Every now and then something comes along that I shouldn’t be into because, as the putzes says these days, it “wasn’t made for me”. Like I care. A good story is where you find it, and if I end up liking something outside my norm, or not liking something despite being “made for me”, so be it. There’s so much media out there everybody gets their own stuff, and they shouldn’t have to take someone else’s stuff just because something’s popular. The “everything for meeeeeeeeeeeeee” crowd thinks otherwise, but again…like I care.
My Dress-Up Darling is a 2018 manga that completed in 2025. The male protagonist is Gojo Wakana (or maybe the other way around–Japanese and English does the family name in different positions), who as a child found an escape from his parents death in making hina dolls like his grandfather. Unfortunately a girl he was friends with found a boy “playing” with dolls creepy and broke off their friendship. Gojo has no friends who share his interests, and so loses himself in making clothes for the dolls because he has trouble painting the faces. I can totally relate. While I did have friends, nobody in my family shares my interests and the friends I have that do are few. I was that ostracized kid as well, as much self ostracized as by the bullies.
Meanwhile, Marin Kitagawa is one of the popular kids in schools. Her friends put up with her interest in characters from anime, and video games. She also has a secret desire to cosplay as those characters. When she quite literally falls into his world (still not sure how she did that), it takes a few encounters before she learns he can sew, and seeks his help cosplaying as one of her favorite video game characters. And thus the story and the romantic comedy begins.
Tonight we have the first three episodes, because Crunchyroll’s YouTube channel only has the first three even though the first arc is four episodes. And somebody at Crunchyroll is doing something right between the controversial localizing, questionable business practices, and data breaches. The videos use YouTube’s recently added multi audio track (check the settings) so you can use the Japanese or English language track, with the captions as subtitles using the dialog from the sub translation. So your viewing and listening experience is whichever one you prefer without me tracking down a second version. I already saw the first five or so episodes thanks to Crunchyroll’s 24/7 streaming channel and Sling’s 10 hour Freestream DVR, with the rest of season one still needing watching, so I actually had the subtitles on but still watched in English to compare the two. The captions sometimes goof when trying to decide between dialog and translating text, but otherwise it’s a good system. Enjoy.
The first episode, “Someone Who Lives In The Exact Opposite World Than Me”, is mostly an introduction to the characters and the show’s plot.
The second episode starts the running gags as well as Gojo’s learning about cosplay and applying his sewing skills to it. Said running gag should be obvious not only in the source Marin’s favorite character (though she will cosplay in other genres) but the episode title: “Wanna Hurry Up And Do It?” Yeah, this is not a kids show. The sad part is…it kind of makes sense once you get past the game’s “plot”. It doesn’t help when she shows up in his bedroom. Thankfully just this arc was suggestive. The next one after the actual cosplay event was about dressing up for a magical girl anime character. Also, she’s 15 here, so…now I really relate to Gojo but for different reasons.
Episode three is…totally not helping with a title like “Well, Why Don’t We?” This is when they go looking for supplies to make the cosplay. Again, she’s 15. Remember that for the first few minutes. Kind of wish we didn’t start with this level of fanservice, but luckily the next arc changes genres. It does give us a bit more of Gojo and Kitagawa’s characters, including a comment that will totally be important after the cosplay, as well as introducing a character we’ll meet in the next arc.
After all that I wish I could show you the actual cosplay event. It’s where the fanservice tones down a bit and we get to see the cosplay in action. It’s also where the romance truly begins, so it’s a shame to miss it. There’s another episode in between where Gojo works himself crazy trying to get the costume done, which shows his dedication even more. It’s a surprisingly enjoyable series so it’s worth checking out. If you aren’t into the teen romance and fanservice, there’s still a fascinating look at the Japanese cosplay scene and two great characters undergoing growth. Hopefully season one will come around the livestream again with season two in tow for me, and both seasons are currently on their website and various stream sources, including YouTube’s system, if you’re a subscriber.
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