Enako continues to make jaws drop not just with her gorgeous appearance, but also with her amazing economic powers.

Between her good looks and perfectly recreated outfits, Japanese cosplayer Enako is used to having a lot of eyes on her. The 24-year-old got an extra dose of attention two years ago, though, when she revealed that she was not only incredibly popular, but incredibly wealthy, regularly earning more than one million yen (US$9,090) a month.

▼ Enako

Cosplay is a hard field to stay at the top of, however. There’s a mercilessly high premium placed on youth, and spending your professional life transforming into fictional characters can make it tough to establish your own identity, which in turn makes it difficult to build lasting loyalty within a fanbase that’s constantly being tempted by fresh-faced newcomers.

But Enako has managed to keep her adoring fans in thrall, as evidenced by an interview she recently gave on variety TV program Downtown DX.

While talking with the hosts, Enako revealed that when she shows up as a spokesmodel at booths selling merchandise at anime or other otaku-oriented events, lines of up to 1,000 customers form, and her public photo modeling sessions have attracted up to 500 photographers. But the most startling numbers are the ones related to her monthly and hourly income. In December of last year, Enako claims she pulled in more than 10 million yen (US$90,900) from her various cosplay activities.

▼ So, truth be told, she can probably afford to eat at fancier sushi restaurants than this inexpensive conveyer belt joint.

Granted, December was likely an especially good month for Enako’s bank balance, owing to it being the month when the winter iteration of Comiket, Japan’s largest otaku gathering, takes place at Tokyo Big Sight convention center. Enako’s popularity is such that her cosplaying these days stems from direct requests from anime and video game companies to promote their products, and so her services are especially in-demand by organizations wanting to stand out on the crowded Comiket floor.

That’s not to say Enako is just lazing about now that Comiket is over, though. This month she’s already streamed two live video chat sessions through app Live.me.

During the chats, patrons of the otaku arts in the audience can make donations to Enako, and thanks to their generosity, Enako says she can earn up to 200,000 yen (US$1,818) an hour from her Live.me ventures.

And then there’s the money Enako earns through personal merchandising, such as the full-size huggy pillow cover featuring her likeness that recently went on sale.

Still, before you start ditching school or blowing off homework to put extra hours into your cosplay outfit for the next local anime convention, it’s worth remembering that while cosplay definitely gives Enako a hook, she’s also photogenic enough that she could likely land work as a mainstream model too.

https://instagram.com/p/BY5wZ7LFU2i

There’s also the looming question of whether she’ll continue to enjoy the same sort of enthusiastic support from fans once she gets into her late 20s and 30s, at which point she’ll be double the age of the teen characters that make up such a large proportion of anime and video game characters. For at least a little more, though, it looks like we’re going to keep seeing plenty of Enako.

Source: Nico Nico News via Jin