My Dress-Up Darling ( Japanese: その 着せ替え人形 （ ビスク・ドール ）は恋をする, Hepburn: Sono Bisuku Dōru wa Koi o Suru, transl. "That Bisque Doll Falls in Love") [a] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shinichi Fukuda. It began serialization in Square Enix's Young Gangan in January 2018, and has been compiled into twelve volumes as of September2023 [update]. An anime television series adaptation produced by CloverWorks aired from January to March 2022. A sequel has been announced. Yeah, I know what you mean. I never thought I’d ever meet a girl who wouldn’t run away from boredom when I mentioned Hina dolls.” Gojo smiled lightly, a small laugh. It hurt to remember that girl from his past, the one that ran away from him because of his interest in dolls. He was happy to have met Kitagawa and to be her boyfriend was a dream come true. Juju made an amused sound. “You two sharing a hotel room together? That’s cute. I didn’t know you two were in the laying in the same bed together status yet.” Her voice was monotone, completely serious. While I feel Gojo has some character development in terms of coming out of his introvert shell, his depiction of being traumatised of breaking gender stereotyping roles and portrayal of an introvert feel like a bland stereotype with the former happening for the sake of happening; because if it never happened, he wouldn't have met the main heroine of this story. The good thing is that I like how Gojo is written that defies negative stereotypes of a self-insert male protagonist whom most of them give in to become a toxic hypocrite.

Kitagawa explains her desire to cosplay as Shizuku, a female character from the erotic video game Slippery Girls 2, leaving Gojo perplexed. She then explains gender does not matter when one enjoys doing something, to which he agrees. Afterward, she gives him an instruction booklet on making cosplay outfits. The next day, an eager Kitagawa unexpectedly arrives at Gojo's shop. Gojo feels uneasy about taking her measurements while naked, but an unfazed Kitagawa strip down to reveal she came wearing a bathing suit. When he inquires if she finds this embarrassing, she responds she is not. As such, Gojo pushes his impure thoughts aside and begins measuring Kitagawa more professionally. Despite his concentration, a flustered Gojo has difficulty measuring her bust and inseam, though he eventually obtains the complete measurements. Gojo then asks Kitagawa if she has any references for Shizuku, prompting her to give him both Slippery Girls titles. Later that night, Gojo plays the games for research, much to his grandfather's dismay.Sound: The opening and ending themes are bops, and everyone does a good job with the material they are given. Hey, Gojo.” A soft feminine voice appeared. It was Shinju. No cosplay, just dressed as herself in her school uniform. She held her hand to her large chest, her eyebrows arching sadly. “You’re all alone. Where’s Marin?”

My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 4". Square Enix. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021 . Retrieved April 13, 2021. Wakana Gojo's passion for crafting hina dolls causes him to hide his interests due to social trauma. However, when his classmate Marin Kitagawa discovers his talent, she sees beyond his apparent idiosyncrasies and encourages him to create cosplay costumes. With Marin's support, Wakana steps out of his seclusion and begins to gain confidence. Working together, they create unique and beautiful costumes showcasing their talents and true selves.

Resources

The name Wakana means "fresh, new" ( 新 ( わか ) , waka ?) and "vegetables, greens" ( 菜 ( な ) , na ?). One of the other cosplayers, Sex Slave #26 was off to the side, taking pictures of them. The pictures were going to be so hot. Marin couldn’t wait to see them, it was going to be ‘just’ like Perverted Lovers 2! He didn’t want to consider it but Mr. 36 or 32 or whoever he was was more handsome than him. This guy was a model who did a cosplay of the other half of Kitagawa’s ‘ship’. Of course she would be infatuated with him. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (September 17, 2022). "My Dress-Up Darling TV Anime Gets Sequel". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 17, 2022 . Retrieved September 17, 2022. Marin's idolization of one of her favorite sharp-toothed video game characters, Prisoner Veronica, is a reference to the old-school Japanese ganguro subculture, a derivative of the popular 90s Gyaru movement. The ladies who embrace Gyaru prioritize averting from the norm and challenging acceptable beauty standards (taking the average Japanese woman as the ideal). These ladies emphasize their differences by darkened skin tones, dramatic make-up, and over-sexualized outfits; the quintessential rebels with a cause.

Loo, Egan (December 4, 2021). "My Dress-Up Darling Anime's 2nd Video Unveils Song Artists, January 8 Debut". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 4, 2021 . Retrieved December 4, 2021. The manga was ranked 16th for readers in the 2020 edition of the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guide from Takarajimasha. High school student Wakana Gojou spends his days perfecting the art of making hina dolls, hoping to eventually reach his grandfather's level of expertise. While his fellow teenagers busy themselves with pop culture, Gojou finds bliss in sewing clothes for his dolls. Nonetheless, he goes to great lengths to keep his unique hobby a secret, as he believes that he would be ridiculed were it revealed. Uhm, well there’s another character from Flower Princess Blaze!! that I wanted to try cosplaying. Sakuya-kun. Juju helped me find the wig and the costume is the same as Soma’s.” She mentioned, her face heated.Lynn, David (March 15, 2022). "How 'My Dress-Up Darling' Crafts Its Relatable Cast". Collider . Retrieved September 26, 2023. My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 8". Square Enix. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023 . Retrieved March 14, 2023. Gojo watched them, feeling an odd feeling in his heart. Kitagawa was doing what she loved, he shouldn’t be feeling this way. It just hurt a little that he could lose her attention so easily just when she’d said she’d always be beside him. Inside the merchandise area, Kitagawa was squealing over everything in sight. “Ah! I’m so happy Gojo! I love being surrounded by the things that I love.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a costume booth full of cute animal accessories. Kitagawa put on a pair of white cat ears and Gojo couldn’t help but laugh.

Wow, it really goes to show models are just normal people with interests.” Gojo said. Still wouldn’t look at him. Kitagawa had no interest in what he was saying. She was too busy talking to the other guy about modelling and Perverted Lovers 2. How could he have not known there was a second one? After all of the research he put into making her costume, now she was all over some other guy. The conversation was beginning to blur, it was just Kitagawa’s laugh and Sex Slave guy bragging about himself.

Ending Theme

Yeah, it’s not… so bad.” Eyes drifting to the side, Juju blushed slightly. There was a lot of people here and some had even asked for her photo. She was only used to her sister taking her photos. in Japanese). Square Enix. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021 . Retrieved February 1, 2020. in Japanese). Square Enix. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021 . Retrieved November 1, 2021.