Good-Bye to the Duu

I confess I have had this sitting for the past couple of days in a window, not really wanting to write this. The rational me knowing that I am being silly and waiting longer makes no sense. But this graduation is one of the hardest for me yet.

Haruka Kudo was one of my favorite members of Morning Musume so this graduation hit harder than the others. She was a member that stood out to me early on when I was learning about the group and remained in my top tier of girls from the group that I liked. Her personality and look really added something to the group and while it took years for her to get a decent push in the group when she had it she shined. 

I also loved her voice, both speaking and singing. She may not have had the strongest vocals in the group but I loved her tone and will miss hearing it with new songs. At least even though she did not get a solo song for her graduation there are other songs in MM's discography I can hear her well in.

There is no way to truly express how much I will miss seeing her with the group. It felt like she was just getting started with being pushed to the front and being a more visible part of the group. But at least I could enjoy that push while it lasted as sadly not all members of the group get that before they leave.

I do wish her success in acting. A part of it is selfish as if she does well with this career path than it will not be difficult to keep tabs on her and continue following her journey. But it is also mixed with the greater desire to simply want her to succeed in whatever she does next, which I hold for all who graduate or leave from idol groups. With how quickly she was moved to Up-Front's website for their non-Hello! Project talents, like days before her graduation concert, and the fact that she has already mentioned there is already work lined up for her I really do not have to worry. She is set to follow her new path and it is one that fans can still follow along with her. 

In the end MM will continue with its ever changing nature of members joining and leaving and I will appreciate that because of this I got to be introduced to this shining star that I hope will capture hearts as easily as an actress as she did an idol.

Duu to graduate and break all the hearts

This past week has been a flurry of events for me and I was so happy to have a day to relax and catch up on things. And I was just in time to see the announcement of Kudo Haruka's graduation from Morning Musume '17. She will be leaving the group after the autumn concert tour of this year.

This one really breaks my heart as Duu is one of my favorite members of the group. I get her reasoning though as if she wants to focus on acting it would be easy to worry about not really giving her all with the other aspects of being an idol. So I agree that if that is what she has set her heart on than it is probably the best way to go, especially if she has such worries.

That all said it does not lessen the heartbreak of hearing that she is leaving. Even though as a fan I am happy for her to be chasing her dreams I will still miss her as a member of Morning Musume. At least as an actor she should remain in the public eye so it will be easy to keep tabs on her as she continues her career in the entertainment industry, so there is a silver lining to hold on to. Momusu just is not going to be the same for me without being able to see her smiling face with the rest.