Haromoni was the sequel to the long-running Japanese variety showHello! Morning, which first aired on April 8, 2007, on TV Tokyo and later throughout the country. The show was recorded in HD and starred Morning Musume members. Each member represented different animals living under the young and mildly despotic ruler of the fictional Kingdom of Haromoni, King Akachin, whose name derives from the Japanese word for "baby". The final episode aired on September 28, 2008.
Concept
Haromoni marked a departure from its predecessor and related Hello! Project productions in that it was shot exclusively outdoors and was composed ofa series of connected segments. In the first ten episodes, the show followed the form of a relatively cohesive narrative, detailing the weekly accomplishment of a specific task. The tasks generally consisted of delivering a given piece of hardware used in commerce and industry on behalf of King Akachin. Thereafter, the show focused primarily on several distinct characters, including Lying Queen, Little King, Hit Jack and Child Gourmet Joker. Morning Musume members were usually split into two groups who then challenged other Japanese celebrities to compete in a series of one or more games for each character. In the episode 'Lying Queen', for example, four Musume members faced off against a celebrity artist in a game to determine which of them was lying about a given subject. At one point, a third group, consisting ofKoharu Kusumi and Aika Mitsui, visited Chinese restaurants and events related to China in order to learn more about Eighth Generation members Junjun and Linlin's home country. Other challenges included creating an exclusive character design for the Kirarin Revolutionanime series. Members were asked to draw the design for Tsukishima Kirari's pet cat Nā-san's antagonist. Sayumi Michishige's youma-inspired design was chosen from the submitted works.
Segments
From the January 27, 2008 episode until the April 27, 2008 episode, Haromoni@ had consisted of only a "MouTube" segment and occasionally a studio performance.
Lying Queen
Little King : This segment features a young child or young children who have special talents. The children show their talents and often challenge Morning Musume in the talent, with Morning Musume being required to complete much simpler tasks. The winner of the challenge is rewarded with a gourmet dessert.
Hit Jack
Child Gourmet Joker
Collab Musume
Equal Viking : Morning Musume members and several guests are seated around a circular table upon which certain dishes are placed. The girls and guests must each take a certain amount of food, until it is all gone. Each person's plate is then weighted to meet a certain quota. If the weight does not land within the required amount, the food is taken from them.
MouTube : This segment features videos from fans around the world that submitted their videos to Morning Musume. It also features Memory Battles, GakiKame Theater and the Morning Musume members portraying different roles doing different things. The list of portrayals and performances are as follows:
