What better picture for the Shipping Countdown other than a ship?

Minnie: Hello everyone and welcome to the newest countdown at our disposal. This is the Shipping Countdown brought to you by Minnie and Katt. For the sake of my sanity, I will be calling her TZM from now on. Hopefully, you guys don’t get lost. I’m teasing.

Katt: Lucky for you all, I will still be calling Minnie ‘Minnie’ because I am not nearly as much of a nickname-fanatic as she is. Aren’t I so sweet for making our readers’ lives easier?

Minnie: Oh, I remember something else. For the majority of the pairings, either TZM or I will comment or at least support separately why we love them so much. There are a couple we love so much or know enough about to both say something in support of them. Since TZM and I are twins, we don’t really have opposing pairings so… please enjoy both the shippings we support individually or together. Wow. I made no sense.

Katt: What Minnie is basically saying is that she watches/reads waaaay more anime/manga than I do, so she thus has waaaay more shippings that I know nothing about. She knows pretty much all of mine and supports them too, but is handing over her dictator powers a little bit to allow me to express my opinions on them.

Minnie: Please keep in mind that these series of posts will deal with shippings aka pairings from various manga and anime. In other words, there will be disagreements and there will be dispute in whether or not you agree with us. I am expecting this much. I will tolerate any disagreements as long as they’re not flame-worthy. I will not tolerate any flame wars whatsoever. Thank you.

Katt: Hey Minnie, do you still support Kajika/Li-Ren above Kajika/Rumaty? If so, you’re stupid and we must fight to the death!! …Yeah, basically, don’t be ridiculous guys. Debating is all well and good but let’s not resort to any personal insults or getting offended. My ageing heart can’t handle such shocks to the system. As long as you acknowledge this, then please read on and comment as we  begin our ’top 50 shippings’ countdown with numbers 50 to 46~

Minnie: Go now! Read now! You’ll like it~

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#50 Germany and Italy (Hetalia Axis Powers)

Minnie: I know this is one of TZM’s pairings, but I’ll insert my little input here. On the day TZM and I decided on these top fifty ships, I saw her list and was like “We must have Germany/Italy!” She agreed. And here we are. At number 50 is the fabulous, polar opposites attract, and adorable yaoi pairing of two countries who should never be together. That is enough to have it as our starting shipping. TZM will have more to say of course~ (Or maybe not?)

Katt: Sometimes it’s hard to say more than Minnie, but I’ll do my best. For starters, I have to share this image that I happened upon while looking for a Germany/Italy picture because it made me smile, and I’m sure it will make others smile too. But okay, moving on to what makes this pairing worthy of being on our top 50 list. Aside from making horribly tragic history fun, Hetalia manages to create this undeniably adorable shounen-ai pairing that it’s hard not to love. Italy is a better damsel in distress than any girl and Germany’s reluctant compulsion to be his rescuer is both endearing and entertaining. Hm, that actually describes these two quite well: endearing and entertaining. They’ll crack you up with their aforementioned the-hopeless-and-the-competent dynamics, but also induce ‘aww’ing whenever a tender moment is shared like a peck on the cheek or whining about height difference.

#49 Lele and Eros (The One)

Minnie: First of all, I like to say that this is a manga pairing. As far as I know, there is no “The One” anime yet. Besides, I doubt it will receive an anime in the first place since it is a Taiwanese manga or manhua. But anyways… enough about the details. Let’s talk about Lele and Eros. I must admit that even though I place this pairing last place in my list of pairings, it is one of the most interesting pairings I have ever read thanks to their development and involvement with each other. I don’t want to spoil much here because I want you guys to read the manhua for yourselves, but let’s just say that both Lele and Eros show many sides of themselves to each other. They are able to help each other both emotionally and professionally (much like Kyoko and Ren), which is a kind of relationship I envy a lot. In addition, currently in the story, they haven’t gotten together even if it’s obvious so… half of my excitement and love for this pairing comes from that. ^^

Katt: I foresee a lot of my comments on Minnie’s pairing picks being very, very short. I mean, what can I really say for pairings that I know nothing about? But I will say that for quite a while now I’ve been telling myself that I should really start reading The One. The fact that there is a pairing in it (the main one, I’m assuming?) that is good enough to make Minnie’s list has just served as a reminder that I reaaaally need to start reading this manhua!

#48 Duck and Vakir (Princess Tutu)

Minnie: Yup, I am supporting a duck and a human. And what’s wrong with that? Can’t animals get some loving from humans? Jokes aside, Duck and Vakir is one of those “since 99% of the fandom supports them, they should be canon, but isn’t because this isn’t one of those types of stories where the obvious couples end up together”. Yup. These two are not canon. But it doesn’t take away from one of the most heartwarming relationships on screen. At first, they don’t agree with each other thanks to conflicting views and goals. Eventually though, they realize that they’re actual each other’s best ally/partner. Duck is the princess and Vakir is the knight… if you love those types of relationships, you’ll love this one. Just don’t expect Vakir to be an obedient knight in shining armor for the majority of the anime~ He’s quite the tsundere.

Katt: As long as she doesn’t actually look like a duck, then supporting a duck/human is fine by me! The way that Minnie has described it, the growth of their bond sounds like just the type that I enjoy~ Then again, that would make sense since Minnie and I are twins. Also, I’m inclined to think that stories could benefit from more tsundere knights–I’m taking a medieval English literature course right now and can’t say that I’ve seen many of those!

#47 Akira and Mina (Dance in the Vampire Bund)

Katt: Ah, a chance for me to be more knowledgeable than Minnie when discussing a pairing~ Have you even given Dance in the Vampire Bund a watch/read, Minnie? In any case, while I admittedly felt the need to include this pairing as a representative for the current anime season, I have to say that it really is notable for showing some of the twisted elements that make many vampire romances great. The development of their bond is done effortlessly: at first glance, you’re probably inclined to flinch at what is seemingly an uncomfortable age difference, but as the story moves forward and these two become closer, it just doesn’t matter. Yes, it’s known all along that Mina is older than she looks–a curse of vampirism, bound to a body much younger than her mind–but it’s still an awkward thought for her to be together with the older-looking Akira. Truthfully it’s still strange to think about or imagine, and yet when there are touching scenes between the two of them it just feels so right. I think it might be something that people can only understand upon experiencing the series, but trust me: it’s good.

Minnie: Oh no, TZM! I haven’t watched that anime yet! I’m ashamed of myself as both an anime fan and a shipper fan now. But in any case, your paragraph is quite convincing. I’ve written quite a number of pairings where the age gap between the two people are… huge. For me, age doesn’t mean a thing when it comes to shipping. As long as they’re not father/mother and child, I am fine with any pairing. Oh! And let’s not forget cute scenes~

#46 Ichigo and Rukia (Bleach)

Minnie: I have to admit. I haven’t finished Bleach and I haven’t read/watch much of Bleach either. You’re probably like… what the hell does she know then? I don’t know much, but I know a great couple when I see one. With my shipping goggles on and my inward ability to notice nice couples, I am totally in love with this pairing after a single scene of Bleach. Basically, it’s the Rukia rescue scene. For Bleach followers, you probably know which one I’m talking about. My brother Duke is a huge Bleach fan and I happened to watch that scene with him… and without knowing any of the characters or the context of the scene, I am touched by how powerful that scene is to me. The trust… the friendship… the strength Ichigo gets from Rukia and vice versa… is enough to make me a fan and willing to read/watch more of Bleach just for the couple.

Katt: I think I’ve seen like two episodes of Bleach in my life. And one of those times was just because Octavia and I wanted to hear Johnny Yong Bosch’s voice after seeing him at an anime convention that day. The bottom line is that neither of those episodes was the one that converted Minnie to being a fan of this pairing–in fact, I don’t even remember those episodes I’ve seen having much of Rukia (or the typical alternative choice for Ichigo pairings, Orihime) in them. Hmm, I wonder…

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Katt: Five down and fourty-five more to go! Aren’t you all anxious to see who Minnie and I have picked for our favourite shippings? We’re going to try to get these posts up once a week, so keep coming by and feel encouraged to share your shipping thoughts, too!

Minnie: Plus, next time, we might include crack pairings… *luring hook*