they seem like a GenerationXerox of Naruto/Hinata, the truth is ''very'' different as the BrilliantButLazy Boruto is very different from Naruto, and [[spoiler:Sumire's shy personality was an act, with her actually being a {{Tykebomb}} who Boruto had to [[DefusingTheTykebomb defuse]]. In fact, Sumire has far more in common with ''Naruto'' than with Hinata, since they're both orphans with [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan a powerful monster sealed inside them]]]].
** Cho-Cho/Mitsuki has become popular thanks to a ADayInTheLimelight arc in the anime featuring Cho-Cho where she and Mitsuki bond.
** Fans frequently pair Konohamaru with Hanabi, due to them being of a similar age despite never having interacted before... until the ''Boruto'' anime episode 50, in which they both get drunk and share their affection for Boruto as a thing in common.
** Shikadai and Yodo were getting paired as soon as fans learned they fought each other in the chunin exams due to LikeParentLikeSpouse with their similarities to Shikamaru and Temari.
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' began with the daunting task of giving the male lead an entire classroom of love interests, a whopping thirty-one girls, with more added as time went on. Eventually six women emerged as having the best chances of hooking up with Negi, and fandom was pretty evenly split among them. Then the series ended. Badly. [[TorchTheFranchiseAndRun Very, very badly.]] And ambiguously, with a WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue that covered everyone's lives except on this one issue; it did rule out six characters, but none of them were the main six. In the final chapters, Negi did say he might like ''someone'', but he's ten-years-old, it's not really a sign of a final commitment. [[spoiler: ''Manga/UQHolder'' reveals that the girl in question was Chisame, and they marry some time later. Whether or not this was a good choice is subject for heavy debate]].
** Not including Negi, the most popular ship is [[SchoolgirlLesbians Konoka and Setsuna]]. The epilogue implied with all the subtlety of a brick to the face that they got married. The only way that people don't ship the two of them together is when they're shipping them together [[OT3 with Negi]].
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has a few different forms of this, not helped by the fact that the series as a whole isn't very fond of tying up romantic loose ends ([[KillEmAll if only because of its ending]]). For much of the fandom's lifespan, Shinji/Asuka seemed to be the most popular of the various ships involving Shinji, due to Asuka's status as an iconic (if very dark) take on the {{Tsundere}} alongside the relatively prevalent ShipTease in the show itself, with Shinji/Rei being a good second place (let down largely by, er, ''[[OedipusComplex implications]]''), with Kaworu/Shinji being seen as the weird one that only YaoiFangirls were into. The ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' films, on the other hand, in the process of generating a NewbieBoom, put significantly greater focus on Shinji and Kaworu's dynamic and more closely explained Kaworu's deal (that being, he was the one character who really made Shinji happy). This caused the once-niche Kaworu/Shinji to explode, and seems to have turned it into the current big fish in shipping circles: on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn as of this writing, it more than quadruples the count of Shinji/Asuka (the second most popular) and outclasses Shinji/Rei (the fifth most popular) ten times over. This has created some factionalism due to shifting dynamics (the FFN fanbase seems to still be sticking with Shinji/Asuka, for instance), with various circles coming up with their own stripes of preferred couple to play ShipMates with their big fish--notably, Asuka/Rei was seen as a CrackPairing pre-''Rebuild'', but is currently the third most popular ship on [=AO3=].

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has many despite Oda firmly stating there will be NoHuggingNoKissing among the crew of the Strawhat Pirates. The fans ignore this, so far characters like Nami and Robin can be the FandomBicycle. Take any ShipTease in canon with a grain of salt.
** A chunk of fandom heavily prefers pairing Luffy with Nami, citing a unique relationship between the two as evidence, as well as the fact that author Oda's wife apparently cosplays as her. But that argument is flawed seeing as it equates Luffy (a ChasteHero) to Oda (a [[SmokingIsCool chain smoking]] [[MostWritersAreMale pervert]]) while another [[ChefOfIron character]] fits that bill. But again take it with a grain of salt.
** On the Yaoi side, Luffy is often paired with Zoro, or more commonly Zoro with Sanji. See the One Piece HoYay page for more.
** Other fan-favored pairings include the sorta-obvious Usopp and Kaya (which fans widely presume will inevitably become canon in the end despite Oda's NoHuggingNoKissing statements), as well as Zoro and Robin, though the latter can be considered ShipSinking as Franky has more [[ShipTease moments]] with Robin than she does with Zoro. Plus Oda states Franky and Robin are the [[TeamMom mom]] and [[TeamDad dad]] of the crew, so that really puts an end to Robin’s other potential relationships.

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime has a few, despite the NoHuggingNoKissing.
** Each of Ash's female companions[[note]][[MyFriendsAndZoidberg not counting]] [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Bonnie]][[/note]] have had their share of ShipTease moments, and, thus, their share of supporters for his hand, mainly correlating to either when the fan first entered or which season was a fan's favorite. As of the end of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Best Wishes]]'', however, [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Misty]] [[FirstGirlWins had stood the test of time]]; though she was aided by external support during her tenure[[note]]specifically, a minor WriterRevolt in Japan sneaking in the ShipTease compounded by DubText in the translations, plus an added Love Song in the ''2.B.A. Master'' CD,[[/note]], and despite other pairings[[note]]some being [=FPCs=] in their own right, see below[[/note]].
*** Ash/Serena became absurdly popular in a very low time period, there is so much ShipTease it's not even funny. Just to get an idea, in less than two months [[http://www.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?615753-Amourshipping-(Ash-x-Serena)-General-Discussion-(SPOILER-WARNING) the pairing thread on Serebii got over 20,000 replies]] (no other shipping thread even reached 10,000)! Not to mention the huge amount of Japanese fanart. Of course this is helped along by blatant ship teasing (at least from Serena's side of the equation) that makes Pokeshipping subtle in comparison. At the end of the XYZ season, the fans exploded with excitement when the impossible happened; [[spoiler: Serena kisses Ash before she leaves]].
*** Gary Oak is still the popular GayOption for Ash, even after several potential challenges.
*** Goh seems to have become the Serena to Gary's Misty in Pokémon Journeys, due to the aversion of the series' usual ThreeAmigos format meaning Goh is Ash's default shipping option this season. Clemont and Gladion could have been contenders as well, but the presence of the various female companions in their generations (including Serena, listed above) caused them to be comparatively niche options.
*** Giselle, a CharacterOfTheDay from the first season, is still a somewhat popular option due her being the first (and, so far, ''only'') girl Ash showed clear attraction towards.
*** With Pokémon/Human fans it's either Latias, Pikachu, Mew, or Bayleef. Which usually involves Ash [[{{Animorphism}} turning into a Pokémon]] or the Pokemon turning human.
** As indicated above, the pairings involving Ash are just the tip of the iceberg, as there are LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, leading to loads and loads of ships.
*** [[MinionShipping Jessie]] and [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther James]] is quite popular: It also works as a [[ShipMates side ship]] to just about any other couple because it doesn't "get in the way of anything." Neary two decades of no romantic progression has put a dent in the ship, compared to the late 90s and early 2000s; however, it still has a steady fanbase.
*** Ash's Mom (Delia)/Professor Oak had a strong following for a while, partly due to Oak acting as Ash's father figure most of the series, and partly due to their offscreen (and several ''onscreen'') locations being in close proximity.
*** [[FriendlyRivalry May and Drew]], which qualifies due to their resolution being [[{{Pun}} an apt]] MaybeEverAfter. For the duration of May's time in the main cast, every single time Drew showed up the writers seemed to be challenging themselves to make the ShipTease even more obvious than last time without actually outright stating their feelings.
*** Dawn and Zoey were notable for several [[HoYay Les Yay]] moments early on in Sinnoh.
*** Alain/Mairin is a huge one. People started shipping them from the moment their designs were revealed, and it only continued to steadily increase in popularity as the Mega Evolution specials went on, to the point where you'd have to scavenge the fandom to find someone who ''doesn't'' ship them. [[spoiler:Following the end of the specials, fans are left hoping for a happy resolution after their [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] last moments together.]]
*** Despite the pairing being painfully one-sided,[[note]]though there seemed to be some reciprocity in their brief scene together in Unova, at [[ButtMonkey Oshawott's]] expense,[[/note]] Pikachu/Buneary has tons of followers.
** Tracey and Misty's sister Daisy are often shipped together, often as a {{Ship Mate|s}} to Ash/Misty and Oak/Delia. The ship comes from a few episodes where they interact together.
** Some pairings [[CrackPairing sound just downright impossible]] but still manage to be popular.
*** Though Dawn and [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Paul]] hate each other and don't share any ShipTease moment together, somehow, [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight this pairing has a lot of followers]].[[note]]One of the reasons this ship is so popular is because of that one scene before Ash and Paul's battle at the Sinnoh League, where not only does [[JerkAss Paul]] actually ''open up to Dawn'', but also has Dawn blush at one point.[[/note]]
*** Despite the fact that [[AdaptedOut she doesn't exist in the anime canon]], the amount of Gary/Leaf fanfictions is staggering, most of the time being featured as a [[ShipMates Ship Mate]] with the aforementioned Ash/Misty, Drew/May, and Paul/Dawn.
* ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'':
** Manga shippers tend to go for Red and Yellow. Some go for Red and [[GuileHero Blue]][[note]]Green in America[[/note]]. [[GuileHero Blue]][[note]]Green in America[[/note]]/[[NotBloodSiblings Silver]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Gold]]/[[OnlySaneWoman Crystal]], and [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy Ruby]]/[[ForgottenFirstMeeting Sapphire]] teeter on the edge of canon, but can still be called this.
** If fans don't accept the [[PowerTrio trio]] of Diamond/Pearl/Platinum as [[OneTrueThreesome a given]], they usually tend to prefer Diamond/Platinum, mostly because of Dia's [[BodyGuardCrush obvious crush]] on the latter.
** Contrary to the games, [[HotBlooded Black]]/[[ReasonableAuthorityFigure White]] is a much more popular ship amongst ''Pokémon Special'' fans than N/White, whose game counterparts are the components of one of the most popular game ships in existence. Ironically, the one thing that had ''Special'' fans dropping the N/White like hot potatoes was the one thing that made their game counterparts so popular. Can you say, "[[FerrisWheelDateMoment Ferris]] [[TraumaCongaLine Wheel]]?". Black/White exploded even further in popularity thanks to the [[TrainStationGoodbye train scene]] and the [[DownerEnding infamous ending]] of the BW arc, leaving both N/Black and N/White in the dust.
** Aside from the faction that chooses to see them as LikeBrotherAndSister, [[ChildhoodFriends X]]/[[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl Y]] is also more-or-less unanimously supported by the fandom.
* Mitsumi and Cynthia from ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'' have a small following due to mild LesYay and Cynthia's persistence to battle Mitsumi. The manga itself [[ShipTease vaguely implies]] Mitsumi and Jun.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' fans almost universally support the ShipMates Madoka/Homura and Kyouko/Sayaka. For most of them, it's not even a question; HetIsEw is in full effect (not that it matters, since the only plausible male option is Kyousuke, who is officially paired with Hitomi, [[TheScrappy making both of them unpopular for fueling Sayaka's depression]]), and official merchandise and material does nothing to slow the train. For comparison, fanfics pairing Sayaka with Kyousuke, who she canonically had feelings for: 8. Fanfics pairing Sayaka with Kyouko: 148. TheMovie did a lot to help these ships along, directly confirming that Homura loves Madoka, and Sayaka has thoroughly gotten over Kyousuke while being willing to [[BackFromTheDead return from the dead]] to meet Kyouko again. It's at the point where most consider them to be a dual OfficialCouple, with fans of smaller ships like Kyouko/Mami or Homura/Sayaka naming their own ships the fan-preferred couples. WordOfSaintPaul has been very kind to this interpretation.
** Though it doesn't compare to the juggernaut of Kyouko/Sayaka, Hitomi's most popular pairing is not with her canon paramour, Kyousuke, but instead with Sayaka. Technically, Kyousuke/Hitomi is more common, but that's only because [[ShipMates it gets Kyousuke out of the way]] in Kyouko/Sayaka; the pairing itself has few actual fans. If Hitomi is a main character, most of the time, she'll be paired up with Sayaka. This is only helped along by the PSP game directly suggesting that Hitomi is interested in other girls, despite [[TransparentCloset her protestations to the contrary]].

* ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'':
** [[LesYay Mizore/Kurumu]] ever since their on screen kiss. Tsukune/''Inner'' Moka is also the most popular pairing of the Harem. [[spoiler:Even moreso after the finale, [[SplitPersonalityMerge in which Outer Moka gets absorbed into her]] and most of the Tsukune/Outer Moka shippers get absorbed into the Tsukune/Inner Moka ship too.]]
* ''Literature/RunWithTheWind'' has Kakeru/Haiji as the most popular pairing. The anime does have a lot of shiptease for them, so it's easy to see why fans tend to like it.

* ''Manga/SchoolLive'' has almost no romance due to it being about a bunch of girls getting through a ZombieApocalypse together. There is enough LesYay to get shippers worked up though, however manga fans and anime fans tend to split into two groups: People who began with the anime often enjoy Kei/Miki and Kurumi/Rii due to the anime borderline making Kei PromotedToLoveInterest and because Kurumi and Rii mix well. People who started with the manga are prone to either Yuki/Miki or Kurumi/Miki due to the amount of close moments they have in the manga.

* ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'':
** Due to Yuuichirou being [[ShipTease teased]] with both Shinoa and [[HoYay Mikaela]], two of the more strongly preferred couples are these, and the ShipToShipCombat between these two can get rather... [[{{Understatement}} nasty]] at times.
** However, this series is also known as "Seraph of The Gay" for a reason: there is just so much HoYay lying around that the more obviously teased and preferred pairings are homosexual ones. Notable ones include [[SuperCouple Yuu/Mika]], Guren/Shinya, Yoichi/Kimizuki, Shinoa/Mitsuba, Ferid/Crowley, Lacus/Rene... They also tend to be ShipMates with each other.

** Fuyuki/Momoka is rather popular too. The fact that it's the closest the series has to an OfficialCouple helps this.
* If fan art is anything to go by, the ''Manga/ShadowStar'' fanbase seems to prefer Tsurumaru with Norio and Shiina with Akira.
* Tohru/Natsuno and Tatsumi/Ozaki are shipped the most in ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'', especially [[HoYay Tohru/Natsuno]].

* For ''Anime/StrikeWitches'' fans as of late, it's been [[TheOjou Perrine]] and [[GenkiGirl Lucchini]]. Many of their interactions are rather amusing in terms that they're complete polar opposites,with Lucchini almost always teasing her, especially episode 10 of the second season, where they share tons of Ship Tease moments, including Lucchini hugging Perrine as she's scared, then later throwing a sword to Perrine to defeat a golem, which got fans curious on how well they work together.

* Some fans of ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'' like to pair Arthur and Octavia together, since they're both noble warriors and swordsmen [[spoiler:with Sad Pasts that involve their dead loved ones. And of course the fans were excited when they saw [[ShipTease episode 10]]]].
* Aside from the age and incest hurdle, Sasami from ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' is big with fans for being the most subdued and overtly normal -- or at least sane -- girl in the show (in ''very'' general terms). In fact, before Archive/TheGreatCrash, this page was called "Sasami Syndrome". WordOfGod has it that Sasami ''will'' marry Tenchi eventually. Because ''[[MarryThemAll everyone else]]'' will, too. Even then, however, many fans feel that Sasami alone - or ''any'' of the girls - would be preferable to StatusQuoIsGod.
** Kiyone and Tenchi is extremely popular with fans too, for the same "overtly normal or at least sane" reason as Sasami without the incest and pedophilia problems. Unfortunately Kiyone appeared only in spinoff media, ''Tenchi Universe'' hinted heavily towards Tenchi liking Ryoko, ''Tenchi in Tokyo'' ended ambiguously without a WordOfGod, and, most importantly, Kiyone was the only girl, perhaps in the entire franchise, who showed no romantic interest in Tenchi, which just made fans want it more.
* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Viral/Adiane seems to be popular.

* Most ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' fanart and fanfiction you'll find will be about Kotetsu and [[BrokenAce Barnaby]].
** Now to the point where WordOfGod has made it semi-canon; apparently, if the viewer interprets their relationship as a romantic one, then that's what it is and they're free to ship it.

* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' Kurogane and Fai are the biggest non canon pairing due to the massive amounts of HoYay between them, and the fact that neither of them have any love interests. Some fans are ''desperately'' looking for Kurogane/Tomoyo hints though, which makes everyone else laugh sardonically because...well, everyone who is familiar with the Tomoyo of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' knows [[SingleTargetSexuality why]]. WordOfGod has (admittedly rather begrudgingly) moved them up to a more official status.
** Tsubasa's Sister series ''Manga/XxxHolic'' has the similar [[VitriolicBestBuds dynamic duo]] of Doumeki and Watanuki as the, without a doubt, most popular pairing in the fandom. It is very rare to find anyone who ships Watanuki with anyone other than Doumeki, despite the fact Watanuki 1) never fully gets over his unreasonable distaste for Doumeki, 2) has a massive crush on his classmate Himawari and 3) by the end, has at ''least'' three other potential love interests.

* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'': Creator/RumikoTakahashi originally planned for [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Ataru/Shinobu]] to be the OfficialCouple and [[ClingyJealousGirl Lum]] to be only an obstacle to their relationship. However, it soon became clear that ''everyone'' had [[EnsembleDarkhorse fallen in love with Lum]] and her one-sided devotion to her "Darling" Ataru, including her own editors - probably because she had unintentionally made Lum ''too'' likeable and endearing a RomanticFalseLead and fans found the {{Tsundere}} [[FurBikini tiger-striped bikini-clad]] [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe alien]] [[CuteMonsterGirl oni]] princess to be more [[FreakyIsCool appealing]] in more than [[MsFanservice one way]]) than the somewhat less {{Tsundere}} OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent - and she was compelled to turn Ataru/Lum into the official couple instead. Many fans have speculated that this experience was what caused her to not only make Lum's {{Expy}} Shampoo far less likeable but also [[ShipSinking sink]] several Fan Preferred Couples in her later series ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''.
* ''Manga/VampireKnight'' has Zero/Yuuki and Kaname/Yuuki. Many fans also support the relationship between minor characters Senri and Rima.
* A strong portion of the (Japanese) ''Manga/VoiceOverSeiyuAcademy'' fanbase ships Haruka/Hime while lesser portions ship Senri/Hime and Mizuki/Hime.

* ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'':
** There is little to no romance in ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'' but Koiwai/Fuuka is easily the fan favorite. RuleThirtyFour is generally frown upon when it comes to this series but they obviously exist, and probably 90% of them are on these two. It helps that any {{ship tease}} that exist in the manga at all are between these two.
** For [[YuriFan some fans]], Asagi and Torako.
* Fans of ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' had been rather subtle with choosing their favorite pairing since the plot kinda resets the status quo every after conquest arc, though Keima/[[{{Tsundere}} Haqua]] and Keima/[[CuteBookworm Shiori]] fans have started to emerge. By the time the ''Goddesses'' Arc went to full gear, the list grew to include 5 more former conquest targets, and a [[SealedInAPersonShapedCan Goddess]] into the mix. Then came the [[ShipSinking bunker-buster]] that was [[WhamLine FLAG 267]], and everything about this trope were thrown out of the window, but [[DieForOurShip not without violent reactions to the emerging pairing.]]
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** From ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Yugi/Yami Yugi, Jounouchi/Kaiba, and just about every combination of Bakura, Marik, Dark Bakura and/or Dark Marik.
*** [[IdiosyncraticShipNaming Puppyshipping]] (Jounouchi/Kaiba) is one of the biggest pairings in the whole fandom, despite the fact that the two are neither even remotely friendly nor actual rivals, treating each other with a fairly dismissive hatred. It mostly comes from that one time with the dog suit ([[DubText a very, very weird anime-only scene]]).
*** It should be mentioned that Jounouchi/Mai was so liked as a couple that people just assume they were together after the series ended or at least have a mutual crush (''especially'' after the epic ShipTease and HeroicSacrifice '''from both sides''' in the [[{{Filler}} Waking the Dragons/Doma arc]]) until WordOfGod came out and clarified them as "JustFriends." [[RelationshipWritingFumble Right.]] [[note]][[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries idon'tbelieveyou!]][[/note]] They weren't called "the only het pairing anyone likes" by fans for no reason despite the large amount of HoYay in the series, and the fact that Mai is a frequent target for DieForOurShip in any Jounouchi-related ship should attest to that. Despite the fact that it would actually be illegal for them to hook up during the timeframe of the series (he's 16, she's 24), they're widely regarded as the closest thing ''Anime/YuGiOh'' has to a healthy romance.
*** Puzzleshipping (Yugi/Atem) is probably the most well-known pairing the ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' franchise ever had. In the Japanese version, they even have AffectionateNickname for the other ("Mou Hitori no Boku/The other me" for Yami/Atem and "Aibou/Partner" for Yugi.) And the two can't seem to stop thinking about the other, and there are just so many subtexts in both the manga and anime, which only makes the fans more excited. Puzzleshipping is pretty much considered canon by most fans.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' has a somewhat unusual case. The Western fandom is neatly split between Juudai/Asuka and Juudai/Johan, but the Japanese fandom seems perfectly happy to ship the OfficialCouple, Juudai/Yubel. This could possibly be attributed to the dub changing Yubel from a scary-but-somewhat-sympathetic StalkerWithACrush into an absolutely terrifying [[ManChild child-like psychopath]] and [[NoExportForYou cutting out Season 4]] (where [[{{Hermaphrodite}} they]] had their HeelFaceTurn), causing them to be [[AmericansHateTingle much less liked]] in the West. That said, Juudai/Yubel has picked up a fair bit of steam lately, owing to just how unusual it is as an OfficialCouple. A few go with the route that, given [[SharingABody the circumstances of their relationship]], Yubel's [[OneTrueThreesome willing to share.]]
*** However, the most amazing case has to be Judai/'''[[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds Yusei]]''', an extremely popular couple. We have the [[Anime/YuGiOhBondsBeyondTime BBT movie]] to thanks for introducing such a possibility to us - even moreso because for [[FirstInstallmentWins more nostalgic fans]], this was the first time many of them had met either character. Even being separated by decades of time couldn't stop the pairing. This is an odd case where it tends to be less popular among fans of strictly ''5Ds'' and ''GX'', but is extremely popular among fans of ''DM'' who were introduced to the characters in the movie.
** ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has another unusual case with Jack and Carly, where the pairing ''was'' an OfficialCouple... until Carly got LaserGuidedAmnesia, causing her to more or less be demoted to a member of Jack's harem (which he decides to dismiss at the end of the series), and Jack to ignore her nearly all the time. The number of fics of the two quickly hooking back up is staggering.
*** Ushio/Mikage is another one. For a brief while, it seemed like Ushio had an unreciprocated crush on Mikage, but [[AbortedArc this fizzled out]] when Mikage also became part of the Jack harem. The two of them have become an incredibly popular BetaCouple in Jack/Carly fics.
*** Yusei is a LauncherOfAThousandShips, and he ends the story without any canon couple. Do the math. Particularly big offenders include Yusei/Aki, which is probably the closest thing to an OfficialCouple for him, and Yusei/Jack, for the old-fashioned rival/protagonist pairing--which one is more popular largely depends on the circles you run in.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'' is also a hotbed of these. Yuma/Astral is essentially the reincarnation of Puzzleshipping, and is similarly often regarded as one WordOfGay away from canonicity. Of the top 25 most-favorited ''ZEXAL'' fics on FFN, fourteen are some stripe of Yuma/Astral as of this writing.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'': THE couple might just be Zarc/Ray due to how popular the four counterpart ships are. Seeing how these four duos are just different versions of Zarc/Ray, the moment Zarc and Ray were revealed the fanart exploded.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'':
*** While Takeru gets teased with his ChildhoodFriend Kiku, especially in the last episode, his most popular pairing is with Yusaku, likely because he has quite a bit of HoYay with him while Kiku only appears in a couple of episodes.
*** While Yusaku gets a few ShipTease moments with Aoi, his most popular pairing is with Ryoken, with it taking off after the reveal that [[spoiler:Ryoken was the one who gave Yusaku hope during the Lost Incident, and Yusaku reaching out to him at the end of the first season.]] In comparison, Yusaku and Aoi do not have very many interactions throughout the show.

** Back in the time the series had only around 1 or 2 episodes, shipping Phichit/Seung-Gil was surprisingly popular, to the point that there used to be more fanart for them than for Yuuri/Victor (who later became the OfficialCouple). However, this ship has generally died down as Phichit and Seung-Gil didn’t interact at all in the series, or at least not onscreen, and is now treated as a ShipsThatPassInTheNight.
** Despite being relatively minor characters, Leo/Guang-Hong, Emil/Michele, and [[LesYay Mila/Sara]] are rather popular.
** After the anime’s finale, Yurio/Otabek gained popularity as they shared great dynamics and made good ShipMates with Yuuri/Victor.
** The revelation of the “Mystery Man” who seemed to be close to Chris (even though they are never confirmed to be an item) has led a number of fans to ship him with Chris. But another part of the fandom preferred shipping Chris with Phichit instead, as they are both best friends with the OfficialCouple Yuuri/Victor and also made great ShipMates.
** Yuuri/Victor is an interesting case of both an initially FanPreferredCouple and an OfficialCouple. Before [[WhamEpisode episode 7]], Yuuri/Victor had already gained popularity from fans due to the excessive amount of ShipTease (up to and including [[ItMakesSenseInContext naked hugging in public]]), but there were a few detractors who either shipped Yurio with one of them or believed that this was just queer-baiting and therefore didn’t support the ship. Yet, [[spoiler: TheBigDamnKiss]] in ep 7 that promoted them into the OfficialCouple made ''all hell break loose'' and pretty much all the fandom rejoiced in supporting them, and [[spoiler: the revelation in ep 10 that Victor knew Yuuri since the last Grand Prix final and has been smitten with him ever since]] only helped in making this ship even steadier and more popular than it already has been.

* With the exception of the rare Sakurako/Akari ship, the ''Manga/YuruYuri'' fandom does not ship [[MiddleChildSyndrome Sakurako]] or [[DCupDistress Himawari]] with anyone but each other.

* To be a ''Manga/{{Black Butler}}'' fan and not ship Sebastian/Ciel is to be insane or be slowly driven there by the raving YaoiFanGirls, even though WordOfGod has [[ShipSinking sunk it many times already]].

** The sequel season finally managed to turn the tides by introducing a new character for fans to ship Rin with. Sosuke's incredibly homoerotic bromance with Rin was powerful enough that it either changed Rin/Haru shippers' minds or it pushed those torn between Rin or Mako for Haru to choose to [[PairTheSpares pair Rin off with Sosuke to free Haru for Mako.]] As such, leaving Mako/Haru, Rin/Sosuke, and Rei/Nagisa as the (general) fan-preferred couples of Free.

* ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'', like a lot of sports series, has a large shipping community that predominantly supports male/male ships, with almost every major character being in at least one super popular one. Among the largest are Kageyama/Hinata, Daichi/Sugawara, Oikawa/Iwaizumi, Bokuto/Akaashi, Tsukishima/Yamaguchi, Asahi/Nishinoya, and Kuroo/Kenma.

** ''Adventure'' and ''02'':

** ''Tamers:''
*** Ruki Makino is Tamers' LauncherOfAThousandShips, and is more commonly shipped with costars Takato (in the west) or Jianliang (in Japan) than she is with Ryo, who's the closest thing she has to a canonical LoveInterest. The Ruki/Takato pairing even supersedes the [[OfficialCouple canonical]] [[PuppyLove Takato/Juri]], and has a large number of interpretations ranging from MasculineGirlFeminineBoy (Ruki's Tsundere and Takato's Adorkable) to SlapSlapKiss to TwiceShy. Meanwhile, Ruki and Jian are commonly portrayed as RedOniBlueOni (in that order) with a few shades of SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl.
** ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'':
*** [[BelligerentSexualTension Takuya and Izumi]] were {{Implied Love Interest}}s to each other and Junpei had [[AllLoveIsUnrequited quite an obvious crush on the latter]], but the fan community (especially the Japanese) lean more towards [[HoYay Takuya/Kouji]], [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Kouji/Izumi]], or [[BroodingBoyGentleGirl Kouichi/Izumi]].
** ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'':
*** Zenjirou has a [[DoggedNiceGuy crush]] on Nene, and despite [[ShipTease teasings]] for Taiki/Akari and Kiriha/Nene in ''[[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersWhoLeaptThroughTime Hunters]]'', Kiriha/Taiki and Taiki/Nene are much more popular.

** And when it comes to the most famous slash ship, [[FoeYay Lelouch/Suzaku]]. It helps that the creators seem to catch on on this and release quite a lot of homoerotic official arts for them.