Idfk why there's barely any ES artists that indulge in oldmanifying the cast when they are so ripe for the taking.... shaking my fist
And yes, Himeru is confirmed not 18-ish like the OG Himeru and is actually older, which is extremely funny and frustrating because happyele will never jump on the idea of old people fumbling to fit in as idols and amongst MUCH younger juniors. I'm with you with denying canon here, I may read the stories but they can benefit from age changes in my rotten little head
The characters I see as much older(at least most of the time) are Tatsumi, Mayoi, Himeru, Madara, and almost all of Oddballs. Tatsumi is definitely in his 30s, I didn't play for a long time since ES! so when I found out about Alkaloid I kept staring at Tatsumi like... did happyele just put a random old guy in there..? thats religious and is terrible at technology... and has health issues... you cant tell me he was never not supposed to be some middle aged guy hes so moe... I dont have set ages for the others listed but they're all at least in their 30s or about to hit 30
-but ah, I don't think the fandom very much likes old men suffering so I can only talk about this so much </3