Why Is Anyone Watching This Anime? (My Dress-Up Darling thoughts)

Winter 2022 has brought us a new romantic, slice of life anime series based off of a manga titled My Dress-Up Darling. I didn't really know a thing about it, but one of the people I follow on tumblr was posting about it incessantly while the first four episodes were airing, and from what I saw there, it looked like a wholesome show about an awkward teenage guy befriending a trendy, gyaru-type, popular girl through the world of cosplay. The premise alone wasn't enough to convince me to watch it, but the gifs and screenshots I saw were. The animation looked smooth and realistic and there was something really charming about the character design, so I decided to give the show a try.

The protagonist Gojo Wakana is really quite precious. He's shy and backward and a bit of a push-over. He's the kind of guy to go straight home after school, with no extracurricular interests and no friends. But he's not uninteresting. He actually has a passion for making traditional hina dolls, and as someone who has an interest in doll-making (though I like fashion dolls), I found it easy to relate to him. His interest in dolls makes it hard for him to make friends, but it's not because he's unfriendly. He just doesn't want to get made fun of for his interests.

Enter Kitagawa Marin. She discovers his hobby and accepts him for it. In fact, she thinks it's great that he makes dolls and, in particular, is quite impressed by his sewing abilities. She enlists him to help her create cosplay outfits and he agrees. This earns him his first friend.

Over the course of the show, the two develop feelings for one another, but neither seem to want to reveal this. I think in Gojo's case, he's totally in denial that she could ever reciprocate, still carrying with him the insecurities of having been a total loner for so long. I don't really understand why Kitagawa doesn't confess, since she seems to be really confident, but perhaps she's got some hang-ups of her own.

This probably sounds like a pretty girly show, right? Not that guys couldn't be interested in it, but it is focused on traditionally female hobbies and interests: fashion, make-up, dress-up, etc. And the genre of romantic comedy tends to primarily appeal to women as well. However, if you look at the comment section on Crunchyroll, many of the comments are from so-called "men of culture" who are watching the show for an entirely different reason.

See, My Dress-Up Darling has this funny little quirk about it. It's kind of lewd. There are, especially in the first several episodes, a lot of shots of Kitagawa's breasts or up-skirt shots that reveal her underwear. There are times when she's panting excessively or moaning or sweating in a way that feels almost pornographic. And Gojo reacts to her with furious blushing and sometimes... more. Much of this is implicit, but sometimes it's pretty clear that he's really dealing with trying to repress his carnal desires. It's humorous, yes. But sometimes a bit uncomfortable.

All told, these somewhat sexual scenes or moments probably comprise less than ten percent of the show's run time. So it leaves me wondering why all these "men of culture" watch the show. I mean, they say they're watching because they like the boobs jiggling or whatever, but in reality they're watching twenty plus minutes of romantic comedy and fashion for, at most, a one minute fan service moment. To me, if you're that interested in boobs and butts, why not watch something where that is actually the point. Why waste time on an otherwise very sweet romance?

Would I recommend My Dress-Up Darling? I've watched the first eleven episodes as of this blog post and the final episode will air next week, so obviously I've been engaged enough to keep up with it. But honestly, I don't know if I would recommend it. The "lewd" scenes aren't totally pointless, per se, because they do inform us, at least a little bit, of Gojo's thoughts and his feelings. Sometimes his interactions with Kitagawa in those brief moments help to develop their relationship. Those moments are, in more than one way, revealing. But, sometimes they do feel gratuitous, especially since they could be animated differently to show the audience less and leave more to the imagination. I'd personally rather see more of Gojo's blushing, embarrassed face than Kitagawa's panties. The romance element is so excellent, though, and the intricacies of the costume-making are downright fascinating. I really have fallen in love with the two main characters, so for that reason I wish more people would watch it to talk about how cute they are. So what's my final verdict? If you can get around the occasional panty shots and the close-ups on Kitagawa's cleavage, you'll be in for a really sweet experience. And on the flip side, if you're fine with sitting through twenty two minutes of fluff, you'll be really pleased with a thirty second scene of Kitagawa gasping while her ample bosom heaves in her racy cosplay outfit.