Throwback Thursday: Kusumi Koharu - Happy Happy Sunday

    For this week's Throwback Thursday post, we travel back a few years and visit one of my favorite idols of all time, Kusumi Koharu. Who was a member of Morning Musume (as its sole seventh generation member), a member of the trio MilkyWay and a soloist.
    The song I chose here is her final solo single, "Happy Happy Sunday", which she released under the name "Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu". It was the eigth, and final, opening theme for the anime "Kirarin Revolution", a show where Kusumi voiced the title character. The song is indicative of her solo work at the time. While Morning Musume was focused on mature sounding songs like "Naichau Kamo" and "Shouganai Yume Oibito", Kusumi's solo work was a mix of  up-beat pop and cutesy lyrics that were playful, but not annoyingly so. While her sound was carefree and fun, it still fit in well with the Hello! Project style that was heavily dominated by the Tsunku-written songs. The video for Happy Happy Sunday is also one of the most colorful ones to come from this era of Hello! Project. Slightly reminiscent of Aya Matsuura's "Ne~e" the song and video chronicles Kusumi's tough decisions regarding her impending first date. If you have not heard this song before, now's the time to check it out!
    Kusumi Koharu had an interesting, if short, career as an idol. She joined Morning Musume on May 1, 2005 as Morning Musume's sole seventh generation member. She debuted musically on the single "Iroppoi Jirretai", but she really hit her stride when she was chosen to star in the anime "Kirarin Revolution" in 2006. The show was extremely popular and ran for three years and would make Kusumi one of the most popular members of Hello! Project as well as net her a host spot on the show "Oha Star". Kirarin Revolution would also see video game adaptations and even make its way to France and Europe where it would be known simply as "Kilari". Besides the voice work, Kusumi also provided the opening, closing and insert themes for the show starting with 2006's "Koi Kana", which was also her first solo single. While a lot of her work on the show was solo, she was also part of two groups that provided music for Kirarin Revolution. The first of which was "Kira Pika" which was a duo with C-ute's Chisato Mai. The other was the longer lasting "MilkyWay" which was a trio that also included Kikkawa You and Kitahara Sayaka, both of who have since moved onto solo careers of their own. At the top of her stardom, she graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project on December 6, 2009 in order to begin a career as a model. Not completely done with the idol scene, in 2010 she joined the group "Dream Morning Musume" which was made up of past members of Morning Musume. More recently, she left the show Oha Star in 2014, signed with a new modeling agency and has appeared in several television dramas.

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