# Kawaikute Gomen

"Kawaikute Gomen" (Japanese: 可愛くてごめん, lit. 'Sorry for Being Cute') is a song by the Japanese musical group HoneyWorks. It serves as the character song of Chizuru Nakamura, also known by her persona Chuu-tan, from the 2022 anime series Heroines Run the Show, which is part of the group's Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai: Ren'ai Series multimedia project.
The first version featuring Capi was originally released as part of HoneyWorks' album Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai Flying Songs: Koishiteru, released on August 13, 2022. The second version featuring Saori Hayami, the voice of Chizuru Nakamura in the anime series, was released as a digital single on November 21. Both versions of the song became a popular hit on TikTok in late 2022 to early 2023, spawning cover versions by various artists. Capi's version peaked atop Billboard Japan's TikTok Weekly Top 20 chart and later ranked first on the year-end TikTok Songs Chart for 2023.
A manga adaptation of the song by Ruia Shimakage began serialization in Line Manga in March 2024.

## Background and release

Chizuru Nakamura (中村 千鶴, Nakamura Chizuru), also known by her persona Chuu-tan (ちゅーたん), is a character voiced by Saori Hayami that appeared in the anime series Heroines Run the Show, which premiered in April 2022 as part of the Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai: Ren'ai Series multimedia project of the musical group HoneyWorks. In July 2022, HoneyWorks announced that they would release the doujin album Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai Flying Songs: Koishiteru at Comiket 100 on August 13. The album includes the song "Kawaikute Gomen", featuring Capi (かぴ) as the vocalist and serves as the character song of Chuu-tan. The song was later released for download and streaming on August 28. According to songwriter Shito, the song is about "valuing ourselves more" and "being straightforward about things we love."

## Saori Hayami version

On November 21, 2022, HoneyWorks released "Kawaikute Gomen" as a digital single with vocals from Hayami as the character Chizuru Nakamura for her debut in the series. It was included in HoneyWorks' sixth album Nee, Suki tte Itai yo: Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai Character Song Collection released on March 15, 2023. Hayami performed the song at Animelo Summer Live on August 31, 2024.

## Commercial performance

Both versions of "Kawaikute Gomen" quickly rose to popularity on TikTok and was used as the background music for makeup videos and videos using the "Manga AI" filter. Capi's version was among the most played, liked, and shared songs by the platform's Japanese userbase in 2022. It was used on approximately four million videos and had a cumulative view count of 34.6 billion by April 2023. The song debuted at number eight on Billboard Japan's TikTok Weekly Top 20 chart dated October 12, 2022. It reached number one on the chart dated November 2 and remained at the top for six consecutive weeks. Capi's version had charted 58 times by November 2023 and ranked first on Billboard Japan's year-end TikTok Songs Chart for 2023. The song also peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and at number 33 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart.
Hayami's version entered at number 18 on the TikTok Weekly Top 20 chart dated February 22, 2023. It reached number 21 on Billboard Japan's Download Songs chart and number 20 on Oricon's Digital Singles Chart. The song's music video ranked first on Oricon's YouTube Chart 13 weeks after it had first charted. It had over 144 million views on YouTube by November 2024.
Capi's version was nominated for "Independent Artist Awards" by TuneCore Japan in the category of "Top UGC Music for 2022". In 2023, it was nominated in the music category of the TikTok First Half Trend Awards. The song also ranked "high" in the music category of the 2023 Yahoo! Japan Search Awards. In 2024, it won the Silver Award at the JASRAC Awards.

## Cover versions

"Kawaikute Gomen" was covered by various artists. The idol group Takane no Nadeshiko [ja], whose music is produced by HoneyWorks, released an official cover of the song in 2022. The following year, actress Yuna Hoshino [ja], singer Kohana Lam [ja], and the VTuber agency Hololive Production collaborated with HoneyWorks for their covers. Singer Mafumafu released a cover on YouTube on June 24, 2023. Singer Ado and musician Yucco Miller also released cover versions for their respective albums Ado's Utattemita Album and Ambivalent. The song was also covered for the video games World Dai Star: Yume no Stellarium, BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!, The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage, and D4DJ Groovy Mix. Voice actress Sumire Uesaka covered "Kawaikute Gomen" as the character Alya, which served as the second ending theme for the 2024 anime series Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian. Girl group AKB48 covered the song, with Momoka Itō as the vocalist, as part of their cover album Nantettatte AKB48, which was released on December 25, 2024. Voice actress Yū Sasahara covered the song as her character Puniru, which serves as the 4th installment for the 2024 anime series Puniru Is a Cute Slime's cover song project which is released in January 2025.

## Use in media

In December 2023, Hayami's version was featured in the Sega arcade game Chunithm Luminous as a playable song. The following year, the song was added to Bandai Namco Entertainment's mobile game Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Connect in February, and it was released as downloadable content for Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival in March.

## Personnel

Credits are adapted from YouTube.
* Capi – vocals (first version)
* Saori Hayami – vocals (second version)
* Shito – songwriting
* HoneyWorks – arrangement
* Nakanishi – guitar
* Sato – bass
* Keiki Uto – piano
* Leon Yūki – drums

## Manga adaptation

A manga adaptation of the song by Ruia Shimakage began serialization in Line Manga on March 4, 2024. Futabasha published the first volume on May 16, 2024.
| No. | Release date | ISBN |
| 1 | May 16, 2024 | 978-4-57-544055-3 |
| 2 | January 21, 2025 | 978-4-57-544072-0 |