Mini-Moni

 was a sub-unit of the Japanese idol girl groups Morning Musume and Coconuts Musume. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2000 and associated with Hello! Project. The group was founded by Morning Musume members Mari Yaguchi, Nozomi Tsuji, and Ai Kago, with Coconuts Musume member Mika Todd later added as a member. After Yaguchi's departure, Morning Musume member Ai Takahashi was added into the group.
Throughout their career, Mini-Moni enjoyed success among children, having two animated series from 2001 to 2002, variety shows, as well as a 2002 film based on their stage personas titled "". In addition to that, they also appeared in several "Hamtaro" movies, performing the theme songs under the name .
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 with new members and remained active until 2011.
History.
2000–2004: Formation.
The group was founded in late 2000 by Morning Musume member Mari Yaguchi, with the concept of having members and shorter. Together with Morning Musume's songwriter and producer, Tsunku, she selected two new members, Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji and the trio began performing in concerts as Mini-Moni. Mika Todd from Coconuts Musume was later added to the group. They made their official CD debut with "Mini-Moni Jankenpyon! / Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu Daisukki!" in 2001, which became a #1 hit.
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.
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 "", 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!"
2009–2011: Revival as Shin Mini-Moni.
On May 26, 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. Tsunku confirmed on his own blog that Mini-Moni would be revived with an entirely new line-up, announcing Smileage member Kanon Fukuda as the first member. He later announced Morning Musume member Linlin as the group's leader, with Hello Pro Egg members Akari Takeuchi and Karin Miyamoto as the final two members. The group was rebranded . They released a cover song in 2009 called "Tentomushi no Samba" for Hello! Project Shuffle Unit's compilation album "Champloo 1: Happy Marriage Song Cover Shū". The group later released a new original song in the same year called "Pen Pen Kyoudai" on the Hello! Project compilation "Petit Best 10".
In 2010, Shin Mini-Moni was scheduled to release a new single as part of a joint shuffle release during the summer of 2010, however, the release was cancelled for reasons unknown. Despite the cancellation, Shin Minimoni continued performing in Hello! Projects concerts as always. In August 2010, Linlin's graduation was announced. On the last day of Morning Musume's fall 2010 tour, Rival Survival, Linlin left Hello! Project. Fukuda was named the new leader and the three remaining members proceeded to perform as a trio in the Hello! Project 2011 winter concert.
2018: 20th anniversary reunion.
On February 12, 2018, TV Tokyo aired a television special celebrating Minimoni's 20th anniversary. Yaguchi and Tsuji made an appearance and performed "Minimoni Jankenpyon!" with Morning Musume '18 members Ayumi Ishida and Reina Yokoyama.
Legacy.
In June 2007, an excerpt from a November 2000 episode of "Mini-Moni Chiccha" (their segment on "Hello! Morning") of a prairie dog suddenly turning his head became the basis for the Internet phenomenon the Dramatic Chipmunk. 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".