My Dress-up Darling is the hottest new seasonal anime of Winter 2022. While it was airing, this beat AoT and Demon Slayer in several top anime of the season polls, which goes to show that it's popular and really well-liked. There are many things to love about Dress-up Darling, but at the same time, I don't think it’s perfect.
Well, why is it so well-loved?
The most obvious reason would be the characters, both leads in particular. Marin Kitagawa, the poster girl of this show has been a widespread hit among the community at large. Fanarts of her have been spreading like a plague, more and more people were making her their profile pictures, even if you have not heard of My Dress-up Darling, you could not have missed seeing her face. I think the main reason why Marin is so popular is just for her raw energy. She is an outgoing person, and does not hesitate to convey her thoughts or earnest opinions about something on the slightest whim and just cannot hide her feelings, leaving both Gojo and the audience to deal with her idiosyncrasies. Her raw excitement when she sees a character she adores, or her earnest yearning when she went up to Gojo and asked him to make a cosplay outfit. This kind of energy is really contagious, and it spreads to both Gojo and the audience, cheering up both him and us. The community adoration of Marin also stems from how relatable she is. From the smallest things like having 50+ favourite characters, to just her enthusiasm when she puts on her outfit. I’m sure that everyone has felt that feeling of excitement before, and I think Marin perfectly captures the exhilaration that we feel when we are genuinely excited about accomplishing something.
Gojo is NOT an audience’s insert. I was of this sentiment when the show first started airing. I genuinely believed that this anime was nothing more than “Loner, introverted, average-looking dude with no friends meets cute, popular and outgoing girl that everyone will simp for”. Well, thankfully I was proven wrong. Gojo is a realistic character, he has a passion for making hina dolls, and i think this is where My Dress-up Darling shines the most. It captures what having a passion looks like really well in both Marin and Gojo. Gojo's attention to detail to the level of near-obsession and his perfectionist yet intimate standards of "beauty" is something I can personally relate to, and I'm sure literally anyone that is fervent about a hobby can also see themselves to varying extents in Gojo. He is still flawed in his work, he can't draw faces well, largely due to his lack of social interaction, because no one is perfect at anything, there will always be room for improvement.
I think the two leads bounce off each other really well. The saying “opposites attract” fits really well here. Gojo is introverted, and Marin helps him break out of his shell. Marin can’t make cosplay outfits, despite wanting to cosplay characters, and Gojo helps realise that passion for her. Marin is eccentric and somewhat impulsive, whereas Gojo is more grounded, which does help them in a lot of situations. It makes for an enjoyable dynamic as they complement each other really well, and they cover for the other’s flaws.
The visuals. Cloverworks thankfully did not disappoint with this, and it did not end up in total disaster like some of their previous works. The quality here is better than 90% of other seasonal anime, it’s more than enough for a slice of life show like My Dress-up Darling. The artist for the manga should be given some credit too, the designs of all of Marin’s cosplay outfits, barring one, look absolutely amazing. My personal favourites are Liz the succubus and Black Lobelia, they remind me of Krul Tepes from Owari no Seraph and Lena from 86 respectively, two characters that I like a lot.
I think a largely overlooked reason that it is so beloved is because many people, myself included, agree with the themes and the overall message of the narrative. It is not subtle at all with its intent of preaching the message “Don’t be ashamed of liking whatever you want”. It’s something that surely everyone can agree with. Back in the days when anime was not as popular as it is today, and it even still happens today, it’s not uncommon for anime fans to be ostracised by others on the sole basis for liking anime, and I think this show speaks to them on a personal level. It’s refreshing, and it’s always uplifting to have one’s hobbies validated, no matter how weird it may be perceived to be.
One more thing that I really want to appreciate is how much My Dress-up Darling covers cosplay. Personally, I was never into cosplay, it was always a very foreign idea to me. My preconceived idea of cosplay was really just "People spend money and order an outfit, they wear that outfit and they show off." While I respected the hobby, I never understood the appeal of it. My Dress-up Darling was my first real exposure to cosplay and while cosplay will still never be my thing, it really changed how I looked at it. However, now i do understand and appreciate the effort, the attention to detail and the pains that the outfit makers have to go through in order to create the perfect outfit to represent the character
Now, clearly from the score, I also have some criticism to lobby here, and now I'll explain why some people may not like this show, and the gripes that I personally have.
The characters. Wait, wasn’t I just gushing about how good the characters were? Well, let’s start with Marin, while parts of her personality are relatable, she’s an unrealistic character. No sane person, no matter how whimsical or capricious, would stalk a dude that they have just met and barge into his house, uninvited. No sane person, no matter how whimsical or capricious, would accidentally rent a love hotel and mistake it for a photography studio. Her outright stupidity at times is used as a plot device to get them into the situation that the author wants when there is no other seamless way to do it. It makes some of the funny moments feel really convenient. As for Gojo, he comes off as a typical, generic nice guy romcom protagonist in the first few episodes, it was only later on when i started to really like him, not to mention, his “sad” backstory in order to get the audience to sympathise with him and justify his introvertedness comes out of nowhere, when we barely know the guy. It can seem manipulative, and I really didn't buy this introductory episode. I unfortunately could not empathise with him as an introverted loner, and I ended up liking Gojo for other reasons.
The fanservice. I hate to be that guy who comes off as “the fanservice hater”, because I do not hate fanservice in general. However, I do dislike the fanservice in My Dress-up Darling. In ep 2, for example, Gojo was clearly uncomfortable with Marin when she stripped to get him to “take her measurements”. The scene was clearly contrived for fanservice, and when it's at the expense of someone’s dignity, it does not sit well with me. The love hotel in ep 11 once again was contrived to provide the usual romcom hijinks. Once again, Gojo, the voice of reason, was against the idea of them, being minors, spending time in a love hotel. However, Marin replied with “yeah, if you’re normies”, and then pulled out the sunk cost fallacy argument, which is just really helpful in assuaging these kinds of concerns. This “fanservice” that the show has does not add much enjoyment to it for me. On the contrary, it can be annoying at times and I really think this show could have done without the fanservice.
Overall, I think My Dress-up Darling was a really enjoyable ride, and it was something I looked forward to watching every week. However, it’s far from perfect, and there were parts of it that hampered an otherwise amazing show. While I'm willing to overlook most of the flaws and i think the show is good for the most part, I would ABSOLUTELY NEVER feel safe recommending this to the average person, for obvious reasons.
