My Dress-Up Darling is a story about cosplay, so it’s no surprise that Shinichi Fukuda’s story is a common source of inspiration for costume makers.
One dramatic recent example includes Reddit user Sakura Kitsune taking on the role of Shizuku, a fictional video game character that served as the inspiration for protagonists Marin Kitagawa and Wakana’s first attempt. Gojo in cosplay. The real world cosplay shows Shizuku’s dark purple hair and black and white maid outfit. In the post’s comment section, Sakura Kitsune explained that “a cosplayer’s cosplay is purely my hobby.”
The manga My Dress-Up Darling being worked on by Fukuda launched in Square Enix’s Young Gangan magazine in January 2018 and has produced 11 volumes so far. The story follows Kitagawa, a high school student who loves anime and video games and dreams of becoming a professional cosplayer, and Gojo, her classmate who secretly makes Hina Dolls, as both Pursue your passions and engage in a lovely and healthy romance. More than 8.5 million copies of My Dress-Up Darling have been sold globally, and in 2019 the title placed sixth in the print category for Da Vinci magazine’s next Manga Awards.
Anime and sequel to My Dress-Up Darling
In January 2022, the first season of an anime adaptation by CloverWorks (Spy x Family) premiered and the series stars Hina Suguta (Kotaro Lives Alone) as Kitagawa and Shōya Ishige (Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer) ) as Gojo. In September 2022, the anime’s official Twitter page announced a sequel to My Dress-Up Darling. My Dress-Up Darling was nominated in several categories at this year’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards, including Best Character Design and Best New Series.
How My Dress-Up Darling’s Marin Inspires Creativity
Sakura Kitsune isn’t the only My Dress-Up Darling fan inspired to create meta-cosplay based on the series. Most notably, professional model Arisa Chan shared their own Shizuku. Furthermore, Kitagawa itself has become a popular choice for costume makers to recreate. Recently, Akira Akasa, a famous singer and model in Japan, posted her explanation of the character on Twitter with the caption: “Happy birthday Marin. I love you, a wonderful, sparkling and brilliant woman who has her taste and love. with full!!”
In a recent interview, Keisuke Shinohara, the director of the My Dress-Up Doll anime, explained why he thinks Kitagawa is a fan-favorite character. “She respects herself as well as others, which makes her loved. Marin isn’t afraid to speak her mind, but when it comes to romance she can be shy, and that’s understandable to anyone in love,” he stated.
My Dress-Up Darling is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Source: Reddit
