My Dress-Up Darling (Season 1): Dollmaking, Cosplaying, and Unlikely Friendships Formed!

What happens when a reserved doll maker befriends an outgoing cosplay enthusiast? Discover the unexpected magic between Wakana Gojo and Marin Kitagawa in our latest episode. Joined by our insightful guest Sebby Phantom, we explore the charming world of the rom-com anime "My Dress-Up Darling," taking you through its vibrant art style and heartwarming themes of personal growth and acceptance. Marin's character isn't just a fan favorite—she's left an undeniable mark on the cosplay community. Whether you're a seasoned anime lover or new to the genre, you'll find something to adore in the unique friendship between our main characters.

Curious about what makes "My Dress-Up Darling" a standout in rom-com anime? Let us take you on a journey through its solid storytelling and engaging characters, joined by the delightful Sebby. With comparisons to beloved series like "Science Fell in Love" and "Food Wars," we'll show you why this anime has earned a rare five-star rating. Laugh along with us as we celebrate the humor and unexpected moments that make this series a must-watch. Whether you're passionate about fashion, captivated by cosplay, or just hungry for a good story, our podcast has something for everyone looking for quality anime entertainment.

Chapters

• 0:02 Rom-Com Anime
• 15:05 Mind Dressed With Darling Review

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

all right, since I'm in the mood to talk about rom-coms, let's go ahead and talk about a rom-com that I've been kind of interested in watching, but I just never got around to watch it back in like what? Three years now. But since season two is coming this year, let's go ahead and talk about my dress-up darling. And who else to talk about it with? That'd be phantom. Ah, I kind of that introduction. But um, let's just go ahead and roll into it.

Speaker 1: 0:36

So we got this delightful anime series that's following the unexpected friendship and collaboration between two high school students. There's Wakana Gojo, and let me pause and say I think it's kind of funny that his last name is Gojo. I'm like, normally I've been addressing him by their last name, so it's going to be weird to address him as Gojo when usually nowadays, when you hear the name Gojo, you're only thinking of one character, and that's Satoru. But um, this Gojo's cool. Like I relate to him. I oddly relate to him, and I'll explain that later. And then we have Mara and Ketagawa, the main girl of the series, and I'll talk about her a little bit later too. So, essentially, this first season is filled with these heartwarming moments and character development, capturing the essence of pursuing one's passion and importance of acceptance. So we have Gojo here, who's reserved and a skilled doll maker, struggling with self-expression and social interaction due to his unique hobby of making hina dolls. And you have marion kitagawa, who's this vibrant outgoing girl with interest in cosplay and anime culture and also gaming to an extent. And essentially, once, once Kizugawa finds out by accident about Gojo's hobby, she was like very excited and wanted his help on a cosplay outfit. But the thing was, as you might see throughout the anime, that she was glossing over a bunch of details that Gojo was able to pick up on. So he was like all right, so check this out, I'm gonna help you out with all this.

Speaker 1: 2:27

And mainly it was about the collaboration between those two uh challenges of creating cosplay, like sewing and whatnot by the way, shout out to kokugatsu because he's trying to get into sewing like oh, I'm not that good at box. No, like practice, make perfect. Like oh, I'm not that good at, but I don't know. Like practice, make perfect. Like hell, I'm not that good at 3d printing either. I mean, I'm not an expert, but I'm still doing it like I'm still learning to affect it. So, yeah, uh, it's about personal growth and building connections with people, and mainly the themes are about acceptance, friendship, passion, dedication, breaking stereotypes.

Speaker 1: 3:15

It's one of those rom-coms where I'm going to be honest with you. I would recommend this as a rom-com starter pack, along with Science, feel and Love, and if you haven't seen uh, listen to that review that we did, then go check it out. But yeah, along with science, fell in love and a few things. I would add my dress up darling to the recommended rom-com list of anime and before I get into my notes, sebby, tell me how you feel about my Dress Up Darling so my Dress Up, darling, was actually um, I remember when this originally came out, 2018.

Speaker 2: 3:55

I remember watching this on Crunchyroll back to back. I love Maren. Maren is one of my favorite characters of all times, like if you had to give me a top 10, she is in that notes. She's a gyaru. She's warm. She's so nice. I love her passion. She's a huge fan of anime. I'm a huge fan of anime. She reminds me of myself in so many different ways. Wakana Gojo he's shy, he doesn't understand a lot of things and, of course, trying to get him into different cultures and things. I mean, he's been very reserved his entire life with hina dolls. Um, I agree with you totally, jb. This is an amazing anime and one of the cutest little anime. I remember reading the manga like overall, I recommend this just as much as you do oh yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Now getting to my notes, and I'm gonna be honest with you not to discount the anime or the manga too much, but honestly I do have notes. But don't be surprised if I don't have a whole lot to say, because sometimes we just got to keep it short and sweet. It is what it is sometimes. So I mean, we had other people on, like Kokugatsu and maybe Miraijin, and this probably would have been like an hour long review at minimum. But here's my notes, review at minimum. But uh, here's my notes.

Speaker 1: 5:30

First of all, very solid art style, especially with the coloring of the girl's eyes and the different facial expressions of the characters in general. At times it's like sometimes when I look at kita go not gonna lie, I've seen her like yeah, she's one of those girls that you just want to give the world to, especially when you see that sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her face. It's like, yeah, I kind of get it. Like they have cute clothing for the girls, including Kida Gaw's iconic flower bikini or bathing suit that she revealed to Gojo during a measurement episode. And man, let me just tell you, so many girls was cosplaying as kiki. Like that's kind of crazy when you think about. It's like ironic, where she later on, like halfway through you, eventually meet juju and her sister and she was just so lit up when she found out that a cosplayer that she liked will um, checked her out and whatnot. And imagine if Kizugawa um did like a fourth wall break and found out that, oh shit, so many people were cosplaying with, as me and my babies now gojo, I say he's oddly relatable, in a sense of having a hobby that you conceal from your peers in fear of them mocking you and disliking you. Uh, one event from the past caused him to close himself off from others, thereby could become very awkward around people, especially girls, especially when touching girls.

Speaker 1: 7:11

See, and that's the thing, I kind of um feel that as a nerd growing up to where, like, keep in mind, I'm from the 90s to where the the nerd wave wasn't really kicking in until like 2010 or so. That's when it seemed like, oh, by the time I graduated, whatnot? Oh, suddenly, anime is cool now. So, oh, so I'm the anime guru now. So, oh, so y'all done picking on me about it. So I'm the anime guru. Okay, I see, I see, but I'm cool with it. I'm cool honestly. I do feel for Gojo sometimes when I'm like sometimes, just you know what I'll get to it, I swear to God. I'm just kind of jumping with my nose.

Speaker 1: 8:03

But Hidagawa she's one of those popular girls with a sense of righteousness and kindness towards others. Like she's the kind of girl that you think you have no chance with, but surprising enough, she's not intimidating to talk to at all. Like, hidagawa is the type of otaku that delve into the adult side of anime and gaming and ultimately wants to cosplay as her favorite characters. And I'm gonna say this I love the kind of relationship where couples can collaborate together with their passions. A bunch of cosplay girls like our friend Mothra Kaiju in the inner circle Shout out to her, follow her on Instagram and Facebook and whatnot Would probably love to have a partner who could fashion them something to wear.

Speaker 1: 8:53

I mean, I myself I have potential to 3D print armor sets for people, while Kogagashi K can sew, so eventually we could be an asset to the cosplay community. But of course we gotta still brush up on our skills. Like, uh, you can't stay idle for too long. Uh, the anime is kind of funny here and there, especially with the line delivery. And as I continue to watch the show. I love how kitagawa is instilling so much confidence in gojo, from taking her measurements to claiming him as a friend, and gojo definitely needed to learn how to stand up for himself and carry himself with pride, like how kitagawa has pride in her cosplaying. It does get real at times with Gojo's internal conflict of being good enough. How he explores imposter syndrome and how some things don't pay off even when you work really hard on it. Regardless, if you're motivated, if you're motivated, you'll be determined enough to try anyways. And oh yeah, a good wealth of insight as far as fashion and, uh, couturing.

Speaker 2: 10:04

That was pretty much my notes, uh sebi you had anything to add on to all that so when it comes to the relationship that um kitagawa and gojo have, I see I'm very similar into going back to like my family I used to cosplay so much before covid and having that friend or having that relative who comes around and makes sure like, do you need water, is the outfit okay, does it need a sew, do you need new shoes? So this anime definitely brought me back. Even getting my own husband into this anime, he goes. I hate slice of life, but we sat down, we watched it again and he goes. You know what I really do like this anime? Just everything about it is just like like a little strawberry on a little cake, like everything about this is amazing and I say that a lot about a lot of things but this in particular anime, my Dress Up Darling, will hold something special in my heart, just like the rest of them.

Speaker 1: 11:08

Yeah, like what can I say? Like I really don't mind this anime at all. Like, see, here's the thing In the Matsumura-kun revenge review that I did with Tuck, mira Jane and Kogayasu check out, check out that review, if you will. We got kind of wild on that one. But uh, we were talking about anime tropes where with rom-coms is like, let's be real, sometimes, unless it has a very interesting premise, all rom-coms pretty much play out the same, like painfully so. Like this is coming from a guy who pretty much, after all the action anime, you know the highly recommended anime, you know the anime that everybody will probably mention at least once. After all that I wanted to get to the more obscure areas of anime, I'm like, okay, let's check out some rom-coms. Uh, I'm in a rom-com mood and like, yeah, it's like one of those things where sometimes I'll be like, okay, let's just watch nothing but mecha anime or let's just watch anime with just martial arts like boxing and shit. It just depends on like genre and what not. But at one point I was like you know what, let's just try the romcoms. And yeah, like some romcoms I'm gonna be honest with you in hindsight they played out very boring, like if I. I told the rest of them that if you've seen one rom-com, you pretty much seen them all. So unless they have a very interesting premise that you can kind of like attach yourself to, you're probably just gonna get bored of it.

Speaker 1: 12:55

But with my dress up darling, this is different, because it's one of those animates where it's like oddly relatable to people who not only have like hobbies that they feel that they have to like bail and shield from the world because god forbid if somebody finds out that you're into this thing and they'll think less of you for it but it's also about embracing those hobbies and really being more confident with yourself. So, yeah, like I can't really identify. So, yeah, I would thank you for recommending it to me, because I I wanted to get to it when it was brand new, but I just it was one of those things where I'm like I got things going on, I just don't know. And then next thing, you know, I hear about season 2 and I'm like, okay, since it got season 2, it must be kinda good. Because that's my thing is like if it makes it past 12 episodes at this point it it better be somewhat worth it.

Speaker 1: 14:05

And I can't say with my dress up, darling, it is. Uh, you sure you have anything else you want to add on Sebi?

Speaker 2: 14:18

I'm just waiting for season two. At this point they haven't released the date. I just know that it's in 2025. So possibly looking at a fall release.

Speaker 1: 14:29

Probably. Yeah, probably Like the fact that we got the news about it a while ago, but there's like no third trailer or anything at this point. So I'm thinking like, yeah, it'll probably be announced during the spring and yeah, 2025 sounds about right. Yeah, um, well, if we got nothing else, I guess it's time for the rating. If I were to rate season one of Mind Dressed with Darling, I do like the characters. A lot is simple and it didn't really fumble at any point. It was alright. You know, like music, the theme song, it was alright. Like you know, it feels like marketed towards girls and I'm like, okay, that's fine, but I'm like eh, that's a guy I'm just like not exactly vibing with.

Speaker 1: 15:40

But ultimately ultimately as a guy I'm not exactly vibing with it, but ultimately it was about the themes and the wealth of insight, with learning more about fashion and, you know, putting on the makeup and whatnot. I just like how they kind of like give an explanation to that sort of thing. It's kind of like with Science Fell in Love and Food Wars, where sometimes it's the kind of anime that kind of makes you want to take notes like okay, so for that, just for that, I'll give it five out of five stars. I can't think of anything wrong with this anime. It's just that solid for me. Five out of 5 stars. I can't think of anything wrong with this anime.

Speaker 1: 16:20

It's just that solid for me 5 out of 5 stars coming from JB I mean, I did it before, but it is rare, because it gotta be one of those things where I'm gonna be honest with you. I can't think of anything wrong with this. I'm like 5 out of 5. No, I agree with you.

Speaker 2: 16:40

I can't think of anything wrong with this. I'm like five out of five, like no, I agree. I love it yeah, I agree with you. The characters are nice, the art's nice, the music is nice. To me, the aspects like everything about this can be your typical slice of life but have comedic backgrounds to it. Like everything about this can be your typical slice of life but have comedic backgrounds to it. Like everything about this anime, to me at least, is relatable in some sort. So I have to agree with you.

Speaker 1: 17:07

Jb, that's a five out of five yeah, it's like it's the first rom-com that I reviewed that I would give a five out of five stars, unless I go back and be like, okay, I didn't do ratings on a lot of things that we did like way back in the past, so I'm gonna have to do a whole retrospective of my own fucking podcast, be like, okay, let me go back and see, like, okay, I didn't do ratings on a lot of these, so if I could rate what I reviewed, uh, then I'll do it then. But this is probably the first rom-com anime that I reviewed that I would say 5 out of 5 stars, or at least in a while. Because, yeah, like I said, normally these rom-coms kind of bore me to tears, unless something crazy or something unexpected happened. If it's ironically funny, I I mean I gotta put this.

Speaker 1: 18:04

Yeah, there's probably like some jokes, but then sometimes some anime hit you with jokes or some gag humor that slaps harder than you thought it was going to be. Then you're like, okay, no, okay, perfect example, when we did the cat returns review uh, well, actually it was more like a mini review inside the house, moving castle review, but essentially I said that just because of that one secret service cat yeeted that one stray cat into a fucking tree. I was like, hey, you know what, know what? 4.5 out of 5 stars just for that.

Speaker 2: 18:43

Just for that, just for that.

Speaker 1: 18:46

Because, like sometimes, that just came out of nowhere. I'm like, hey yo, I was not ready to see that, but it makes sense and I'm like I can imagine like human Secret service doing that to somebody, like yeeting them out of the White House, uncle Phil yeeting out his dad from Prince I can see it. I'm like I saw that energy in that throat and that's why I was like you know what, just for that one bit, that saved the whole movie for me. But yeah, 555 stars for my Dress, my Darling, very solid anime, highly recommended in the rom-com category. And if nothing else, then I guess we'll just go ahead and close it out. Sebi, I do thank you for being on the show and I thank the dear listener for tuning in to another review with us at the Zone Podcast. Go ahead and have yourself a good morning, good afternoon and good night, but ultimately you go ahead and take it easy.