22/7 (Japanese: ナナブンノニジュウニ, Hepburn: Nanabun no Nijūni) is a Japanese anime television series created as part of the multimedia project between Yasushi Akimoto, Aniplex, and Sony Music Records. The series features the idol girl group of the same name as their characters.
A short series on the official YouTube channel of the group, titled The Diary of Our Days, was animated by CloverWorks and aired on March 28, 2018. A TV series is animated by A-1 Pictures and premiered from January 11 to March 28, 2020. A preview for episodes 1 and 2 was scheduled for a special screening on January 4, 2020, also featuring the cast.
In December 2019, a mobile musical rhythm game developed by h.a.n.d. with ForwardWorks and published by Aniplex was announced.
Contents
Synopsis
The story focuses on eight girls who are each sent a mysterious invitation from a talent agency called G.I. Productions. Upon assembling together, the girls are immediately told to form an idol group known as 22/7, following orders printed out by a mysterious entity known only as "The Wall".
Characters
Other characters
Aoi Gōda (合田 蒼, Gōda Aoi)
Voiced by: Kenta Miyake
A manager at G.I. Productions.
The Wall (壁, Kabe)
Voiced by: Ryūsei Nakao
A mysterious wall that prints out directives that 22/7 must follow. Since The Wall's identity is unknown, the 22/7 members use a stuffed cat plushie to represent it.
Sayuki Takigawa (滝川 紗幸, Takigawa Sayuki)
Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa
Miu's mother.
Haru Takigawa (Takigawa Haru)
Voiced by: Kokoa Amano
Miu's little sister.
Media
Anime
An eight-episode original net animation called The Diary of Our Days was aired on March 28, 2018. The ONA was animated by CloverWorks and directed by Shin Wakabayashi.
An anime television series was announced in 2017. The series is animated by A-1 Pictures and directed by Takao Abo, with Chiaki Nagai and Reiji Miyajima handling series composition, and Majiro designing the characters. The series aired between January 11 and March 28, 2020, on Tokyo MX, GTV, GYT and BS11. AbemaTV streams the series in Japan, while Aniplex of America streams the series on FunimationNow; it also became available on Crunchyroll on February 10. The opening theme song is "Muzui" (ムズイ, Difficult) by 22/7. The episodes feature unique ending themes, which are included in the Blu-ray Disc releases of the anime. The series ran for 12 episodes, with a 13th "extra episode" released on September 16, 2020.
Manga
A manga adaptation, titled 22/7 +α, written by Reiji Miyajima and illustrated by Nao Kasai, was serialized on Shogakukan's Sunday Webry website and app from January 12 to March 29, 2020, telling an original story not told in the anime. Shogakukan collected its chapters in two tankōbon volumes, released on February 12 and April 10, 2020.
Game
On December 24, 2019, a rhythm mobile game titled 22/7 Ongaku no Jikan was announced and in development by Aniplex, H.A.N.D., and Forward Works. The game was released on May 27, 2020, for iOS and Android. On September 30, 2021, the game announced they were ending services on December 22, 2021.
Reception
The series received a mixed reception from reviewers. Chiaka Mitama reviewed the first episode for Anime Feminist noting that while the first episode wants to tell viewers that the "idol industry is full of shit" and pushing the idea that adults are lying, it lionizes the founding of the 22/7 idol group, which gets its orders from a "higher being" named The Wall. Mitama noted that the situation seemed cultish, that although the characters are voiced by the real-life 22/7 group, the anime lore differs from the actual idol group, and seems to imply that the idol industry isn't foolish and adulthood isn't a "horrible web of lies." Mitama later said that The Wall in the series makes it stand out as opposed to other Japanese idol anime. Vrai Kaiser, another reviewer for Anime Feminist wrote that the series differed from Action Heroine Cheer Fruits and Zombie Land Saga in that it set itself "up for a higher fall" and added that The Wall appears to be "straight out of a horror movie" but becomes a "quirky, beneficent mascot of sorts," which Vrai found "unsettling" and wondered whether the show would do anything with the Class S "interactions between Miu and Sakura" or not.
Anime News Network reviewers has divided views on the series. In an anime preview guide, Theron Martin gave the series 3 out of 5 stars, saying that sometimes it hinted at being a typical idol series, but other times had a "weightier tone," wondered the reason for naming the group 22/7, questioned what he described as a strange storyline focusing on a "whole order-granting mystical wall thing," and said the series will suffer because it is being released after Carole & Tuesday. In contrast, Nick Creamer was more positive, praising the "authentic, captivating performance" of Nagomi Saijō as Miu Takigawa, the character development around her, the dialogue, and character moments, said that this series is centered around human beings, but said that the debut was not "flawless," while criticizing the personalities of those being idols alongside Miu as falling into archetypes. James Beckett also praised the presence of bilingual performer Sally Amaki who plays Sakura Fujima in the multimedia projects of the real-life 22/7 group, and said that the series is "one of more interesting idol anime debuts" she had seen some time, and said that it wasn't like Revue Starlight but had a "notable veneer of melancholy and self-reflexivity." He also praised the different personalities of the idols in the group and the voice acting for the group's members. Rebecca Silverman was more critical, saying the series is "something darker than your average girl idol show" due to the presence of The Wall, and believed that the series would be simply about "kindly efforts of an otherworldly entity helping girls with low self-esteem or great/thwarted ambitions to shine," and said that despite her criticisms, the episode is "worth at least checking out."