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Kikuko Inoue Celebrates Her '17th' Birthday — in Turkey! Anime's Cosplay

Voice actor Kikuko Inoue posted a photo celebrating her “17th” birthday on Thursday. Inoue stated, “17 isn't an age, it's a way of life” and noted she cosplayed as an Ikkokukan High School student from this year's anime series Turkey!-Time to Strike-. (While Inoue voiced Suguri from Turkey!-Time to Strike-, her character is not an Ikkokukan High School student.)

As of press time, Inoue has received nearly 1,500 comments and over 15,000 reposts from fans and colleagues. Notably, fellow Turkey!-Time to Strike- castmate Noriko Hidaka (voice of Sumomo) and voice actor Maria Yamamoto. Hidaka congratulated Inoue saying, “Stay happy and true to yourself forever!!” and Inoue responding, “Thank you Nonko-san.” Yamamoto congratulated Inoue saying, “Your sailor uniform look is so cute! Let's wear them together and go out this fall.”

Inoue began celebrating her “17th” birthday as a joke during the 1998-1999 radio program Ka-Ki-Ku-Ke Kikuko no Sa-Shi-Su-Se Sonata that she co-hosted with the younger Yamamoto. The program would open with both of them introducing themselves as 16 years old, then 17 when Yamamoto turned 17. However, when Yamamoto turned 18, Inoue remained 17.

Since the inception of Inoue's joke, she posted a photo of herself with her daughter, Honoka Inoue, both in high school uniforms in November 2016. In 2021, Kikuko Inoue celebrated her daughter's 22nd birthday by saying, “I'm shocked at how she's become 5 years older than me in the blink of an eye!”

Sources: Kikiko Inou's X/Twitter account (link 2), Noriko Hidaka's X/Twitter account, Maria Yamamoto's X/Twitter account via Mantan Web