Shopping for Love and Profit in My Dress Up Darling, Ep 3

Gojou worries about high school’s social hierarchy. Gojou and Marin shop for costume supplies at specialty stores in Ikebukuro.

Episode 3 – “Then, Why Don’t We?”

Hmm.

My Dress-Up Darling showed us where Marin and her friends fit into the high school hierarchy. Gojou knows his place in this pecking order, but does Marin? Does she ignore who belongs in which social clique? Is Marin oblivious? Or does she feel rebellious against social norms? She’s attentive to Gojou’s discomfort, so I vote for the contrarian attitude. We saw her dress down a flashy guy who tried to flirt with her by bad-mouthing her bag strap in the first episode. Gojou is already in her flashy gal tribe just by listening and trying to play the h-game. Marin’s gal friends are so sparkly that they’re unapproachable. I’m not surprised that other socially awkward nerds haven’t broken through yet.

Speaking of flashy behavior, My Dress-Up Darling included a scene of adults reacting to Gojou’s conversation with Marin about the Slippery Girls game. We heard a bystander’s internal thoughts. Could the scandalized office lady be a cosplayer we’ll meet at the cosplay event in two weeks? We listened to the kids in high school make remarks about what they saw, but that was from Gojou’s perspective. We didn’t hear their internal thoughts as we heard from the office lady or from Gojou’s grandfather at the end of the second episode. We should expect to remember a character when the story reveals parts of her personality.

Heh.

Oh boy, this is a nice dream. It’s not a spoiler! Instead, we saw a fantastic preview of Marin’s partial costume. She’s missing her wig… and her PANTIES! Oh, man. We are all Gojou after last week’s My Dress-Up Darling episode. Gojou imagined that Marin would act as aroused as Shizuku-tan is in the Slippery Girls h-game. No wonder Gojou found external evidence of happy, fun times! Aw, he feels guilty that he cheated on the doll head.

Uh, yeah. After such a pleasant morning, I would also find it tough to look Marin in the eye. Poor Gojou. Marin is multiplying! Gojou has trouble enough standing next to one beautiful gal, now there are three more surrounding him. Nowa has adorable lollipops, and Rune is tall and calm. Daia is attentive to Gojou’s demeanor. She can tell he’s uncomfortable around flashy gals. Heck, Gojou’s uncomfortable, period. Marin doesn’t care. She’s Gojou’s buddy! Eep. Gojou’s not accustomed to how soft “buddies” can be.

Uh oh. Gojou cares too much about appearances. He’s using his concern about rumors and high school social hierarchy to hide his discomfort of looking at Marin after his wet dream. The longer Gojou hangs out with Marin’s friends, the more he’ll realize that he’ll be in high demand. He’s a tall, handsome guy who listens to what hot girls say instead of concentrating on how they look. But he’s playing hard to get. Marin always gets her man. Also, Gojou should notice that Marin’s crew didn’t have any boys hanging around. My Dress-Up Darling showed how intimidating they can be. He should take heart.

Obviously, Gojou has never tried to avoid someone. Marin knew where Gojou was, but she needed to expand her search pattern. And then she found Gojou. Flashy gals have no issues being assertive. That’s the appeal of the gal invasion genre. Sad sacks with bulging packages can’t avoid the hot chick’s attention. Nor should they! I hope My Dress-Up Darling shows Gojou appreciating that a hot girl chose his company. That should inform his self-worth. He thinks Marin worries about her social rank, yet he saw her expounding on anime and tearing down a guy for making fun of her bag strap. Marin likes poking at this nonsense. If Gojou worries about people making rumors about them, how about giving them something to talk about? The Japanese phrasing of “going out” is vague enough to cover going out on one date. There’s your episode title. Shopping for costume material in Ikebukuro is a date!

Ikebukuro includes Otome Road, so we should expect to see women shopping for their cosplay outfits. Gojou felt uncomfortable with Marin and her friends at school. Now he’ll feel even more outnumbered as a lone tall man in shops catering to women. Nice. My Dress-Up Darling lets us see Gojou as a dedicated otaku. He has a materials list that is so specific that it only highlights how much Marin bungled her attempt at assembling Shizuku-tan’s costume. Well, that’s a lot of stuff. How can Gojou afford this stuff? Um, Marin came to him to make the costume. She needs to pay for it, and she knows it! She saved money from her part-time job just for this project. Gojou should know what contract work looks like from working with his grandfather at the Gojou Doll shop. This is funny because it makes the flashy gal the Sugar Mommy. H-Doujins love showing JK gals servicing sugar daddies, so it’s comical. It’s a joke, folks! If you’re not familiar with the concept of compensated dating, J-List has your back with continuing education.

My Dress-Up Darling hit that date event flag. Gojou shows Marin how a dollmaker thinks about costuming, which is the correct way of planning a cosplay costume. It’s a rare talent when a cosplay model can fabricate her own outfits. Modeling has its own skills, perspectives, and preparation compared to the duties of the costume tailor. Marin knows how to sexily tease spectators. Her first spectator is Gojou, so show him the goods! Sexier? Yes, “always sexier” is the answer.

After a successful shopping trip, let’s enjoy the afterglow. Marin prepares Gojou for the cosplay event. There will be many attractive women wearing sexy costumes. Marin is also a fan of cosplayers, and we already saw Juju in the opening credits. She cosplays as her favorite anime character and bag strap. I’m sure we’ll meet her soon.

My Dress-Up Darling brought us back to the story between Gojou and Marin. He worries about an indirect kiss. She worries that he thinks she is over-eating and won’t fit into the costume he’s making. If she’s been eating like this before Gojou met her, her thin thighs should stay the same. She only needs to keep her measurements for two weeks, anyway. What!? Gojou needs to tell her a complicated costume needs hundreds of hours’ worth of work when he can only work on it after school. The poor guy won’t tell her, though. Gojou didn’t share his concerns about social hierarchy, so I doubt he’ll tell Marin he can’t manage a two-week deadline. Expect drama next episode.

My Dress-Up Darling (Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru) streams on Crunchyroll, VRV, and Funimation in Japanese audio language and English subtitles.