This time last week, while we were putting the final organizational touches on this year’s Best Of crop, two things occurred to me. The first was that this year, for various reasons, seemed to have the lowest high points out of the whole dang run of Homicidols Voting Things (probably because of all the soul-murdering graduations); the second was that Codomomental units were, on the whole, involved in the proceedings but without the same degree of they-could-win-so-much-hardware-you-guys as in past year. And on that second point, yeah, I get it, there’s actually been a good amount of turmoil in my favorite company for the last however long, and it’s unfortunately sort of stifled their mental and emotional presence for folks outside of Japan. I think so, anyway, but I’m also not as elbow-deep in the scene nowadays, so maybe I’m missing things.

Now, on Saturday, while I was taking a few minutes to just cruise around and check out things that I might want to pick up later in the week, I ran head-long into a preview clip for this MV. I didn’t read the tweet, and I didn’t play the clip with audio on, but I remembered that what has turned out to be one of the greatest chika loudol groups of all, Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da, did indeed have an album on the way, and that album was going to be a special one, and you know, I got excited. And I took that tweet and I slapped it into a draft post and I was going to publish for Monday a piece on how excited I was about this album and you should be too.

And then I didn’t do it because that’s reality these days. But I actually remembered to come back to it, and my girl Yotsu was doing what idols do and re-sharing the thing that had already been shared and then it all came together for me, the power and the glory amen:

It’s funny, if you’d told me that Zenkimi were releasing not just a bunch of re-recordings (which they’ve been doing since the very beginning basically) but doing it with some of their best material, I’d still have scoffed at the notion that this was one of those songs. “But–” you begin to retort and I make that “please good friend, shut your pie hole” hand gesture and we lock eyes and patiently wait for that understanding moment that yes, it’s fine to go ahead: The simple calculus is, why not just mix things up with what’s to this day arguably your best song? And certainly the one that Maniac loves more than any other? But then re-do its iconic video?

“But–” you do it again and this time I slap you a little bit. Have some damn patience! Listen. I get it though. I’m just saying, this is a song that I’d never even consider messing with in any way, rather freezing it in time and space like the artifact of perfect marriage between idolcore, unit and visual show that could then, can be now and ever could again be conceived; and then the finished product comes and yes, this is fine and good.

Yeah. Should’ve let me finish.

Anyway, the album’s out next week. You are permitted to buy it for me as a birthday present, or maybe even an early birthday present in honor of baby Jesus or something.