My Dress-Up Darling is about a young man named Wakana whose parents died in a car accident, so he grew up with his grandpa. His grandfather is a traditional Japanese doll maker, so Wakana learned the craft in order to spend time with him. Unfortunately, Wakana was bullied as a small child by a little girl who said she hated him because "Dolls are for girls!". This one incident emotionally scarred Wakana so badly that he's still a complete loner in high school with zero friends. For some reason, this really bothers me. It wasn't years of him getting beat up and called homophobic slurs because he knows how to sew and makes dolls. His entire character conflict and why he's so alone stems from this single incident featuring a 5-year-old Japanese girl with virulent homophobia issues.
Lil Wakana: "I made this doll to show the class!"
little girl: "WHY ARE YOU GAE!?
Lil Wakana: "I don't know what you mean. I just like to spend time with grandpa."
little girl: "You are GAE! You are a TRANSGENDAH!"
BTW, we never meet this girl again. I looked ahead in the manga. You would think that Wakana is going to meet her as an adult and maybe she feels really bad about how she acted back then and wants to make things up to Wakana, but no. It was just this really random plot device that's never followed up on. I'm not sure why, but I kind of find that funny. It's certainly something that could happen in real life. Maybe her parents taught her to be that way and you certainly don't typically meet your worst childhood bullies years later in reality. However, that's not generally how stories are written. Usually, when a character is introduced that has a profound impact on the plot and main character's journey, that character is going to come back into the story at some point. Who knows though? The manga is still ongoing.
Anyways, Wakana is sitting in class and suddenly a beautiful girl falls and bumps her head against his desk. This girl is named Marin and she immediately takes a strong liking to Wakana. She decides right away to help him clean up the class after school and starts offering him life advice. Then she comes over to his house and accidentally discovers that he can sew after he trips and one of his dolls flies right into her hands. She then becomes incredibly excited because he could help her make cosplay outfits and strips in front of him! I'm going to make a few things clear. I like sappy romance. I'm really not a romance snob at all. That's why I have Spice and Wolf and Elfen Lied in my top 10. Even I'm shaking my head at this set up. The phrase "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" became so overused to describe 00s Hollywood romances that the man who invented the phrase said he deeply regrets doing so. I REALLY try to avoid ever using the phrase in my reviews, but Marin in the first 3 episodes is maybe the most textbook example of this trope that I've seen in anime. At least since the early 2000s. This setup is BAD!
What if the anime opened with a school craft festival and Wakana was really proud of his traditional dolls and willing to put himself out there, even if it exposes his vulnerability? He's showing his passion and how hard he worked and most of his classmates just dismiss him because dolls are weird and outdated. However, Marin is secretly an otaku and she is able to empathize with his struggles and people looking down on his hobby. Towards the end of the festival, she walks up and buys the only doll he sells that day. The next day, she actually talks to him a little after class and realizes she might have some feelings for this dork. Then their relationship slowly starts to develop into something. If that was how this love story started, I'd actually be all onboard. It would still be cheesy. People would still probably say it's waifu wish fulfillment, but it would be a whole HELL of a lot better than how this started!
Fortunately, the romance and plot improve drastically in the 4th and 5th episode. I really hope that this anime turns things around and ends up being the wholesome romance that it's reputed to be. Personally, I'm very worried because it's Cloverworks, but I've only seen 5 episodes as of this review and hopefully I can look back and feel silly for being so worried. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
The art and animation are actually quite good! I've been very surprised by this series on a technical level. It looks gorgeous! Some previous reviewers have noted the level of echii content and fanservice, which is certainly high for a series not labeled as echii. However, I guess this is a relative thing. Despite showing a lot of cleavage and Wakana overreacting to every exposed thigh like he's Master Roshi, this show doesn't have any ass or titty shots. None. If you're used to watching 90s anime, this show is fairly conservative in its fanservice. Every single season of the 90s Sailor Moon anime has WAY more explicit fanservice than Dress-Up Darling and that was aired for children. There's actually a fair amount of moon in Sailor Moon.
Overall, what are my thoughts so far? I think this anime has plenty of potential. I'm very confused why it has been quite as hyped as it has been, but hopefully it's all from manga readers who know that it's going to get a lot better. Honestly, I really want this anime to get better. I'm not just a contrarian asshole who wants to see this fail because it's popular. Hopefully, it continues to build on the momentum from episode 4 and 5 and we close out strong.
