9 Smile Setlist Rocks my Socks (Bikkuri Project)
NO! ANYTHING BUT THIS!! (GuruGuruBlog)
Koharu leaves Hello! Project (Wotakular)
Kusumi Koharu to Graduate from Hello! Project (yonasu.com)
They Were a Very Good Four-and-a-half Years, or You Won’t Have Kusumi Koharu to Kick Around Anymore (The Groove Music Life)

I am getting a severe “deja vu” feeling right now.  Did someone say Elder Club?  Obviously when a major graduation happens in Hello! Project there is going to be many different reactions and feelings.  And this one is major!  The Miracle Girl! Love her or hate her, she left a major impression on just about everyone…

By the way, I almost forgot this happened at the debut of MoMusu’s 9 Smile Concert Tour.  And many people were following the setlist over at Hello! Online, including Celestia.  So if you want to see what songs are being sung on the current tour, here ya go!  It is a great set of songs.  I can’t wait to see this show in November.  Needless to say, Celestia was surprised by the announcement.

BTW, I am not going to call anyone to task for declaring Koha their favorite member.  I know a lot of people really liked her, unlike other graduations where fans seem to fall into the “dead rockstar” syndrome.  And KtoE is not too intrigued by Koha’s “modeling” choice.  For KtoE, this is even sadder than the graduation of v-u-den!

Brian puts aside his dislike of Koharu to acknowledge her striking beauty and perfect fit for modeling.  He is also reminded of some of the Hello! Project songs that she will be glaringly missing from.  GuruGuru Jump comes to mind for him.  For me it is Milky Way, which was my favorite of her side prejects.

Yonasu considers this to be a good idea for Koharu and Morning Musume.  He cites her singing skills, and H!P’s waning popularity as major factors.  He also gives her credit for pursuing her “dream job”

My buddy Ceej rounds out the first set of opinion posts with his Woody Allen-esque post title.  While he is somewhat sad that this will end the longest set lineup in the history of MoMusu, CJ personally feels that there has never been a graduation that negatively impacted the group overall.  He also sees this as an opportunity for the group to distance themselves a bit from the anime tie-in, and he wonders which direction Tsunku will go regarding the 9th Gen.

Much more to come…