We're Getting Lucky (Cha Cha Cha!) with Mini Moni!

All thoughts and opinions contained within this blog post are solely my own and no one else's! Please respect everyone's opinions, and then yours will be respected in return! Thank you~

It's time to continue our adventure through PV Request Week, though honestly, I may have to change the name to 'The Request Chronicles', because there is no way that I can finish these in a week, especially if I have college, work or wake up late! So, let's get on with the Request Chronicles. What's up next for review?

It's time for a blast from the past with an old Hello! Project unit who I am, unsurprisingly, familiar with. Mini Moni was one of, if not the, most popular sub-units back when H!P were at their peak, and whilst I wasn't around the fandom at the time these girls were present, I was very much aware of just who they were during my early days as a fan of Hello! Project. My sister thoroughly enjoyed all their music, and basically introduced me to Mini Moni when we were first learning about Morning Musume and the groups related to them.

So of course it's really no surprise that Mamba suggested this group to me for review, because I know that she loves Mini Moni, and Lucky Cha Cha Cha! is one of her favourite songs, though I actually thought that she would put me through torture and force me to listen to one of their Hamtaro numbers or even... urgh... Ai~n Taisou. You guys don't realise just how happy and relieved I am that Mamba (or any of you, actually) didn't suggest that song. You have saved me from many manly... er, I mean womanly, tears and weekly nightmares. Thank you for that!

I would like to quickly point out that I am not an active listener of Mini Moni. I did go through a faze of listening to Mini. Strawberry Pie a lot, and I have actually seen all of the Mini Moni movies that the girls have done, but I am not an active listener as of now. I don't hate their music, I just don't listen to it as much, though hearing and watching Lucky Cha Cha Cha has really taken me down Nostalgia lane, back to the memories of when Mamba and I listened to Hello! Project religiously No different from now, actually and when we gushed over the girls and how fun and quirky their video's were before Emo Musume came to be, before Kago decided that she liked old men, before Tsuji became a baby machine (Love Love Love Machine, whoah whoah...) and way way before Koharu was even heard of.

Ah... those were the days. Those were also the days before I became a blogger, so I guess that in itself says something about how fresh I was to the world of Idols, because this was only back in '09, when I really started getting into Jpop...

Okay, enough of going down memory lane, no matter how fun it is to take a look back at 16 year old me! We have some Lucky girls to review! Let's get ready for Mini Moni's last single, Lucky Cha Cha Cha!

I'm contemplating whether this is a real set or CG. Who knows?

Everyone: Shush, Aibon, no one wants to hear about your new boyfriend!"

Have I ever mentioned that I find story openings annoying in PV's? No? Well...

Mika: "Ooooh, what does THIS button do?"

Mini Moni were such an innocent group, and really fun, too!

Mika: "Phew! Once this PV's over and done with, I can finally graduate and get the hell out of here!"

Ai: "Once Two-Top gone, my popularity in MoMusu will sky rocket, and I'll one day be LEADER!!!"

Actually, why did she graduate? Mika was part of a pretty damn awesome group, you know?

Robo Moni was around before Robo Musume could even begin.

Let's START!

Ah, random English for Mika's sake. Love it.

Is that how small Tsunku's penis is, Tsuji?

Ai was so cute before she reigned over Morning Musume and turned it a little bit blander and emo...

To think, she used to be so energetic and... well, pink!

Aibon and Mika's looks of amazement are great, though Tsuji and Ai-butt aren't overly impressed...

Robo-Mika, doing her thing whilst trying to look cool in overalls!

Man, this sort of fun from Hello! Pro is really... well, it isn't present. I actually wish I could see something like this happen again...

Still looking as lifeless as ever, even as a kid, Ai-butt?

I don't know why, but Aibon really made me laugh during this scene!

It's hard to believe that this toothy kid is now a mother of however many babies...

Aibon: "OHMAGURD, I WAS IN DA SHOWA!!!"

Mika: "I can't believe I'm GRADUATING, BITCHES!"

... Damn, I've just realised that all of these girls have ditched Hello! Project. I mean graduated... yeah...

Aibon: "Huhuhu, I can't wait to get outta here..."

Dude, what is Tsuji doing in the background?

Truth be told, Mika's face does scare me...

and Kisses from Tsuji! Mwah!

Why does Ai manage to look bored in nearly every scene?

Oh wait, HAPPINESS!!!

LOSER!!!!

Seriously, Tsuji, is Tsunku's penis really that small?

Aibon: "Indeed it is, see, even I know!"

Aibon backs Tsuji up on this claim! Oh my!

This just reminds me of Thriller...

Then again, most things remind me of Thriller xD

Mika, no! Don't shoot yourself! It doesn't get that bad after you graduate...

I think.

Ai: "I will fly away, take over Morning Musume and reign as the Queen of Bland when Mini Moni finally disband!"

Have I ever mentioned how cute this dance shot is? I also really like the overly baggy costumes.

No... Ai... NO, DAMNIT, AI I SAID NO!

Ai: "Ah shi--..." -moves away swiftly to make it look like Aibon did it-

Well, this doesn't look good...

Mika, I think you're going a bit overboard on the reactions, and Ai, stop eating that mic...

Mika, stop hitting Tsuji on the head and get back to work!

... I had to, guys... I had to... Mika looks so happy like that.

Awkward wink for the Winking Wota! Kyu~n!

Ai looks especially happy there. Maybe she has seen her future MoMusu leadership already?

Mika: "You stupid little cow, how could you press that damn button! You have ruined EVERYTHING!!!"

Looks like Mika find out just who pressed the button, whilst Aibon is shocked at the fact that she may just be witnessing a murder...

Winku GET! Kyu~n!

Robo-Ai: "Rawr, I'm a ZOMBIE!"

Robo-Mika: "Arrrrgh!"

 How Ai-dorable...

Dude, this PV is just full of fail winks, right? Kyu~n!

I actually never noticed this scene, but by god, it's wonderful!

Ai: "My careeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!!!"

My gawd, it's BEAUTIFUL! xD

Why are you all calling me a loser!? What did I ever do to you guys, huh!? HUH!?

Ah shi--- It's still not going right, is it?

Mika: "Is that little bitch sleeping when all of this is HER fault!?"

The sheer look of shock on all their faces (sans Tsuji) is just wonderful, sheer horror in fact. Especially Mika. She looks like she wants to slap Ai in the face for her ignorance.

... Why does Mika have a creeper face?

Oh look, everything's going back to normal! But why do Tsuji and Mika look like they're crying out to something?

... Maybe it's because their Robo selves died?

R.I.P Robo-Tsuji... R.IP...

Oh well, ICE CREAM TAIMU! No need to cry over their Robo deaths, because we have ICE CREAM!!!

My gosh, that was a lot more fun to screen cap than I thought it would be, and that is mostly down to the fact that I never noticed half the things I did in the PV back when I last watched it to when I watched it now. My observation has really changed, it seems, and I have taken more notice of the funnier, more charming details of this video.

You know, it's actually very refreshing looking back at a PV which is from a group I used to listen to a lot, though of course this group goes way way way back to a time before I even became a fan of Hello! Project or even Idol groups in general, and whilst I may not be a giant fan of Mini Moni, I do think that their PV's and songs show off just how great Hello! Project used to be in the diversity of their songs and their overall feel. You can really see the difference between the groups back then and the groups now, I mean, I doubt we will get anything as fun or carefree as this any time soon, especially with auto-tune and maturity being a big thing in Japan for Idol music right now. Shame, really.

Lucky Cha Cha Cha, though the last single from Mini Moni, is probably one of my favourites, right next to Hinamatsuri and Mini. Strawberry Pie. It's a great song, and it really showed off the strong point of Mini Moni like all of their other songs did; fun, happy and extremely carefree and free of worry for being different. Okay, so it isn't one of their more outrageous songs, but it's still a great song all the same. It's energetic, catchy and quite childish, but so entertaining that you forget that the song is probably aimed for kids rather than adults. It's such a joy to listen to, and it has a certain factor about it which just drags you into the song and keeps you there, listening to it relentlessly before you even realise that you are completely hooked on the song and the group itself.

Listening to this song again and watching the PV has made me really miss the days where me and my sister would just sit together in our living room, watching Hello! Project PV's one after the other and singing along to them. This PV really does bring back some good, nostalgic memories of the days where we spent more time together and gushed over these great Hello! Project groups, talking about what we would do if we could ever meet the girls, or even learning the songs and dances just for the hell of it. But watching this PV has also made me realise just how much of Hello! Project I have missed out on as a whole. I never got to experience Mini Moni at all, so by the time I actually started watching these video's, this group was long gone and three of the members had already graduated from Hello! Project and gone on to their own lives, whilst one remained in Morning Musume as a leader. Long story short, I would have loved to have been around when Mini Moni was there, because I think that I would have loved this group a lot more than I do, and I probably would have appreciated them a lot more as well, because I would have been about the right age to enjoy all the colour and silliness that these girls had in their PV's.

Going back to the PV itself, I find that Lucky Cha Cha Cha! in a way is a lot more advanced than their previous PV's, mostly because of how much better the CGI looks in comparison to when Jankenpyon or Telephone Rin Rin Rin were created, way back when Mini Moni was first filmed and claimed their stake in H!P history. The video itself looks quite sci-fi in a way, what with all the pink and silver present in the video and the mechanics used, but it's also pretty creative and childish in its own way, too, with childish meaning that the setting and theme of the entire video feels like something that you would dream up as a child, or something that would ultimately appeal to children because of how mischievous and energetic the video itself is. I guess that's why so many people liked Mini Moni, though; they were a group who had a lot of creative and imaginative concepts, things that would appeal to children, but also appealed to adults. As my father once said when we went to the cinema when I was a kid, children's movies (or in this case, PV's) are so much better because your imagination is truly allowed to shine through the eyes of a child, and not an adult, and you get something so much more creative, and something which you can ultimately appreciate as you watch it (I rephrased this into my own words, but same concept).

As I have already said, Mini Moni were a creative and imaginative group, and that's why people enjoyed them in the past, and why people still enjoy them today. Their video's allowed the girls' personalities to shine no matter what, and it's apparent even in Lucky Cha Cha Cha. The amount of times I laughed throughout this video is countless, because there are so many cheeky moments in the video which allowed me to see each of the girls' personalities, such as when Aibon faced the camera as a robot and did her head tilts, or towards the end when Takahashi was throwing balls at Mika's head before turning to the camera to flash a cheeky little smile before running off again. Just these little gestures and movements allowed us to really see and appreciate the genuine and carefree nature's of the girls, and that's because Mini Moni really didn't restrict these girls at all. The current groups that we see in Hello! Project today are pretty restricting, because the girls have to act a certain way and appeal to a certain dynamic. Mini Moni didn't have that, and I guess that's why they're still greatly loved even now by old and new H!P fans.

I know that I'm not really focusing on the PV itself throughout this group, but honestly, looking back at a PV that I used to watch quite a bit has really got me thinking about what made this group so great, and just how much the old H!P differs from today's H!P. We really don't get songs or PV's like this any more, and it's pretty sad to realise that, because Mini Moni were a fantastic group, and I don't think that any revival can rival just how wonderful Mini Moni used to be.

So, I will conclude this post and basically summarise what I can about the PV, because I know I won't talk about it any other way like I have been about the group itself already:

It's a great PV, and the group itself is great. You can tell that these girls just clicked, and you can clearly see that the girls are really enjoying themselves. The video is fast-paced, it uses a good amount of effects to keep everyone entertained, such as the girls continuously moving on what seems to be a conveyor belt in the background as their close ups zoom across the screen for our own enjoyment, and the idea behind the entire video is fun and creative, showing the mischievous side to the robots which keeps the audience entertained and glued to the screen. The song itself is extremely fun and catchy, with cute repetitive lyrics and easy words that anyone can sing along to. It's enjoyable to listen to, and I doubt it will ever get tiring, because it's an amazing song, and it doesn't get annoying or irritating. No matter what, I always find myself hooked on this song because of how amazing, catchy and fun it is. It's so different to how Hello! Project is now in my opinion, and I do honestly wish that Tsunku would bring back sub groups (new sub groups) or even Shuffle units, and give Hello! Project some more flavour, because I'm really missing these diverse, fun and universal songs which I'm sure everyone loves.

And that's what I think of Lucky Cha Cha Cha. What about you?

Are you feeling Lucky today?

This totally became the Mini Moni Appreciation Post, didn't it?

Chiima~

PING!!! Idolminded Recommended Reading: November 29th, 2012