“True belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” –Brené Brown

Ahead of Halloween, Wakana investigates options to make Marin’s playboy bunny outfit after the strapless corset continues to slip. After consulting with a clerk at the fabric store, he learns that adding a rigid frame inside the corset will offer it proper support, and there are also options for Marin to cosplay faithfully without succumbing to immodesty. The pair go on a shoot later and join a Halloween party with Marin’s friends, who assume that Wakana and Marin are a couple. After looking after Marin when she develops a cold, Wakana and Marin later attend a cosplay event at an aquarium, where they meet Chitose Amano, a crossdressing cosplayer with deep knowledge on how to play female characters. They learn that despite some of the stigma surrounding his hobby, Chitose decided it was better to be true to himself, bringing Marin to tears. When Wakana and Marin’s school prepare for their culture festival, Wakana’s classmates persuade him to focus wholly on bringing Marin’s cosplay to life, since there’s a crossdressing pageant. Despite his worries about details in the costumes, and his old insecurities about being judged for his Hina doll-making interests, Wakana makes an unparalleled costume accurate to the last detail, and expertly applies Marin’s makeup, impressing his classmates. Together with Marin’s expert performance, their class ends up winning the pageant. When one of Marin’s stylists spot that Marin’s gained weight, Marin goes on a diet and goes on a photoshoot with Wakana after she’d bought a new camera. At a cosplay event, Wakana arranges to meet with cosplayer and prop-maker Akira Ogata, whose prop work had impressed Wakana when Marin had shown him photographs of her cosplay. Despite sharing her enthusiasm, Wakana notices Akira tends to go quiet whenever Marin’s around, and when Chitose, Miyako and Suzuka meet at a café after the cosplay event, it turns out that they’re looking to do a group shoot of a popular game, Coffin. Realising they’re short on members to round out the characters of Coffin, Miyako and Suzuka wonder if anyone might be on hand, and Marin offers to invite Sajuna. Sajuna declines, at least until Shinju and her enthusiasm for horror works compels Sajuna to turn around. Wakana notices Akira feels perturbed whenever she’s around Marin, and later, when the train services go out, Marin persuades Wakana to stay the night. Worried about what could happen, Wakana resolves to stay up and play his way through Coffin, but while he peruses the energy drinks, Marin assumes he’s looking for some performance enhancers and becomes flustered. While the misunderstandings don’t quite come to ahead, Marin realises she’s in love with Wakana and resolves to confess her feelings to him as soon as possible. Later, after Sajuna admits that she’s constrained by her height, and this is why she declines group events, feeling she cannot do taller characters justice and she’ll one day need to give up her interests as adults do. Chitose and Miyako end up showing Sajuna there are ways around this, helping Sajuna to decide to stick around for cosplay. Quite separately, Akira and Wakana finish preparing for the group cosplay event, which turns out to be an unqualified success: in participating, Marin helps Sajuna find her footing and also learns Akira is simply star-struck. Despite her determination, Marin is unable to confess her feelings to Wakana, asking him for a selfie instead. This brings My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season to a close: a continuation of 2022’s My Dress-Up Darling, the second season wastes no time in getting back into its core story, one which has received nearly universal praise for its outcomes and intended direction.

At its heart, My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season presents a compelling tale surrounding the acceptance of self. Building upon the developments from the first season, which introduced Wakana to the world of cosplay and a space where his Hina doll-making prowess allowed him to transfer his skills into a hobby that encourages acceptance and openness, My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season continues to elaborate on how cosplay and by extension, otaku culture, is a space where people can be true to themselves without fear of judgement. When Wakana and Marin meet Chitose, a young man who is fond of cosplaying as female characters, My Dress-Up Darling immediately sets about illustrating the path of someone who came to embrace his own traits: with a slender build, Chitose was regarded by peers as lacking masculinity, but found it natural to cosplay female characters – the renewed confidence this gives him allows Chitose to become noticed in a more positive light, and when a previous girlfriend found his hobby objectionable, Chitose simply dumped her, reasoning he shouldn’t have to change himself to be someone he wasn’t. Wakana himself experiences a surprise when, during his school’s cultural festival, his classmates not only accept, but endorse his skill set: Wakana still finds it difficult to believe his doll-making interests are acceptable, but when he steps up to make Marin’s suit for a cultural festival pageant, his classmates encourage him to put his all into said costume, even expressing awe that Wakana is able to work with such precision. My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season reiterates this message with Akira, whose mother had forcibly discarded her manga while she was still in middle school, and until Akira met fellow anime and manga fans in Suzuka and Miyako during post-secondary, she felt that her world was one where happiness could not exist. Seeing others engaging with the things they liked would help Akira to get into cosplay and discover a new passion, one she could wholeheartedly pursue for her own sake. These chapters share in common themes of acceptance and how in the company of open-minded, supportive people, an individual can shift their thinking after gaining a first-hand glimpse of what their interests mean to others, and how said interests can manifest in a number of ways. Taken together, My Dress-Up Darling continues to accentuate the fact that positivity and acceptance is one of the strongest virtues of any community committed to an activity. In being able to interact with like-minded individuals whose desires are to explore their areas of interest further and share in their experiences, one quickly sees for themselves that they are not alone in their hobbies, and this allows one to grow comfortable with whom they are.

The end of My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season would illustrate this aspect viscerally after Marin manages to persuaded the reluctant Sajuna to join a group cosplay event. Sajuna, a petite cosplayer with a penchant for portraying magical girls well, reveals that she stuck with magical girl characters because her stature precluded her from portraying taller characters in a manner she felt to be authentic, and was deeply dissatisfied with her body’s stature (especially in comparison with her younger sister, Shinju, who is much taller and better endowed). In cosplay, however, creativity allows for even physical constraints to be overcome. Earlier, Chitose had revealed to Marin that it’s possible for even males to convincingly cosplay as female characters with false mammaries, and use of makeup, plus additional aids, allow one to change their facial characteristics. Later, Suzuka reveals that creative use of composition with a camera can completely change the impression a photo conveys – shooting from below eye level, in the absence of reference objects, can make a character feel taller. In this way, My Dress-Up Darling indicates that in a hobby, constraints are merely barriers to overcome, not insurmountable hurdles that stop one’s aspirations outright. With techniques like use of makeup and additional aids, and well-chosen camera angles, it is possible for someone of a smaller stature to play different characters well. Ahead of the group cosplay event, Sajuna is given a first-hand glimpse of this when Suzuka and Miyako help Sajuna cosplay as Black Lobelia, a much taller character, and with Shinju’s own prowess with a camera, a consequence of her knowing Sajuna as sisters would, the day’s event ends in Sajuna realising that, without being untrue to herself, she’s still able to capture the essence of the characters she once felt to be out of reach. This, in turn, gives her the confidence to push forward with the group cosplay event even as she grapples with her own aversions of horror: when asked, Sajuna simply replies that she can’t say no to her younger sister, resolving to support her as best as she can. In this way, My Dress-Up Darling shows how acceptance underlies every hobby. Once Sajuna accepts she can step up despite her height, she resolves to put her best foot forward for Shinju. In being open to creativity and demonstrating a willingness to go the extra mile, Sajuna continues to find merit in continuing with the hobby she’d become well-known for amongst her peers.

Screenshots and Commentary

• When I last watched My Dress-Up Darling, it was the June of 2022, and I’d just settled in after the move. The spring had been a remarkably busy time for me, so I ended up sitting out on most of the shows, but when I caught up with My Dress-Up Darling*, *I was glad to have made the time to watch it. The positive reception had been well-deserved, and I immediately took to the series’ theme of accepting oneself and learning that one’s interests don’t exist in a vacuum. With Marin in his corner, Wakana would come to learn that there’s nothing strange about his passion for Hina doll-making, and his existing skill-set proves invaluable when he agrees to craft costumes for Marin, and later, Sajuna.

• I do remember *My Dress-Up Darling *venturing into ecchi-comedy moments on a few occasions to accentuate how, without the usual reservations, Marin and Wakana end up in moments that may make even married couples blush. This was never to the first season’s detriment, driving comedy and illustrating how Wakana is unaccustomed to female attention. Similarly, Marin initially views Wakana as a friendly and open-minded individual, and is a little more blasé about things like modesty. By the second season, this aspect of *My Dress-Up Darling *was noticeably dialled-back as the series ventured into more thoughtful territory. At the onset, there are still a few moments that put Wakana on his toes, but once the series re-establishes context, it is free to begin exploring its messages more fully.

• The interplay between storytelling and fanservice is one I’ve explored to some extent in the past – rather than engaging in cyclic debates about morality (itself a slippery slope), I reached the conclusion that as a device for grabbing a viewer’s attention and humanising the characters, fanservice is effective so long as it is employed in moderation. Once the viewer’s eyes are on a show, the story can then proceed towards more impactful messages. GochiUsa did this in its first season (and early manga chapters), as did Strike Witches. Once the worlds were established, and the franchises’ reputations were set, the stories were able to explore things that were more meaningful. In My Dress-Up Darling, the reduced fanservice is noticeable, and without embarrassment driving things, the second season gives glimpses into different stories that show how Wakana is not alone in his experiences.

• A series of stories remind Wakana, and viewers, that people have faced disapproval in their hobbies and interest, but in spite of this, found ways to navigate this so they could be true to themselves. Chitose is the first example: a young man in post secondary, Chitose is experienced in cross-dressing as female characters in his cosplay and employs a variety of techniques, from tape and makeup to alter his facial characteristics, to use of an artificial rig to mirror a woman’s chest in order to convincingly become the character he’s cosplaying as. Marin finds herself blown away by how detailed his cosplays are, and Chitose reveals that because of his build, he was always feeling a little lacking until helping a family member model something.

• Feeling it natural, Chitose would embrace cross-dressing cosplay because it bought out his best, and in time, his confidence in his own appearance grew as well. This is why when he reached university and found a girlfriend, he was willing to break up with her when she expressed disgust at his hobby. Chitose’s reasoning is my own: a worthy partner will not judge one for their interest and hobbies, and Chitose remarks that it’d be dishonest if he gave up a part of who he is to satisfy someone else’s wishes. Marin is moved to tears by this, and my respect for Chitose increased. For my part, I practise the hobbies that I do purely because I enjoy them, and because most of these activities are complimentary in nature.

• The significance of Chitose is that he represents someone who’s already seen his trials and found is course forward. For Wakana, even though he exists in a world where people appreciate his skill-set and accept his interests in full, there are moments where memories of his childhood friend rejecting him still weigh on his mind and introduces moments of self-doubt, so having people like Chitose provides an example of how people can thrive and find their way despite having experienced scorn and rejection in the past. Through Chitose’s story, *My Dress-Up Darling *would also delve into details behind cosplay – like photography, there’s a variety of methods, from props to techniques, that allow one to elevate their experience well beyond what people may believe possible.

• When I started my journey, the most pleasant surprise of *My Dress-Up Darling *was Marin herself: sociable, friendly, and attractive, she’s the sort of person who is ideally suited for bringing Wakana’s best self out. However, Marin’s mannerisms are more adorable than sexy, and this side of her accentuates the idea that characters are a great deal deeper than their archetype suggests. Marin herself is counted as a gyaru, someone whose fashion sense and personality is tailored in an exaggeration of what was thought to be popular here in North America during the 80s and 90s. One thing I’ve found respectable in anime is how gyaru are presented as being approachable and kind once one takes the time to know them, similarly to how in North America, there are works that challenge the blonde stereotype of being attractive but lacking in cleverness (when in reality, hair colour and attractiveness do not have any correlation with intelligence).

• Once Chitose’s story concludes, *My Dress-Up Darling *would roll onwards into the culture festival at Marin and Wakana’s school. Beyond the class’s exhibit, there are plans to participate in the school-wide beauty pageant for prestige, and when Wakana wonders how he’ll manage making Marin a tailored suit for the pageant’s theme and help his class out, his reputation precedes him: word has gotten out of his remarkable skills, and his classmates all but beg him to focus on Marin and her cosplay, promising to pick up the slack so everyone wins. This level of teamwork and cooperation was immensely satisfying to watch: for one, is acts as a definitive showing of how Wakana’s peers do not view his Hina doll-making as being strange or off-putting.

• Wakana’s dedication to detail became most apparent when the time had come to put the finishing touches on Marin’s suit, and when he’s about to reach the rainbow rose, a classmate steps up and presents an inexpensive method of making one without needing to purchase one. The details within Marin’s costume, brought to life by a Wakana who’d watched the anime the character was from, and accentuated by Wakana’s precision and skill in applying makeup, means when Marin is ready to walk across the stage, she’s a splitting image of the character she’s cosplaying as. I could not help but smile: despite the pressure on Wakana, he proves himself to be someone who can rise to the occasion in spite of his own doubts, and while this is most visible in his ability to transfer doll-making skills over to cosplay, these traits can be abstracted out to show that once the moment demands it, Wakana will step up to meet Marin’s feelings for him.

• Marin’s ability to act in-character, a consequence of her belief that cosplay means embodying someone else fully, in conjunction with Wakana’s expert craftsmanship, allows their class to take first place in the pageant. During My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season, I noticed that I was moving through episodes at a very high pace: it would seem like I would put an episode on, and within a minute or two of sitting down, the end credits were rolling. While this phenomenon is not necessary for me to judge a work as being excellent, it is sufficient: I attribute this to well-written stories pulling me in and keeping my attention, as well as building up anticipation for what happens next.

• In the aftermath of the culture festival, Wakana’s classmates express their gratitude for his efforts, and in the celebrations that follow, Marin and Wakana step aside to have a moment of quiet. Previously, after the Halloween event, Marin’s friends had wondered if Wakana and Marin were a couple, and Wakana vociferously denied this. Marin, for her part, would find this a bit hurtful, and over time, she comes to spot that she’s head-over-heels for him. Hoping to capture the moment, Marin would ask Wakana to join him in an instant photo booth for a commemorative photo, only for their classmates to show up and deny Marin of this moment. While this is extremely frustrating in most romance stories, *My Dress-Up Darling *ends up employing this classic device creatively: the build-up to a relationship is what makes love stories enjoyable, and setbacks like these serve both as reminders of how things don’t always go smoothly at the onset, as well as helping to pace things.

• *My Dress-Up Darling *deals with the topic of weight gain in an understated fashion: in her line of work, even an extra pound or two is noticeable, and when her manager comments on how Marin looks a little heavier, Marin brushes their remarks off until returning home, where she tries one of the outfits Wakana had made for her. Although the outfit barely fits, the writing’s on the wall now, and Marin becomes disconcerted. It turns out that her snacking habit’s caught up to her. Good eating habits can make a difference: eating snacks or meals close to bedtime causes the body to store the nutrients as adipose. I’ve been around the block long enough to not laugh at Marin – an extra bowl of rice at dinner every so often now causes my weight to climb slightly.

• More so than hitting the gym and increasing my cardio, I’ve found that holding off on the extra rice makes a difference – when I consistently keep my food intake measured and exercise with my usual regularity and vigour, I maintain a trim figure. I imagine this is why *My Dress-Up Darling *only spends a half-episode on the topic: once Marin masters her desire to eat the food that Wakana gives her the same night, her metabolism will kick in and allow her weight to lower (assuming that Marin exercises with her usual regularity). The fact that *My Dress-Up Darling *handles this with grace and clarity shows that weight gain can be viewed in a calm, methodical manner.

• The moment, instead, acts as a segue to Marin exploring a different mode of cosplay, one not dependent on tailored costumes. While never explicitly stated, *My Dress-Up Darling *indicates that even though Marin might not be at her ideal weight, she can still cosplay, speaking to the versatility and inclusivity of the hobby. What follows is something I particularly enjoyed; when Marin invites Wakana to accompany her on a shoot, she sees a chance to give her shiny new digital camera a whirl. Having bought one with her money, Marin ended up going with the Canon EOS M50. In Japan, this entry-level APS-C mirrorless camera is marketed as the Kiss M, and Marin bought it because the M reminded her of her own name. While frivolous-sounding, I remark that I bought the Sony A7 III at the end of 2023 simply because it had the largest discount: at the time, I knew jack all about mirrorless cameras, and it wasn’t until I started learning my way around the A7 III that I realised I was running a professional-level camera.

• I imagine that Marin’s EOS M50 came with the EF-M 14-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens, which is equivalent to a 24-73mm on a full-frame. This gives Marin a respectable standard zoom, one which, while lacking the creamy bokeh available to an f/2.8 zoom lens, is still more than versatile and flexible enough for cosplay photography. Wakana marvels at what the camera can do: for taking photos of a still subject at mid to close range, the M50 and its 143 focus points, and a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000s, is more than enough. Higher-end bodies, with focus points, higher ISO and faster shutters, ares usually intended for highly specific applications, like capturing birds in flight or an athlete mid-motion. For most hobbyist photographers, there is no need to purchase flagship camera bodies: even entry level bodies and good glass will take excellent photos. Similarly, while f/3.5 does not produce the best bokeh, at sufficient distances, shooting wide-open will still yield satisfactory results.

• When it comes to cosplay photography, I prefer the 24-40mm range for full body shots, and 70mm is adequate for portraiture. My general purpose do-everything lens is a 20-70mm f/4, which, while not offering the best bokeh, was more than enough for most cosplay applications. For more specific scenarios, I may bring out my 40mm f/2.5, but for the most part, the 20-70mm has quickly become my workhorse lens. *My Dress-Up Darling *does an excellent job of presenting facts about cosplay photography, especially in regard to composition: having the sharpest, fastest G-Master lenses on the market won’t save a cosplay photo if one does not know what story they want to tell, but an average camera, with slower glass lacking the coveted corner-to-corner sharpness, can still say something profound in capable hands.

• Suzuka explains that depending on what angle one shoots from, they can make a subject appear taller or shorter, and together with the elevation a photo is taken, different facets of a cosplayer can be highlighted. At Otafest earlier this year, I shot conventional photos of cosplayers, of the sort that one would expect a casual photographer to take. An experienced cosplay photographer, on the other hand, would know their subject well and the character they’re cosplaying as, and as such, would be able to shoot from the angles and positions that bring out the best in the cosplayer. Cosplay photography is fun, and for me, I find that one of the big pluses is that the cosplayers pose themselves, leaving me to only ask them to turn slightly to improve the play of lighting where necessary, whereas when doing studio photography and portraits, I may need to provide more specific instructions on how a subject should position themselves.

• With the knowledge I picked up from doing portraiture, I am rather looking forwards to returning to Otafest 2026 and trying my hand at improving my composition. Back in My Dress-Up Darling, Wakana has a meet-up with Akira: ever since Marin showed him her work, Wakana found himself impressed enough to request an in-person conversation, and Wakana’s messages mirror that of the excited admirer who wishes to hone his own craft. Seeing Wakana in his element, without fear of judgement, was an excellent show of his growth – when interacting with people who share his interests, Wakana’s enthusiasm is fully visible. This is a far cry from the world he’d known when his childhood friend permanently rejected him for “playing with dolls”, and given Wakana’s growth, I would very much like to see Wakana meeting up with her again in the future, but this time, with Marin standing beside him to show that Wakana’s come to accept himself.

• I imagine that this is something that will come later in My Dress-Up Darling* – *for the present, after meeting up with Akira, Suzuka and Miyako, it turns out the older cosplayers had a special request in mind, a photoshoot for the game Coffin, which is all the rage in My Dress-Up Darling. When they realise they’re short a few cosplayers, Marin calls Sajuna, who immediately rejects the invitation, at least until Shinju overhears her and expresses unbridled enthusiasm. Despite her own reservations, Sajuna calls Marin to indicate she’s had a change of heart. Even without Sajuna openly saying so, she clearly dotes on her younger sister and would do everything in her power to make Shinju happy. This thought is very heart-warming, one that I completely relate to as an older sibling.

• Although Shinju’s stature and bust size was used for mild fanservice back in My Dress-Up Darling‘s first season, the second season dispenses with this and has her playing a more active role. Shinju was previously presented as being reserved and somewhat shy until cameras and photography come up, and here in the second season, when *Coffin *is mentioned, Shinju lights up like a Christmas tree. Shinju is a big fan of horror, and when the topic comes up, she becomes very animated and lively, bringing to mind Non Non Biyori‘s Hotaru Ichijō when her favourite anime was mentioned. Seeing this side of Shinju was touching and accentuates the idea that when people are in their element, one gains a better measure of who they are: the shy, quiet Shinju of the first season is the self she presents to the world, but her real self is someone with a passion for horror.

• In the end, after Sajuna agrees to join the group cosplay event, the not-so-subtle topic of Akira’s coldness around Marin becomes the elephant in the room: when Marin excuses herself to use the facilities, Akira becomes more enthusiastic and talkative. Because *My Dress-Up Darling did not explore why this was the case, I imagine that anime viewers would’ve had a heck of a time speculating on what was going on. The actual reason, revealed later, is in keeping with the tone and messages of My Dress-Up Darling, *but at this point, things were sufficiently well-written that the question lingered on my mind even as preparations for the group cosplay event began.

• One of my favourite moments in My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season came when a train service outage forces Wakana to overnight at Marin’s place. Worried about the implications, Wakana purchases an energy drink and plans to pull an all-nighter so he can say he didn’t sleep at Marin’s place. Quite separately, Marin sees Wakana mulling over something at the store and assume she’s about to get laid. Because viewers already know Wakana’s intentions and have a measure of his character, what follows is a very tasteful and respectful bit of dramatic irony, as Marin becomes increasingly flustered around Wakana. The tension is released when Marin wakes up the next morning and sees Wakana exhausted, but for viewers, the faintest hint of impatience can be felt now, too, as one begins to root for Marin to step up and seize the moment.

• Coffin‘s incorporation into *My Dress-Up Darling *was a stroke of brilliance: it’s a deeply haunting and disturbing game about the ramifications of degrading mental health resulting from trauma, and despite being meant to be a game in-story, thought clearly went into designing enough of the game so viewers could also understand why Wakana and Sajuna might be unsettled by it. It’s certainly not the kind of game I’d play – the thought of dismembering someone and turning them into the evening meal is unsettling, and while the gore itself is already nauseating, the real horror comes from thinking about the circumstances that push the human mind into such depravity, and that people could treat one another so despicably at all. Here, I remark that, like Sajuna, I am very adverse to things like this, despite having no problem with seeing the DOOM Slayer ripping the heart out of a Mancubus and shoving said heart down its mouth, or a Space Marine cutting a Tyranid’s innards apart with a Chainsword.

• I imagine the gap lies in control: if I’m controlling the violence, I feel I can master it, and there’s no personal component since it’s just another kill en route to an objective. Conversely, if all I can do is watch, it feels like I’m intruding on something that shouldn’t be seen, in a moment where the perpetrator wants to inflict suffering in equal measure to what they felt like they experienced. In Wakana’s place, I’d crap bricks if asked to play Coffin: there is no way for me to score headshots, and my saves would arbitrarily vanish. Different people have different reasons for having aversions to violence and horror, but despite her own dislike of the genre, it is clear that Sajuna loves her sister more than she fears gore: here, she’s preparing a custom wig for Shinju and has pulled out all the stops to create something authentic to Coffin. Shinju is grateful and overjoyed Sajuna is participating after all, speaking to the bonds between the two sisters.

• Adjacent to the brilliance that is Coffin, Marin herself falls into depression when she realises she’s in love with Wakana and appears to keep blowing chances to make her feelings known to him. Having seen the confident, forward and direct Marin, this side of her character was just as enjoyable to see as Shinju’s excited fan-girl side, acting as a reminder of how people are more nuanced and multi-dimensional than initial impressions suggest. For Marin, these feelings are new, and while she knows she wants to act on her love for Wakana, what bothers her most is how she’s become more self-conscious and indecisive. This is a natural part of falling in love, but because it’s a new experience, Marin becomes quite bothered.

• However, what I particularly liked was how, rather than being immobilised, Marin decides to step up and make her feelings known. This stands in stark contrast with stories where characters may try to bury their feelings and keep the status quo: for viewers, the primary aim of a love story is to see what happens after feelings are made known, and in this area, *My Dress-Up Darling *is smartly-paced, using a combination of timing and circumstance to carefully control when milestones happen so that the growth in Wakana and Marin’s relationship feels as natural as possible.

• Amidst My Dress-Up Darling‘s excellent portrayal of cosplay and ancillary activities like prop-making and photography, viewers might be forgiven in feeling that romance takes a back seat on some occasions. Besides being present to regulate pacing, the presence of cosplay also acts as a ready-made distractor for those moments where uncertain feelings become overwhelming. Marin, for her part, resolves to do everything she can to make the group cosplay a success and attempt a kokuhaku once the event is over. This leaves *My Dress-Up Darling *to transition over to its penultimate chapter, which deals with Sajuna and her contemplation of leaving cosplay owing to her petite stature and the thought that there will come a time when she may “outgrow” the hobby.

• Sajuna’s doubts are only natural: she’s clearly committed to her passion and values accuracy, so when she sees taller and better-endowed characters, Sajuna’s first thought is that she lacks the figure to bring these characters to life in a way she’s satisfied with. Far from showing her insecurity, Sajuna’s thoughts mirror a desire to do the best she can, and this is why she’s also a little jealous of Shinju and her figure – Shinju’s height and bust allows her to cosplay as “cooler” characters of the sort Sajuna would’ve liked to replicate. It is here that *My Dress-Up Darling *really shines: having already established that a make can effectively cosplay female characters with the right implements with Chitose, this gives viewers confidence that for Sajuna, an equivalent solution can be found.

• While it is established that Sajuna is participating purely to make Shinju happy, *My Dress-Up Darling *reveals that Shinju is appreciative of Sajuna’s efforts, too. Despite the gaps in their appearance, the sisters get along as well as one can hope. Thus, to help Sanjuna out, Shinju concocted a plan that involves Miyako and Suzuka trying out a cosplay as a taller character. Although Sajuna is skeptical and threatens to leave when she finds out what’s going down, Miyako ends up explaining that one’s body is not a limiting factor in cosplay. This moment accentuates how cosplay is an inclusive hobby, illustrates how creativity and technique can overcome even constraints of the body.

• As it turns out, Miyako has a similarly slim figure as Sajuna, and she uses a variety of techniques to convincingly play characters with larger chests. Sajuna is impressed, having never thought of employing such techniques to broaden her horizons. The moment struck a chord for me because it illustrates how a little bit of mentorship can go a long way in furthering one’s hobby – in any given area, there’s always new concepts and technique from others to learn, and doing things alone means one closes themselves to shared knowledge and experiences. For participating in this day’s events, no matter how begrudgingly, Sajuna learns there are depths to cosplay even she hasn’t explored yet, and this would ultimately convince her to continue on and help in the group cosplay event.

• Quite separately, while making props with Wakana, Akira reveals how as a middle school student, her mother forcibly discarded her manga and forced her to adopt a more “mature” mindset. However, Akira’s interest endured, and when her curiosity with a gashapon machine gets the better of her, she quickly learns that peers in her class share her interest in anime and manga. Since then, Akira took up cosplay and prop-making, elated she was able to have such experiences anew with people who respect, rather than judge, her passions. In conjunction with Sajuna’s photoshoot, which reveals that even with her petite frame, the right implements and camera techniques can completely override this, My Dress-Up Darling presents two messages: that age is no constraint on one’s interests, and the judgement of others certainly should not have any bearing on what one chooses to enjoy.

• In fact, when asked, Miyako indicates that adulthood is when one is able to enjoy their hobbies to the fullest. As an anime fan in university, I was limited to watching shows and discussing them, but in the present day, attending the local anime convention as a volunteer and event photographer, and purchasing things like scale figures and artbooks is possible precisely because I’ve got a little bit of extra (after expenses and investments) for these things. This wouldn’t have been possible for the me a decade earlier, and here, I admit that as a university student, I was a touch envious of people whose otaku rooms were featured on Danny Choo’s blogs because they represented a sort of financial freedom I aspired to have. The idea of a hobby being “childish” is a load of poppycock concocted by judgemental individuals who themselves fear judgement or feel like they missed out, and as a case in point, I’ve seen adult Lego fans who are deeply immersed in their hobby without compromising their obligations or responsibilities.

• I certainly wouldn’t presume to look down on anyone for their hobbies or how they choose to enjoy things. My Dress-Up Darling‘s messaging is common knowledge amongst younger people, who are much more accepting of others, but I remark that even within the realm of anime, there was a time where it was in vogue to disparage and insult people for enjoying things like K-On!. In the present, accessibility and exposure means that individuals who ran blogs like Cry More, Baka-Raptor and Behind the Nihon Review have gone the way of the dodo, definitively illustrating that building content around judging others and negativity is predestined to failure. As recently as fifteen years ago, anime like My Dress-Up Darling would’ve sparked outrage amongst that subset of the community: in challenging the worldview that some anime genres are “better” than others and promoting messages of coexistence would’ve been seen as an existential threat to bloggers of old, as they’d built their branding and reputation around tearing others down.

• Having an anime outright showing viewers that it’s important to accept others and allow them to enjoy things in their own manner of choosing nowadays feels intuitive, and one of the joys about community is seeing how many different ways people approach a given hobby. For instance, when Suzuka praises Shinju for taking professional quality photos of Sajuna, photos that bring out the best in Sajuna and her cosplay, Shinju replies that it’s something she enjoys doing: she knows Sajuna better than anyone else and is able to share this love of Sajuna and her work with the world. The camera Shinju uses is a DSLR, and in the first season, it was a generic camera with what appears to be a standard zoom – I wasn’t able to identify which brand or make it was because it takes design cues from the Sony Alpha series (multiple knobs on the top of the body) but lacks the distinct bronze mount ring. Returning to My Dress-Up Darling‘s first season, I can now verify that Shinju knows what she’s doing, and the combination of working technical knowledge, plus intimate knowledge of how to best capture Sajuna, makes Shinju’s photos shine.

• When My Dress-Up Darling‘s first season aired back in 2022, I hadn’t had the slightest clue of how to operate a camera, but nowadays, I’m confident in handling even a Canon or Nikon for cosplay. For Sajuna, the day’s activities end up being fruitful – seeing older cosplayers and hearing Shinju’s utmost admiration for her convinces Sajuna that there is merit in continuing with cosplay, after all. With Sajuna back in the game, the group cosplay event is now ready to roll: the cosplayers are ready, with their store-bought nun costumes, and so are the props that Wakana and Akira have made. The final act to My Dress-Up Darling is set around this event, which resolves the lingering tension that had built up between Marin and Akira.

• A moment of tension results from Wakana preparing to apply Marin’s makeup: although Marin had resolved herself to ask Wakana out after the day’s events, even just being close to him causes her heart to skip a few beats. Seeing this development so close to the end of My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season, combined with the positive reception and a general desire to see Marin and Wakana’s relationship grow, could result in a third season being produced. Given that it’s been three years since the first season, and assuming similar timelines, a third season of My Dress-Up Darling could come out by 2028.

• Even though the cosplayers are using store-bought costumes, the use of props, lighting and camera angles would ultimately create a highly convincing shoot that brings the world of Coffin to life, perhaps a little too well. The sheer horror of what happens in the game is balanced by the fact that viewers are able to see the preparation that went into the shoot: admiration and respect for the creative process helps to keep things in perspective, and this is why for Wakana, Shinju, Marin, Miyako and Suzuka, the shoot itself is especially enjoyable. For my part, this is why I’ve got a fondness for reading and watching the behind-the-scenes segments for films: well-written stories evoke especially powerful emotions, but understanding the creative direction behind a movie also allows me to see how scenes are crafted to evoke particular emotions.

• As it was, however, one of the best aspects about Coffin within the context of My Dress-Up Darling is how viewers are only given glimpses of the story, and this allows the mind to fill in the gaps, potentially creating an even more poignatn and disturbing horror than My Dress-Up Darling‘s author had intended. In the end, the cosplay event goes smoothly, and even Sajuna, adverse to gore and horror, manages to get through the shoot for Shinju’s sake, although the suppressed revulsion from seeing how lifelike the props are causes her to faint once the shoot is done. Quite separately, Marin learns that Akira is just a big fan of hers and is star-struck, so she tried to suppress her excitement, leading her to exude a gloomy tenour. When Akira expresses her joy, she’s reduced to a screaming mess. I don’t believe I’ve got anyone I hold in that regard, but in the past, I’ve found that I can manage my excitement well enough.

• The cosplay piece to My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season concludes on a solid note, and this leaves the finale’s remaining minutes to portray the elephant in the room: Marin’s attempt at a kokuhaku with Wakana. Nerves get the better of her, but she ends up asking for a selfie. Recalling how Marin had wanted one since the culture festival ended, the moment shows yet another slower, but still-satisfying outcome for Marin, one that hints at how even decisive, strong-minded individuals who know what they desire can sometimes have trouble expressing thus. Understanding My Dress-Up Darling‘s intentions means that the conclusions here are hardly disappointing and in fact, do much to set the stage for a continuation.

• With this, I’ve now caught up to My Dress-Up Darling and, like its predecessor, the second season was an excellent story that I thoroughly enjoyed (an A+, or a 9.5 of 10). I admit here that even with the extended format, I had difficulty in determining what to write for: there’s a great deal of relevant topics covered in My Dress-Up Darling, enough that an episodic review of this series would be feasible. There are many things that my review of My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season does not cover at all, and for this, my recommendation is getting out there and seeing what other anime bloggers have to say. I may not necessarily agree with every conclusion or observation, but the plus about having other perspectives is that one is given multiple angles to approach a work with, and readers may just end up synthesising what several different bloggers write into a new perspective that augments their appreciation of the show in novel and meaningful ways.

While My Dress-Up Darling is a love letter to cosplay and the anime community as a whole, a story that empathetically encourages people to be true to themselves and pay no mind to their detractors, the original Japanese title, “The Dress-Up Doll Falls In Love”, had created no illusions that there’d be a love story. In this area, the second season delivers: whereas the first season had established the characters and premise, the second season of My Dress-Up Darling begins exploring the natural relationship that develops as a result of Marin and Wakana spending more time together. Cosplay ends up becoming a fantastic backdrop for this: in order to become someone else in an authentic and compelling fashion, one must first understand themselves, and this is precisely what My Dress-Up Darling ends up doing: Marin must put her faith in Wakana, who in turn studies both Marin and her favourite shows to best determine how to bring out the best in Marin and the character she will cosplay as. Having ventured so thoroughly into the mindset and thoughts of the others, Marin and Wakana become extremely close, seeing one another both when they’re at their best (Wakana when he’s creating, and Marin when she’s bringing a character to life through her cosplay), and when they’re down (Wakana bringing himself to exhaustion to complete his goals, and Marin’s depression when she gains a few pound, for instance). In this way, My Dress-Up Darling is able to bypass the inconvenient bit of courtship known as dating – allowing Wakana and Marin to see one another when they’re vulnerable, or when they’re radiant, gives the pair a full view of the other, and this creates a scenario where falling in love is not only natural, but inevitable. While My Dress-Up Darling‘s second season has Marin getting a little ahead of herself at a few moments, her feelings are not unexpected or out of place: a healthy relationship is one where both partners bring out the best in one another, and My Dress-Up Darling plainly illustrates how a chance encounter, one that would allow Wakana and Marin to synergise, sets in motion a story that is highly touching both from a fandom and interpersonal perspective.