My Dress-Up Darling Season 2

Episode 21

It's very interesting when the high schoolers are acting more emotionally mature and sure of themselves compared to the adults in the room, though there were some moments where I wasn't sure if the show was trying to keep something a secret or if I just wasn't in on the joke. I'm glad the episode highlighted Akira being uncomfortable around Marin. The show doesn't go into detail as to why, because it immediately cuts away from that scene to a different time of day, which is admittedly very awkward. I'm not sure if the show will flash back to that conversation in the hallway so that we, the audience, can get an understanding of why Akira has a problem with Marin, or if Akira just never elaborated on what that problem was. I feel like it's supposed to be the former, but the situation is awkward because I don't know how Gojo is reacting to it.

Gojo has had a lot of character development in the past couple of episodes, but I still feel like he would be distracted if a social situation came up that involved Marin. After all, this woman is going to appear again soon for the cosplay photo shoot, but the fact that this conversation isn't weighing on his mind at all during the entire second half of the episode, when he's just chilling with Marin, feels a little bit weird. I didn't see any concern on his face or any moment of contemplation. I thought that he was going to talk to Marin about Akira not liking her while they were playing the horror game. I do like the joke that this game is apparently way more terrifying than Gojo thinks, and he's probably going to be incredibly caught off guard by it. But even that joke couldn't distract me from the awkward pacing.

What distracted me was the end of this episode, because even if the joke is a little bit forced, it's still very funny. Contriving a situation where Gojo is forced to spend the night is one thing. But the fact that he got tunnel vision thinking about taking energy drinks so he could feel less guilty about spending the night, only for him to not realize that he was literally in the sex toy and condom section of the store, is hilarious to me. The double entendre with him communicating to Marin and Marin slowly breaking down in real time as she's put under the misconception that Gojo wants to sleep with her that night had me on the floor. It's very interesting considering how much Marin has been open about how much she likes Gojo to literally everybody except him. I am very curious about how she would handle an actually intense physical situation where she thinks that he wants to be intimate with her. Does she go along with it, or is she more pure about everything than I initially thought?

Honestly, I'm way more interested in that comedic angle than I am in any potential upcoming drama. The show has never really tried to tackle any interpersonal drama before, so I am curious. Most of the drama and character development in the series has been more internal. Creating a situation where Marin is potentially forced to confront somebody who just straight up doesn't like her could be interesting. I especially like the fact that this episode reintroduces Shinju and Sajuna, with the latter arguably being the only other person that Marin is at odds with. However, the joke is that Marin just takes everything in stride, and Sajuna is way more susceptible to outside influences like her sister than she lets on. I'm not sure if the show is creating a parallel for the sake of foreshadowing or if this is all just a happy coincidence. Not the strongest episode narratively, but I am curious to see what this all builds builds up to.

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My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.