Mini Moni
Encyclopedia
is a former subgroup of Japan
ese pop
girl group Morning Musume
, and a current group within Hello! Project
. They were one of Morning Musume's most popular subgroups for their entire existence, because of the combination of their outrageous music videos and live performances, and their widely varied musical styles.
, who had an idea for a subgroup whose members were in height or shorter. Yaguchi and Morning Musume's songwriter and producer, Tsunku
, selected two of Morning Musume's newest members, Ai Kago
and Nozomi Tsuji
, for the new subgroup, and the trio began performing in concerts as Minimoni. American-born Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume
was later added into the group to give the group "an international flavor", and Tsunku
made them official. Their debut single, "Minimoni Jankenpyon!
", was a #1 hit.
An interesting side note is that Mika Todd usually wore drastically different costumes to her bandmates (while the other girls wore skirts and bows, Todd was often seen wearing jumpsuit
s or typically more masculine outfits). This could be attributed to her being the tallest member of the group , just making the height requirements at the band's founding. It is also possibly due to her being from Hawaii
as opposed to the other members.
While Minimoni was initially directed towards younger listeners (in spite of the fact two of the members, Yaguchi and Todd, were in their late teens), they also had an older fan base consisting of older Morning Musume fans (especially of Yaguchi, Kago and Tsuji) and the parents of the younger Minimoni fans.
The quartet released several singles in 2001 and 2002, with most of these tracks compiled into their first album Minimoni Song Daihyakka Ikkan. The album's musical styles spanned wildly from track to track, defiantly incorporating such diverse styles as blues
, electronica
, march music, jazz
, reggae
, and horn-driven 60s soul music
.
The group's almost anarchic presentation would also carry into some of the group's television appearances, many of which are circulated online, especially amongst the band's non-Japanese cult
audience; these antics have included Kago playfully saying "big doo-doo" (in English) in response to a question on the music variety show Fun, Kago and Tsuji kancho
ing host Norika Fujiwara
backstage at Fun, and an Utaban
appearance where Kago slugged Yaguchi in the crotch while Yaguchi was in the middle of a sentence (which was actually a Morning Musume appearance for the song "Sōda! We're Alive").
Simultaneous to their single releases, the band became the subject of a series of short cartoons of their own, Minimoni Yaru no da Pyon!, for which they supplied their own voices. They also contributed their voices to a string of movies based on the Hamtaro
cartoon series, which featured a hamster version of Minimoni known as Minihams. The group released five songs on three singles under this pseudonym.
In 2002, Mari Yaguchi
graduated from Minimoni to take on leadership of the subgroup ZYX
, one of the first Hello! Project
groups to incorporate members of the Hello! Project Kids
(who would later split into Berryz Kobo and C-ute). Another Morning Musume member, Ai Takahashi
, took Yaguchi's place, while Mika Todd, as the oldest member of the current lineup, took over as the band's leader. That same year, all five members of Minimoni filmed the movie Minimoni ja Movie: Okashi na Daibōken! (Minimoni The Movie: The Great Cake Adventure), part of the storyline of which, in the context of the movie's fantasy setting, "explains" how Yaguchi ended up leaving Minimoni to begin leading ZYX
and how Takahashi ended up in the band.
They started to have a more mature, modern R&B-heavy sound to their music with the single "Crazy About You
", a style the group explored more heavily on their second album Minimoni Songs 2
. However, their silly side was also well represented on the album with two of the songs they contributed to Hamtaro as Minihams. Former member Yaguchi also appears on three cuts, two of which previously appeared on the Okashi na Daibōken soundtrack. They also starred in a mini-series called Minimoni de Bremen no Ongakutai starring Takahashi, Tsuji, and Kago; Mika Todd made brief appearances in two episodes.
The group originally disbanded in May 2004 at Mika Todd's graduation concert, following the release of a final single, "Lucky Cha Cha Cha!
"
after leaving Minimoni, and also formed the short-lived unit ZYX
with five members of the Hello! Project Kids
. In April 2005, she resigned from Morning Musume
and embarked on a solo career under the Hello! Project
banner. She later graduated from Hello! Project in March 2009, with the other Elder Club members. She is currently signed to the Up-Front Agency as a solo artist. relocated to Los Angeles
to study music, and occasionally travels to perform with her father, jazz pianist Johnny Todd. She released a self-titled solo EP
in 2005 that has been available only at her rare live performances. and graduated together from Morning Musume in August 2004 to form a new unit, W
, under the Hello! Project
banner. Kago was suspended in February 2006, and her contract was finally terminated in March 2007 after a series of tabloid scandals; she returned to the spotlight in 2008 under a different agency, having appeared in several movies and releasing photobooks and music since then. Following Kago's suspension, Tsuji continued as a soloist in Hello! Project until May 10, 2007 when she announced that she was engaged to actor Taiyō Sugiura
and was already two months pregnant with his child. On November 26, 2007, Tsuji gave birth to a girl named . Tsuji graduated from Hello! Project with the rest of the Elder Club in March 2009 and remains with Up-Front as a general talent. continued as a member of Morning Musume
, and is the current leader of the group. Her distinctive vocals have been more prominent on their last several singles and on their albums Ai no Dai 6 Kan
, Rainbow 7
, Sexy 8 Beat
, Cover You
, Platinum 9 Disc
, and 10 My Me
. Takahashi is the only past member of Minimoni still active in Hello! Project, becoming the collective's leader after the entire Elder Club's graduation in 2009.
, had contacted her asking for permission to bring the group out of hiatus. Tsunku would later make a post on his own blog confirming that Minimoni would be revived with an entirely new line-up, confirming S/mileage
member Kanon Fukuda
as the first member. Morning Musume
's Linlin was announced later as the group's leader, and that Hello Pro Eggs Akari Takeuchi and Karin Miyamoto would be the final two members in the new line-up. This line-up is referred to as . On the last day of Morning Musume's fall 2010 tour, Rival Survival, Linlin graduated from Morning Musume, and thus left Shin Minimoni as well. (She has returned to China since her graduation.) The three remaining members proceeded to perform as a trio in the Hello! Project 2011 winter concert.
's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno) during a skit claiming that one of Leno's house band members had started out as a member of Minimoni; a manipulated picture of the Leno band member with Minimoni (in their outfits from the cover of Minimoni Songs 2) was aired as part of the sketch.
In June 2007, an excerpt from a November 2000 appearance by Minimoni 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 Minimoni, appears in Weezer
's music video for their 2008 single "Pork and Beans
". The real Minimoni did not appear because of licensing issues, their lack of mainstream recognition in America, and other logistical difficulties (including the fact that both Mika Todd and Ai Kago were no longer contracted by Up-Front Works by that time).
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
girl group Morning Musume
Morning Musume
, sometimes referred to as is a Japanese idol girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. They are the lead group of Hello! Project, which is managed and produced by Tsunku, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs...
, and a current group within Hello! Project
Hello! Project
is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. Hello! Project's current leader is Risa Niigaki, the leader of Morning Musume...
. They were one of Morning Musume's most popular subgroups for their entire existence, because of the combination of their outrageous music videos and live performances, and their widely varied musical styles.
Original Minimoni (2000-2004)
The group was founded in late 2000 by Morning Musume member Mari YaguchiMari Yaguchi
, known professionally by her birth name of is a Japanese pop artist and former member of Hello! Project. She is a former member of Morning Musume and Tanpopo, one of its first sub groups, and also founded Minimoni...
, who had an idea for a subgroup whose members were in height or shorter. Yaguchi and Morning Musume's songwriter and producer, Tsunku
Tsunku
, better known professionally as , is a prolific Japanese record producer, songwriter, and vocalist.He is best known for having two major roles in the Japanese music landscape: first as the lead singer of the popular rock group Sharam Q, and now as the producer, primary composer, lyricist and main...
, selected two of Morning Musume's newest members, Ai Kago
Ai Kago
is a Japanese singer, actress, author and former Guinness World Record holder.At age 12, Kago won the 4th National Audition of Morning Musume held by Up-Front Works Agency in 2000, which led to her admission into the extremely popular idol group as a 4th generation member. In the same year, she...
and Nozomi Tsuji
Nozomi Tsuji
, known professionally by her birth name of is a Japanese tarento and a former member of the pop idol group Morning Musume, its subgroup Mini Moni, and the duo W. She has participated in the shuffle groups 10-nin Matsuri, Odoru 11, and 11Water, H.P...
, for the new subgroup, and the trio began performing in concerts as Minimoni. American-born Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume
Coconuts Musume
is a group from Hello! Project that was formed and promoted as the "girls from Hawaii". After nine years, the group officially disbanded when Ayaka Kimura graduated from Hello! Project.- Members :* 1998–2008 –...
was later added into the group to give the group "an international flavor", and Tsunku
Tsunku
, better known professionally as , is a prolific Japanese record producer, songwriter, and vocalist.He is best known for having two major roles in the Japanese music landscape: first as the lead singer of the popular rock group Sharam Q, and now as the producer, primary composer, lyricist and main...
made them official. Their debut single, "Minimoni Jankenpyon!
Minimoni Jankenpyon!
is the first single by Morning Musume subgroup Minimoni. It was released on January 17, 2001 and sold 930,000 copies. It peaked at number one in Japan on the weekly Oricon chart, charting for seventeen weeks.- Track listing :- External links :...
", was a #1 hit.
An interesting side note is that Mika Todd usually wore drastically different costumes to her bandmates (while the other girls wore skirts and bows, Todd was often seen wearing jumpsuit
Jumpsuit
Jumpsuit originally referred to the utilitarian one-piece garments used by parachuters/skydivers, but has come to be used as a common term for any one-piece garment with sleeves and legs.-Use:...
s or typically more masculine outfits). This could be attributed to her being the tallest member of the group , just making the height requirements at the band's founding. It is also possibly due to her being from Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
as opposed to the other members.
While Minimoni was initially directed towards younger listeners (in spite of the fact two of the members, Yaguchi and Todd, were in their late teens), they also had an older fan base consisting of older Morning Musume fans (especially of Yaguchi, Kago and Tsuji) and the parents of the younger Minimoni fans.
The quartet released several singles in 2001 and 2002, with most of these tracks compiled into their first album Minimoni Song Daihyakka Ikkan. The album's musical styles spanned wildly from track to track, defiantly incorporating such diverse styles as blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, march music, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, and horn-driven 60s soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
.
The group's almost anarchic presentation would also carry into some of the group's television appearances, many of which are circulated online, especially amongst the band's non-Japanese cult
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
audience; these antics have included Kago playfully saying "big doo-doo" (in English) in response to a question on the music variety show Fun, Kago and Tsuji kancho
Kancho
is a prank often played in Japan; it is performed by clasping the hands together so the index fingers are pointing out and attempting to insert them sharply into someone's anal region when the victim is not looking...
ing host Norika Fujiwara
Norika Fujiwara
is a Japanese beauty queen, model and actress. She became Miss Japan in 1992 and was an exclusive model for CanCam magazine. She has appeared in various commercials and TV series and a number of films in Japan.-Career:...
backstage at Fun, and an Utaban
Utaban
was a long running Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program"...
appearance where Kago slugged Yaguchi in the crotch while Yaguchi was in the middle of a sentence (which was actually a Morning Musume appearance for the song "Sōda! We're Alive").
Simultaneous to their single releases, the band became the subject of a series of short cartoons of their own, Minimoni Yaru no da Pyon!, for which they supplied their own voices. They also contributed their voices to a string of movies based on the Hamtaro
Hamtaro
is a Japanese anime series. The main character is a hamster named Hamtaro who has a variety of adventures with other hamsters, called "Ham-Hams" . The show is based on a manga series by Ritsuko Kawai, Hamtaro Gets Lost and Other Stories, and Jealous Hamtaro and Other Stories...
cartoon series, which featured a hamster version of Minimoni known as Minihams. The group released five songs on three singles under this pseudonym.
In 2002, Mari Yaguchi
Mari Yaguchi
, known professionally by her birth name of is a Japanese pop artist and former member of Hello! Project. She is a former member of Morning Musume and Tanpopo, one of its first sub groups, and also founded Minimoni...
graduated from Minimoni to take on leadership of the subgroup ZYX
ZYX
was a short-lived Japanese pop group made up of five Hello! Project Kids members led by Mari Yaguchi of Morning Musume. Yaguchi acted as a mentor and the group released two singles. ZYX is important in that it is the first unit that Hello! Project Kids officially joined with the second being Aa!...
, one of the first Hello! Project
Hello! Project
is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. Hello! Project's current leader is Risa Niigaki, the leader of Morning Musume...
groups to incorporate members of the Hello! Project Kids
Hello! Project Kids
is a Japanese music group of fifteen young girls chosen out of 27,958 applicants in 2002. The group was formed as a part of the Hello! Project. The group has so far published a number of records under both group names and the Hello! Project Kids title....
(who would later split into Berryz Kobo and C-ute). Another Morning Musume member, Ai Takahashi
Ai Takahashi
is a Japanese pop singer formerly associated with Hello! Project, and best known as leader of Morning Musume and Hello!Project until 2011, and former member of its popular subgroup, Mini Moni...
, took Yaguchi's place, while Mika Todd, as the oldest member of the current lineup, took over as the band's leader. That same year, all five members of Minimoni filmed the movie Minimoni ja Movie: Okashi na Daibōken! (Minimoni The Movie: The Great Cake Adventure), part of the storyline of which, in the context of the movie's fantasy setting, "explains" how Yaguchi ended up leaving Minimoni to begin leading ZYX
ZYX
was a short-lived Japanese pop group made up of five Hello! Project Kids members led by Mari Yaguchi of Morning Musume. Yaguchi acted as a mentor and the group released two singles. ZYX is important in that it is the first unit that Hello! Project Kids officially joined with the second being Aa!...
and how Takahashi ended up in the band.
They started to have a more mature, modern R&B-heavy sound to their music with the single "Crazy About You
Crazy About You
"Crazy About You" is the tenth single of the Morning Musume subgroup Minimoni. It was released on October 16, 2003 and sold 36,473 copies. It peaked at number five on the Oricon Charts in Japan.- Track listing :All tracks are written and composed by Tsunku....
", a style the group explored more heavily on their second album Minimoni Songs 2
Minimoni Songs 2
is the second album of the Morning Musume subgroup Minimoni. It was released February 11, 2004 under the Zetima label with the catalog number EPCE-5265, and peaked at number 11 on the Oricon sales charts.- Track listing :...
. However, their silly side was also well represented on the album with two of the songs they contributed to Hamtaro as Minihams. Former member Yaguchi also appears on three cuts, two of which previously appeared on the Okashi na Daibōken soundtrack. They also starred in a mini-series called Minimoni de Bremen no Ongakutai starring Takahashi, Tsuji, and Kago; Mika Todd made brief appearances in two episodes.
The group originally disbanded in May 2004 at Mika Todd's graduation concert, following the release of a final single, "Lucky Cha Cha Cha!
Lucky Cha Cha Cha!
is the twelfth and last single single of the Morning Musume subgroup Minimoni. It was released on April 21, 2004 and sold 34,398 copies. It peaked at number six on the Oricon Charts...
"
Post-Minimoni careers
continued as sub-leader of Morning MusumeMorning Musume
, sometimes referred to as is a Japanese idol girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. They are the lead group of Hello! Project, which is managed and produced by Tsunku, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs...
after leaving Minimoni, and also formed the short-lived unit ZYX
ZYX
was a short-lived Japanese pop group made up of five Hello! Project Kids members led by Mari Yaguchi of Morning Musume. Yaguchi acted as a mentor and the group released two singles. ZYX is important in that it is the first unit that Hello! Project Kids officially joined with the second being Aa!...
with five members of the Hello! Project Kids
Hello! Project Kids
is a Japanese music group of fifteen young girls chosen out of 27,958 applicants in 2002. The group was formed as a part of the Hello! Project. The group has so far published a number of records under both group names and the Hello! Project Kids title....
. In April 2005, she resigned from Morning Musume
Morning Musume
, sometimes referred to as is a Japanese idol girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. They are the lead group of Hello! Project, which is managed and produced by Tsunku, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs...
and embarked on a solo career under the Hello! Project
Hello! Project
is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. Hello! Project's current leader is Risa Niigaki, the leader of Morning Musume...
banner. She later graduated from Hello! Project in March 2009, with the other Elder Club members. She is currently signed to the Up-Front Agency as a solo artist. relocated to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to study music, and occasionally travels to perform with her father, jazz pianist Johnny Todd. She released a self-titled solo EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 2005 that has been available only at her rare live performances. and graduated together from Morning Musume in August 2004 to form a new unit, W
W (Double You)
, also written as Double You or Double U, was a Japanese pop duo associated with Hello! Project. Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago, former fourth generation members of Morning Musume, were in the group.- 2004 :...
, under the Hello! Project
Hello! Project
is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. Hello! Project's current leader is Risa Niigaki, the leader of Morning Musume...
banner. Kago was suspended in February 2006, and her contract was finally terminated in March 2007 after a series of tabloid scandals; she returned to the spotlight in 2008 under a different agency, having appeared in several movies and releasing photobooks and music since then. Following Kago's suspension, Tsuji continued as a soloist in Hello! Project until May 10, 2007 when she announced that she was engaged to actor Taiyō Sugiura
Taiyo Sugiura
-Early life:Sugiura was born in Okayama, Japan. He has a brother, Takao , who is two years younger. Sugiura attended Neyagawa 1st Junior High School and Osaka Sangyo University Senior High School, where he graduated from in 1999....
and was already two months pregnant with his child. On November 26, 2007, Tsuji gave birth to a girl named . Tsuji graduated from Hello! Project with the rest of the Elder Club in March 2009 and remains with Up-Front as a general talent. continued as a member of Morning Musume
Morning Musume
, sometimes referred to as is a Japanese idol girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. They are the lead group of Hello! Project, which is managed and produced by Tsunku, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs...
, and is the current leader of the group. Her distinctive vocals have been more prominent on their last several singles and on their albums Ai no Dai 6 Kan
Ai no Dai 6 Kan
is the sixth album from the J-pop idol group Morning Musume, released on December 8, 2004.Ai no Dai 6 Kan contains three hit singles, all released prior to the album between April and December 2004: "Roman: My Dear Boy", "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari", and "Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago"...
, Rainbow 7
Rainbow 7
is the seventh album by the J-pop idol group Morning Musume. It is the first album to feature 7th generation member Koharu Kusumi, and was released on February 15, 2006....
, Sexy 8 Beat
Sexy 8 Beat
- Bonus DVD :Tracks 2 and 3 on the DVD were recorded live at Hello! Project's 2007 Winter Wonderful Hearts Otome Gokoro concert.- Vocals :* Hitomi Yoshizawa – except tracks 5, 9 and 10* Ai Takahashi – except tracks 5 and 10...
, Cover You
Cover You
- Oricon ranks and sales :- External links :* entry at Up-Front Works official website * entry on Oricon Style...
, Platinum 9 Disc
Platinum 9 Disc
- Featured lineup :* 4th generation: Hitomi Yoshizawa * 5th generation: Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki* 6th generation: Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, Reina Tanaka, Miki Fujimoto...
, and 10 My Me
10 My Me
is Japanese pop girl group Morning Musume's tenth studio album. It was released March 17, 2010 in both a regular and limited edition. The normal edition came with a photocard, depicting a similar picture to the limited edition cover. The limited edition was packaged with a bonus DVD and had a...
. Takahashi is the only past member of Minimoni still active in Hello! Project, becoming the collective's leader after the entire Elder Club's graduation in 2009.
Minimoni's revival (2009-present)
On May 26, 2009, Minimoni's original leader, Mari Yaguchi, posted a blog discussing how the head producer of Hello! Project, TsunkuTsunku
, better known professionally as , is a prolific Japanese record producer, songwriter, and vocalist.He is best known for having two major roles in the Japanese music landscape: first as the lead singer of the popular rock group Sharam Q, and now as the producer, primary composer, lyricist and main...
, had contacted her asking for permission to bring the group out of hiatus. Tsunku would later make a post on his own blog confirming that Minimoni would be revived with an entirely new line-up, confirming S/mileage
S/mileage
is a Japanese girl group which originally consisted of four former Hello! Pro Egg members. They graduated from Egg status in 2010 and became full time members of Hello! Project. In 2010, they won the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist...
member Kanon Fukuda
Kanon Fukuda
is a Japanese pop singer and seiyu born in Saitama, Japan. She is a member of the Hello! Project band S/mileage, and a former member of Shugo Chara Egg!.- Biography :2004...
as the first member. Morning Musume
Morning Musume
, sometimes referred to as is a Japanese idol girl group, whose act generally revolves around singing and dancing to upbeat melodies. They are the lead group of Hello! Project, which is managed and produced by Tsunku, who composes nearly all the lyrics and melodies of their songs...
's Linlin was announced later as the group's leader, and that Hello Pro Eggs Akari Takeuchi and Karin Miyamoto would be the final two members in the new line-up. This line-up is referred to as . On the last day of Morning Musume's fall 2010 tour, Rival Survival, Linlin graduated from Morning Musume, and thus left Shin Minimoni as well. (She has returned to China since her graduation.) The three remaining members proceeded to perform as a trio in the Hello! Project 2011 winter concert.
Minimoni in American media
In February 2006, Minimoni's name was invoked on American television (NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno) during a skit claiming that one of Leno's house band members had started out as a member of Minimoni; a manipulated picture of the Leno band member with Minimoni (in their outfits from the cover of Minimoni Songs 2) was aired as part of the sketch.
In June 2007, an excerpt from a November 2000 appearance by Minimoni on Hello! Morning of a prairie dog
Prairie dog
Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico...
suddenly turning his head became the basis for the Internet phenomenon The Dramatic Chipmunk. A parody of the Dramatic Chipmunk clip, including lookalikes of Minimoni, appears in Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
's music video for their 2008 single "Pork and Beans
Pork and Beans (song)
"Pork and Beans" is a song by the American alternative rock band Weezer, released on its 2008 album Weezer. It was released in digital form on April 24, 2008. The track debuted at number 19 on Billboards Modern Rock chart, and spent eleven weeks at number one. Critics generally liked the song,...
". The real Minimoni did not appear because of licensing issues, their lack of mainstream recognition in America, and other logistical difficulties (including the fact that both Mika Todd and Ai Kago were no longer contracted by Up-Front Works by that time).
Albums
| # | Title | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2002-06-26 | |
| 2 | 2003-02-19 | |
| 3 | 2004-02-11 |
Singles
| # | Title | Released date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2001-01-17 | |
| 2 | 2001-09-12 | |
| 3 | 2001-12-05 | |
| 4 | 2002-01-30 | |
| 5 | 2002-04-24 | |
| 6 | 2002-11-27 | |
| 7 | 2002-12-04 | |
| 8 | 2003-04-09 | |
| 9 | 2003-05-14 | |
| 10 | Crazy About You Crazy About You "Crazy About You" is the tenth single of the Morning Musume subgroup Minimoni. It was released on October 16, 2003 and sold 36,473 copies. It peaked at number five on the Oricon Charts in Japan.- Track listing :All tracks are written and composed by Tsunku.... |
2003-10-16 |
| 11 | 2003-11-19 | |
| 12 | 2004-04-21 |