- "Kanani" redirects here. For the doll, see Kanani Akina (doll).
Kanani Akina is the ninth Girl of the Year released by the American Girl Doll company. She was released in 2011.
Character
Kanani is a ten-year-old girl living on Kaua'i, the geologically oldest island of Hawai'i. Her father, Mr. Akina, is of Japanese-Hawaiian descent while her mother, Mrs. Akina, is of French-German descent, making her multiracial. She helps her family run a popular shave ice shop and is passionate about helping people by sharing the Aloha spirit and protecting Hawaiian wildlife, such as the Hawaiian monk seal. She has a rooster named Jinx, a dog named Barksee, and a goat named Mochi.
Kanani has a cousin named Rachel who lives in New York. It is mentioned in the story that Kanani had not seen Rachel since they were six and eight years old, where the two of them met at a family reunion. After arriving in Hawaii, Rachel begins to feel homesick. As a result, Kanani tries to help her cousin Rachel feel like she is at home. While she has a hard time understanding her cousin- such as how Rachel misses the noise of the city and doesn't like to swim- the two of them eventually figure out what they both find fun to do, and Rachel even befriends Kanani's animals, who she used to be scared of.
Kanani enjoys swimming- her parents call her a mermaid- but she dislikes surfing. She knows her island very well and is friendly to everyone. She also has a gift for photography and business, and she helps her parents run their Shave Ice shop. She is very passionate about helping the endangered monk seals, including one that she helped rescue on the beach that she named Malana.
Books
Doll
- See: Kanani Akina (doll)
The Kanani Akina doll.
Meet Outfit
- Blue tropical dress
- Faux hibiscus flower hair clip
- Faux kuku'i nut necklace
- Blue sandals
- Panties
Collection
- See: Kanani's Collection
See Also
Trivia
Photo album.
- Kanani is the second multiracial character, following Jess McConnell. Her father is Japanese and Hawai'ian, and her mother is French and German.
- A Kanani-themed photo album was released at the same time of Kanani's debut, however it is not considered a major part of Kanani's collection.
- Kanani's books are written in third-person narrative instead of the usual first-person narrative.
- Kanani was the last character to have a Whole World Collection.
| Girls of the Year | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 2003 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | ||||||
| 2008 | 2009
Chrissa Maxwell |
2010 | 2011
Kanani Akina |
2012 | ||||||
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | ||||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||
| 2023 | 2024 | |||||||||