Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru

"A popular girl who's an otaku and a guy who likes dressing up dolls!" "Alright, characters are done, now we just need a comedy bit.." "How about, girl is completely clueless how sexy she is, and that makes things very difficult for the guy!" "Perfect. Well that's it for the writing, now we'll just get someone to animate it real nice and we'll have a highly overrated show on our hands!" ^ the creation of this show, probably. The MC's each get their one trait, that trait is introduced and all emotional trauma from it is laid bare and resolved within the first 2 episodes. Then it's just that fan-servicey 'it's funny cause she's clueless and he has to try so hard to restrain himself' bit, over and over and over again. Astonishingly one-dimensional and repetitive. But hey, if you like well-drawn boobies and your time is absolutely worthless, go for it.

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru is the textbook definition of waifu bait, self-insert, perfect ideal girl anime. There is nothing much going on for the plot other than to deliver more dates with Marin for self-inserting pleasure. Gojo meets Marin, who is a beautiful girl with a passion for cosplay. They befriended and Gojo becomes Marin's personal tailor, making different cosplay dresses for her. Marin's character is made to be flawless and the most perfectly imaginable waifu that will appeal to a wide audience, and she falls head over heels for the MC (of course). Let me set this straight, I am not trying to say that having a likable and flawless character is a bad thing, but when it comes to the story, a perfect character can still be put through tribulations or dilemmas that will test the resilience of their values. This show has none of it. The story centers around the relationship between Marin and Gojo and not much goes on other than delivering wholesome sweet moments with Marin. There is no character development and the relationship with Marin stays the same for 13 episodes. Every episode mimics going on a date with Marin, and the plot exists to solely enable that. It is perfect for viewing pleasure and to self-insert into Gojo, but there is barely any drama or depth to the plot to form a compelling story. After finishing the series, Marin is a character that I completely do not feel any emotional connection towards because the plot has never allowed it to happen.

I get why people would like this show on a fundamental level. In concept, it fulfills a kind of niche where our main protagonist has a personality, an interest, and he's not reactive to the story... except when he is. Gojo effectively encapsulates the "outcast" persona of most pre-2010's anime fan, in that their niche interest is widely viewed as "childish" or "unmanly" by the general populace. It's not until our titular "doll" character Marin accidentally happens upon him in the sewing club's room that the true plot device kicks in. I think the main issue that I have with this show is that nothing of consequence happens. Gojo never almost fails at anything. He never experiences any side effects of over-working himself or putting too many tasks before himself. His grandfather is the only person in his circle who suffers any consequences, and that's mostly a gag that builds on itself way too often. How many times can a "character misunderstands a situation and has it explained to them only after something with consequences happens" trope be used before it stops being funny? This show will answer that question! The sound design is fine, along the same lines as other romcom/SoL series. I don't think there is much room in the source material to really put forward a solid OST album, and I'm honestly not disappointed about it. If the show offered more in terms of content to base a track or two around, I would be more annoyed. The relationship is pretty much standard fair. A mismatched pair discover feelings for each other over the course of a season/series, suck at confessing, and then by the end, they somehow figure out how to say what they need to to each other. I honestly can't stand that kind of slow burn. It's why the relationships in Bunnygirl-Senpai and Monogatari feel more natural. In those shows, the main pair are conscious of each other's feelings and over time find more reasons to stay together. In this show, Marin is sure she loves Gojo, and they both know he's a loner, so it's a failure of the writer for not doing the obvious. We even have a big-breasted minor who looks more like a high-schooler. Yes, that happens. And what's her dream cosplay? To play a guy. Uh, okay. I'm alright with all forms of cosplay, but who was this character supposed to be for? lolicons with a fixation on little girls with oversized chests? Dudes who are into women who look and act like little girls? People who like to cosplay characters not of their gender? All 3 at once? Overall, the show is just meh. It doesn't even earn its "m", and just manages to be little more than an "eh."

My Dress Up Darling kept reminding me of Welcome To The N.H.K., and no, Misaki is not coming, and neither is Kitagawa. Cloverworks has really opened up my eyes to how much of a shameless studio it can be. The viewers can't pretend that this studio does not know what it is doing with it's foot obsessed pandering to sick fetishes such as in Akebi's Sailor Uniform, a boring girls doing boring things series. All you need to do is see the type of discussions that come up and you'll see the degeneracy everywhere. Besides the beach and abandoned hospital episodes, this series did almost nothing for me. Gojo is more stale than bread besides just being your typical nice guy that is obviously supposed to be the viewer. He allows himself to get used like a tool by this girl with high cholesterol who is beyond unrealistic. It sounds comical to expect realism in anime, and yet this series went out of its way to push that as far as it could. At some point, a love triangle was introduced that went nowhere, and there are girls with grown up bodies that are supposed to be in middle school. Everyone knows why this got so popular. The fan service is the only thing this series excels in when it's not choppy, and the only thing most of the viewers really care about. It will be remembered only or the countless lewd art it has inspired. A great series has the ability to get you interested in something you know nothing about if it executes it in a fascinating enough way. Initial D did it with street racing, Ashita no Joe did it with boxing, and Ping Pong the Animation with said sport. This series focuses on cosplaying, and though I have always been open to look into it, this series didn't make it feel interesting enough. What annoys me about romance anime is the constant dragging of the love between the main characters for the sake of more content and money making. This series had great moments where they could just confess, and yet it felt the need to toss away potentially good moments for the sake of dragging it on. That's why I can appreciate romantic comedies such as Kare Kano that did it outright from the start and went on from there, at least until that series destroyed itself and fell apart towards the last 2 episodes after Anno left. Kitagawa is a fascinating character in how much reality gets stretched for her. Somehow, someway, no one was pursuing her until she went into Gojou's life and began giving him a more exciting way to live. Somehow, someway, she has horrifying eating habits but doesn't gain weight. All her imperfections and ridiculous traits are unrealistically glossed over as the "perfect woman." I find it hard to believe how innocent she makes herself appear to look considering she is into all those perverted games. And that smile creeps me out. This series ultimately reminds me of the death of consciousness in anime and anime viewers. This decline, generation by generation, in overall human consciousness, is getting more and more noticeable, and frightening. I am not saying that an anime must be "deep" to be good, as anyone can see in my review of Rusted Armors which I praised despite it's flaws. As I finished this, it didn't even get a strong ending in the last episode because what happened in the end doesn't even matter. I think that if this story ended with these 12 episodes and got to the point it would have been better.

The main problem in this anime are the main characters. The author decided to create a stupid and naive girl who is licentious at the same time. Marin is always provoking Gojou in the most lecherous ways, and yet, the viewer is supposed to believe this all happens by aciddent and she doesn't really mean it. This is not only farcical, but the fact it keeps happening over and over again until the end makes it tiresome as well. And of course, these ludicrous sketches reach its zenith by the end of the story in the most imbecilic scene the author could think of. This setting indicates the lack of effort by the author, it's clear they are not even trying to make endearing characters and a solid story, but rather present some scenes that might grab the attention of the viewer for one reason or another. How the plot reaches this scenes is unimportant and the most moronic development is deployed aplenty. Another pivotal problem is the development of the romance between marin and gojou. Marin trusts Gojou from the onset and gets close to him fast without any meaningful development. If that's the case, you would assume she would be like that with anyone else too, and yet the story wants you to believe she is only like that with Goujou and is not interested on anyone else. On the other hand, we have Goujou who is supposed to be an insecure and callow boy, who feels guilty about having naughty thoughts about his friend. The problem is there's a limit to keep this motif acceptable and the show crosses this limit with the absurd and contrived situations the characters find themselves in repeatedly. A good point of the anime is the animation. Cloverworks usually produces top-notch animation quality and we can see it again here. The characters' movements and the colours are beautiful. As for the sound, the ending song is great, but other than that it's forgettable. Another good point is Inui Sajuna, who is the only likeable character in the story, but didn't have enough screentime to salvage it. It's also worth mentioning the superb work of Tanezaki Atsumi herein once again. Ketsuron, a low effort attempt at a romance, trying hard to appeal to the viewer fantasies without any attentions to development or setting. Its only selling points being the production value, which is not sufficient to justify its existence.

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru, or My Dress-Up Darling is a standard romantic comedy anime that happens to have a little bit more than its fair share of wish fulfillment. This admittedly makes it SO much better that it otherwise would have turned to be. It manages to be extremely trope-y in its situations, yet adverse to following through with those tropes with its fantastically unpredictable character motives and decisions. Taking a look at all of the other characters in the series, though they don't get a lot of screen time (which is primarily saved for our main pair), they're all thoroughly enjoyable and add to the overall charm of the work. The outgoing and popular deuteragonist, Kitagawa Marin, managed to take the entire internet by storm this season with her debut and it's completely reasonable, given how much of a breath of fresh air her entire character is. As a show revolving around the art of cosplay, this anime manages to be very sweet while maintaining the fanservice that one would expect from something of this beat. Additionally, the amount of care put into being true to the trade is phenomenal. You know something did it right when you are entranced by what may as well have otherwise been an irrelevant hobby mentioned in the anime. On the topic of care put into the production, My Dress-Up Darling has a production value that trounces basically every slice of life anime I've ever seen. A chill soundtrack paired with stunning visuals perfectly suited to depict a colorful city life add unspoken volumes to the whole. I also should mention that in depicting the fictional anime/games that Marin chooses to cosplay characters from, Cloverworks went ALL OUT in depicting them with perfect sakgua and completely new artstyles. Keep in mind that these are fictional pieces of fiction. They don't even exist, and this much attention to detail was put into their synthesis. Unfortunately, it looks like it'll be quite a while before any kind of anime continuation due to the new-ish source material's progress. Until then, I highly recommend the manga for those that enjoyed the anime!

It's a pretty standard rom-com with a lot of wish fulfillment. Nothing too special. Not terrible, not amazing, pretty average. Definitely much worse anime out there in this genre, but it's no masterpiece either. At the start of the series, Gojo (the protagonist) might as well be offered pussy on a silver platter but has to be dragged kicking and screaming by Marin into actually doing stuff. Gojo doesn't really develop or improve his charisma or his social anxiety throughout the series which is a bit annoying but oh well. That being said Gojo is a pretty unique rom-com protagonist with his interests being something other than the standard otaku, which is pretty cool. The series does go in-depth with what it is fundamentally about (cosplaying) which is good writing. Later in the series, though Gojo's sewing kinda gets offscreened, which fair enough, watching someone sew might not be the most exciting thing but it just speaks to a shoddy premise in my opinion because at that point the show just becomes reduced to showcasing cute girls in cute costumes, and the dialogue and character interactions between Gojo and the characters he meets.

almost a year later, I’m editing this review because my view and opinion seemed unclear. hope this re write helps! /btw I only watched until about episode 4 or 6 season 1) not even 2 episodes in and your hit with fan service, basically right as the characters meet. now my whole review wouldn’t have been built around the fact that this anime had fan service if the two main characters (Gojo and Marin) weren’t sexualized. there’s a difference between fan service and flat out sexualizing a character that is canonically a minor (Marin and Gojo are 15 YEARS OLD.) honestly it’s disgusting how comfortable these watchers are, that are fine with the creators of the show hinting that Marin has (adult activities) especially at her age. the main characters’s personality and growth is even clouded by the sexualizing that this fandom/show paints as fan service. this isn’t something that should be painted as “for a teen girl to relate!!” when Marin “equips” (female chest) its flat out inappropriate for a minor character to be written like that. overall would absolutely NOT recommend this series. 🌟 thanks for the read

Enough is enough. I'm reading all the 3 and 4 rating reviews here about this anime, and each of these reviews in my opinion reveals more about the reviewer than it does about the show. They all use terms like "waifu bait" "incel", "simp" and other unflattering terms that reveal exactly how much the reviewer is obsessed with evaluating other human beings based on their APPEARANCE and NOT their personality or character. Don't be that person. So what if the female lead is beautiful? So what if the male lead appears plain or uninteresting to you? Did you happen to notice that the male lead has something he is passionate about, and he has taken great pains to develop a skill to the point where he could be compared to professionals? Wakana can sew and make clothes like he's a contestant on Project Runway, can you? When was the last time you dedicated yourself to something, not missing a day of practice, and was able to make others happy by demonstrating your skill? Has the quality and character of human beings in our time degraded to the point where the main themes just go woosh over your heads? Maybe you're not into cosplay; as it happens, I'm not either. Does that give you the right to look down on others because of their hobby? Obviously, there are people in the world who take this very seriously. I think it just goes to show how little life experience these reviewers have that they are letting their glaring insecurity warp their experience and so they seek to ruin the experience for others. From my point of view, I have seen many, many beautiful women choose a man to be with not because they were handsome, cool, or rich. No, they might choose a man because he's funny, because he's caring, because he UNDERSTANDS her, or because they just click. Just because you haven't experienced this *your* life, doesn't mean this should apply to everyone. Maybe girls don't like you because you are a superficial prick. We could reverse the genders and say the same thing. Stop judging people just by the cover. It really is what's inside that matters, and I know it's a cliché to write that, but if you were to actually GROW UP you would realize how true this is. A relationship based purely on physical attraction won't go the distance. If you are willing to treat women with respect and dignity, you are not a "simp." A man who doesn't work out constantly or have a beautiful face is not automatically an "incel." Maybe he just can't be bothered because he is working towards a serious long term goal, and not obsessed with what his peers think about him at school. A women is not a fantasy just because she happens to be beautiful. My wife is very beautiful woman but she's also talented, has a career, is a great mom, and her character is outstanding. Certainly, she is not consumed by her insecurity to such a degree she has to let physical attractiveness guide all her decisions. So after all my ranting, what is Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru really about? I believe it's about defying stereotypes and tropes to reveal what we SHOULD be concerned about in a romance. Does the other person understand what we're into? Even if they don't like exactly the same things, do they at least show interest in us a HUMAN BEING, and not just our body or what we can do for them? Wakana wants to paint these very stylized traditional Japanese dolls. Marin wants to be an amazing cosplayer because she loves anime. May I ask, what is so unrealistic about Marin? I've seen pictures of talented cosplayers on the internet, and many of them happen to be beautiful women. Why is there all this hate for Marin? Maybe you, dear reviewer, just need to get laid so you can relax about it. They have a lovely relationship which actually develops, they show interest in each others lives, they slowly open up about things they've been through. These are exactly the things I look for in a good romance. I don't know what show these other reviewers were watching, but Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru is great. I recommend it, it's not awesome in a life-altering way, but it's entertaining, heartwarming, and is NOT ecchi for ecchi's sake as some other reviewers have claimed. In fact, I would go so far to say that it nails that awkward sexual tension you feel around someone you share mutual attraction with when you first start seeing each other. Wakana measuring Marin for a fitting is an excellent example. But I suppose if you're a virgin locked up in your parent's basement, maybe this show would just make you angry or depressed. But must you come broadcast your frustration for everyone to see? Let's be happy for people who are happy instead.

The show it self to me isn’t special. I can’t blame the show it self since romcoms are very predictable and the art style looks very good but I really didn’t care about most of the characters, hell I don’t think I liked a single one except maybe the grandpa except he only shows up for like a quarter of the series. Gojo (i think that’s his name only seen the show twice and that was a while ago) is just bland and boring. And he acts like he’s an elementary school kid. Also the show isn’t really funny, half of the jokes are just boobs and ass. You could say this show isn’t for me but to me this show could have been way better

This show has caused me irreversible brain damage. I wanted to drop the show so many times but I stayed with it hoping that I could at least deter one person, save one at least one person from watching this. My dress up darling has disgraced the romance genre with tasteless fanservice. The male mc literally cannot form sentences without stuttering. I want to bash my head in every time she talks. Kitagawa might be hot, but she is the most unrealistic girl I have ever seen in anime, and that's saying something. Episode 2 of this anime might be the worst thing I have ever seen. There are tons of mindblowingly braindead moments in this show. Fanservice is excessive, the female and male MC's are dumb and dumber, and there is no plot. Plus the cosplaying stuff was hella boring and incel, even though the premise was good. It got watchable towards the end but yikes, this is waifu-bait. This show is only enjoyable if you are hella horny. I have no clue how the rating on MAL is an 8.2 at the time of writing. As a rom-com fan, this is a total and utter disgrace. 4/10.

Didn't expect to like this one. Even worse is my surprise in thinking I'll drop it after few episodes only to finish it completely and then still having mixed feelings about it. It's basically fan-service "the animation". Boobs joyously bouncing in every episode embellished with generous amount of really tantalizing shots (for a guy). But other than that show is just downright boring. Story is basically non-existent or even bad. Characters are super plain and never really develop. Their actions simply lack logic and for the most part they behave as if they grew up on deserted island but are now forced to interact with other humans who coincidentally all have boobs now. Overall, it was joyous and it made passage of my time a bit less act of tedium. On the other hand, I can't say I've gained anything watching this other than more hate towards stereotypes in anime. Show is not good but it's not bad either. Just painfully average with metric ton of fan service.

Overhyped cringe for losers. The whole thing seems like nothing but some dweeb wet dream. Half of it was hard to watch and just generally made me uncomfortable or disappointed. I did like the art style though. Really nice and I liked the sharpness it had to it really showed the physical features of the characters. The story is pretty meh and unrealistic though I will say the characters nicely fit into each other's interests and specialties. Personally I'm not really a fan of these type of animes and just ended up forcing myself to watch it bc people told me it was good. But really it wasnt really all that great and idk what I was expecting from a show like this. Overall just meh. I've seen better.

I'll keep this short and sweet, so those who are turned away at an objective viewing of the character dynamics can move on, and those that find it helpful can get right to the meat. It's effectively a self-insert of the mangaka, where the protagonist is her ideal man (legitimately, she has said as much), a young man who's willing to give everything and receive nothing in return, all while she goes off and has her fun as an OF model in her free time, except the writer tries desperately to paint it as romantic. I'm not saying that this anime has nothing at all to offer. The animation is legitimately well done, as well as framing of shots, and building romantic tension (if you turn your brain off enough to avoid realizing how abusive the dynamic actually is), as well as making the protagonist an endearing, if pitiable, character, but the fact that it tries to sincerely romanticize such a terrible relationship dynamic, and worse, push it as wholesome, means that some viewers who either don't like when disturbing content is handled in this manner, or those who don't like the glamorization of abusing men in anime, may have trouble finding much enjoyment in this series.

At first I really liked it, but I got really annoyed that they just repeatedly sexualize the 15 year old lead female throughout the show. The writers could have easily not sexualized her or made the main characters older and the story would be preserved, and there would be no problems at all. Instead they make the direct decision to sexualize a 15 year old character. Also the male lead is about as smart as a door knob. I would not recommend this to anyone. If you want a similar show done way better then watch Kimi Ni Todoke. It's a great show. It’s a teen romance just like this, and it doesn’t sexualize minors.

I quite enjoyed this anime. I've seen quite a few anime of the like and I'd say this stands a heads length above the others on average. Wholesome content with characters that are convincing as real people. I felt the conversations between characters brought a genuine representation of the multi-faceted nature of day to day life and interaction. Each character was allowed an organic amount of time to seem as invested in each sequence as one would expect them to be. The lack of degradation of those who are normally deemed misfits and the welcoming nature of non monolithic thoughts and actions as a group were welcome features of the show. These reasons combined with the fun and playful score and animation are why I'd like to give it a strong 8 or higher. I do feel that my enjoyment was a bit hampered by the fanservice being that the characters in question are an average age of 15. Gonna be a "Japan Weird" for me on this one and for me it loses a point or two for that. Overall, there's been plenty of setup for some engaging plots and character interactions moving forward. I'll be keeping my eye out for future seasons.

This is the kind of anime I went into with high expectation due to it's popularity, only to lose immersion right away. Most of the time, rom-com anime have a certain level of believability that despite them being so unrealistic, it's still believable. Either by crippling the relationships enough, or by giving certain flaw to the romantic interest and their reaction towards the main protagonist. But not with this one. Marin is just straight up unbelievable as a character. She's a caricature of a character, the persona of waifu culture possessed by recluse passive male with zero knowledge on how real human being would act. You don't even need to touch grass to realize this, as any normal functioning human would easily spot it. The entire story is build up from this quicksand foundation. If you're looking for an anime you want to get immersed into, this anime might not be for you. In fact, you might lose hope in anime industry by getting associated with this one.

My Dress-Up Darling It was impossible to escape this hype anyway. The whole internet is full of "Marin best girl" - "MDUD is so wholesome" this was the only thing I read and heard about this anime. Of course, I already knew what I was in for since I had already seen some scenes from this anime on Youtube. Anyway, the subject matter appealed to me, as this is a relatively new topic, with a somewhat cliché approach. Therefore, I was at least hoping that I had only seen the worst scenes and that the anime could at least surprise me in a positive way. It had exactly 3 funny scenes and not a single one that I would call actually likable, romantic, or interesting. And here I am going by the average yardstick. One scene where I could say "Ah, that wasn't bad - good dialogue/idea/scene" might have been enough for me. No, all that was left was pain and despair. The only exception was the final scene in episode 12, which was actually worth mentioning. I thought the scene was good and very relatable and that's all I was waiting for 12 episodes in. Let me put it this way, I counted on paper how many times you saw focused boobs and asses in the anime (by that I mean only the ones that are pushed directly into the screen). There were exactly 40 hardcore boobshots and 28 assshots. I didn't count feet and Thigs as well as the genital area. In addition, the anime had an almost non-existent romance that only consisted of the girl running monologues about how cute she thinks the protagonist is. That was it, apart from that it was all about fan service and erections. By the way, can they get down to breast sizes? Marin and the Shinju have breast sizes A-F through and play with human proportions at will. [Story 3] If the anime can't even get the first scenes right, as the 2 protagonists got closer in the classroom, then I don't know what to do. For some reason Marin is thrown 2 meters into the air, almost flying out the window and over his desk, landing with his head right in front of it. Either the wind from the open window blew her back or the animators were drinking. Watched it later, the scene was different in the manga, so I'll say they were drunk. The basic idea behind the protagonist was interesting and I wish they had done something with it. Until the end, he remained just a reclusive doll maker who could do nothing but idolize dolls and get a boner every time he sees Marin. The character arc of the Inui siblings was far better than that of the protagonists and it wasn't even good enough for being average. The flow to the conclusion was about the typical. New cosplay, new asses, boobs (and even a middle school girl wow) honestly the author was just acting out his fetishes nothing more. And then came the presentation of the dress (on the way EVERYTHING that has to do with dressmaking was done off-screen) and Tadaa! What was that miserably boring beach episode all about? Love Hotel? Why? Are we going to go through all the settings for soft porn now? [Characters 3] 6 characters the anime had had in total, only 6 of them and still it failed everywhere. And 2 of them were only blessed with c.a 2 minutes screentime because they were supporting characters. Gojo is an introverted guy who has never seen women. I have nothing against his personality, but he was empty as a shell. Other than nervousness, enthusiasm, and sexual excitement, he had no personality traits. Marin has no manners whatsoever and is the typical fan service chick who changes her clothes anywhere because she doesn't know what manners actually are. Of course, this is a big plus for the sales figures when the protagonist consists only of ass and breasts. Sajuna, the loli with the bath scene. Tsundere and actually only the balance so that there should also be a loli. Incidentally, she is the older sister stereotype, although she looks like 11. Shinju, the smaller sister is twice the size of the older one and consists only of breasts. The protagonist should have gone to jail after this episode. [Animation 8 / Music 6] The studio made an effort, there's no doubting that. Colors are very well done, contrast is excellent and so are the movements. Music-wise, I found the intro relatively mediocre. The outro, on the other hand, would have ALMOST convinced me that I was watching a decent slice of life romance. [Conclusion 3] What more can I say about this. The author has chosen a difficult yet interesting topic. What he has made of it because nothing more than a usual ecchi title, which I would not even call substandard. Bad dialogue, bad characters, and no signs of life in this work. It's a typical case of "I have an idea and no idea how to implement it" and that's exactly where it starts. Either it will be an accidental success, mediocrity, or a disaster, in this case, it is the latter. [Enjoyment 2]

This show drew more than its fair share of haters. Partially due to Hollywood puritanism: blowing people's head off is a-okay but 2D skin is too much. Somehow to them, a girl like Marin who is both pretty and nice is just too unrealistic. What a sad state of affair we live in. Funny thing is this show isn't the type of "writer's wish fulfillment fantasy" you might expect. The mangaka is in fact a woman. The wish fulfillment part is because Gojou is HER dream guy. He is talented, sincere, and exudes positive masculine energy. With that preamble out of the way I would rate the components of the show as follows: Art: 10/10 Zero complaints here, any show would be lucky to receive the type of care that this show received Sound: 8/10 Voice acting was great, but the OST didn't quite do it for me personally Character: 9/10 Loved the interactions between the characters, and can't help but cheer for them to succeed Story: 8/10 It's a slice of life show so things are a bit slow. Not gonna be any mindblowing plot twists

“Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru”, or if you’d prefer, “My Dress Up Darling” is yet another romance story that serves primarily as a sexual fantasy or “wish-fulfillment fantasy” for young adults and teenagers and perhaps secondly as an appreciation for cosplay. That’s not inherently a bad thing. Anime/manga has numerous entries in this category that could be considered iconic or even classic and with the minor craze and popularity surrounding this anime, particularly during the time of its airing, I decided to give it a shot, hoping to find the reason behind the commotion. I will say in advance and with certainty that if you really aren’t a fan of the ecchi/romance combination you will neither find this anime amusing nor interesting. Story-wise things don’t start off too originally (I wonder if it’s even possible to do that these days) but the appropriate foundations for a main character laced with usable flaws and self-conflicts are laid out. Gojou is yet another romantically inexperienced highschool boy with no friends who crumbles upon engaging in any kind of social interaction with classmates. He has apparently not developed decent social skills because from a young age he dedicated the entirety of his free time to crafting hina dolls, a type of traditional Japanese doll. A long time ago, a girl called him a creep for having a weird affection for and dedication to making hina dolls and this has left him traumatised to the point where he dares not disclose or discuss his passions with anyone outside of his family. In short, Gojou is socially awkward and has no friends at school all because he is certain nobody shares his artistic passion and is too scared to even bring it up to anyone anyways. I’m sure many of us can relate to Gojou’s struggle at least on some level, but now comes the most pressing question. How will the story take Gojou’s issues and use them to drive an interesting narrative? Well, luckily (or not luckily) for us, the story choses to dissolve these issues by introducing our perfect girl Marin Kitagawa, who has all the personality traits that Gojou looks up to and also happens to be a quick solution to all of his internal conflicts. Kitagawa is popular, beautiful, confident, determined, energetic, and compassionate. She is not afraid to be open about her potentially embarrassing hobbies (Anime/Manga/Cosplaying) and can stand up for herself. She appreciates Gojou’s talents and asks him for favours, making once useless Gojou feel like he finally has a place and purpose in the world. All of Gojou’s personal conflicts, all of his problems and suffering (with the notable exception of his comically insane nervousness around women) become hardly relevant to the story after episode 2 or 3 thanks to Kitagawa coming into his life. Gojou and Kitagawa proceed through the remaining episodes as a perfectly happy developing couple that continues to share their passion for cosplay with each other while occasionally suffering embarrassing sexual scenarios and experiencing some genuinely heartwarming moments along the way with practically zero obstacles, struggles, or conflicts. Now, I can see where this can be a good thing for some, and a bad thing for others. Some of us don’t want to see the trials and tribulations of a real romance played out in a work of animated fiction and would rather thrive off the slice of life and its idealistic themes and aversion for turbulence. If you want to watch an anime about a perfectly happy couple pursuing their artistic hobbies with sprinklings of fanservice and sexual comedy, then by all means go for it. I, for one, struggled to find anything of value after around episode 4 because by that point all of Gojou and Kitagawa’s personal struggles were pretty much resolved and the romance between the two was already more or less fully developed (aside from a formal confession, which seems hardly necessary at this point with how convincingly the two get along with minimal points of friction). The remaining 8 or so episodes were devoid of any plot developments, character developments, obstacles, or change of pace and the few that existed either culminated in some mild, run-of-the-mill life lesson or really didn’t end up developing anything at all. --mild spoilers The best example of this was one potentially interesting scenario where Gojou started to doubt his abilities and passions because he was struggling to balance making his first costume for Kitagawa, dealing with his grandfather’s recent hospitalisation, and studying for midterm exams all at the same time. The story ended up portraying this plot point not as the significant learning experience that you’d imagine would encourage an agreement for better and more open communication between our two main characters but instead as nothing more than an incident of Kitagawa apologising profusely and a beaten and worn out Gojou insisting that everything is ok. --end There’s really nothing more to say about this anime because there really isn't much further depth to it. If you're really craving to witness an idealistic and mildly funny romance between the two main characters without all the struggles and conflict that normally make a romance story compelling but possibly uncomfortable for pleasure viewing, then this may be a good selection. Otherwise, I’d imagine even if you’re a seasoned fan of the ecchi + romance genre I don’t think you will find anything impressive or compelling unless you’re really into cosplay. 6/10 - little to no interesting developments in the story or characters + some memorable comedic moments + functions decently as a lighthearted romance with generally likeable characters