airasia retires first virtual idol Kurumi after one year

Airasia’s first virtual idol, Aozora Kurumi will be retiring from livestreaming and social media activities from 7 August this year. She debuted last May as part of airasia’s Project Kavvaii, a programme to discover and develop the next big virtual idol in ASEAN.

In a Twitter post, Project Kavvaii explained that in view of Kurumi's graduation, her YouTube channel membership on Streamlabs tip page will shut on 9 August. Existing content on Kurumi's YouTube channel and social accounts will remain public as part of the airasia ecosystem.

"We are proud of what Kurumi has achieved in over one year as Project Kavvaii's first Vtuber. It has been a genuine thrill to see her grow as a streamer and performer, nurturing a healthy community and building friendships beyond borders," the statement added. Project Kavvaii also thanked everyone who has supported Kurumi since her debut announcement. Rudy Khaw, chief brand officer, airasia Super App, told A+M that there will be no replacement for Kurumi. However, she will be present in other formats in the future.

https://twitter.com/projectkavvaii/status/1543806556780875778

The announcement comes right after her one-month hiatus was announced in June. Kurumi said in an Instagram post this year that she will use this break to recharge and take care of personal matters before resuming her livestreams in July. Kurumi was brought to life by industry veteran Iron Vertex, a team of animation software freelancers, and voiced by a talent chosen from the Project Kavvaii open audition held last year.

Kurumi is fluent in English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Korean as well as some Bahasa Malaysia and Japanese. Khaw previously said the company foresees Kurumi to be "a game-changer in the future of streaming content in ASEAN. Aside from Kurumi, Project Kavvaii also comprises two other virtual idols - Mikazuki Mai and Airi Gwynevere. 

When asked about future plans for Project Kavvai, Khaw added that it has exciting prospects ahead for its IP, which includes Kurumi, Gwynevere and Mai, in line with its vision of expansion of airasia play into a hub for content.

Meanwhile, other companies have also launched their own virtual idols. In 2021, virtual platform MetaPlayers had announced that it will roll out 100 virtual idols this year while working on a hybrid competition to attract talents in the music industry as part of its effort to build a new music economy. The virtual idols are from Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia and the UK.

Separately, airasia has also been big in the super app scene. In June, the airasia Super App had rolled out the airasia pocket, an e-wallet within the super app which enables users to reload and make payments for all products and services on the app while being rewarded at the same time. 

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