©Shinichi Fukuda/SQUARE ENIX,Kisekoi Animation Committee
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My Dress-Up Darling combines cosplay and a celebration of talents for a series that promotes acceptance and showcases the start of a healthy relationship. (It also featured quite a bit of fanservice!) The first season could be stunning, thanks to gorgeous animation from Cloverworks and a storyline that could be touching and sometimes even hilarious. After seeing the start of season 2 of My Dress-Up Darling, it seems this will yet again be one of the must-watch Crunchyroll shows this season.
The first episode of My Dress-Up Darling season 2 begins in a really fun way, as it highlights the thing that brought Wakana Gojo and Marin Kitagawa together: cosplay. Instead of beginning with the two of them and what’s next for the duo, we’re watching an episode of We’re the Tsukiyono Company. That’s the original series within a series that stars Arisa Izayoi, a character Marin wants to cosplay as during the series. We’re seeing the two bond over the show, which they’re both enjoying, and it’s establishing the same sort of enjoyable pattern we came to expect from the first part of the series.
I also love these first five minutes since it quickly and perfectly establishes who Wakana and Marin are as characters. Marin is enthusiastic! She loves fanservice, series, and characters, and she’s excited to share it and talk about her ideas with Wakana. She’s not ashamed to be so delighted by all of this. Even though Wakana doesn’t get it initially, he’s not judging her. He appreciates her excitement. Once she talks about some concepts and ideals being eternally popular and appreciated, it clicks for him. He ties it in with his own experiences and talent for doll making. And because of her passion and his own, he agrees to start working on designs immediately.
This first episode also doesn’t hesitating in establishing their relationship in a fun way too, also ensuring things pick up where they left off. During this whole opening scene, Marin is eating Pocky. She asks if he wants one. Wakana agrees, and she teases him by offering it like a kiss. It shows that she’s already starting to be comfortable with how she feels about him. At the same time, it shows he’s developed feelings for her as well, and is easily flustered by the action as a result.
The rest of the episode sort of prioritizes the balance between their cosplay passions and relationship. We see both of them are at a point where they are aware of feelings. They’re comfortable working together. They enjoy each other’s company. But they also are still working on completely comfortable and accepting of everything. It’s really a fantastic first episode for establishing what we’re coming from in the first season, setting up the second, and hinting at the sort of relationship and cosplay challenges the two will face going forward.
Episode. 1 of My Dress-Up Darling season 2 is handled so well and is one of the better first episodes of a second season of a show I’ve seen. It acts as a great transition between two parts of a series. It sets up the two leads well, with characterizations that establish who they are and both acting and animations that define them in short periods of time. The new challenges, both in terms of Marin and Wakana’s new outfit and their budding potential relationship, are presented well. It seems like the start of another strong adaptation.
My Dress-Up Darling seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Crunchyroll, and Square Enix handles the manga outside Japan.
Published: Jul 5, 2025 03:00 pm