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Hina Dolls See Popularity Spike After My Dress-Up Darling Anime

The Suzuki Dolls traditional doll maker has reported an spike in sales after the My Dress-Up Darling anime's fourth episode premiered on January 29. Suzuki Dolls third-generation doll maker Keisho Suzuki, who serves as the model for My Dress-Up Darling protagonist Wakana Gojō, told Yorozu News that all 300 sets of the company's "Bell's kiss" line of modern-style hina dolls sold out shortly after the episode aired.

"There are a lot of fans who buy the dolls," Suzuki said. He hopes that his work will be attractive and modern enough to spread the appeal of hina dolls.

Approximately a year before manga artist Shinichi Fukuda launched the My Dress-Up Darling manga in January 2018, Suzuki was approached by Fukuda and the publisher to be the model for Gojō. Suzuki guided the artist around the workshop and was interviewed several times in the making of the manga. He approves of the manga's portrayal of doll-making: "I feel like it beautifully depicts the craft."

Suzuki, who has been working as a professional craftsman since he was 26, creates roughly 40,000 dolls per year. His "modern-style" dolls imitate the hairstyles and kimono worn by young people. In order to make the dolls easier to display in today's smaller-sized houses, he also creates them with a compact size. Although he initially encountered skepticism for breaking tradition, the modern-style dolls have been selling well even within the shrinking market for traditional crafts. He hopes that people will come to Iwatsuki City in Saitama Prefecture, which is known as a production hub for hina dolls.

"I want to continue making dolls that people can admire while thinking, 'This is charming enough to feature in an anime,'" he said.

The manga launched in Squre Enix's Young Gangan magazine in January 2018. Square Enix Manga & Books publishes the manga in English, and it describes the story:

Traumatized by a childhood incident with a friend who took exception to his love of traditional dolls, doll-artisan hopeful Wakana Gojō passes his days as a loner, finding solace in the home ec room at his high school. To Wakana, people like beautiful Marin Kitagawa, a trendy girl who's always surrounded by a throng of friends, is practically an alien from another world. But when cheerful Marin--never one to be shy--spots Wakana sewing away one day after school, she barges in with the aim of roping her quiet classmate into her secret hobby: cosplay.

Funimation is streaming the anime as it airs in Japan, and is also streaming an English dub. Crunchyroll is also streaming the English dub.

Source: Yorozu News