9 Anime Characters That Don’t Look Their Age Update 04/2024

Anime Characters That Don't Look Their Age

Certain characteristics can give away a person’s age, but they can also be used to deceive (for any number of reasons.)

Nearly every iteration of anime features characters with large eyes and a small mouth in the same general style. If the narrative context is not clear, it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine their ages based on other attributes such as hair color, skin tone and expression.

Despite the fact that there are a variety of characteristics that can indicate a person’s age, this can be purposely misleading at times (for any number of reasons.) While some characters may want to seem younger, others may have preserved their youth due to inherent powers, and yet others may just not be able to physically match their age due to supposedly biological causes.

1. Despite Her Childlike Appearance, Biscuit Krueger Is 57— Hunter X Hunter

Biscuit Krueger from Hunter x Hunter

From her flowery dress and double ponytail to her violent outbursts, Biscuit embodies everything that is great in yangire anime. Even though she’s 57 years old, she still loves the concept of having a girlish appearance.

Even though she pretends to alter herself in order to fool her opponents, Bisky despises her stereotypically masculine true form, even if it is the only way to unlock her full potential.

2. Though He Does Look Elderly, Few Might Guess That Yamamoto Genryusai Is 2,000+ — Bleach

Everyone in Soul Society is older than they appear, but Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryuusai is the most startling example of this disparity in age.

Even while he already looks like a 90-year-old guy (complete with an uncommonly robust skeleton), he’s at least two millennia older than that…. The truth is that Yamamoto is probably considerably older than he appears in a flashback sequence set 2,100 years in the past, because he appears to be a middle-aged man.

3. The Youthful Midoriya Izuku Is Actually 16 — My Hero Academia

Izuku Midoriya

In terms of age and appearance, Midoriya Izuku’s physical attributes do not differ greatly from those of his classmates, but he nevertheless lags behind them significantly. His biceps or not, he doesn’t look a day over 12 at the end of the Paranormal Liberation Arc.

Then there’s the fact that he stands at 5’5″, which is less than the typical height of Japanese men. Even if Izuku hasn’t reached his full adult height yet, his face will always be covered in those adorable, childlike freckles.

4. Some Might Be Surprised To Learn That Tatsumaki Is 28 — One-Punch Man

It’s not just her telekinesis that makes Tatsumaki the Tornado in One Punch Man; she acts like one. She is a snobbish, egotistical, impulsive, and abrasive person who refuses to show any respect for anyone, regardless of their rank or experience.

As a 28-year-old woman, she may feel self-conscious about her youthful appearance and voice. Tatsumaki despises phrases that allude to her crippling insecurities as a child, and that’s one of the reasons why.

5. Harime Nui From Kill La Kill Is Actually 17 Years Old

Nui Harime (Kill La Kill)

Harime Nui’s demeanor and style are childish and childlike, to say the least (pink hairbow, laced frock and pigtails). It would be impossible to think of her as anything other than a young girl, if it weren’t for the eyepatch.

Alternatively, it’s possible that her origins in the weird magic of Life Fiber are to blame for the discrepancy between her apparent age and her actual age.

6. Near Is 17, Though He Looks Much Younger — Death Note

Near, or N, L’s successor, possesses a level of intelligence that is unsurprising for a person in his position. Even though he is clever, he has a tendency toward puerility, which gives him fairly infantile characteristics.

Despite his age, the fact that he stands at a maximum of just under five feet makes him appear even shorter to viewers. Then course, he’s an oddball in his own right, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

7. Very Few Would Have Guessed That Kurama Is 300+ — Yu Yu Hakusho

Kurama (Yu Yu Hakusho)

Kurama has the appearance of an adolescent male (albeit with long red-magenta hair.) In his true form, he transforms into a majestic, white-robed and noble-mannered aristocrat.

Although he appears to be in his early twenties, Yoko Kurama has a more accurate age of roughly three centuries or more. He spent a long time in the makai, the demon world represented in the Three Kings Arc, because he was once a powerful demon.

8. Van Hohenheim Is 451, Which Is Much Older Than He Appears — Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Homunculus, the Dwarf-in-the-Flask, steals half a million souls for himself and gives the other half to Hohenheim after tricking the entire land of Xerxes. In the face of this deception, his new friend merely walks away, as he is unable to intervene.

For the next four and a half millennia, Hohenheim travels around Amestris, building a counter-circle to Father’s design.

Only until all the lives within Hohenheim have been freed does Hohenheim begin to disintegrate. Although he has aged by at least two decades, this is reasonable.

9. Muzan Kibutsuji Is Surprisingly 1,000-10,000+ — Demon Slayer

Muzan Kibutsuji

A human person produced Muzan, the first demon, and the only one to do so (a doctor who tried to extend his lifespan when he once was a human with a fatal disease.)

Despite the fact that he was “born” a millennium ago, he still appears young and has the ability to change into any form he wants. Tamayo “poisones” Muzan in the end of the manga, accelerating his aging process by a significant amount. His life span is estimated to be tens of thousands of years long.