©22/7 PROJECT
The official website for the 22/7 idol project announced on Monday that Mina Kiyoi, who plays the character Kaede Nagamine, is ceasing her activities with the franchise by the end of November due to her continued worsening health. The site had initially announced a hiatus for Kiyoi on October 13, but her health continued to deteriorate since then.
Kiyoi’s blog and social network accounts will close on December 7.
Reina Miyase, who played Ayaka Tachikawa, graduated in May. Chiharu Hokaze, who played Reika Sat?, graduated from the franchise in February 2021 to pursue a career in voice acting. Oto Amaya, who plays Toa Yagami, graduated from the franchise on August 31. Kanae Shirosawa also left the project on July 31.
Mei Hanakawa left the 22/7 idol group in December 2019 for health reasons. The group had announced in October 2019 that she would go on extended hiatus due to her health, and had planned for her return after she recovers. Despite Hanakawa and the staff’s best efforts, she did not recover, and that it would have been difficult to continue performing. Uta Kawase replaced Hanakawa as the character Nicole Sait?.
AKB48 founder and producer Yasushi Akimoto is producing the titular “dimension-crossing” idol group. The group based on the concept of “idols who cross dimensions” started with eight anime idol characters, with their respective voice actresses performing as idols in the real world. Sony Music Records and Aniplex received 10,325 applications for the idol group and held five rounds of auditions.
The group began releasing animated music videos in 2017, and their first character videos debuted in English in May 2018.
The 22/7 anime premiered in January 2020. The series had 12 episodes, plus a 13th “extra episode” titled “8+3=?” featuring all 11 main cast members. Aniplex of America streamed the show as it aired in Japan on FunimationNow. The anime debuted on Crunchyroll in February 2020.
The group held an audition for new members in 2021, the second audition since the initial recruitment in October 2016.