I don't want to call it pandering, as I feel that has a negative connotation, but it was probably like the team going "oh NicoMaki is super popular so let's give the fans something to actually indulge in."

It's not pandering. They're just correcting what should have been done in the first place, considering the ship's popularity before the anime.
Also, S1 had some low key moments between the two such as this and this.

Compare that to how much more open they are in S1E1. They've grown much closer (and clingier) offscreen, which is a shame since we missed the development.

So many good MakiNiko doujins for Nico's birthday. I'm glad Nico's getting lots of love on her special day.

Karuha's NicoMaki is what sealed the deal for me. As I would never be able to ship these two with anyone else after it

Personally I tend to like the doujins done by Ooshima Tomo a lot for some reason. Her doujins always have something special in them

My first yuri couple and also my first OTP. I was still a potato in dynasty and yuri in general and finding NicoMaki was mind-blowing for me. But now I have finished all the NicoMaki in the world and there is no left for me. Will always be one of my favourite pairs. NicoMaki banzai!~

I really like this pairing but i get conflicted because i can see Nico getting pair without Maki but i have trouble seeing Maki getting pair without Nico.

The best shipp ever <333

I really like this pairing but i get conflicted because i can see Nico getting pair without Maki but i have trouble seeing Maki getting pair without Nico.

Sameeee

This is just barely related to the topic, but I felt I'd risk accidentally starting a ship war if I posted this on Dynasty Café, so...

I found this one video on YouTube... I didn't bother reading the name, let alone watching the video, but what's relevant here is the thumbnail, so I literally just went to the comment section there just to comment on the thumbnail. I commented something along the lines of this:

Hmm... So the thumbnail shows Maki in lingerie... I wonder if she has "plans" with Nico.

So anyway...

Frankly, this isn't my #1 yuri ship or even my #1 idol ship, but I would be lying if I said they aren't the Queens of good doujinshi. Especially Adult Life. There are so many cute works, my God.!

The sudden influx of NicoMaki doujins on Nico's birthday is just fabulous - gosh these two are great together

Woah so many all at once!

Did all of the Love Live scanlators decide they'd only being doing releases on character birthdays now, or something?

Did all of the Love Live scanlators decide they'd only being doing releases on character birthdays now, or something?

shit they're on to us

The unsinkable ship

Nice.

the best pairing

If people mean Maki is best paired with Nico and Nico with Maki I agree. But the other big pair in LL! is clearly NozoEri, and that's good. Because, otherwise, you will see a lot of NozoNico. NozoEri and NicoMaki are very compatible ships. Post-graduation, it will be increasingly hard for them to stay together, though. Nico is a poor, struggling idol wannabe with kids to take care of and Maki is an only child, rich, studying to get into med school.

Nico is a poor, struggling idol wannabe with kids to take care of and Maki is an only child, rich, studying to get into med school.

Ooshima-sensei has decreed that they will live together happily ever after, and I will brook no argument to the contrary.

My OTP foreverrrr the reason i became lezb and my first yuri ship and the reason i watched love live !! And nicomaki is canon fight me

OTP IMO

Literally the OTP of Love Live

literally

to use a metric I discussed a long while back, when it was closer, there's about 15% more Maki x Nico chapters and 15% more Maki x Nico images on Dynasty Reader than there are Eli x Nozomi. And on the fanfiction.net site there's about 5% more Maki x Nico than Eli x Nozomi. Because earlier stories didn't use the pairing flag often, just stories with Eli & Nozomi vs those with Maki x Nico, there's about 10% more Maki x Nico stories. The situation is similar on archiveofourown.org with Nico x Maki stories being about 12% more common than Eli x Nozomi. And no other ship besides Eli x Nozomi comes close. Ironically, one of the rivals, though, is Nico x Nozomi, which must make Nico feel special. Google results using Youtube have about only 2% more Maki x Nico videos than Nozmi x Eli/Eri videos. So they are the leading pair but does that make them the OTP???