Yasushi Akimoto produced digital idol and voice actor project celebrates third year anniversary with TV anime series
Source: Aniplex of America press release
Official Site: 227anime.com (Japan), 227anime-usa.com (US)
Special Thanks to Aiko Makino

Aniplex of America is thrilled to announce that the long-awaited anime series 22/7 (nanabun no nijyuuni) is headed to FunimationNow on January 11th and Crunchyroll starting February 10th. This ambitious project produced by famed producer Yasushi Akimoto, creator of Japan’s top idol groups such as AKB48 and Nogizaka46, features original character designs from some of the industry’s most notable creators including anohana -The Flower We Saw That Day- and DARLING in the FRANXX‘s Masayoshi Tanaka, MONOGATARI Series’ Akio Watanabe, and SAEKANO: HOW TO RAISE A BORING GIRLFRIEND’s Kurehito Misaki, and K-ON!’s Yukiko Horiguchi, who also serves as the character designer for the series. The series has signed on Takao Abo, who wowed viewers with his work on THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO, to direct the series, while Satomi Tamura (RASCAL DOES NOT DREAM OF BUNNY GIRL SENPAI) and Akira Takada (IDOLM@STER) serve as chief animation directors. Acclaimed studio A-1 Pictures (SWORD ART ONLINE, KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR) will be handling the animation production with music by Masato Nakayama of We Never Learn: BOKUBEN.

The series stars members from the idol group 22/7 (ナナブンノニジュウニ, nanabun no nijyuuni), who were chosen to be a part of the group out of a pool of 10,325 applicants auditioning for their shot in this special project. Since the group’s creation, 22/7 (nanabun no nijyuuni) has pursued various fields of entertainment including singing, live performances, YouTube projects as well as appearances on variety shows as TV personalities. Viewers can look forward to getting a glimpse into the secrets behind the group’s debut and the story leading up to their creation from the different viewpoints of each member.

Both the opening and ending theme songs will be performed by the group, with the opening theme song titled “Muzui,” a slang term for the word “difficult” in Japanese, and the ending theme song titled “Sora no Emerarudo,” which translates to “emerald of the sky.”

For more information on 22/7 (nanabun no nijyuuni), please visit 227anime-usa.com.

Stay connected with the official 22/7 (nanabun no nijyuuni) Facebook page at facebook.com/227.anime.

About the anime 22/7 (nanabun no nijyuuni)

One day, Miu Takigawa suddenly receives a letter notifying her that she has been chosen as a member of a brand-new project.

Half in disbelief, she heads over to the location stated on the letter. There, she finds seven other girls summoned there in the same fashion. The girls behold a giant, top-secret facility. They stand in bewilderment as they are told:

“You are going to debut for a major record label as an idol group.”

A new kind of idol, never-before-seen, is about to be born here…

Credits

STAFF
Chief Producer: Yasushi Akimoto
Original Character Design: Kantoku, Mel Kishida, QP:flapper (Tometa Ohara, Koharu Sakura), Kouhaku Kuroboshi, Hirokazu Koyama (TYPE-MOON), Masayoshi Tanaka, Mieko Hosoi, Yukiko Horiguchi, Kurehito Misaki, Akio Watanabe
Comic Storyboard: Reiji Miyajima
Character Design: Yukiko Horiguchi
Director: Takao Abo
Series Composition: Reiji Miyajima, Chiaki Nagai
Animation Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Majiro
Chief Animation Directors: Satomi Tamura, Akira Takada
Prop Design: Mayuko Yamamoto
Assistant Director: Satsuki Takahashi
Art Director: Hotaka Okamoto (KUSANAGI)
Art Setting: Eiko Tsunado (KUSANAGI)
Color Setting: Naomi Nakano
Director of Photography: Yusaku Murakami
CG Director: Hiroyuki Yoshida (SHIROGUMI), Nao Kudo
Editing: Hitomi Sudo
Sound Director: Akiko Fujita
Music: Masato Nakayama
Animation Production: A-1 Pictures
Produced by: ANIME 22/7

CAST
Miu Takigawa: Nagomi Saijo
Sakura Fujima: Sally Amaki
Miyako Kono: Mizuha Kuraoka
Reika Sato: Chiharu Hokaze
Jun Toda: Ruri Umino
Akane Maruyama: Kanae Shirosawa
Ayaka Tachikawa: Reina Miyase

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About Aniplex of America Inc.

Aniplex of America, Inc. (Santa Monica, California) is a subsidiary of Aniplex, Inc. (headquartered in Tokyo, Japan), a division of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Inc., and a leading provider of anime content and music production and distribution in Japan. The company’s ever-growing lineup of shows includes SWORD ART ONLINE, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD, FATE/STAY NIGHT [UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS], FATE/ZERO, PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA, March comes in like a lion, BLUE EXORCIST, KILL la KILL, Gurren Lagann, MONOGATARI series, anohana -The Flower We Saw That Day-, CELLS AT WORK!, THE PROMISED NEVERLAND, and DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA. In 2017, the company released the English version of the popular mobile game, FATE/GRAND ORDER, followed by the release of mobile game, MAGIA RECORD: PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA SIDE STORY’s English version in the U.S. and Canada in June of 2019.