This is an episode of Kaito Lenya which features the voice talents of Morning Musume member Reina Tanaka. What I love about this short is that they do a good job entertaining you even though the animation is low budget. By the way I realized looking at the animation that a few months ago on the DogaDoga7 Newtype YouTube channel that Noto Arisa mentioned this project (she’s pointing to the character that she does the voice over for):

I just came across this amazingly cute clip of Mari Yaguchi from a Japanese TV show appearance she did back in October: This video shows her adventures taking care of a baby lion! Yaguchi is a current member of the Hello! Project and was leader of Morning Musume back in 2005.

On doing some research I figured out they came from a mid 1960s series Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima (ひょっこりひょうたん島) which translates to something like “Unexpected Gourd Island” and the characters were puppets rather than animated. They have to be Japan’s most famous puppet TV show though of course the Muppets are seen all over and “Saku Saku” was trendy for a while.

I guess since they aren’t anime there is hardly anything in English actually about the series online.

I was able to find a DVD of recently made revival material, but except for the songs and 2D animated credits I can’t find the original material online. Although YouTube has some recently made parts of episodes:

Though seemingly most abundant of all is the Morning Musume 2003 cover version of the theme song:

There seems to be 2 versions. This one has some of the puppets and set design. Maybe it was made for an NHK appearance so the puppets could appear?  Then this one just has unexpected facial hair.

Nick Kent is a New York based artist who works with electronic media and is an occasional pop culture pundit.

What happens when you get two former Morning Musume (モーニング娘) members to go punk and gothlolita? I’d expect a merchandise bonanza for the boutique they represent.:

Here’s a cute looking official interview with Ishikawa Rika and Yoshizawa Hitomi in their punkie regalia:

By the way we’re half wondering if the band swiped their name from this new wave hit by Medium Medium in the 80s:

Nick Kent is a New York based artist who works with electronic media and is an occasional pop culture pundit.

This number is an oldie but a goldie: It’s the J-pop group Mini Moni (ミニモニ) performing their breakout song Minimoni Jankenpyon! (ミニモニ。ジャンケンぴょん!) from way back when in 2001. Mini Moni is a subgroup of the Morning Musume (モーニング娘) and was active until 2004 when the group disbanded.

What I love about comedian Ken Shimura (志村けん) is that you don’t have to understand Japanese for him to make you laugh. This little song was sung with the J-pop group Mini Moni (ミニモニ), a subgroup of Morning Musume (モーニング娘). My Japanese is rather lacking by he song has something to do with “eye-application gymnastics” according to my Google translation of the headline.