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The story
On 5ch’s Morning Coffee board, where Hello! Project topics are discussed, a post claiming that Sugihara Meisa’s autograph was deemed too similar to Yamazaki Mei’s — and had reportedly been changed as a result — sparked a wave of discussion. Commenters posted photos of the actual handwritten signatures, with some saying “I honestly can’t tell them apart,” while others cast doubt on whether a change even happened, pointing out that “the original signature was shown on screen at the debut reveal event” and “maybe it was just forgotten.” The debate carried on with no clear resolution. Commenters also noted that Ishikawa Hanano’s signature resembles Satoyoshi Utano’s.
What people said
251 Name Wanted… 2026/08/26 (Wed) 23:47:00.57 0
I was gonna post it, but the thread over on Ookami (a live-discussion board nicknamed "Wolf") that had a decent number of replies got wiped from my history, ugh.
Ohhhhhh, that's it, that's it‼
Thank you soooo much!!
T-this is…
Yeah, at a glance you really can't tell these apart.
Not my oshi (favorite member) though, so it's not like it matters to me.
Go right ahead.
Her debut reveal felt kind of subdued too.
She's been staking out the spot next to Oda, glomping onto her for photos, pulling full Akane-chin moves — she's fine, she's got energy, she's a strong one.
Voice like Kudo, face like Ma-chan, personality like Akane-chin — she's unstoppable.
But zero solo-goods sellouts though.
True, Ma-chan's otaku really are the strongest.
And honestly, Ayami's fans and Doo's fans are backing her too, so Mei-sa should be fine.
A chimera of nothing but traits nobody asked for, lol, she's done for.
Maybe it's a Gen Alpha thing — copying whatever they've seen somewhere without even realizing it?
Utano, Hanano —
that "no" ending is basically identical.
Yep, if you put up good solo sales numbers, it's possible.
Other idols' agencies get called "management" too.
It's only Hello! Project fans who get weirdly nitpicky about this.
Right.
Other idols, the sports world, other entertainment worlds — it's all "management."
The only ones calling it "the agency" like they're cosplaying yakuza are Hello! Project and Johnny's.
Stardust (Promotion) calls it "the agency" though.
The original signature was right there on screen at the debut reveal event.
Wait, was that really the case?
Then even more so — on both the Part 1 and Part 2 postcards, Mei-sa didn't write a signature on either comment card… so maybe it really was just forgotten?
It was on the merch though.
Ah, that's probably it! Makes sense.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Because autographed merchandise and postcards are sold as bonus items, the design of a member’s handwritten signature tends to be treated as an important part of her individual identity — so any claim of similarity tends to spread quickly. In this case, the fact that a signature change even happened was never officially explained by management, and opinions in the thread were split by counterarguments such as “the footage from the debut reveal event showed the original signature” and “maybe it was just forgotten.” A similar claim was also raised about Ishikawa Hanano and Satoyoshi Utano, and it’s not unusual for members of the same recently-debuted generation to end up with similar-looking signature styles. It’s worth noting that this remains purely fan speculation, with no official comment confirmed from either the agency or the members themselves.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Apparently Sugihara Meisa’s signature was seen as ripping off Yamazaki Mei’s, and it got changed“.
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