The full quote is: “I only made Nagatoro tan was so I could see cute brown women cosplay as her”. The important bit is the phrase “Nagatoro tan” traditionally this would be romanized as “Nagatoro-tan” so it appears ambiguous.
Now it could be argued that since there is no punctuation that you’re read is correct, but seeing as the quote is from a Japanese author I personally see it being a misquoted honorific as much more likely.
The full quote is: “I only made Nagatoro tan was so I could see cute brown women cosplay as her”. The important bit is the phrase “Nagatoro tan” traditionally this would be romanized as “Nagatoro-tan” so it appears ambiguous.
Now it could be argued that since there is no punctuation that you’re read is correct, but seeing as the quote is from a Japanese author I personally see it being a misquoted honorific as much more likely.
It’s a fake quote, so you’re reading a little too much into it.
Wikipedia says she has dark-coloured skin due to a tan, and she goes by Hayacchi, so it’s probably the colour they are referring to.