More than three times the age of the schoolgirl she’s cosplaying as? No problem!

The vast majority of popular anime characters are in their teens, since stories about people in those age groups tend to be the ones that resonate best with the medium’s core fanbase. High-quality cosplay, though, is often outside the means of teenagers, since they might not have the money to spend on pricey costume materials and camera equipment.

So due to the financial benefits of an adult-level-paying job, it’s not at all uncommon for anime cosplayers to be older than the characters they’re cosplaying as, and that’s true of Sayuri Ozaki, (katsumisayuri_sayuri on Instagram) who’s seen here cosplaying as high school idol Kotori Minami, from the Love Live! franchise.

While Ozaki has opted not to dye her hair the trademark “Kotori beige,” her outfit looks great, and it’s hard not to notice that her legs do too. Now, like we said, Ozaki is older than Kotori, who’s only 16 when we first meet her in Love Live!. So how much older is Ozaki?

Twice as old? Nope, guess again. Three times? Getting closer, but still not quite there, because Ozaki is actually 50 years old.

Granted, the 34-year age gap is a little inflated by the fact that Ozaki just had her birthday on July 15. Still, even in Japan it’s rare to see 50-year-old cosplayers, especially ones who can look totally natural wearing the frilly, schoolgirl uniform-inspired designs of contemporary idol stage fashion.

With her photogenic looks, you might be assuming that Ozaki is a professional model, but she’s actually a comedian, and one half of husband-and-wife comedy duo Sayuri Katsumi (her husband Katsumi Taihei being the other member).

Ozaki has been part of the show business scene for so long that one of her fans is the aunt of our Japanese-language reporter Meg, who’s old enough to have kids of her own. “I’m glad to see Sayuri-chan looking so radiant and beautiful, without a trace of sadness,” Meg’s aunt remarked upon seeing her Love Live! cosplay.

So maybe the real secret to eternal youth is to laugh as much as you can.

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[ Read in Japanese ]