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22/7 Voice Actress Mizuha Kuraoka Goes on Hiatus Due to Health

The official website for the 22/7 idol project announced on Monday that group member Mizuha Kuraoka is going on hiatus due to health problems. The project's staff will make an announcement when Kuraoka is able to return to work. She plays Miyako Kōno in the project's anime.

The announcement stated that Kuraoka has had several recurrences of poor health, and she and the project's staff took measures toward her recovery each time. However, she has been unable to completely recover. After various discussions involving staff, it was decided that Kuraoka should go on temporary hiatus.

Similarly, the website announced on February 5 that fellow group member Urara Takatsuji is on temporary hiatus from her idol activities due to poor health. Like Kuraoka, Takatsuji also had several recurrences and took measure to encourage recovery. Still, she did not completely recover, and discussions led to the decision for her to go on hiatus.

Mei Hanakawa also left the 22/7 idol group in December for health reasons. The group had announced in October 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 is replacing Hanakawa as the character Nicole Saitō.

The 22/7 anime premiered on January 11. The series will have 12 episodes, plus a 13th "extra episode" titled "8+3=?" featuring all 11 main cast members. Aniplex of America is streaming the show as it airs in Japan on FunimationNow. The anime debuted on Crunchyroll on February 10.

Nao Sakai's 22/7 +α manga adaptation of the anime launched on the Sunday Webry manga website on January 12 and will end with the second volume in April. The manga is telling an original story that will not be told in the anime.

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" has 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 announced in July 2017 that they were getting an anime project. The group began releasing animated music videos in 2017, and their first character videos debuted in English in May 2018.

Sources: 22/7 project's website (link 2, link 3) via Otakomu