My Dress-Up Darling

Episode 5

Previous episodes of My Dress-Up Darling have always had realistic elements to them that would remind me of my own personal experiences as a cosplayer, but this one felt particularly special. Going to an event in cosplay for the first time is arguably a more relatable experience than the making of one; after all, while not everybody has experience crafting a costume from scratch, most if not everybody understands what it's like to dress up seriously for the first time and go out in front of people who you hope will appreciate the love that you wear on your sleeve. Getting both the perspective of someone who genuinely loves cosplay as well as someone who is discovering it for the first time walking around one of these event spaces was great. Even though Gojo doesn't know much about cosplay, he's respectful and understanding enough to piece together why everyone is there in the first place. God, I really look forward to the day when I can regularly meet up with people to take cosplay photos at indoor and outdoor events.

On the technical side of things, I like how the show highlights some of the minute complications that can make certain costume builds less optimal for these types of events. While it looks like Gojo did a perfect job on the surface, there are a lot of things that get taken for granted when you haven't sewn for an actual human being before, and I like how this episode slowly and subtly hints at each of them instead of making it apparent what they are from the get-go. Things like how the sleeves aren't able to go up a certain height because Gojo didn't account for a model that moves since he's only really sewn for dolls before. Kitagawa adding to the titular breast section of the costume even though it was made with specific measurements in mind. Plus the dress material not being particularly breathable which made overheating a lot easier. All of this is stacked on top of the general fatigue that comes with cosplaying which I feel like a lot of people take for granted—trust me, you wear a wig cap and unconventional clothing for more than a couple of hours and it starts to wear on you even under the most perfect conditions. The episode does continue to revisit those angles for Gojo regarding Kitagawa and despite the somewhat uncomfortable nature of these things for him, I like how attentive he is in taking care of her. In a lot of ways he does feel like a proper cosplay husband, and I will warn anybody watching this show who has fantasies about having some kind of hot cosplay girlfriend: you better be willing to at least put in the amount of work that Gojo shows throughout the episode because stuff can get complicated.

What isn't complicated though is the understandable feelings of loss and longing that Gojo is feeling throughout the episode, now that his promise is fulfilled and he doesn't seem to see a reason for Kitagawa to have anything to do with him anymore. It does make sense for someone as lonely as him to think about their relationship in such a transactional way, considering the fact that this project is really the only thing that continues to bring them together. However, to the surprise of nobody, Kitagawa wants to continue doing more events with him. It's a little bittersweet to consider how Gojo is just happy to be useful to other people and thinks this is just a way of prolonging the time that he can spend with her, but I think we all know that this will provide more opportunities for them to grow their relationship in other ways. I love the way that this episode ended with that implication, providing a payoff to a setup that I didn't even think was there back in episode three. It was really sweet to see Gojo being happy after his worries about losing something precious are dispelled—and Kitagawa realizing just how precious she's considered—and the final shot of the episode admittedly left me squealing in my seat. The show continues to bring out some of the best elements that the slice of life genre has to offer, and I really look forward to seeing where our two characters go now that this chapter of their time together is closed.

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My Dress-Up Darling is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.