I kid a great deal, of course; I’m just sore that the sudden flurry of excitement that broke out yesterday wasn’t because there was a new single or !gasp! album on the way, but because it’s not technically for anything new at all, and, as I put it:

Man, I hope so. I miss PassCode.

— Homicidol Maniac (@homicidols) January 7, 2018

But that whole flurry was, as speculated, a re-issue. And not just any re-issue, but a re-recording of the ALL is VANITY and VIRTUAL albums, the big releases from the pre-Universal days. (Via)

Which is to be expected! I’m not in any way comparing this to Babymetal’s incredible, ongoing quest to squeeze financial blood from the stone of their fans without, you know, making any music for two years; I’m just saying, this is a thing that idol groups in particular do, and PassCode is doing it, and … hey, it might even be a sign of good things to come! Like if Yuna is fully well soon, etc.

It could also be a terrible indicator that their break-up is impending and now the company just wants to get every available yen out of their investment while they can! Boo!

That’s unlikely. The ZENITH tour has been an absolute smash, and PassCode was on a very nice trajectory until very recently; they can get it back. It’s coming at the expense of a genuinely great indie background, though, which is the only thing about this that I genuinely don’t like, this erasure of Yu-ri from the history books like a problematic string of stew beef from one’s teeth.

ALL is VANITY PassCode is my favorite PassCode, after all; even while becoming repetitive, PassCode’s releases could always be counted on to be good at the very least, but that first shot out of the cannon had such a weird joyfulness to it, as if everybody involved knew that they were doing something strange and beautiful, so they embraced the incoherence and ran with it. Just look at the MVs from that era, or even up through the current lineup and “NINJA BOMBER” (for instance) — PassCode’s at their best when they’re goofy, with nothing to lose and a world to gain, and these re-releases will spackle over that part of their past. Will it be smoother? Undoubtedly. Will it be better? I dunno. “MISS UNLIMITED” is still one of my favorite releases of the past couple of years, but that’s the product of a much more mature project than something as earnestly cheesy as “Let the revelry begin”.

Also, please announce something new soon, too, PassCode, and announce a full Eurasiamerifrican tour to promote it, even if it’s a single. I miss feeling irrationally excited about your music.