My Dress-Up Darling

My Dress-Up Darling is a genuinely heartwarming slice-of-life show with some strong romantic undertones.

It's best asset are most definitely the two main characters: Gojo is a loner whose lifelong dream is to paint Hina dolls. Unlike most male anime protagonists, he actually does have a personality and comes across as genuinely likeable instead of off-puttingly passive. Kitagawa is his almost perfect opposite: an outgoing free spirit not afraid to show her passion for cosplay who doesn't care what opinion others have of her. It's nearly impossible not to love the two main characters, especially since they're pretty quirky and not the stereotypical anime fare.

Another very strong asset of the show is the amazingly well done English dub. Not only are the translations perfect, filled to the brim with character-appropriate slang (instead of teenage girls saying "However!" every second sentence), but Paul Dateh and AmaLee are possibly the best voice actors I've ever heard in the dub of an anime.

What I also liked about the show is that all the fanservice is perfectly sensible. There's no nudity out of nowhere, no creepy harem girls throwing themselves at the male protagonist for no apparent reason. It's perfectly in line with Kitagawa's personality and naturally meshes with the plot. I wish that more series would approach fanservice in this wholesame way.

That being said, the show is not an absolute masterpiece. I highly enjoyed the first five episodes, centred around Kitagawa's first cosplay, and the final two ones, which had a more romantic focus. The five episodes in between introduced two more characters that (at least to me) felt a bit tacked on; while not bad, I'm mostly ambivalent about that part.

I very much hope that the second season will come soon and keep up the quality! I really can't think of many shows (both anime and other) that managed to bring a smile to face this easily.

It was a very fun anime to watch and I look forward to the new episode every Sunday but there is just wayyyy too much fan service in some scenes to the point where it is just ridiculous.

After watching the first two episodes, I find it a guilty pleasure. The story is the common concept of a shy socially awkward person becoming friends with a good-looking popular person. The guy is a shy doll-maker and the girl wants to cosplay, so she recruits hm to make costumes for her. There are plenty of opportunities to show her body and for them to get embarrassed. The artwork is good and it has the potential to be very popular.

Goji is extremely talented but lacks self esteem. Kitagawa is extremely beautiful but is also kind and empathic. Throw into the mix their respective obsessions and you have a heart warming tale, sure to make you laugh, and nod sagely at the deeper undercurrent of two kindred souls learning to see that which lovely and wonderfull in each other.

High school student Wakana Gojo is an orphan who is being raised by his grandfather who makes traditional Japanese hina dolls. He works in his grandfather's shop and is learning to make the dolls himself. At school he is shy and doesn't advertise the fact that he is involved with the dolls. One day Marin Kitagawa, an attractive, popular, extrovert, who he rather fancies, learns what he does... he expects to be teased but instead, having seen the doll dresses he makes, she asks him to make her a cosplay costume. He agrees and they become friends and makes more costumes for her; she starts developing feelings for him but will either of them pluck up the courage to tell the other how they feel.

When I started watching this I didn't know what to expect; I certainly didn't quite expect what I got. The hina dolls don't take up too much of the plot; the making of Marin's costumes is far more important. While there is some fan service it isn't offensive as it doesn't feel unjustified. The characters are a lot of fun and the series looks great; especially the costumes Wakana designs. The romance is gently played out in a way that has one rooting for Wakana and Marin; while there are other important female characters the series never feels as though it might stray into the cliché of becoming a harem show. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to any anime fan looking for something sweet, romantic and genuinely amusing.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.