Kawanari (카와나리), short for Kawaku naritai! (Japanese: 可愛くなりたい！) and sometimes abbreviated as KWNR, was an independent live girl group. Formed by IMU Production, they debuted on March 19, 2023 with a live stage performance at the 可愛いくなりたい！Debut Live ♡ event.[1]
The group disbanded on March 20, 2025.[2]
Their group name means "I want to be cute!" in Japanese.
History[]
2023: Live debut and member line-up changes[]
On March 7, 2023, IMU Production announced their then-upcoming jihadol girl group Kawanari.[3] Three days later on March 10, they revealed their three members as Moka, Nako and Chiyo.[4][5][6]
They eventually made their official live stage debut with a performance at their self-named event, 可愛いくなりたい！Debut Live ♡, on March 19, 2023.[7]
On April 13, it was announced that member Chiyo would be departing from the group due to academic reasons.[8] Thus, they would promote with two members for the time being.
On August 11, Kawanari announced that they have left IMU Production and would be continuing as an independent group.[9]
On September 5, they revealed a new third member, Myai, to reform the girl group with three members once more.[10]
In October, they posted a recruited notice to look for more members.[11]
2024: Music debut with "Level Up!", more member line-up changes[]
On January 3, 2024, it was announced that member Nako's activities with the group would be suspended for a period of 8 months, starting on March 17, due to her needing to focus on studies.[12] Meanwhile, from March 2024, members Moka and Myai appeared as contestants in the live idol survival program, Girls Frontier. Moka later "graduated" from Girls Frontier after their Spring League in May and returned to her activities with Kawanari, meanwhile Myai remained an active participant in Girls Frontier.
Though unintroduced, Kawanari recruited new member Erina in June 2024.
On June 30, Kawanari released their first YouTube exclusive song "Level Up!". The song is only available on YouTube and has yet to be made available on music streaming sites.[13]
Later on July 26, it was announced that member Erina would be graduating from the group in August and would have her last performance on August 31. Kawanari would thus continue to promote as a two member group with Nako still on hiatus.[14]
On December 25, it was announced that member Nako has graduated from the group after being on hiatus for 9 months and being unable to resume activities due to the necessity of ongoing focus on her academic studies.[15]
2025: Disbandment[]
On February 20, 2025, Kawanari announced that after discussions between the remaining members Moka and Myai, the two have decided to disband the girl group, effective immediately after their final live performance as a group held on March 20, 2025.[16]
Aftermath[]
Following the disbandment of Kawanari, the members went their separate ways:
- Myai later became a member of the live girl group REKIREM. She official had a live stage debut with the girl group on March 8, 2025 and later they also made a music debut on March 24, 2025.[17][18]
- In mid June 2025, it was announced that Moka would become a member of SooSo Entertainment's project girl group AMORE.[19]
The circumstances of the other members remain currently unknown.
Members[]
| Name | Color | Emoji | Affinity | Year(s) active | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Korean | Japanese | ||||
| Former | ||||||
| Chiyo | 치요 | ちよ | Baby Pink | 🩰 | N/A | March 2023 – April 2023 |
| Erina | 에리나 | えりな | TBA | TBA | TBA | June 2024 – August 2024 |
| Nako | 나코 | なこ | Cream Blue | 💍 | Energy | March 2023 – December 2024 |
| Moka | 모카 | モカ | Ice White | 🎧 | Cool | March 2023 – March 2025 |
| Myai | 먀이 | マャイ | Pastel Green | 🧩 | Pure | September 2023 – March 2025 |
Discography[]
YouTube exclusives[]
- "Level Up!" (2024)
Trivia[]
- Moka is a former K-pop trainee and was a contestant in the idol survival show My Teenage Girl.
- Their original group name in Japanese was Kawaiku naritai! (Japanese: 可愛いくなりたい！) , however, this contained a grammatical error and was later corrected in June 2023.[20]
Gallery[]
Promotional[]
(2023)
Miscellaneous[]
(March 2023)
(June 2023)
References[]
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (March 9, 2023)
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (March 20, 2023)
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (March 7, 2023)
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (March 10, 2023): Moka reveal
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (March 10, 2023): Nako reveal
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (March 10, 2023): Chiyo reveal
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (March 9, 2023)
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (April 13, 2023)
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (August 11, 2023)
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (September 5, 2023): Myai introduction
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (October 19, 2023): Recruitment notice
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (January 3, 2024)
- ↑ YouTube: KWNR - Level Up !
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (July 26, 2023): Erina's departure announcement
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (December 25, 2024): Nako's departure announcement
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (February 20 2025): Disbandment announcement
- ↑ rekiremofficial Twitter post (February 11, 2025): REKIREM announced live stage debut
- ↑ Melon: REKITEM - "현실접속現実接続"
- ↑ AMORE_OFCL Twitter post (June 18, 2025)
- ↑ KAWANARI_OFCL Twitter post (June 5, 2023)