Throughout their career, Mini-Moni appeared in media aimed at children, having two animated series from 2001 to 2002, variety shows, as well as a 2002 film based on their stage personas titled Mini-Moni the Movie: Okashi na Daibōken!.[1] In addition to that, they also appeared in several Hamtaro movies, performing the theme songs under the name Mini-Hamus (ミニハムず).
The group later disbanded in 2004, after Todd left Hello! Project and Tsuji and Kago left Morning Musume to debut in W. In 2009, Mini-Moni was revived as a Hello! Project Shuffle Unit and concert-only unit under the name Shin Mini-Moni; the group had new members and remained active until 2011.
The quartet released several singles in 2001 and 2002, with most of these tracks compiled on their first album Mini-Moni Song Daihyakka Ikkan. Simultaneous to their single releases, the band became the subject of a series of short cartoons, Mini-Moni Yaru no da Pyon!, voicing their own characters. They also contributed their voices to a string of movies based on the Hamtaro cartoon series, which featured a hamster version of Mini-Moni known as Mini-Hamus.
All five members of Mini-Moni in a still from Okashi na Daibōken (2002).
In 2002, Yaguchi graduated from Mini-Moni to take on the leadership of the subgroup ZYX. Ai Takahashi was added as a member, while Mika Todd, took over Yaguchi's place as the band's leader. That same year, all members of Mini-Moni starred in the film Mini-Moni the Movie: Okashi na Daibōken!, a fictional account explaining the change in members.
Afterwards, Mini-Moni released "Crazy About You" and later the album Mini-Moni Songs 2. They also starred in a mini-series called Mini-Moni de Bremen no Ongakutai starring Takahashi, Tsuji, and Kago; Mika Todd made brief appearances in two episodes. The group disbanded in May 2004 at Mika Todd's graduation concert, following the release of a final single, "Lucky Cha Cha Cha!"
2018: 20th anniversary reunion
On 12 February 2018, TV Tokyo aired a television special celebrating Mini-Moni's 20th anniversary. Yaguchi and Tsuji made an appearance and performed "Mini-Moni Jankenpyon!" with Morning Musume '18 members Ayumi Ishida and Reina Yokoyama.[5]
In June 2007, an excerpt from a November 2000 episode of Mini-Moni Chiccha (their segment on Hello! Project's variety show Hello! Morning) of a prairie dog suddenly turning his head became the basis for the Internet phenomenon the Dramatic Chipmunk.[6] A parody of the Dramatic Chipmunk clip, including lookalikes of Mini-Moni, appears in Weezer's music video for their 2008 single "Pork and Beans".[7]
On 26 May 2009, Yaguchi posted on her blog discussing how the head producer of Hello! Project, Tsunku, had contacted her asking for permission to bring the group out of hiatus.[8] Tsunku confirmed on his own blog that Mini-Moni would be revived as a Hello! Project Shuffle Unit with an entirely new line-up, announcing then-Smileage member Kanon Fukuda as the first member.[9] He later announced then-Morning Musume member Linlin as the group's leader,[10] with then-Hello Pro Egg trainees Akari Takeuchi and Karin Miyamoto as the final two members. The group, rebranded as Shin Mini-Moni (新ミニモニ。, lit. New Mini-Moni), released songs for Hello! Project's compilation albums Champloo 1: Happy Marriage Song Cover Shū and Petit Best 10.[11][12] The group was also active as a concert-only unit until 2011.[citation needed]
^"Mirakururun Grand Purin!" was released as a double A-side single with "Pīhyara Kouta" (performed by Natsumi Abe under her character's name, Purin). The sales and Oricon ranking reflects both songs.
^Yaguchi, Mari (26 May 2009). "New Minimoni" (in Japanese). I'm a Beginner: Mari Yaguchi Official Blog. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
^Tsunku (27 May 2009). "Mini-Moni" (in Japanese). Tsunku Official Blog. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
^Tsunku (3 June 2009). "Minimoni" (in Japanese). Tsunku Official Blog. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
