“She’s a genki girl, in a genki world… living life spastic, she’s cracktastic!”

So, the Miracle Girl is graduating tonight. Kusumi Koharu will no longer be a member of Morning Musume. Yet, she won’t get to join that special group of the OG MMs. She is truly the first to be cast adrift on her own. Way before her time, it may seem, but let’s look at this a bit more closely.

Koharu was supposed to be the Miracle member to ignite Momusu again. She was almost immediately made a soloist as well. Her solo career outdid what Momusu was doing, really. So, Tsunku is looking back and realizing that maybe with Kirarin Revolution ended, he needs to bring her back as a soloist again, though maybe as a variety idol like Yaguchi who is doing very well these days. We haven’t really seen Koharu do much else other than dance and sing, but I think we should assume that the girl can act because you can’t keep up cute and cracktastic like she has without at least some of it being a very believeable act.

I think Tsunku also seems to have some intention of turning Momusu back toward being a female vocal group rather than an idol group. I say this merely because there’s a certain quality of voice that is coming out of the more recent singles with more harmonies interwoven in everything. Many of the members of the current Musume are actually talented singers, but I wouldn’t really count Koharu as one of them. But, it’s not that she can’t sing. It’s that her personality is easily able to outshine what talent she does have. She’s the last remaining BIG PERSONALITY of Momusu. Sayu is close, but Sayu also keeps it reigned in most of the time to help support the cause of cute. Koharu will be able to carry off whatever she goes to do because she can sell well on her own. Her most recent Hello! Store sales are on a level that no single member has reached since 2006.

I think we should assume that with this final break in the been-together-the-longest Musume, there are going to be some changes coming. More girls may leave before the end of 2010. More girls may finally arrive. UFA is hiding their hand at the moment, and I think this is a big bet to see whether they should fold.

Looking at things logically, there will eventually be a time to dissolve Morning Musume. But is that time now? No. Not at all. With other idol groups doing quite well lately, there’s just beginning to not be the room for Momusu in the place they’ve been holding in history, so maybe they should step up and get back to their roots.

But, back to Koharu. She’s a beautiful girl, and one of the things she’ll be doing is modeling. She certainly has the look for it, and for Japan I think her height will not be as large a barrier as it would be elsewhere. I think her focus wouldn’t really be on runway work, though. Not when she looks so stunning in print. I think I’ll just end this with some good ol’ picspam and best wishes fod Koharu in whatever she ends up doing.

I expect to see a lot more of you soon, Koharu. I’ll miss your presence in Momusu and your solo singles and the crack running through your veins… not to mention your hot pants.