It’s been a while since I’ve written a series review, most of my reviews have been Manga or Comic books so this will be fun!
It has been one of the most talked-about anime in recent years, and the manga series it was adapted from has seen great success. Today, our review will be going over Shinichi Fukuda’s My Dress-Up Darling. Please Note: I have a review up for the first episode, so please take a look!
The story began with a teenage boy named Gojō Wakana, who was traumatized by a childhood incident with a friend who took exception to his love for Hina dolls, he spends his days as a loner, but with a passion to become a Hina doll Craftsman like his Grandfather. One day, a Teenage Girl named Marin Kitagawa, who was one of the popular girls in Gojō’s Highschool, walked in on him using a sewing machine in the Home-Ec room. She was amazed by his talents and now aimed to recruit her quiet classmate into her secret hobby: Cosplay.
It can be one of the simplest things when it comes to having a hobby and sharing it with someone, but it can also be an intimate thing. You might worry that “What if they find my hobby weird?” Or better yet, expected you to be into something different because of the way you look, well, the answer is very simple because it doesn’t matter, and this series doubled down on this idea. It captured the value and the joy there is when you find someone that is passionate as you are.
My Dress-Up Darling leads the straightforward sentiment that hobbies should not be categorized by gender. It’s great to see a show where the protagonists can enjoy their hobbies without facing some form of judgment. It follows both Gojō and Marin’s journey into the world of cosplay, there isn’t a sense of exaggeration or when it comes to crafting and the work being put into making a costume.
What works well for this show is the fact that Gojō and Marin are perfect together, the comedic timing, and the sincere joy that came from their sharing of interests and art together. Whether it is Gojō frantically worrying over making a fool out of himself or Marin’s chaotic lifestyle, or better yet when they are completely clueless when it comes to romance (for example, that crazy love hotel episode!) There are only a couple of reoccurring characters so far, Sajuna “JuJu” Inui and Shinju Inui, the former a popular cosplayer and the latter her photographer.
As for the visual side, it was animated beautifully. CloverWorks Studio did a wonderful job on this series. While it has frequent-in-your-face fan service, it could offer viewers a softer approach when it comes to visual creativity. There were leery moments but this could be reconciled with the character’s perspective, unfortunately, I haven’t read the manga series so I am limited on how it differs from the anime series.
My Dress-Up Darling is a great slice-of-life anime series that can be sweet but also be racy at times. But at its center is a unique relationship, one of self-discovery and finding self-esteem in collaboration and shared interests. You can check out the show on Crunchyroll, available on both subbed and dubbed.
Final Grade:
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Red's Nerd Den 
It was a fun time for what it was. I really enjoyed the main cast and thought the whole story was pretty competently written. The care they took with the cosplaying aspect was interesting too.
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I agree, it was well researched when it came to cosplaying. It was a show that you could enjoy and it was wholesome.
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