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(Contains spoilers in order to contextualize the review)

22/7's anime tries to be many things at once and somehow fails at all of them, leaving the viewers with a frustating and pointless experience. For long time 22/7 fans, it almost feels like a joke.

I've been following 22/7 since the characters were but designs created by various artists. Next to each design, there were also small descriptions of how each girl was like - Sakura's, for example, mentioned a 'dark past'. Knowing that Akimoto-P was behind the project, any idol fan would keep their eyes open for where 22/7 would go next.

As a real life idol group, ... they're great. Their songs are catchy and the relationship between the members is enjoyable to read and watch about in their lives, video clips, and their youtube channels. They're in no way industry professionals, however. Comparing their voice acting from the first to the last song, you can see how they've improved. There are documentaries and interviews you can read to take a peek into how the group works. These improvements were fought for by each of the girls, from their hard work as a group.

So, we can conclude that 22/7 is a group with plenty of struggles in real life. What did the anime project do with these struggles? Did they show how one seiyuu had difficulty keeping up with the dances, or how one had to turn their life around in a new country? Would they adapt the character descriptions into interesting and relatable storylines?

No. No, they didn't. Instead, they made this... bizarre animation that doesn't know what it wants. Is it an anime about the idol industry? Is it about how the group came together? Or is it about each of the members' pasts? I don't think anybody knows.

22/7 throws these subjects at you with little rhyme or reason, and expects you to get engaged with it. One moment, we see a baby girl almost dying. Then, SWIMSUIT SCENE! Oops, wait, the girl actually hates the swimsuit and this sexualization is really harmful - haha just kidding, look at how close the members are! The end!

Seriously. That's basically how Reika's episode went.

None of the plotlines above ever really went anywhere - they get dropped in and out like hot potatoes, then the episode ends. Add that with baffling logic, (WHY WOULD YOU MAKE JUN TAKE CARE OF *EVERYONE'S* SCHEDULES INSTEAD OF RESCHEDULING THEM? WHY? NO REAL LIFE GROUP DOES THIS!) meh animation with many shortcuts taken thanks to a clearly small budget, and a lack of any stakes at all in the plot - that's 22/7. A big blend of many things.

The absolute joke - especially for long time 22/7 fans - lies in that last point. The plot has no stakes at all in it. We don't see the girls (other than Miu in her centric episode) struggle with idol stuff. In the second episode, they hold an audition. Wouldn't that be the perfect time to show each member's strengths and weaknesses? Sure, we know Nicole is perfect and Miu has no confidence, but what about Sakura? Does she have trouble with the dancing? What is Akane good at? What were the good and bad points in Reika's audition?

None of that matters. Their struggles and hard work don't matter. Everything is decided by the Wall, and it is always right. They don't have any trouble in securing fans and getting a spot in a magazine. Everyone just loves them. Everyone talks about them. All they have to do is follow the Wall. It's bordeline offensive for a group that barely broke 6,000 units sold in their first single. What was the message the writers were trying to sell here?!

Even in AKB0048 there were stakes and struggles - the girls had rivals, senpais, they had their weaknesses and strengths - and they had a character that was very similiar to the wall! Love Live had each girl fight their personal issues and come together to save the place they loved, they had rivals and competitions. Heck, even Wake Up Girls had the members struggle with getting recognized and getting fans!

22/7 failed to be an interesting idol anime, it failed to be even fanservice to hardcore fans. It didn't know what it wanted to be, and these flaws are so apparent it's hard to take the serious and emotional scenes seriously. It's a shame that a group that I enjoy and support so much ended up with this mashed mess of an animation to its name.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one if you don't know the group - go watch the interviews, the lives, and the MVs. Listen to the songs. Don't waste your time with this anime.

Tomogui Kyoshitsu is... bad. I was looking for another word to describe it but that's the only thing I think of when remembering how reading this manga felt like.

The story? Nonsensical, cliched for the genre (what is up with the 'king's game'-like manga, anyway?) and absolutely disgusting. This is coming from someone who enjoys gore. I'm trying not to spoil it much, but there was NO NEED whatsoever for certain things to happen to the female characters. It wasn't done in a decent or meaningul manner and was clearly there to shock the reader and attempt to make the manga seem darker than it already ... is.

The pacing is dreadful and all over the place. One chapter the characters go around talking to each other about nothing and in the next one so much happens that you can barely understand wtf is going on.

Art? It's okay. It seems like the poor artist who had to draw this mess didn't write the story at least. It was pretty average.

Characters? My god. They are awfully written and developed. The main lead has as much personality as a sack of potatoes, and guess what? For some reason everyone is in love with him! Almost every guy is a douchebag who may or may not end up sexually assaulting the female students and said girls' personality amounts to feeling jealously over one another or, you guessed it, liking a guy and thinking about said guy. That's what most of them amount to. Jesus christ.

My enjoyment was almost null if it wasn't for the fact that this is so, so bad, I had a bit of a laugh reading it. Who approved this? Which poor sods had to publish this? I felt sorry for them.

Overall, if you like enjoying things and having a good time reading manga, skip this immediately. If you're a poor soul who read this out of curiosity like me, then godspeed, my friend. Godspeed.