Kudo Haruka Appreciation Week ♡ Two Singles

(Second of the backed up entries that I've written before. I'm so late on this /ugly sobbing; )

Welcome back to Kudo Haruka Appreciation Week, in which I dedicated an entire week to talking about Kudo Haruka while also trying to hold myself back from crying. /whacked; Yesterday, I talked about the one song that really made me notice Haruka years ago. Today, I'll be talking about two singles. These will be two singles* in which I personally felt that Haruka really shined – two singles that really screamed out 'Kudo Haruka!'

*Note: I'll be talking about the main A-sides, and not the overall single.

Here is day two, in which I'll be talking about two singles today.
And those two singles are going to be– /drum roll;

TRACK ONE ► OH MY WISH!

I feel like this is quite self-explanatory. Oh my wish! was one of the two songs that she centered for throughout her tenure within Morning Musume. While it is personally not my most favorite track out there, the fact that it just simply exist makes me quite happy. Up until that point, Duu never really was center for anything. Sure, she was one of the more popular of the groups. However, she was still constantly overshadowed by even more popular members such as Riho, Reina, Sakura, Mizuki. She was pushed to the back and when the 12th generation debuted, she was pushed slightly to the side further. When I heard that this song would have Duu and Kanon center, I thought that I read the news wrong or that everything was just a dream.

Look, those two deserve to be main vocalists and centers alright? So the fact that this track exists, I'm so happy. And we all know that those two absolutely slayed the song. We all know Kanon did great, but since this is Duu Appreciation Week- I'm gonna mostly talk about her. Again, Duu fxcking slayed that song. Her vocals were on points, she looked absolutely gorgeous okay? I mean sure, there's Riho and Mizuki with their dancing but I don't really much about them. Haruka was the star of this song, okay? And I sincerely wished that there was many more tracks that had her as center.

Look at her, absolutely gorgeous. What I also really liked about the song was that Haruka (and Kanon) had a lot of publicity around them. They performed on Music Station and there were comments that were along the lines of 'Who is that super pretty short-hair center???' and the like. And I remember just feeling so proud and I was screaming out 'That's Kudo Haruka! That's my bias!' and everything.

Overall, while the song may not be my most favorite track out there, I'm just so happy that this even existed alright? Haruka was center, she had a good amount of solo lines. Aside from Sexy Cat no Enzetsu or maybe Wakaindashi!, there aren't many other songs in which Haruka was the clearly center or star. I sincerely hope that maybe that could perform the song one last time at her graduation concert. This is Haruka's song alright? Give her Kanon's lines just this one and let her be the true center she deserves to be just one last time. It doesn't hurt to hope ;;

TRACK TWO ► DREAM LAST TRAIN

Ha ha! Unexpected, right? You thought that I was going to say something like Sexy Cat no Enzetsu or Miss Henkan! right? You were wrong, lol. I believe that the second single that just screams 'Kudo Haruka' would be her sub-unit song with Chisato and Sayuki. Okay, I'll admit that when the triple A-side was released.. it wasn't technically my favorite song. ODATOMO's was actually my favorite; however, tat doesn't mean that the song was bad nonetheless. During that moment in time, Haruka didn't necessary have a lot of the spotlight when it come to her own group's singles. So the fact that there was so much exposure for her in this single- it personally made me, a Duu stan, very happy.

Yes, the music video was very simple - you can argue that it was cheap because it was mostly the girls standing around. It's not my most favorite music video out there but goddamn, Haruka still looked stunning as always even when wearing mainly casual clothes. And up until that point, this was probably the most solo lines she had. You can fight me on this if you want but I think Duu was the star overall of this single. Also, what I also like about the song was that when looking at the translated lyrics - the song is very energetic and motivating as it's about getting the courage to chase your dreams and be yourself. It's a very meaningful song in my opinion.

Again, it's not my most favorite track out there but it's not a bad song in any way. If anything, I would really hope that she would be able to perform this song one last time at her graduation concert as a solo song. I feel like it would be a really good farewell sort of song because she's graduating in order to pursue this new dream/passion for acting. And as said before, the song is mainly about chasing your dreams and being yourself. A lot of farewell songs are known to still feel really sad no matter how cheerful the performance can be (ex. Namidacchi). So I feel like this would be a more positive feeling farewell song for Haruka. Plus, this was her first sub-unit song.