#minihams

May 28th, Happy Birthday Merica-chan!

It’s another member of the Minihams birthday and therefore another member of the original Mini Moni’s birthday as well. Let’s give it up for Merica-chan and her human counterpart, Mika Todd!

Merica-chan, is a member of the Minihams (Minihamuzu in Japanese), and is described as the tomboy/cool member. She appears to be more relaxed and cool with the situation than the other Minihams.

Merica-chan’s name is based off the word and country of America. Her voice actress is Mika Todd is from Hawaii so she’s essentially representing her home country. 

The Minihams have different outfits on the first and second movie than they do in the third one, but they always share the same patterns. However, Merica-chan is an exception to this rule in which she wears different clothes than the other members. Mari Yaguchi (or Gu-chan in Hamtaro), the first leader of the group, said that this is because Mika is at the height limit for the group of 150cm while everyone else was smaller.

Merica-chan was first introduced in Hamtaro's first movie when she performs live at Ham-Ham Land with her group. In this very shot we can tell how cool she acts.

Merica-chan also seems to be the only member of the group with floppy ears, unusual in most hamsters designs. No other hamster exhibits this trait so this must be a designer decision to make her look more unique, possibly because she’s a foreigner. 

Relationships

Merica-chan does not appear to have any known relationships or love interests.

Episodes

Movie 1 – Ham-Ham Land: Big Adventure

Along with her group mates, she is performing a live concert on Ham-Ham Land’s theater, and introduce herself. Later, she is shown in the night parade cheering on for Hamtaro!

Movie 2 - Hamtaro: The Captive Princess

The Minihams are visiting Hamujya Kingdom and perform a small concert before Sabakunya interrupts everyone’s joy. They’re friends with the King of the land and take shelter with him.

Movie 3 - Ham-Ham Grand Prix: The Miracle of Aurora Village

The Minihams show up one more time to perform their newest song Mirakururun Grand Purin! before and after Hamtaro takes place in the Grand Prix to rescue Bijou.