| Manako Chiii Manako | Discography | Gallery |
August 2019 (Brand-new idol Society)
June 2019
Manako Chiii Manako (マナコ・チー・マナコ), also known as Komori Manako (小森まなこ), is a Japanese musician. She was formerly part of WACK as a third-generation member of BiS, but left just before the release of their first album. She is currently the frontwoman of the band killmilky.
Biography[]
2019[]
Manako Chiii Manako was revealed as a founding member of BiS' third generation on June 11th.
On June 25th, Manako's debut release, the digital single STUPiD, was released.
On August 13th, one day prior to the release of her debut album, Brand-new idol Society, Manako Chiii Manako suddenly left BiS. While she did not give a personal explanation for her departure, news articles claimed it was due to "creative differences". Manako later stated on Twitter that she "was forced to quit" and defended herself after Watanabe Junnosuke implied that her decision to join BiS was "half-assed".
2020[]
On June 6th, Manako announced that she had entered Miss iD 2021 under the name Komori Manako.
Just over a month later on July 7th, Manako announced the formation of her new band, killmilky, of which she would be the guitarist and vocalist. Killmilky's debut song, "Yuugato", was posted to YouTube the same day.
2021[]
During the Miss iD graduation ceremony on April 11th, Manako was awarded the Amulet (お守り) prize.
2022[]
Manako's debut EP with killmilky, If you kill milky me, was released on April 6th.
In late July, Manako starred in the music video for Optloquat's "Departure".
2023[]
In late February Manako featured on the Misfit Planet digital single, City Boy Secret Girl (feat. Komori Manako).
Personal Life[]
Manako was an honor student in Junior High School ranking in the top of her classes. While in Junior High, she became interested in various subcultures such as Visual Kei, Eroguro and other Japanese music niches. Additionally, she was a member of an after-school music club which continued into High School.
Manako's high grades meant she was able to transfer to one of the top High Schools in her area, however her grades started to slip in a peer group of other talented pupils and eventually fell to the bottom band of class rankings. From this, her view of herself changed from somebody who is able to do what she wants in life to somebody who isn't special, surrounded by depression and ennui.
During high school, Manako was apart of a Porno Graffiti cover band which deepened her interest in alternative music. By looking at who influenced the members of Porno Graffiti and other bands, she became a fan of influential Japanese bands such as The Yellow Monkey and P-Model. Her interest in P-Model also comes from the anime K-On, where the main cast share the last name of the P-Model member who plays the same instrument they do. Through this, she started following Hirasawa Susumu and eventually Togawa Jun among other New Wave acts.
Manako's interest in BiS developed during her period of subcultural discovery, eventually resulting in her auditioning for the third iteration of the group after hearing about the second generation's breakup. She "jumped into" the chance to audition and after thinking she failed the process, received a call two weeks later informing her of her passing.Manako's parents were surprised at her decision to join an idol group, since during her adolescence she was quiet and never talked about how she truly felt around them, thinking it was best to do what they wanted and focus on studies. Her mother was hesitant at first after looking up information about the band, worrying about the possibility of her daughter being tricked or exploited and forced to do a naked PV. After speaking with her mother and saying she wants to live the life she chooses and that her words made her feel suicidal, her mother apologised and supported her decision along with her father.
Profile[]
- Stage Names: Manako Chiii Manako (マナコ・チー・マナコ), Komori Manako (小森まなこ)
- Other Names: Manacolacco (まなこらっこっこ)
- Birth Date: January 9th
- Nickname: Manachii (マナチー)
- Western Zodiac:
Capricorn - WACK status:
- 2019.06.11: Joined BiS
- 2019.08.13: Left
- WACK Groups:
- BiS (2019)
- Overall Time in WACK: 2 months, 2 days
- Other Groups:
- killmilky (2020-)
Discography Featured In[]
Lyricist Credits[]
- Brand-new idol Society (2019): strawberry girl
- Shounen no Uta
Trivia[]
- Is a fan of Togawa Jun and Hirasawa Susumu among other New Wave artists.
- Was the second third-generation BiS member to reach 15k twitter followers and reveal her face.
- Favourite foods include chocolate parfait, Yokan Bread and mint chocolate ice-cream
- Claims to be able to lucid dream.
- Due to comments made by Watanabe Junnosuke in an interview prior to her leaving (in particular, how his ideal lineup for BiS' third generation was "five at first with one leaving early"), it has been heavily rumored that Watanabe had intended to remove Manako from the group from the very start. Manako herself also contributed to this theory (but did not explicitly confirm it) when she tweeted how she was forced to leave against her wishes, suggesting that she might have been fired.