Koikoi 7 - Anime - AniDB (2025)

(Ratings and feedback appreciated.)

For me, Koi Koi 7 has its own little history. Back in the summer of 2005 when it started airing, I was relatively new to anime and was just beginning to download fansubs for the first time. My naïve "if it's anime, it's good" mentality was just starting to be shaken by shows like Ichigo 100% and Madlax, when I stumbled upon a release of the first episode of KK7 that had a panty-shot counter. I watched the first episode, watched the counter creep up to 70, decided "This is stupid," and deleted it. But in the year and a half between KK7's first episode and its complete availability, I unlocked my inner ecchi demons and came to appreciate series like DearS, Girls Bravo, Magikano, Yumeria, Girl's High, Amaenaideyo!!, and Maburaho. So I decided to pick up KK7 again to see if I could take it. Do I regret the decision? Not completely, but I figured I'd write its first review here and thereby warn everybody else.

Nothing amazing here; other than the combining mecha animation, a lot of the effort goes into drawing pretty girls with easy-to-distinguish colored hair, as well as the bouncing breasts and exposed panties of these girls. In fact, the guiding philosophy is, "Let's hope the fanboys are too busy drooling over the girls to notice all the cheap shortcuts and still shots." But there are some decently-drawn fights, and despite the emphasis on fanservice, the girls' bodies stay within the bounds of reality. KK7 thankfully steers clear of Eiken/Divergence EVE/Dragonaut massive mounds territory. In addition to the fanservice and ecchi content that pervades the series, be advised that there is some loli content and nudity in later episodes.

Not great, but doesn't distinguish itself enough to be that bad, either. The hyperactive and irritating OP is at least in line with the mood of the series, and it scores points for actually being relevant to KK7, as opposed to some random J-pop single that got thrown in. The surprisingly tender ED does not fit with the feeling of KK7, but it's good enough to listen to; you almost wish it were attached to a different and better series. Background music stays in the background enough to not detract from the score. Many sound effects are taken straight from the Love Hina archives, for better or worse.

If you look over the credits, you get the idea that KK7 was an opportunity for bit-part actors to get starring roles. As such, the acting is a bit rough and inexperienced, but very much adequate. The 7 main girls have their distinctive voices and annoying/endearing speech affectations for the viewer to experience, and it's not like their have stellar writing to work with in the first place. Tetsurou's VA at least has experience with male leads in other series like Da Capo, Gift ~Eternal Rainbow, and ef ~a tale of memories.

And here's where KK7 stumbles. Be forewarned, KK7 is a harem anime of epic proportions, that quickly evolves into a bizarre cacophony of mixed genres. Tetsurou not only lives with 7 girls (who happen to be cyborgs), but he's the only boy at an all-girl school. So naturally, there's a "main girl" who dotes on him, but there's a classic ojou-sama type and her gang who have their own plans for him. So naturally, they attack him and the Koikoi 7 (the seven cyborg girls) with gigantic combining mecha, only to be thwarted every time by the Koikoi 7's defenses. The show starts out with a few episodes of that, and continues on with a "one episode per girl" format in the middle episodes to show Tetsurou spending time with his protectors, creating cel-painted anime, cross-dressing for a school festival, etc. Of course, there's also some secret organization and some evil cyborgs working in the shadows, and all of this ends in true train wreck fashion. Going from episode 12 to 13, you almost feel like they forgot to make an episode -- while it is possible to piece together what happened, it's still not satisfying overall. And yet much like a train wreck, you can't help but keep your attention on it, even when you know you're not supposed to.

I don't believe that all episodic anime have bad stories; the format can work very well for cute and fun anime like Strawberry Marshmallow or for serious anime like Kino's Journey. Some of the individual episodes of KK7 are enjoyable enough for their comedy or ecchi content, and some are even touching. But the problem for KK7 comes when shifting from episodic fun to a serious arc at the end. Some shows execute this maneuver well, such as Rune Soldier Louie and Excel Saga, but KK7 does not.

Another lackluster area. All the characters are stereotypes to begin with, and they show little to no change over the 13 episodes. If you've seen anime like Love Hina or Please Teacher, you've seen characters like Tetsurou, and the girls are also easy targets in the "compare to other characters" game. Sakuya channels the "tomboy with guns" persona from Burn Up! and other series, Miyabi Tsukuyomi has that Sakaki-san-type of appeal to other girls, Otome is your standard "stoic" girl like Ruri Hoshino from Nadesico, and there's even a Rei Ayanami clone that shows up later in the series. None of the villains or side characters are impressive, either; the ojou-sama minions are basically defined by their names (Kazuko - Chuuko - Yohko = Japanese - Chinese - Western). Two minor female characters exist solely to provide from shoujo-ai content -- while this is good from a fan perspective, those characters are still pointless.

I personally would not re-watch this unless the full DVD version were released by a fansub group or a North American company, since that version has additional ecchi scenes that weren't in the TV version. I actually would buy it though, mainly to get better translations than the fansubs that are out there. It's obviously got some value for the pervs out there, but sadly the TV version isn't ecchi enough. (Except the last episode, I have no idea how they got away with it on TV.) In terms of overall significance, KK7 has little or no value -- you're not missing anything as an anime fan if you don't watch it.

Despite all of KK7's flaws, I did manage to enjoy it. After all, it had plenty of hot chicks. The key to enjoyment here is to disengage the brain, not ask any "why?" questions, and not take anything too seriously. But it's a tradeoff: if you don't take it seriously, KK7's attempts to be meaningful will fall flat, and if you do take it seriously, the sheer absurdity will drive you nuts.

My enjoyment was also aided by some well-placed parody of other anime, ranging from Sailor Moon to Maria-sama ga Miteru to Battle Athletes to a bunch of classic mecha shows that I haven't seen. Die-hard veterans of ecchi/harem anime and longtime anime fans in general will find this more enjoyable. But there are simply better shows out there for ecchi comedy, and far better examples of multi-genre parody, such as the wonderful Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, which combines episodic parody with an effective overall storyline and ending.

Again, only recommended for diehard ecchi fans (refer to the list of shows in the opening paragraph) and experienced anime viewers. You'll also need some experience in forcing yourself through bad anime for the sake of completing it. Some anime gets compared to "guilty pleasures" and "comfort foods," but this anime transcends that: KK7 is like cheap whiskey that you drink an hour after the liquor store closes because you can't get your hands on anything else. You know it's bad for you, and it doesn't even taste that good, but when you've already been drinking half the night, it'll give you the feelings you're looking for.