We all thought we’d seen the last of the OG Love Live! idol group μ’s last 2016: we’d all cried our eyes out when the last notes of Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikari ended the movie and when they bowed their final bows during the μ’s Final Love Live! Concert in Tokyo Dome. Today, however, I am happy to burst all our misery bubbles: μ’s is coming back! WITH A NEW SONG!
Yes folks, you read that right: the official Twitter account of the Love Live! franchise has just announced that μ’s will be back with a new single AND a new animated PV! According to the tweet, this is to celebrate the group’s and the franchise’s ninth anniversary this year.
The group’s last single was the 2016 song MOMENT RING, which was released following the (tear-jerking, heart-wrenching) Love Live! The School Idol Movie released in the same year as well. MOMENT RING earned a Golden Disc certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) after it sold 113, 278 copies two weeks after its release.
Besides coming back with a new single, it will be remembered that it was earlier announced that μ’s will also be returning to the stage together with the other groups from the Love Live! franchise: Love Live! Sunshine!!’s Aqours and Saint Snow, and Love Live! School Idol Festival’s Nijigisaki Academy’s Idol Appreciation Club. The concert, dubbed Love Live! Fest will be held at the Saitama Super Arena on January 18 & 19, 2020.
This upcoming reunion of 2.5D idol group μ’s will mark the group’s first reunion after three years and nine months since their last concert, μ’s Final Love Live! held at the Tokyo Dome from March 31 to April 1, 2016. Since their last concert, members Nitta Emi (Kousaka Honoka), Uchida Aya (Kotori Minami), Mimori Suzuko (Sonoda Umi), Kubo Yurika (Koizumi Hanayo), Iida Riho (Hoshizora Rin), Pile (Nishikino Maki), Tokui Sora (Yazawa Nico), Kusuda Aina (Nozomi Tojo), and Yoshino Nanjo (Ayase Eli) have led relatively successful solo careers. Throughout the years, most of the members were noted to still grounded in their Love Live! roots, with some consistently posting commemorative tweets whenever it’s their Love Live character’s birthday or even when the anniversary of the Final Love Live comes around.
Love Live! is a multimedia project co-developed by ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki G’s Magazine, music label Lantis, and animation studio Sunrise. The project has encompassed several media including anime, manga, live concerts, and smartphone games. It was launched in 2010 with μ’s as its faces. The project was adapted into an anime series in 2013, with a second season following in 2014. The project and the group μ’s proved to be a massive commercial success, topping CD sales in Japan and selling out concerts in venues as big as Tokyo Dome. μ’s success paved the way for the franchise’s next generation of idols.
Source: Anime News Network