Pour Lui’s been so busy this 2020 that she didn’t even have the time to show up for most of her own music video shoot, poor thing.

Notice something interesting? That’s right, this is actually a WACK release! While the announcement was overshadowed by the joint gut-punch of Kamiya Saki’s graduation and yet another audition camp, Pour Lui actually sort-of rejoined WACK for all of five minutes to release Minna no Pour Lui II and blag as many resources for her own idol group as possible.

And I must say, now that I’ve heard all of Minna no Pour Lui II (officially released today, but every song minus I’m in love was posted to Soundcloud beforehand), I think this is probably my favourite WACK release since maybe 2017. (Coincidentally, when Pour Lui was also still in WACK. Interesting.) 

Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but, speaking of nostalgia, I did see similarities to Pour Lui’s debut album, Minna no Pour Lui, not just in sound, but the events surrounding it too; only six months after the release of the first Minna no Pour Lui, Pour Lui formed BiS. And now Minna no Pour Lui II is out, and once again, Pour Lui is forming a new group. Was this familiarity intentional? Are we going to see 40 year-old Puu fronting another all-new idol group following the release of Minna no Pour Lui III in ten years? 

Also, listening back to the first Brand-new idol Society album, there is a clear similarity in sound to the first Minna no Pour Lui, especially compared to later BiS releases. They even so much as share a track, as One Day from Minna no Pour Lui was re-recorded with BiS and included on Brand-new idol Society. Considering much of the SCRAMBLES team are also going to be involved, does this mean that Minna no Pour Lui II is going to represent what this new group will sound like? If so, I’m more excited than ever. So, what’s the latest update on that?

【2020年3月2日MV撮影中止のお知らせ】 – アイドル研究所(仮) https://t.co/YTri8Eetsr pic.twitter.com/JOnKBIF3IV

— プー・ルイ (@pour_lui) February 27, 2020

【NEWS】プー・ルイ(@pour_lui)がメンバーお披露目前に、新メンバー追加オーディションの開催を発表しました。https://t.co/aGmCOdbAad pic.twitter.com/FioPlvzS2r

— オトトイ (@ototoy_info) February 29, 2020

Someone’s already left, coronavirus ended their music video shoot and they’re already holding auditions again! Wow, even BiS’ cursed nature is being brought back!