Part 2: Interview with Amaki Sally Full English Translation

“I want to appear as a guest at Anime Expo, the place where I found my dream”

As you take lessons and doing more script reading events, I am guessing part of you might have changed in that process. Would you agree that’s the case?

Sally: I am not sure if I would call that a change, but I slowly feel more comfortable appearing in front of people. It’s still not 100% yet, but that discomfort I feel when people are looking at me has definitely gone down drastically. However, as I take more lessons, my confidence also has gone down… the feelings that “I can’t believe I am this bad” just kept getting stronger. On the hand, because I’ve lost confidence, I actually gained more motivation. “If I am this bad right now, that means I still a lot of room to grow!” (laughs)

You turned that negativity into something positive (laughs).

Sally: Rather than saying I am positive right now, it’s more like I’ve made up my mind. I won’t get any better just by sitting here sulking, so I have to keep trying and gain more experience.

That’s wonderful. What awaits beyond your struggle is the debut single “Boku wa Sonzai Shiteinakatta”, how did you feel when you heard the news?

Sally: I thought to myself, “we’ve finally at the starting line.” If someone told me a year ago that one day I would have my own CD and radio show, I would probably say “No way!” and not believe that person. But as we take more lessons, the members grow to have a stronger bond between us… And actually, the members used to guess that “We will debut on 7/22, huh?” Yet I actually think that debuting on 9/20 was probably the best decision. To be honest, I didn’t think we were ready to show what we had to the audience, so I had the worry that “Is it OK for us to debut already?” At the end, we got more time to prepare for our debut, so I felt a little less nervous. Of course I am still nervous at some point, but right now I am just looking forward to what’s to come.

I see. Then can you tell what did you think when you first heard the song?

Sally: “Boku was Sonzai Shiteinakatta” is a title that’s in the past tense, that’s what I want everybody to pay attention to first. Most of the lyrics were written in past tense, but in the end of the song, we sing of the main character’s current feelings with “I might be able to tell you I love you now.” This change in the state of mind is being portrayed as a story in this song. I hope the listeners can also relate to the main character’s change of feelings.

The song starts with a cappella leaves a pretty big impact.

Sally: Although Saijou Nagomi and Hanakawa Mei are the two singing that part, we all sing the song in a cappella during our practice. It’s more difficult than imagined to sing the song without any music, and I am sure the two of them felt a lot of pressure. We were told often that “Once the first key is off, the whole song collapses.” That’s why I have complete respect for those two singing that part.

Sally: And then… although the song was composed in a way it sounds mellow, if you look at the choreography and our expression, I think you can find the song to be quite powerful. The interlude of the song has the part with guitar line and that’s where our dance gets more intense, but the part before that is about the growth of the main character and the guitar solo that follows symbolizes the main character’s… um… I don’t know how to say this in Japanese!

Like the character broke out of the shell?

Sally: Yes, just like that. The main character’s growth is depicted through the lyrics and the music, please listen to the song with those details in mind.

Understood! “Boku wa Sonzai Shiteinakatta” is a song featuring the 8 members with existing characters, but the coupling song “11nin ga Atsumatta Riyuu” is a song featuring all 11 members.

Sally: I am really happy that we have a song we can sing with all 11 members. The live event on 7/22 was rehearsed without the 3 (Suzuhana Moe, Takatsuji Urara, Takeda Aina, the fans call them the “Hidden Balls”), most events were carried out with only 8 members. However, all 11 of us went through the lessons and it’s common to hear us said “We want all of us to sing together as soon as possible.” Our initial goal was to “Debut with all 11 members,” so we don’t want to waste this chance of being able to sing with every members, and we will try our hardest so the fans will say “22/7 is better with 11 members than 8 members.”

Not only that, “11nin ga Atsumatta Riyuu” is precisely a song singing about the members.

Sally: That’s right! “Boku ga Sonzai Shiteinakatta” is a story starting from the past, and “11nin ga Atsumatta Riyuu” is a song singing about the future. The lyrics are about “If we gather all 11 of us, we feel like we can achieve anything,” so I feel like all 3 songs in our debut single are all connected in some way.

I see, so that’s also one way to interpret the songs! Then, out of all 11 members, who do you pay attention to the most?

Sally: Saijou Nagomi. Out of all the members, only Nagomi and myself were B-types, and we didn’t even know that at the beginning. Just by looking, you would think Nagomi and I have two completely different personalities, but we are actually pretty similar it couple ways. She does things on her own pace, just like me when I was going through school. Also, Nagomi really likes to dance and once she’s into something she’s in all the way. I really want to get better at dancing too but whenever I look at the video where the two of us danced side to side, Nagomi wouldn’t even break a sweat and her movements were so sharp, even though we were dancing to the same choreography! That kind of powerful performance is what I paid attention to the most.

In that case, what would you say is your strong point, the part that “I would never lost to any other members.”

Sally: How quick I can make up my mind, or rather how fast I can bounce back. I start to think that because I am so negative, it actually goes around in a circle and make me one of the most positive member in the group (laughs).

You have both polarizing qualities inside of you. “Gloomy yet cheerful otaku,” “So negative I became positive” (laughs).

Sally: I think so too! When I first came to Japan from America, I was really negative and often thought “Even if go, I would just end up a failure,” but one day, I all of a sudden had a change of heart and started to think “No, it won’t be that bad.” I made up my mind and thought “If I am going to fail, then at least try everything I wanted to try first” (laughs). That’s why even if I make a mistake, I won’t really dwell over it.

That’s the right attitude I believe. Then, what’s the goal or dream you want to achieve for 22/7?

Sally: I’ve said that at the beginning too, I want us to be invited as a guest at “Anime Expo” in America. I wanted to become a voice actress after going to the Anime Expo for the first time. I want to let the fans come see us know that “This is the place I found my dream,” and hopefully, that would in turn help them achieve their dream. Well, part of it is also because the members just want to all go to America together (laughs).

That’s absolutely wonderful. Lastly, please give a closing comment to the readers and the fans of 22/7!

Sally: For 22/7, we want to be a group that can showcase our performance on the stage as idols, and also showcase our performance behind the mics as voice actresses. Although we are not there yet, but it will make me really happy if you can stand by us and witness our growth. Our debut single “Boku wa Sonzai Shiteinakatta” will release on 9/20, please give it a listen when you can!

Amaki Sally Profile:

Birthday: April 26th

Birthplace: Los Angeles

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Blood Type: B

Hobbies: Day-dreaming, fishing

Special skills: Figure Skating, breath holding (1 min 43 sec), catching ladybugs (30+ in one go)

“My name is Amaki Sally, a gloomy yet cheerful otaku. Both my appetite and my smiles are American size and I will try my best!”