With the release of a new CD, there will be a release event that goes with it.

I was lucky enough to win the event which only 121 people were able to win (11 members in 22/7 and only 11 people can win per member so this means 121 people can win this prize). The prize I applied for is a chance to bring your own items and get it signed! Just in case you guys are wondering, I bought 1 CD each (A type, B type) so I applied for the event twice only; one for Sally and one for Mizuha.

Here is how the day went about!

About 1 hour prior to the start of the event, we were asked to sign in and do ID checks. They also asked for you to show them the item you want the members to sign since there are certain things that are not allowed. For me, I choose my Sally bromide/ trading card that came with their 3rd single CD that I bought. I was really lucky to get Sally card as you only get 1 card per CD and is all randomized. Hitting the 1/11 chance was pretty sweet! After the checks went through, we were then sent off and asked to come back 15 minutes before the event start to line up.

The whole event is broken into 2 parts; 1st part is with 5 of the members and the 2nd part is with the last 6 members. This is cause the event space isn’t large enough to handle all the winners all at the same time. One surprising thing I found while lining up is that of the 11 people in Sally’s line, only 6 showed up. This means the other 5 people couldn’t make it which I thought was a shame ): The other members’ line all seem full though!

When the time came to meet with the members, we were escorted into the event room one by one while the rest of the winners wait on the outside. How this work is that the 1st person in each line goes into the room and until that person comes out, the next person in the same line cannot enter. (The lines are by member; for example, there is an Sally line, a Mizuha line, etc.) I was super nervous but excited when it came to my turn.

The Signing Segment

We are not allow to do any sort of recording, so all the conversation here is paraphrased.

As I entered the room, there were 5 tables spread around all corners of the room (one for each member. I was quickly led to Sally’s table and she waved as I approached the table.

I handed Sally the card that I wanted her to sign and she said “oh you got my card.” She then asked which signature I want from her.

“What do you mean which signature?” I asked.

“I have 2 signatures, one is the one I use now, and I also have one for before I debuted.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that! I’m fine with either! Feel free to do whatever you want with the card!”

“Is it ok if I rip it?”

I was a bit confused by this question so I just treated it as a sarcastic comment since I did say “do whatever you want with it”. So I responded with “no, it would hurt my feelings if you rip it.”

Sally responded with a disappointing, “Oh.”

Looking back, I think I misheard her because of her response. I think Sally wanted to draw on the card and was asking me for permission. I feel stupid…

She went on to sign the card with both of her signature first starting with her current one then moving onto her pre-debut signature.

While Sally was taking her time signing. I took the liberty to ask her why she has 2 signature.

“My old signature takes way too long to write, so I manager suggested me to make it easier and shorter to write as I may be signing a lot in the future.”

Make sense.

After she finished signing, she asked me if she knows what the picture in her old signature is (The bottom signature).

I had no idea what it is since this is the first time I saw her signature so I guessed “a dog”. (It looked like a bear too but I went with dog).

“Yup, it’s my pet dog,” she said

“Oh! Is he in LA now?”

“No, he’s dead. But if he was alive he would be in LA.”

“I’m sorry… ):”

My second time feeling like a dumbass today -_-

She then followed up with asking where I came from.

“I’m from Canada.”

Sally then tried to draw a maple leaf (right by her arm). Then asked me if it looked like a maple leaf or some weed in which I respond with “both”. (I thought she was trying to make the joke in reference to the legalization of weed in Canada 2 weeks back haha)

By that time, Sally was pretty much done with her signature. The staff next to me gave Sally the “time to wrap it up” signal and she thanked me for coming. The staff escorted me out to the entrance and I gave her a last wave when I was about to leave the room.

And that was pretty much my experience with Sally at her signing event! It was short but super fun comparing to the handshake events I went to. I have so much more time to talk to Sally rather than constantly being rushed out by the staff after like 15 seconds. I was probably in that room for a good 2-3minutes, but it was more than enough time for me to talk to her without ever rushing.

Thank you so much for reading!

Until next time~~

Salo