Kawa Entertainment was a US-based VTuber agency based in Austin, Texas. Their mission statement was to advance and support the VTuber community through new tools, resources and an unprecedented level of transparency.
As an adoption agency, they hired their talents with their existing identities, not requiring graduation.
The agency was led by Pidge, with Muu handling merchandise.
History[]
2022[]
Kawa Entertainment opened auditions for their first generation on 25 February.[1] Auditions would last for two weeks, ending on 13 March, attracting over a thousand applicants.[2]
On 16 April, Kawa Entertainment announced the selection of their first generation, posting a teaser image with six colored bands.[3]
While preparing for the debut of their first generation, Kawa Entertainment released several free tools for VTubers: Klock - a clock generator for overlays,[4] ViewLink - a tool allowing Live2D VTubers to track while wearing a VR headset,[5] and Schedule Studio - a generator for weekly schedules to be used on social media.[6]
On 13 May, Kawa Entertainment released a more direct teaser for their first generation, posting an animated video with six silhouettes. They also revealed that the generation would be named "LUNAVITA". It would be split into two waves, where the first would be Luna and the second Vita.[7]
On 27 May, Kawa Entertainment announced the first half of generation one. Hunikin, Piapi UFO, and Senniursa would compose the first wave, "Luna". Their redebuts under Kawa would be between 2 June and 4 June.[8] Additionally, Kawa launched their merchandise store, boasting debut bundles for each of their starting three talents.[9]
On 15 June, Kawa Entertainment announced the second half of generation one. Koziichu, Kota Kotonya, and Xion De Noir would compose the second half, "Vita". Their redebuts under Kawa would be between 21 June and 23 June.[10] They would receive their own debut merch drop.[11]
On 6 August, Kawa Entertainment unveiled the NewsDrop, a news column dedicated to collecting and distributing vtuber news.[12]
Shortly after, on 13 August, Kawa would announce a merch partnership with Keydget, marking the first time they handled merch for a VTuber outside their agency.[13]
On 5 November, Kawa Entertainment would attend local convention Nishifest, in which they would first present VTubers to con-goers via meet-and-greets.[14]
On 14 November, they would open auditions for Generation 2,[15] and the six members of Generation 1 LunaVita would discuss auditions and the company the next day..[16] Auditions would remain open until 6 December, having drawn 2,363 applicants.[17]
Kawa would announce their biggest merchandise partnership with Merryweather on 19 November.[18]
To celebrate the holidays, Kawa's generation 1 LunaVita would put on a Family Feud collab stream on 15 December, hosted by Raelice.[19]
2023[]
On 21 January, Kawa Entertainment attended local convention Ikkicon. There they would put on their first 3D concert, starring Pia and Xion.[20][21]
On 20 March, Xion would announce her departure from Kawa Entertainment, citing a shifting focus on her life.[22] A week later, on March 29th, Kota would announce his departure as well, citing similar reasons.[23]
As part of an April Fool's joke, Kawa announced the members of their Generation 2, composed of three different versions of Merryweather.[24] A day later, Kawa would announce the removal of the several Merrys.[25]
On 7 April, Kawa would announce that Generation 1 would be renaming from LunaVita to Kascade.[26]
Kawa would drop many hints on Generation 2, until they began a string of teaser tweets starting 28 April.[27]
Finally, on 2 May, Kawa Entertainment announced generation two, dubbed "Abyss". They are composed of PastaroniRavioli, Kuromiya Lucien, and Mino Mieko. Their redebuts under Kawa would be between on 2 May as a relay stream.
On 1 August, Lulu would announce her departure from Kawa Entertainment.[28]
2024[]
On 11 January, Kawa announced that they would dissolve their talent branch due to staff not being able to address talent concerns. Individual talents would be able to continue streaming under their Vtuber personas after liquidation. Although the company will remain open for the foreseeable future selling merchandise.
Talents later would say on stream that they were given less then 12 hours notice that the company would be closing down the talent branch.[29] They were taken by surprise as they had been actively involved in discussions with Management regarding future projects. Additionally, they had recently completed a large Tetris Charity event and had just announced the opening of a new Kawa Minecraft server the day before.[30][31][29]
The news came unexpectedly, with some talents expressing gratitude for their time at the company while others felt disillusioned with the mismatch between promised opportunities and actual experiences. Talents indicated that Kawa had high ambitions and made promises, but ultimately did not achieve their intended goals.[29]
Several talents expressed that the Sony Concert that took place two months prior was the catalyst of their disappointment and frustration. The event was planned for several months but faced repeated delays. One talent mentioned that she had declined other concert opportunities in the past because she didn't feel her singing abilities were ready, so when she agreed to perform at the Sony concert, it was a significant moment for her.[29] However, on the day of the event, the stage lighting was inadequate and the performers were unable to hear the audio for their songs, among other technical issues. The talent believed that these issues arose due staff not listening to talent input and the staff's tendency to take on more responsibilities than they could handle.[29]
Former talents had noted that they were not taken aback by the announcement and had speculated that it would have occurred sooner.[29]
During the Talents livestreams, talents conveyed a sense of lacking support beyond sporadic sponsorships, event appearances, and interactions with an overworked manager. In addition, talents mentioned undertaking graphic design work for the agency without compensation.[31] One talent had already been planning to depart prior to the company's closure.[31] Talents conveyed their appreciation and backing for their Manager at Kawa, despite the circumstances[31] .
The talents attributed the company's collapse to staff burnout and a shift in focus towards the more profitable merchandise aspect of the business. As a result of their experiences, most talents have opted to discontinue their collaboration with the merchandise branch.[31]
Members[]
Generation 1 "Kascade"[]
Their debuts are between 2 June 2022 and 23 June 2022.
| Hunikin | Piapi UFO | Senniursa | Koziichu |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Generation 2 "Abyss"[]
Their debuts all are on 6 May 2023.
| PastaroniRavioli | Mino Mieko |
|---|---|
|
|
Alumni[]
| Xion De Noir F | Kota Kotonya F | Kuromiya Lucien F |
|
|
|
Trivia[]
- The name "Kawa" comes from the Japanese word for River, with the rationale that rivers are larger than streams.[32] Additionally, Kawa Entertainment can be shortened to "Kawa E", sounding similar to Kawaii, the Japanese word for cute.
External links[]
- kawaentertainment.com - Website
- merch.kawaentertainment.com - Merchandise store
- @kawa_entertain - Twitter account
- Kawa Entertainment - YouTube channel
References[]
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, Feb 25). It's here! Applications for Gen 1 of Kawa Entertainment are now officially open!... [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, Mar 13). It's finally here! Applications are now closed... [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, Apr 16). We're excited to announce that our 1st Generation has been selected and onboarded. [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, Mar 25). So you want a clock in your already excellent streaming overlay?... [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, Apr 6). It's here! ViewLink is the first vtuber tool that allows you to play VR games... [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, May 4). [FREE Schedule Builder] Schedule creation can become a chore for content creators.... [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, May 13). [Generation 1 Teaser] #LUNAVITA is coming your way soon~ Our very first generation! [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, May 27). [Wave 1 Annoucement] Introducing Luna, Wave 1 of our first generation, LunaVita! We proudly present our talents: @PiaPiUFO @Senniursa @HuniRyukin Look forward to their debuts next week 🌊 #LunaVita #Vtubers #VTuberUprising [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, May 28). [Merch Store: Now Open] Our official merch store is now open for business! Check out all the goodies made for Luna's debut~ Find all #LunaVita merch here: https://merch.kawaentertainment.com #Vtuber #VtuberDebut [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, June 15). [ANNOUNCEMENT] Are you ready for VITA!? Our wave 2 is already here and you'll be meeting them next week~ Xion: June 21st @ 2pm CST Kota: June 22nd @ 2pm CST Kozii: June 23rd @ 2pm CST You can find out more about all our talents [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, June 20). [Vita Merch Drop] All merch will be listed till it's sold out, but the bundles will only be available for ~3 weeks so grab them while you still can! All talent bundles are 25 USD! So definitely quite the bang for the buck [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, August 6). [New Vtuber News Site] A new(s) initiative from Kawa Entertainment. Our mission is to improve the WHOLE #Vtuber community, starting with sharing knowledge and connecting fans. https://kawaentertainment.com/news [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, August 13). [ Limited Time Merch Drop] #Vtuber want some awesome Keydget merch? Maybe something to rest your gamer wrist? Something to snuggle in bed? Save 10% by buying the whole bundle! [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, November 5). Come find us and hang out with our talents @ NishiFest in the Artist Alley [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, November 14). [ Talent Applications #kawaapps Kawa Entertainment is looking for our next big wave. Could it be you? Apps will be open for 1 month so don't delay] [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, November 15). 30 minutes till the special Kawa Talent stream [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2022, December 6). Apps Are Now Closed Thank you so much to everyone that took the time out of their busy schedule to apply [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2022, November 19). Merryweather x Kawa [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2022, December 15). [ Huge Holiday Collab Come to the Kawa holiday gameshow tonight with Raelice!] [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, January 22). Kawa's own 13 knights! Thank you so much to everyone that came out for our first ever 3D concert! It was so much fun [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, January 25). Our first live 3D Concert [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, March 20). https://twitter.com/kawa_entertain/status/1637814485040734209 [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, March 29). https://twitter.com/kawa_entertain/status/1641066350834532352 [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, April 1). https://twitter.com/kawa_entertain/status/1642235030456991747 [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, April 2). https://twitter.com/kawa_entertain/status/1642631213532737537 [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, April 7). https://twitter.com/kawa_entertain/status/1644414549393645568 [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, April 28). https://twitter.com/kawa_entertain/status/1652112755615481856 [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ @kawa_entertain. (2023, August 1). https://twitter.com/kawa_entertain/status/1686392592957902848 [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXeiHV2T49k&t=63s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6GKJyk0tuk
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH4cjms2g3E
- ↑ Kawa Entertainment [@kawa_entertain]. (2022, Feb 8). Fun fact:Kawa is the romanji form of 川 meaning river in Japanese... [Tweet]. Twitter.