Ho Yay / Ensemble Stars!

It must be love. (And yes, he's holding hands with his childhood friend Mao)

There is an incredibly high amount, more than you might think in a game with a female protagonist surrounded by boys. More than this page can keep track of as nearly every character has gotten ship tease with another member of the cast.

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• Ensemble Stars!! surprisingly acknowledges that the idols have male fans, too, as some of the NPCs that show up for the Handshake Event in Music's Work mini-game are guys. The idols will hold hands with them and even flirt with them if the Great or Perfect score is triggered, the same way they do the female NPCs. Male fans of the idols are also acknowledged in story, with one notably being the source of Hajime's internal conflict in the Hansel and Gretel scout story.
• For example: Tomoya calling Wataru his goddess when he was dressing in a princess costume for a play (although this idea is quickly shattered once he actually meets Wataru due to his personality), Eichi describing Yuzuru's mole as 'sexy' and calling Wataru a 'fine, beautiful man with hair like moonlight' in the novels pre-Anzu's arrival.
• Subaru and Makoto are often seen together and talk about being partners and say "I love you" to each other.
• Arashi specifically talks about liking both boys and girls in a mini event.
• Mika has a lot of loyalty to Shu and even promises to be with him until his death in the Halloween event, calls him "Oshi-san" which can be translated as "Master" and lives together with him (Hilariously, Arashi thinks it's that kind of living together when Mika says it) and Shu, while he's bad at showing, does truly care for Mika, doing things like letting him stay in his house and taking sewing jobs in Halloween just so he get funds to leave for Mika once he graduates. They even call each other "My Kagehira" and "My Oshi-san" in the Halloween event.
• Shu cares a lot about Kuro, his Only Friend from childhood before they distanced after the Five Oddballs incident. Even though Shu claims to resent him, he clearly misses their old times and calls him "Ryuu-kun" behind his back. To the point that even Mika is jealous of their closeness and tries to drive him away.

  Shu: We are closer than this, aren’t we! Do you not remember, I wonder!? That day in our childhood when we sat side by side stitching lace! Our beautiful friendship....!? You have changed, you know, Kiryu! Ahh, how wretched. That there could be such a tragedy as this! Even though I believed that you alone would not hurt me!

• Ritsu and Mao are very touchy-feely for being childhood friends, with Mao apparently changing Ritsu's clothes for him and waking him up every morning, and Ritsu calling him his only family (and kissing Mao, although on the neck).
  • The Band Ensemble event story in particular reeks of this. For example, keep in mind that Anzu wears a pink cardigan under her blazer, while Mao wears a purple jacket under his when you look at this CG.
    • Take particular notice of the orange hairclip. In Ritsu's, it's placed carefully in his hair, while Mao is shown in his card biting it.
• Jin and Akiomi are not immune to this, with it being confirmed that Akiomi did have a crush (and fondly remembers, years later) on a girl he met on the rooftop (who is Sagami in disguise), Jin calling Akiomi "Akiyan" and inviting him over to his place to relieve stress late at night.
• Midori is particularly fond of the small and cute Shinobu, who in turn admires Midori's height and handsome looks. They're also rather touchy-feely with each other; in the strawberry picking scout story, Shinobu jumps at Midori when they meet, prompting the watching Hinata to comment on them 'acting lovey-dovey'. Midori says that Shinobu's mere presence makes him feel calm, while Shinobu says Midori's gentle smile makes his heart flutter, and they're comfortable enough with each other for Midori to fall asleep while leaning on Shinobu. In addition, Shinobu cites Midori's happiness as one of his motives for working hard.
  Shinobu: So that Midori-kun shall no longer feel the need to say things such as "I am depressed" or "I want to die" ever again... I shall become stronger and protect this peace.
• Yuta tells Hinata to not steal Shinobu from him on the strawberry picking scout story when Hinata tries to befriend him, and that Shinobu belongs to him. For Shinobu's part, he's rather attached to Yuta as one of his first friends, becoming clingy when Yuta goes on ahead of him in the aforementioned scout story.
  Shinobu: Yu-Yuta-ku~n! I wish that you would not desert me, the loneliness is the size of a mountain! I beg of you, do not leave me alone...!
• Yuzuru is very loyal to his master Tori, even though he's a Spoiled Brat and treats him like a slave. Even though Yuzuru treats Anzu like Birds of a Feather, in Mine Lady he repeatedly helped to humiliate Anzu by making her fail her chores on purpose....because he was jealous of Tori's friendship with Anzu. Even if Yuzuru didn't blame Anzu for this and stopped with the pranks after Tori got into trouble for helping her, he clearly wanted Tori all to himself. Also, he once threatened Tori with a chainsaw after Tori ditched Yuzuru's vegetable dishes in order to eat some katsudon with Anzu.
  "Someone who is important to me? Fufu. Why, that would be the little Young Master whom I always serve."
• While Tsukasa originally looked up to Leo and was dreadfully disappointed in the reality, their relationship post-Judgement has gradually improved, with Tsukasa being constantly exasperated by Leo's Cloudcuckoolander antics but never giving up on trying to understand him and support him as his unitmate.
• In one of Tsukasa's inner monologues, he cites Tori as a main driving force behind him becoming an idol, thinking about how much he secretly admires Tori and regrets copying the adults around him in insulting Tori's Nouveau Riche status.
• The extra "Lionheart" chapter in the enstars novel explains part of Izumi's loyalty to Leo, and why he tried to be a decoy leader for the Knights while he was gone.

  Izumi (about Leo): Because there’s just one person who likes me, and says that I’m beautiful. He affirmed me, loved me, this youth made me feel glad that I was born… Because even if it was just for a short while, my life existed.

• Chiaki and Midori's dynamic is very alike to a Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl with Midori trying to avoid Chiaki and Chiaki trying to get Midori to practice and basically get Midori out of his depressed slump. It takes a step further when their Voice actors recently took the character compability test and they got the other (Chiaki's VA had Midori being compatible to him and vice versa for Midori's VA).
• Subaru and Hajime are very close, and basically constantly gush about one another whenever they're nearby. In the Salon de Thé story, they end up hugging each other in the hallway and Hajime comments that other students are giving them weird looks for it, and then later Hajime thanks Subaru for complimenting him by saying 'Please take care of me, now and forever~' and Subaru comments that it sounds like a marriage proposal - but "I'd be set for life if I had a wife like Shinonon!"
• Kanata and Madara's relationship has some undertones of this. Kanata acts very Tsundere towards Madara during various interactions together, being the only person he displays a Sugar-and-Ice Personality towards in the entire game, even after they make up in a way. And when they were younger, Madara and Kanata used to play 'House' with Madara acting as the mama and Kanata the papa.
• Madara gushing over how excited he is to talk to Rei and how he'll do anything he asks him to, even murder, gives off some Ho Yay vibes. This behavior continues into Ensemble Stars!!, and is further justified when it’s revealed that Rei has helped him out a lot in his time of need. Upon the reveal that Madara’s parents aren’t the kindest of people, it’s understandable why he’s so appreciative of Rei.
• Madara and Leo's relationship as detailed in Concerto comes off as this. He’s very protective of Leo, to Violently Protective Girlfriend extremes and was even willing to kill GFK, a producer that manipulated Leo if necessary in order to protect him. He even calls Leo his “precious person”.
  • While it wasn’t entirely clear at first, it’s revealed in A Dark Nights Passing that Leo is just as clingy and loving toward Madara as Madara is toward him. Despite knowing of Madara’s shady behavior, he still views Madara as his “best hero” and wants to help him after all Madara had done for him. Izumi has taken notice of their relationship, and tells Madara that Leo also looks for love and comfort in him. In a scout story, Leo calls Madara "his Mama".
• Madara is quick to slather compliments onto everyone he talks to, much to Kaoru's dismay.
• By Ensemble Stars!!, Madara has passively hit on several of his fellow and former classmates, including Chiaki who he calls “cute” in Meteor Bonfire.
• Anzu and Suzu were best friends once when they studied together at Kimisaki, until Anzu was forced to transfer due to tragic circumstances. Anzu takes a liking to Mika, trying to befriend him and saying that his eyes are pretty... because he reminds her of Suzu. Meanwhile, in Ensemble Girls! Suzu quickly takes a liking to the Protagonist... because he's Anzu's brother and he reminds her of Anzu. It's obvious that they miss each other dearly, but Anzu blames herself for the failed rebellion and her school and Suzu blames herself for not supporting Anzu enough duing that time.
• Madara and Kuro's relationship as revealed in Revolutionary Live Which Heralds The Dawn is dripping with ho yay. Despite their claims that they aren't that close, and everyone else observing how close they seem, they're shown to have a really good relationship, with Kuro acting as the one who keeps Madara in check anytime he says anything out of line. Madara states that since the war, since they'd clashed several times back then, that he was always interested in him. They also have a deep mutual respect for one another, becoming Friendly Enemies of a sort by the end of the event story. Keito even becomes jealous when he finds out that Kuro is becoming so closer to Madara.
  • As of Ensemble Stars!!, it would seem that Word of God has taken notice of the fandom's interest in the pair's developing friendship, as it’s noted multiple times that Kuro and Madara have been spending more time together lately, have several stories depicting them doing so, and seem to be on better terms than they were in the previous year. One of Kuro’s idol stories has Madara attempting to feed Kuro.
• Wisteria goes surprisingly hard on Kanata and Souma—they have a cute sleepover together early on, and at the end of the story they both monologue soulfully about how much they worry about the other, with Souma describing poetically how he'd like to unfurl his mysteries with an air of true longing. But it really kicks into gear when Madara gives them their costumes - Souma describes Kanata as 'exquisitely beautiful', and then Kanata points out with a smile that they're playing two historical figures who were married, leading Souma to send him a charming look and remark that that would be 'an honour'.
• Wataru tends to act rather flirtatiously, in such a way making it deliberately ambiguous whether he's sincere, just playing out a role, or trying to mess with people. So the time in Quarrel Fest he swoons over Keito's performance and remarks that he might be falling for him (to which Keito reacts with usual disgust) is probably an example of the latter. But who can say?
• Unexpectedly turns up between Hajime and Kaoru in Love Comedy - an article comes out revealing that Kaoru has been spotted getting close with a girl, but the girl in question was actually just Hajime. Said closeness involved Kaoru talking about some of his worries and Hajime comforting him by squeezing his hand tightly, which Kaoru said reminded him of his mother (and he's compared chasing after women to looking for a mother figure before). He enjoys it so much that later he easily asks Hajime if they can hold hands for a moment and Hajime happily agrees. Then on stage they get a bit close again and Nazuna reprimands them, with Rei commenting that he'd told Kaoru that he wasn't allowed to fool around with girls, but he hadn't said that boys were permitted, either!
• Nagisa and Hiyori are extremely close, to the point that Nagisa says that he lives for Hiyori. In one flashback, Hiyori says he misses Nagisa because they're in different classes and Nagisa wonders whether that's why he feels so cold, because Hiyori is his sun. Hiyori excitedly motions for him to sit next to him and a moment later, Eichi asks bemusedly why the two are holding hands; Hiyori nonchalantly replies 'because we love each other?'
• The Undead/Akatsuki Chocofes event has quite a bit of this. It starts with Souma calling Kuro out to give him haltingly give him chocolates, all framed like he'll be confessing, until it's revealed Souma just saw a convenience store sign telling him to give chocolates to those important to you. Later, when Adonis wonders about why girls have to give chocolates to boys on Valentine's, Souma points out that he gave Adonis chocolates, and Adonis asks him seriously what he intended by that, before Souma again explains that he just gave chocolate to all of his friends. And then there's everyone agreeing over Kaoru's 'male sexual appeal', from Keito saying that he excels in the area to Kuro even getting goosebumps after Kaoru strikes a gunshot pose... (Kaoru insists that goosebumps are okay, but Kuro better not feel his heart thumping faster because of him.)
• Kaoru in general routinely talks at length about how he only cares about girls and has no interest in guys, to the point where it starts to sound like a Suspiciously Specific Denial and a cases of Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?. One Madara line from the Chinese server even lampshades this, with him wondering whether Kaoru only says that because he's not honest with himself enough. Not to mention all the cards Kaoru has with him blushing around other guys.
  • Souma in particular seems to confuse Kaoru's sensors—when they first meet he mistakes him for a beautiful girl and goes to hit on him, only to try and back out immediately once he realises he's a guy. And yet he still describes him as pretty on a number of different occasions, and in one scene while they're arguing he suddenly says out of the blue that if Souma were a girl he'd administer a "Shut Up" Kiss right then and there...
    Oh, geez. If you were a girl, I'd have said, "I'm going to shut that mouth which shouts abusive language", and given her a kiss~ You've got long hair and seem like a girl, but you're a guy, after all~ I don't swing that way.
• The new game's main story doesn't waste any time before getting to the Ship Tease that is this series' bread and butter:
  • Hiiro and Aira quickly grow very close, with Hiiro becoming especially protective of him and generally acting like a boyfriend. At another point, Hiiro surprises Aira accidentally, and he exclaims 'everything about you is bad for my heart!'
  • Meanwhile, Tatsumi and Mayoi also become close quickly, with unfailingly patient and kind Tatsumi being one of the few who isn't fazed by Mayoi's creepiness, to the point of often telling him that he's beautiful. They're soon declared the mum and dad of Alkaloid.
  • Niki seems very interested in Mayoi, telling him that he smells 'delicious' and that he shouldn't get too close or Niki might put him in his mouth instead of food... something which manages to even freak out Mayoi.
• Wataru and Eichi... where to begin? It's not for no reason that fans often joke that the entire plot of Ensemble Stars originated with Eichi having a crush on a theatre kid. The two are enthralled with one another, but despite everything that has happened between them they also just like each other so much. And the new timeline doesn't beat around the bush either—the first fine event stars Wataru and Eichi ballroom dancing with loving smiles. Sure, in that story Eichi claims that he's never been in love (as though the writers suddenly remembered this is meant to be a joseimuke game), but Wataru seems especially unconvinced...
  Eichi: However, I've never fallen in love in my life, so I don't have any solutions to suggest [for Yuzuru's "lovesickness"].
  Wataru: *staring* Eh? Are you being serious? Eichi?