LogFAQs > #968782951

76. My Dress-Up Darling
https://myanimelist.net/anime/48736/Sono_Bisque_Doll_wa_Koi_wo_Suru
Winter 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 8.31/10
Best Character: Kitagawa Marin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG4eu4HMtbo

Premise: Gojou Wakana makes hina dolls, but he fears hell be mocked for it. Once popular girl Kitagawa Marin finds out, though, she asks him to use his skills to help her make cosplay outfits!

The Good: My Dress-Up Darling is a slice-of-life romance with a focus on cosplay. Gojou and Marin couldnt be more different. She's attractive, popular, confident, and proud of her interests. Gojou, meanwhile, strives to remain unnoticed because he's afraid people will think he's weird if they find out his dream is to craft hina dolls. Marin soon finds out, of course, but she doesn't think it's weird. She thinks it's cool, and not just because Gojou's talent for making clothes means he can help her fulfill her cosplay dreams. The relationship between these two is the biggest part of the anime, and I thought it was really sweet. They're a perfect example of opposites attract, but they always do their best to support each other. What little drama there is usually gets easily resolved. I like Gojou, he's way better than the typical generic dude a lot of anime have, but he's not as good as Marin, who I'll talk about more in her write-up below. I also thought the cosplay aspect of this was interesting. It was always neat to watch a new outfit come together.

The Bad: In addition to all the usual fanservice one would expect from a girl cosplaying as sexy anime characters, My Dress-Up Darling also had one episode that was the epitome of fanservice. It was the one where Gojou took Marin's measurements while she wore a skimpy swimsuit and seemed unaware of the situation. I didn't mind the sexiness of it, I just thought it was too much too early in their relationship. I also felt there was a bit too much focus on cosplay in this anime. I wanted to see more day-to-day stuff. There's a short subplot at school early on, and then we never see them there again. I wanted to know if they ever have lunch together, or if Gojou is getting to know Marin's friends too, stuff like that.

Overall: My Dress-Up Darling has some funny moments, and the cosplay process was interesting. Still, my favorite thing about this was the sweet, supportive relationship it's building between Gojou and Marin. The lone season doesn't get as far as I'd like, but it's still shaping up to be one of the best romances in all of anime. I'll talk about that a lot more in my write-up for Marin.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/0/7/AAcDcBAADydT.jpg

CHARACTER: Kitagawa Marin (My Dress-Up Darling)
https://myanimelist.net/character/166439/Marin_Kitagawa
Voiced by: Suguta Hina
TOP 100 RANK: 51st

SPOILERS FOR MY DRESS-UP DARLING

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVL1WB27LUI

There were a lot of videos I considered choosing for Marin. Her and Gojou have so many great moments. There's the one where he explains that he's careful about the word beautiful, only using it for things that truly resonate with him. Then, later, Gojou sleepily says Marin looked beautiful in her cosplay outfit, and she absolutely catches the implication. There's the one where she finally realizes she's falling for him, and Marin is cutely freaking out about it in the background. There's even the time Gojou went to try on casual outfits, and Marin was struggling to keep it together because he looked so good in all of them. Their whole relationship is a bunch of great little moments, it was tough to choose one! I'm glad I found that video, though, because it perfectly encapsulates my favorite thing about them.

It was so refreshing to watch an anime romance where I could see exactly why each of them is falling for the other. There are so many where the guy is bland and the girl only likes him because he's the protagonist. So many where the girl is attractive and nothing more. So many where one or both of them is a borderline abusive jerk. My Dress-Up Darling managed to avoid all of the romantic pitfalls that usually bug me (recall, if you will, that graveyard of mediocre romcoms in the 3/10s of my ranking). Marin is attractive, obviously, and Gojou is a good-looking guy too. His main problem is a lack of presence, and that disappears once Marin notices him. Neither one has an infatuation based on looks, though. They each have interests and dreams, things that they're passionate about, and sharing those parts of themselves is what slowly but surely wins the other over.

Let's go back to that video I linked, which if I remember right comes before either one has even begun to realize their feelings. Gojou is sleep-deprived because he worked nonstop to finish Marin's outfit. He has dark bags under his eyes, it isn't a good look. Marin was already touched that he worked so hard for her, though, so to her those signs of tiredness are a plus, not a minus. I mean, she's a literal fashion model, but when she sees the eyelashes he has, she assumes Gojou got them for a girlfriend. It's clear she views Gojou as such an obvious prize that some girl must've gotten there already. The idea seems to bother her. Then Gojou talks a bit about his hina dolls, which again Marin takes an interest in and doesn't judge. She even reassures him that he'll be able to accomplish his dream, and Gojou's tired face lights up in a smile.

It's just so cute watching these two be so naturally supportive of each other. It's a burgeoning romance where, if they ever do get together, each of them would feel like the lucky one. Marin is my favorite of the two because she's an energetic dork most of the time and I really like that, but it's her relationship with Gojou that elevated her into my favorites.