stylized as mini-moni. was a sub-unit of the Japanese idol 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 later added as a member. After Yaguchi's departure in 2002, Morning Musume member Ai Takahashi was added into the group.
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!. In addition to that, they also appeared in several Hamtaro movies, performing the theme songs under the name 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.
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!"
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||
| 2000-2004 | Hello! Morning | Themselves | TV Tokyo | Morning Musume's variety show |
| 2001 | Mini-Moni Yaru no da Pyon! | Themselves | TV Tokyo | Voice in anime; segments in Oha Star |
| 2003 | Mini-Moni the TV | Themselves | TV Tokyo | Voice in anime |
| 2002-2004 | Hello Kids | Themselves | TV Tokyo | Mini-Moni's variety show |
| 2001 | Themselves | Voice in anime film; cameo | |
| 2002 | Themselves | Voice in anime film; cameo | |
| Themselves | |||
| 2003 | Themselves | Voice in anime film; cameo | |
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