A ‘Hi Hi’ from Puffy AmiYumi

Most of the times Japanese pop-punk duo Puffy AmiYumi has played in Los Angeles, it was in small clubs in front of audiences consisting largely of bohemian hipsters and “J-pop” cultists.

Those same fans will likely be there when the act appears at the Wiltern LG on April 29, but they’ll have to share the space with a bunch of screaming preteens.

Since the last time Puffy AmiYumi played here, the act has transformed from cult stars to cartoon stars thanks to “Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi,” an animated series that’s been growing in popularity since premiering on the cable Cartoon Network in the fall. And it’s given them a whole new fan base.

“We have always gotten great letters from kids in Japan,” says Ami Onuki, half of the duo, noting that the group has long been a popular multimedia presence in its home country. “But lately we receive from other countries like the U.S., Latin America and Europe. We love it.”

Sam Register, the Cartoon Network head of development and creator of the “Hi Hi” show, says his target audience is children 6 to 11, especially girls. But he’s balanced the approach to also appeal to older fans, and the show has often been paired in time slots with the popular “PowerPuff Girls,” which also draws children and adults.

But it’s the new, young fan base that will tell the tale on the tour, which includes the Wiltern show.

“The awareness of them in America now is larger, with probably a much younger audience,” he says. “The question is how many kids who watch the show understand they’re a real band. It’s kind of like the Monkees. I watched all the repeats growing up, and I remember one episode when they showed them actually onstage -- ‘Oh! They’re a real band?’ ”

The difference is that the Monkees was assembled specifically for a TV show. And recent phenoms with the preteen set, such as Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan, also found their first fans via TV exposure before becoming music stars. Puffy AmiYumi had been an established act for nearly a decade before being transformed into animated characters, and the members hope they can please all fans.

“Maybe there will be more kids and young people, but we look forward to seeing our fans that have been supporting us from even before the cartoon show,” Onuki says.

“Basically, we do our [same] show no matter where we play,” adds Onuki’s Puffy partner, Yumi Yoshimura. “We want people to see Puffy AmiYumi as is.”

An existing act turned into a cartoon is not in itself unprecedented: the Beatles and the Jackson 5 inspired animated series. But in both cases, the Fab Four and the Jackson brothers were major pop forces before the cartoons aired.

Puffy AmiYumi is also moving into uncharted territory in terms of a Japanese act. From Pink Lady (featured on a variety show in the ‘70s) to Shonen Knife (endorsed by such alt-rock elite as Sonic Youth), no Japanese act has broken into the U.S. pop mainstream since Kyu Sakamoto’s one and only hit, the 1963 No. 1 single “Sukiyaki.”

Even with the cartoon show, album sales here have been slow -- the “Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: Music From the Series” CD, released in November, has sold just 11,000 copies. But with the show just renewed for second and third seasons, plans are being made for a major merchandise marketing campaign this summer.

“You don’t get any tighter direct marketing than advertising on the show they star in,” says Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of concert business publication Pollstar. “Given the fact that the ratings are good, you have to believe there’s a significant audience out there, and those young kids persuade their parents to spend money.”

Small faces

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