Yesterday Koharu officially graduated from H!P on the last day of MM's NINE SMILE tour. Koha's graduation means the end of Morning Musume's most stable lineup (2 years, 8 months).

Over 2,000 fans were in attendence at Tokyo Kousei Nenkin Kaikan as Koha left. They wore red and brought red penlights. Koha's final song was "Furusato", the song she sang on Hello! Morning (Miss that show) when she first joined MM in 2005. Then the group sang "Love Machine" and "Songs" to close out the show.

I'm glad that Koha actually got a graduation ceremony. I was expecting her to get roses and that's it. But her ceremony was decent and well deserved for MM's most genki member.

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I used to think that Koharu was really, really annoying and that her singing voice was horrible. I still sort agree to that 2nd one XD. But I've grown to like Koha. I'll miss you, my hyper friend!

I will now leave you with Koha's final quote.

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"THANK YOU EVERYONE! I TRULY THANK YOU ALL!"

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Since there has been so many post-worthy topics recently, I'll avoid making several posts and just squeeze my witty comments into one post.

Nakajima Saki to release her first PB, "NACKY"

Finally, a PB from Nakki! I thought she would be like Ume and go her whole career without a PB. I wonder what it would look like. If it's anything like the recent C-ute Alo Hello PB, I expect pictures of Nakki having fun and looking good (I hope there are plenty of bikini shots)

Tanaka Reina wishes for growth in that special area

During a recent appearance in her hometown, Fukuoka, Reina was talking about what she wanted for her 20th birthday. She said that she wanted to grow. She didn't say where but it's assumed she was talking about..that place. Good luck with that, Reina.

Kago Ai's in NYC

Aibon, welcome to America. She's here as a spokesperson for the cummunications company KDDI but she's also visiting fans and doing a press conference. Man, this is one of those times I wish I lived in New York. But I'm happy where I am XD.

That's all the news I can round up this time. I'm planning on writing something on the 1st gen Momusu...or maybe 5th gen. I love them both.

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While I was thinking of something to write about, I got to thinking about all the comings and goings of 2009 (More going out of H!P than coming into H!P) and how these events might affect H!P.

I decided to look take a look into the future (I'm a part-time psychic) I will now report my findings to you. So here they are, my predictions.

Morning Musume

- Koha graduates and MM leaves the spot empty for about 2-5 months

- MM holds an audition for the first time in years adding 2-4 new members (at least 2 of them from the Kanto region)

- The chances of Ai or Risa graduating rise, Reina is tapped to fill the sub leader position if either of them graduate

- There will be at least 3 tabloid stories claiming things from public drunkeness to boyfriends; those claims are never confirmed

C-ute

- Record sales will go up slightly

- C-ute will head to Hawaii again to do a Alo-Hello! PB and DVD; sales of the PB will be high

- Saki or Mai will have more presence in songs

- Devoted fans will follow Erika's modelling career

Berryz Koubou

- Captain will finally release a photobook, making her the last Berryz member to release a PB

- Risako will release 1 or 2 PBs; stores will quickly sell out

- There will be a tabloid story about Miyabi, Maasa, or Risako; blurry pics will be published

- No one will graduate

There you go! All that predicting made me a bit tired...

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Yes the last day of C-ute's fall tour has come and passed and Ume has finally graduated. My all time favorite member is leaving with a nice ceremony but I'll talk about that in a bit.

You're probably saying "Slasha, why didn't you post the day of her graduation?" Well, I wanted to get all the information before I made a post so I could tell you guys what happened.

Now let me tell you what happened. C-ute did their show as normal. When it came time for Erika to graduate, the other members said nice things about her. That was it. No expensive special effects. No bouquet of flowers. No singing to the guest of honor. Nothing.

I'm a little displeased with the graduation and apparently so are the fans who were there. Maybe UFA didn't want to spend a lot of money. Maybe Ume did want a ceremony. Whatever the reason, I'm glad she actually graduated and didn't just leave. Good luck with modelling, Ume!

Now for family pictures.

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And so ends an era...

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Wow that was a big absence, huh? I haven't posted since last month. Sorry everybody. Laziness and writer's block got the best of me. But I'm back and ready to tell you about the new MM PV for Kimagure Princess which means "Moody Princess".

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Thanks to H!O for the cover!

I like the song. It's an obvious change from the recent MM singles. I can tell that H!P has been influenced by music from India. Also I think that MM must've recorded in a room full of helium. Their voices are squeaker than an early Berryz single.

Anyway about the video (which you can watch here btw) The outfits in this video are white robe/pants, black boots, and some members have cowboy hats (random but cool). The video itself takes place in a castle (Well it looks like the inside of a castle)

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This is the best PV outfit that I've seen in a while. It looks like an alternate costume from Tekken (They always make the crazy outfits alternatives)

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"Tell me your wish!" That's a SNSD reference btw (I don't listen to just H!P you know :D )

Most of the video involve MM dancing while in this pose. They actually managed to look good dancing like that IMO, good job.

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Stun Spore! (Pokemon reference :D ) When I first saw this scene, I couldn't stop laughing. Don't know why...

Every member gets their "Stun Spore" moment. I really liked Jun's part because she has her sexy face on.

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Kamei is definitely the MVP of this PV. She's on screen for about 80% of this video. Also, that cowboy hat looks good on her. I think she's getting sexier.

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Sexy ending pose time!

And that's the end. About the dancing, it's what I've come to expect from MM. I don't want to see fancy new moves. I like the old, classic dance moves and MM delivers.

I give this PV a well deserved A+.

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Well I'm coming back from this absence to tell you that Koha is graduating...from H!P, not just MM. She'll be graduating in December after the final concert of MM's Fall tour (December 6th). I haven't been able to get a clear reason why but it's either because: 1. She wants to be a model (Apparently she's been talking to Ume), 2. She wants to go solo (She already had a semi-solo career during the "Kirari" days.), or 3. Both. Well, I'm sure our buddy Tsunku can help us find the reason.

Regarding 7th Generation Morning Musume Member "Kusumi Koharu"

At the final performance of of the "Morning Musume Concert Tour 2009 Autumn ~ Nine Smile ~" (Dec 6), 7th generation Morning Musume member Kusumi Koharu will be graduating from Morning Musume, and from Hello!Project. During the 4 years and 4 months she was in Morning Musume, she has learnt the basics as a singer and a talent. And next year, she will turn 18. She's come to learn the base of what it takes to work in a group. And at the same time, she's been working as "Tsukishima Kirari". Based on seeing all of her work so far, as a producer, I felt I wanted to let her have a solo career, so decided to have her graduate. Having said that, she won't be making a singing debut or any other kind of debut right away, and some of the plans are still a bit rough, but Kusumi will continue to work hard for now, while privately taking various lessons. Her own hope is to be a model, so I think she'll be aiming towards a new direction, and taking new steps. So everybody who has supported her so far, please continue to give your support to Kusumi Koharu, and to Morning Musume. Thank you very much!

2009-9-19
Morning Musume Producer
Tsunku ♂

Hat tip to Hello! Online for the translation

2009 is not a good year for H!P. How many people have graduated/are graduating this year? Why do I have the strange feeling that H!P will have only 10 members by next summer? I really hope that feeling doesn't come true.

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I just happening to be doing some web surfing this morning and stumbled upon this news over at Tokyograph:

On Friday, the Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of singer Miki Fujimoto (24) and her older brother, who had filed a defamation lawsuit against Shukan Shincho publisher Shinchosha.

Let explain this story. Apparently back in November of 2007, Shukan Shincho magazine ran a headline about Miki extorting money from her ex-boyfriend (Wait! She has an ex-boyfriend? I thought husband Shouji was the first boyfriend.) The article also said something about her brother forcing the boyfriend to pay "20 to 30 million yen" (Which I must say is a lot of money.)

Well Miki's lawyer stated that there was no evidence to support that article and that this article was a complete lie. Luckily, for all you Miki-sama fans out there, the judge ruled in favor of the Fujimoto family. Now Shukan Shincho has to pay 4 million yen in damages and I think they have publish an apology.

Now that that's over, here's a epic picture of Miki singing at some event.

This is the Miki we all love!

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Wow! I haven't posted in about 3 weeks! I got a good reason: I couldn't think of anything to write about. Also, school's started here and that cuts down on my internet surfing (Although I have a journalism class with Internet-enabled computers. I should update from there one day.

Anyway, back to Sayaka. For those of you not up on your Momusu history, here's Sayaka's story.

She joined MM back in 1998 as a 2nd generation member with Mari and Kei and was a part of Petitmoni. She graduated MM in 2000 and went solo, soon forming Cubic-Cross with Taisei of Sharam-Q and Yoshizawa Naoki. Then she married Yoshizawa and retired from show business the following year. She had her first child in 2004.

This past February, she joined a new agency and began working on her comeback and on August 24th publicly announced her return. Now she plans to work toward being an actress.

Looking at her new profile, she seems to have done a lot in that 5 year period. She's gotten a driver's license, learned Hawaiian lomilomi massage, and has become a aromatherapy advisor.

She's also opened a blog here. Also check out some of her new pics, she's still pretty hot. 

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I wish her luck in her return and I hope she becomes an award-winning actress...and maybe comes back to singing.

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What? You've never heard of SI☆NA? That's probably because you're more used to the name, Hello! Project Kansai. They were 4 girls from the Kansai region who promoted H!P in the Osaka/Kyoto/Nara area. Well now it's 3 girls. My personal favorite, Nakayama Nana graduated from the group on July 25th to "concentrate on school" So now SI☆NA looks like this.

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I don't sense any scandal with this graduation. Apparently she announced this graduation weeks in advance and due to lack of coverage, I didn't know until a few days before the graduation (Also I know I'm late posting this but Ume graduating and other issues kind of messed up my plans for this article) But I'll miss you, Nana. Despite not having the fanbase of your brother (Nakayama Yuma), you were always one of my personal favorites. I wish you luck at school and hope you come back to show business someday.

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Yes it's true. Ume announced that she would be leaving C-ute on October 25th, the last day of C-ute's current tour. She says that she wants to become a model and is graduating to further her studies in this area.

http://www.hello-online.org/index.php?act=helloonline&CODE=article&topic=898 (H!O article)

http://www.helloproject.com/news/0908012000_cute.html (H!P article)

Although Ume, who's my all-time favorite H!P member, is graduating, I'm not that sad. This is probably because I've known for a long time that everyone in H!P will graduate someday. Plus, she's following her dream of being a model, which is something I think she can accomplish. She has the right figure to be a model (In My Biased Opinion) and she has the look of a model (also IMBO). If the modeling thing doesn't work, she always has singing to go back to. I'm also glad that someone in C-ute gets a graduation ceremony (Megu and Kanna never got one. The only H!P Kid who actually graduated was Maiha from Berryz back in 2005)

Now for the question of "What's gonna happen to C-ute now that two members are leaving?) Most people will tell you that Kanna and Erika never had that many lines and never had much presence. What they lacked in solos they made up for in harmony. WIthout those two, I feel that the remaining members will have to rely on Maimi and Airi's solo lines rather than the whole group singing.

Although the one member who I love more than everyone else is graduating, I will following C-ute to see how they progress with this big loss.

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