My Dress-Up Darling Season 2

Episode 16

Boy, it sure is convenient that Gojo needs to put together a suit so that Marin can cosplay as a guy just a few days after they met their very first crossplayer! Ignoring how incredibly bizarre and coincidental their school traditions are, it's nice that we have an opportunity for our main cast to follow through on some of the skills they learned last week. This is the first time that a cosplay is being utilized for something outside of a private shoot or a cosplay event. Tying the crafting to something going on in Marin and Gojo's school life is a pretty smart idea, because that means the show is doing what I wanted it to do: blending the cosplay element of the series with Gojo's character development.

Gojo has always been a person who tries to put the needs of other people above his own. He was overworking himself since he was making cosplay, which already takes a significant amount of work; he still needs to practice with his dolls, he needs to help run the shop with his grandfather, take care of his grandfather, and maintain his studies. In some ways, it makes sense that Gojo has gone most of his life without much of a social life because he is probably busier than the average high schooler. I like how Marin seemed to recognize that and take responsibility for her own choice. She didn't want to overwhelm Gojo, so she said she would make the cosplay herself despite recognizing that she was also biting off way more than she could handle.

I wish the show had gone more into Marin's mentality about the situation. We barely get enough time to see her be overwhelmed by taking on such a task. In the context of the show, it makes sense given its emotional payoff and given the fact that it would be unrealistic to have Marin waste time and money trying to put a cosplay together. But this episode weirdly felt like it was only half an episode. The other half was taken up by the show going the extra mile to fully animate scenes from the series that Marin will be cosplaying from. I read the original manga for Dress-Up Darling, and I don't remember these scenes going for nearly as long as the show does them. In some ways, I respect CloverWorks' dedication to the bit, but on the other hand, I feel like I could've skipped them and not missed out on anything. The inspiration for the cosplay isn't the point of this episode.

The episode is about following up on some of the developments that Gojo experienced in episode two. Gojo has finally confronted the fact that people might respect his craft. Just because someone thought his hobbies were creepy doesn't mean that everybody will, so now he's opening himself up more to the possibility that people enjoy his company. This episode was a pretty firm reality check, and I like that his classmates playfully told him off for his borderline self-destructive tendencies. Not only were they completely empathetic and understanding of the fact that he should be focusing on making the cosplay because it's something that only he can do, but they even apologized to him because they also acknowledged that no one can help him with that. Everyone has a role to play during a big community event like a culture festival, and the irony is that the unique skills that Gojo thought made him weird compared to everybody else end up earning him respect. It's beautiful, and I look forward to Gojo calling these classmates his friends.

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