Meet Miss Monochrome. An android living in a posh castle with her assistant Mana, and vacuum/Robot Buddy Ru.
Monochrome wants to find a mysterious girl who she repeatedly dreams about. To do that, she decides to become an Idol. Making Mana her manager, she gives her 19.3 Billion Yen to make her an Idol.
And Mana instantly vanishes with the money. Monochrome loses her castle, and meets a convenience store manager named Maneo on the streets. Well, a manager is a manager. So Monochrome makes Maneo her idol manager, and gets a job at the store while trying to achieve famed idol status.
Miss Monochrome is the invention of VA Yui Horie, designed as a virtual character to sing at her concerts. After becoming a popular merchandising mascot, she received a 13 episode, 4 minute episode anime in Fall 2013. A second season, with the episode length increased to 9 minutes, was released in Summer 2015.
The first season has been dubbed into English (which is rare for an anime short series, especially one that hasn't been licensed for home video release) by Bang Zoom! Entertainment. Both dubbed and subtitled versions of the series are available on Crunchyroll
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Miss Monochrome provides examples of:
- Achievements in Ignorance: While trying to make a Nendoroid of herself in episode 4, Monochrome somehow makes a functioning Segway out of a block of obsidian.
- Alien Invasion: Attempted in episode 3 and stopped just as quick by Monochrome (Juiced up on a fancy battery and combining with Ru) blowing them to bits. It turns out those aliens were successful a few million years ago.
- Auto-Tune: Monochrome speaks with this type of filter.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Monochrome wanted her Nendoroid to be popular and popular it became. It's just that she didn't get any more popular herself.
- The Cameo:
- Fellow Sanzigen star Wooser makes frequent background cameos. Peeking out from behind a sign in episode four, as a Cosplay thought bubble in episode 5, getting run over by Monochrome in episode 8 and as the goalie in the "Supporter" OVA.
- Sylvester Stallone, Mike Tyson and Hulk Hogan in episode 10.
- Miss Monochrome herself makes a brief walk-through cameo in episode 11 of Golden Time. Horie voices the show's lead character.
- The Comically Serious: Monochrome.
- Cute Machines: Monochrome just exudes adorable. With her cute auto-tune voice and general cluelessness about society.
- Don't Try This at Home: Monochrome gives this warning before inserting a battery the wrong way around, then comments that being told not to do something just makes people want to do it more.
- Drives Like Crazy: Season 2 introduces Yayoi, a klutzy location booker that just so happens to become this behind the wheel. This is Lampshaded in episode 3.
- Exact Words: Monochrome mentions in episode 5 that she wants to be "An idol people scream for." Thanks to it being Halloween, they scream all right but it's in fear of her in a giant Oni mask.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Despite succeeding in things others can only dream of, such as climbing the highest mountain on Mars, and becoming an Olympic gold medalist, Monochrome constantly fails in her goal of becoming a famous idol.
- The Fog of Ages: Even Monochrome isn't immune to it. As her memories of the part human race have faded away over the millions of years she's existed.
- Karma Houdini: Mana never faces any repercussions for running off with Monochrome's money.
- Literal-Minded: While trying to "achieve greater heights" in episode 8, Monochrome goes mountain climbing on Mars.
- Nice Guy: Maneo. He never hesitates to go out of his way to make Monochrome more popular.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Mana looks and acts cute, but has red eyes, foreshadowing how she betrays Monochrome by stealing all her money.
- Rei Ayanami Expy: Monochrome is a white-haired, blue-eyed android. She's pretty emotionless and so socially inept that her servant easily tricks her into giving her all her fortune and she can't tell the difference between a store manager and an idol manager.
- Shout-Out:
- While trying to find a good prop for Monochrome in episode 7, Maneo mentions a famous idol who held a leek.
- In season 2, an entire episode parodies Initial Dnote . With Monochrome's car being that of the AE86 and with the appearance of an RX7 (albeit in purple) to boot.
- Time Abyss: Monochrome is several million years old; existing since the previous human race was wiped out by aliens.
- Ungrateful Bitch: Mana vanishes with 19.3 Billion Yen after Monochrome rescued her from under a bridge.
- Serial Escalation: In episode 10, Monochrome wants to have a hand shaking event. This leads her from shaking hands with customers, to a champion arm wrestler, champion boxer, champion pro wrestler, and gold medal Olympian.
- Wham Episode: Episode 9. Monochrome is several million years old, this is the second human race, and Kikuko is the reincarnation of her previous idol rival.
- Wistful Amnesia: Monochrome promised several million years ago to compete with her idol rival when she was reincarnated. Over the eons, her memory faded but her desire to be an idol remained.
- Writing Around Trademarks: Ru is obviously a Roomba, but it's censored when mentioned.
