Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru (My Dress-Up Darling)

Watch Episodes

Add to My List

Add to Favorites

Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Sono Kisekae Ningyou wa Koi wo Suru, KiseKoi

Japanese: その着せ替え人形は恋をする

More titles

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 12

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jan 9, 2022 to Mar 27, 2022

Premiered: Winter 2022

Broadcast: Sundays at 00:00 (JST)

Producers: Aniplex, Square Enix, Movic, Studio Mausu, Tokyo MX, BS11

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: CloverWorks

Source: Manga

Genre: Romance

Themes: Otaku Culture, School

Demographic: Seinen

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 8.24¹ (scored by 556,333 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #301²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #157

Members: 930,784

Favorites: 18,774

Available At

Official Site

@kisekoi_anime

Resources

AniDB

ANN

Streaming Platforms

Crunchyroll

Funimation

More services

May be unavailable in your region.

8.24

Ranked #301Popularity #157Members 930,784

Winter 2022TVCloverWorks

Add to List

Episodes: /12

* Your list is public by default.

PV 2

play

Synopsis

High school student Wakana Gojou spends his days perfecting the art of making hina dolls, hoping to eventually reach his grandfather's level of expertise. While his fellow teenagers busy themselves with pop culture, Gojou finds bliss in sewing clothes for his dolls. Nonetheless, he goes to great lengths to keep his unique hobby a secret, as he believes that he would be ridiculed were it revealed.

Enter Marin Kitagawa, an extraordinarily pretty girl whose confidence and poise are in stark contrast to Gojou's meekness. It would defy common sense for the friendless Gojou to mix with the likes of Kitagawa, who is always surrounded by her peers. However, the unimaginable happens when Kitagawa discovers Gojou's prowess with a sewing machine and brightly confesses to him about her own hobby: cosplay. Because her sewing skills are pitiable, she decides to enlist his help.

As Gojou and Kitagawa work together on one cosplay outfit after another, they cannot help but grow close—even though their lives are worlds apart.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit

Background

No background information has been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding background information here.

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru
Sequel:	Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru (Zoku-hen)

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kitagawa, Marin

Main

Suguta, Hina
Japanese

Gojou, Wakana

Main

Ishige, Shouya
Japanese

Inui, Sajuna

Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi
Japanese

Inui, Shinju

Supporting

Youmiya, Hina
Japanese

Sugaya, Nowa

Supporting

Takeda Tago, Larissa
Japanese

Gojou, Kaoru

Supporting

Ono, Atsushi
Japanese

Liz

Supporting

Kuno, Misaki
Japanese

Tengeji, Mirai

Supporting

Tange, Sakura
Japanese

Rune

Supporting

Sekine, Akira
Japanese

Kaname

Supporting

Shirai, Yuusuke
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Umehara, Shouta

Producer

Nakayama, Nobuhiro

Producer

Oowada, Tomoyuki

Producer

Hasegawa, Yoshinori

Producer

Edit

Opening Theme

"San San Days (燦々デイズ)" by Spira Spica

Edit

Ending Theme

"Koi no Yukue (恋ノ行方)" by Akari Akase (あかせあかり)

More reviews

Reviews

Mar 26, 2022

SingleH

Not Recommended

Spoiler

*spoilers in a marked section*

Well…I’m honestly shocked it took me four and a half years of writing reviews to hit rock bottom, but it finally happened.

It’s finally time for the incel/femcel review.

This show has reinvigorated a certain debate which the anime community just can’t seem to resolve, and this is the debate over realism. Some say realism is a must, and without it, a story is hard to get invested in or even take seriously. Others say, “if you want realism, go outside.” And there isn’t really a definitive consensus on who’s right. Personally, however, I often find this debate is sorely missing the point. ... Sono Kisekaeningyō wa Koi wo suru is a shameless, flagrantly pandering wish-fulfillment fantasy. This I think everyone accepts. Its heroine, Marin, is less of a character and more of a fantasy for socially awkward, young Japanese males to indulge in. Basking in an impossible reality where, someday, a beautiful girl will quite literally fall into their lives; positively recognize their extremely niche pseudo-talents; be interested in all the weird, sexually degenerate stuff they find attractive; be the one suggesting the male engage in sexual activities with them; and be completely interested in guiding them out of their shell with constant company and affection. She’s the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope executed right down to the letter, and viewers with too much critical thinking to buy into shit that feels this fake proceed to complain about how it throws any semblance of realism out the window, bending over backward to force this ridiculous wish-fulfillment fantasy that, in their minds, could never happen in real life. But this is where I think the debate misses the point. It’s not that it’s unrealistic. It’s that it’s unBELIEVABLE.

I don’t BELIEVE a person like this could exist in this way. It’s not that her personality exists outside the bounds of reality. It’s that her character combines otherwise realistic traits which just don’t fit together at all. Through a series of stupid contrivances I don’t care enough to criticize, Marin and Gojo, the protagonist, meet and begin working together on cosplay. Marin is an otaku who wants to start cosplaying her favorite waifus, and Gojo has mild expertise in sewing after having helped his grandfather craft dolls for Hinamatsuri. This is “realistic” in the sense that a girl who is an otaku and wants to cosplay can exist in real life, a boy who knows how to make clothes because of his experience in his grandfather’s workshop can exist in real life, and a relationship between the two could exist in real life. Indeed, I’ve seen cosplayers dating people who help aid in their hobby, even guys who aren’t as terribly attractive as their mannequin girlfriends. In my experience, it has a lot to do with them loving attention and themselves much more than idea of being with some normie stud, but that’s not relevant. The point is: it happens. But the hot cosplayer isn’t the unbelievable part. The unbelievable part is her being a pure, naive virgin who literally doesn't understand how stripping down to a bikini in front of a loner sperg would make him uncomfortable. She can either be an assertive, liberated gyaru who popped her cherry decades before her pathetic male counterparts, or a prepubescent maiden with no concept of sexuality, not both.

You know, it’s funny. She actually kinda reminds me of Elf Yamada from Eromanga Sensei. Eromanga Sensei was just, “Oreimo was successful, so let’s do it again.” And Elf was supposed to be the Kuroneko of the series, the older girl who’s closer to the protagonist in age and who’s clearly right for the guy, but who inevitably loses to the bratty little sister. They would often present Elf as being the more mature and down to Earth one in the group, and they’d depict her as having a more interesting and in-depth outlook on writing, but then other times she’d act like a completely insufferable himedere cunt who I wanted nothing to do with. What made her an unbelievable character was that she was an incredibly successful light novelist at the age of fourteen, and yet she acted like a total brat who had no appreciation for disciplined, adult work ethic, and at times she even decried the main character for “taking things too seriously.” A character acting like an entitled whore who’s never worked a day in her life isn’t outside the bounds of reality, and having a character be outstandingly successful in a way that only someone who worked their ass off could achieve isn’t outside the bounds of reality either. What’s outside the bounds of believability is having a character who acts like an entitled whore who’s never worked a day in her life, who is simultaneously outstandingly successful in a way that only someone who worked their ass off could achieve, because a hard worker should’ve matured past the point of acting like a flippant little brat.

As it happens, I’ve actually been backstage at theaters and performance halls before, and I can confirm that models backstage do not give a single shit about being undressed or having people touching their bodies at all, because backstage designer’s staff are professionals who aren’t looking at them in an intimate or sexual way. They’re just doing their jobs. For this reason, I suppose you could try and handwave the example I used—not that I couldn’t come up with more—and say that Marin was just approaching that interaction in a sterile, surgical, progressional manner, and she didn’t register the fact that stripping down to a bra and panties would make Gojo feel uncomfortable. That makes sense, right? Maybe if he didn’t say anything and just endured the awkwardness, but that’s not what happened. Gojo was blushing, screaming, literally curling up into a ball, and somehow she’s so pure and innocent as to not recognize what’s going on here??? Now that I think about it, you could also try and handwave Marin never being in a relationship as well. People she meets are either good-looking normies who belittle her hobby or disgusting otaku who couldn’t take a shower even if their lives depended on it. Easy, right? No, because this once again misses the point of what’s hard to believe, as we shouldn’t even be able to reach this scenario in the first place. There’s simply no way people would still be fawning over her and treating her like the school’s queen bee if she was really that open about her obsession with anime.

Do you remember that Mari Okada show from 2019 called Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo? It was your typical Mari Okada show filled with bizarre characters who were sometimes deeply empathetic but other times complete fucking aliens, and there was one character in particular who really irked me. The main character was a nerdy shoujo protagonist girl named Kazusa, and she was crushing on her childhood friend, Izumi. Apparently, the reason the two of them drifted apart wasn’t their budding sexualities and growing insecurities regarding the opposite sex, but instead the simple fact Izumi became a popular normie while she remained a nerdy, unattractive bibliophile. If Izumi had become a normie, you’d think he’d have gotten laid or at least have gotten a girlfriend, but he hadn’t, because he was actually a dorky train otaku. This is annoying, because if he were a God damn fucking train otaku, THEN HE NEVER WOULD’VE BECOME A NORMIE, because no one would’ve EVER accepted him, especially in Japanese schools which are internationally notorious for their vicious bullying. You can’t say Marin being a starry-eyed maiden is believable because blah blah blah, because the premise you’re working off of could never have come about in a believable way in the first place. This isn’t a matter of preference either; this isn’t, “Oh, you’re just biased against this genre.” This is just a lazily conceived character. She fails to subvert or innovate her archetype at all, and all her interactions are too superficial to be interesting.

So now that the incel/femcel shit is out of the way, how is the show itself? Well…it’s not impressive. You get a lot of really detailed, well-animated sequences of fanservice, but outside these money shots, the show is typical Cloverworks. The art direction is blander than stale Saltines, and as early as episode three, they’re using blurry photographs for backgrounds. Even when they aren’t, the quality ranges from kinda decent to utterly hideous, and by episode eight the animation is a PowerPoint presentation. Barely any actual animation; every shot takes place in some random screensaver background; no shot continuity for certain scenes; lackluster digital composite; stills, panning shots, sound effects written out; literally a moving manga. They don’t just use photographic stills either. There was one moment where the backdrop was literally blurry footage of cars driving off an offramp in Ikebukuro. It’s not all bad, though. I appreciate how committed they were to giving Marin multiple casual outfits to wear, plus they animated an in-universe magical girl show the characters watch, and all those sequences were pure soul. Like me, the staff must’ve grown up watching that kind of thing, because it was perfectly done. Other than that, the ending theme is fantastic, and I absolutely loved how Marin’s voice actress nailed all the asinine gyaru voice mannerisms and actually made her talk like a teenager. Generally, though, the production is extremely weak. They’re serious about the fanservice, but the rest is pretty low-effort.

The writing in this show also leaves a lot to be desired. The tone is fairly consistent as a natural consequence of nothing fucking happening, but every once in a while, it’ll randomly jump between joking about how MC bought lingerie to crying himself to sleep while his Grandfather is in the hospital. The comedy isn’t terrible, and there were some unintentionally hilarious moments like this one time in episode four where Gojo asks Marin if she got all her make-up off, and when she says yes, she looks exactly the same as she did before—giant luscious eyelashes, rouged cheeks, glossed lips, perfect skin—and I just burst out laughing. On that note, I doubt this girl could maintain the figure she does on a diet of greasy fried food and pudding, but at this point I’m getting dangerously close to sounding like a 250-pound, blue-haired, collegiate body positivity activist, so I’ll just leave that one alone. The show has charming moments, but the characters are so shallow, it’s hard to care or feel endeared. Marin is Manic Pixie Dream Girl; Gojo is zero personality, self-insert Mr. Niceguy; and the scenarios take them nowhere. There was one scene where Gojo said he had false eyelashes laying around, and despite knowing he makes Hina dolls, Marin asks if they belonged to his girlfriend. I was just like, “What about this motherfucker’s lifestyle makes you think he has a girlfriend, you stupid bitch?” It’s all just contrived bullshit humdrum dialogue the writers have to include, because this is a generic romcom, and that’s what we do here.

The first genuinely good scene in the show is at the beginning of episode six when—SPOILERS—Marin realizes she’s in love with Gojo, and she has a cute little freak-out and then a sober moment of introspection, but then the show IMMEDIATELY starts throwing in new girls for Gojo’s harem to make sure no romantic progress ever occurs. It was like whiplash. I actually said, out loud, “Wow, this show just got good suddenly.” And before the words could finish leaving my lips, a new waifu literally delivered herself to Gojo’s front door. I mean, it takes Marin half the damn show to realize she was in love with this guy, and as soon as she does and progress can finally get made, the show instantly brings in the rest of the harem to make sure it never does. This really pissed me off, so I asked /a/, “Do these fucking retards ever get together, or is this yet another boilerplate anime romcom that spins its wheel until we get a confession and maybe a single kiss after countless chapters, and then it ends?” And the first reply was, “Well, it’s on chapter 72 right now and no confession, so take that for what you will.” So yeah. Not exactly an inspiring response. It’s just another one of those anime where I’m endlessly screaming, “Kiss her!” “Kiss him!” “One of you, please!” “She just handed you a condom, and you two are in a love hotel!” “He just ordered you to get on the bed and straddle him, and you yourself are already in love with him!” “JUST FUCK ALREADY!” But hey. I guess that’s my fault for being too old to watch young male romance fantasies.

Thank you for reading.

Open

Gift

Mar 26, 2022

Kyline

Not Recommended

*SOME SPOILERS AHEAD*

During these past few anime seasons, I've noticed one thing; that's there's ALWAYS that one romance anime where it has one goal in mind - to bait weebs with such a "high-quality waifu" that would boost the anime's popularity. I call this the "waifu bait anime." It usually has the main girl characterized as an "amazing waifu" with colored hair and eyes, and of course a good body that would basically generate more simps to her, and of course a dull, basic, lame looking MC who just hit the jackpot because they have the main girl by his sides because *ahem* p l ...

Open

Gift

Mar 26, 2022

MonadProxyy

Not Recommended

My Dress Up Darling is fun and all but sadly nothing but waifu bait.

The story is set up in the way all romcoms are, its the that same formula used here. Its about cosplaying which is unique enough to the whole anime romance genre, but the thing is everything else in MDD is seen somewhere else.

Girl and Boy accidentally meet
Girl and boy get together every time in some way
Both develop feelings for each other

This is exactly how MDD is set up and how it works, yep, the same way you have seen in every romcom. Its very predictable because of that but trust me, the ... show doesn't stop being enjoyable.

You know how most romcoms try to make you smile? Yep, fanservice. That's how MDD does it too, it shows tons of fanservice and horny kids start going wild about it, its enjoyable but some times, the fanservice makes you feel uncomfortable the misunderstandings and all that same way most romcoms do stuff is present here too.

I do not enjoy the fanservice as much as others do, but that fanservice is the only reason as to why this show is as popular as it is, right now. Everyone is making thumbnails of those perverted shots and gaining tons of popularity and even boosting this show itself. Sometimes I am low-key disgusted by how it heavily relies on that.

Remove Fanservice and this show won't be half as popular as it is right now.

The art and animation are pretty solid for a romcom, it is not only a great adaptation of the manga, its a miles better experience too, because CW decided to give this show one perfect adaptation. The animation is smooth, and the art is great too, its very bright and colorful which makes the tone of the show much better and even suits it. The character designs however are very generic and look like the ones most romcoms have, they aren't bad but they aren't new to the show or anything.

The music is fitting, and is good to hear. I love it and I wouldn't be afraid to admit it, but the voice acting for many characters aside from Gojo is many times annoying, I don't like them, but its nothing too bad. Its very subjective but since I am telling my honest thoughts on it, I will also include such details.

The characters are bland as hell, they have the same personalities like you have seen in every teen romance show, the usual gets easily shy, or isn't afraid to show her body, or something like that. Or maybe supporting their low interest or trying to act cute but doing cheesy stuff which somehow comes off as funny, apparently.

The amount of enjoyment varies, just ask yourself your age and how horny you are. If you are 14 and very horny, this is the perfect show for you. I do enjoy it but this show can give off a bad feeling to you or just be annoying.

Overall
I do recommend this show if you don't mind the issues mentioned above much, MDD is waifu bait, and one, which will be very memorable because of doing so everything with fanservice, honestly its one of those bad but enjoyable shows, I won't say more, just try it for yourself.

This is your typical romcom, but this time it was marketed very well, plus the fact Marin is on so many peoples profile as their profile picture just helped sell it more. It falls badly on having substance thus the score it got by me.

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

blonde girls

by gakuendo

24 Entries · 1 Restacks

Anime that used to have the Slice of Life tag

by fluffycow17

50 Entries · 8 Restacks

Great OST with Good Writing

by jXcileJ

50 Entries · 41 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

View All

More news

Recent News

'Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru' TV Anime Gets Sequel

The official website of the Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru (My Dress-up Darling) television anime announced a sequel on Saturday, revealing a promotional video. Ori...read more

Sep 17, 2022 6:51 AM by chipsql | Discuss (67 comments)

Winter 2022 Simulcast List [Update 2/6]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of television anime acquired for simulcast release during the Winter 2022 season. Anime series licensed for hom...read more

Dec 29, 2021 1:21 PM by Snow | Discuss (43 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Homura24 - Mar 26, 2022	439 replies	by LadyLeeMing »» 10 hours ago
Poll: Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Feb 26, 2022	234 replies	by herbal_magic »» Yesterday, 3:56 PM
Poll: Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Mar 19, 2022	328 replies	by BlueMelon28 »» Yesterday, 8:20 AM
Is it just me or is was the OST one of 2022’s best? kodex2408 - May 27	15 replies	by SomeguyBlaze »» Jun 1, 9:07 PM
Poll: Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Mar 5, 2022	181 replies	by AOD-san »» May 30, 6:00 AM

Recent Featured Articles

My Dress-Up Darling: An Interview with the Director, Part 1

*My Dress-Up Darling* has sold over 8million copies, with a hit anime in Winter 2022 and a sequel in the way. It's about cosplay-loving Marin and Wakana, an aspiring doll craftsman. Fans were captivated by the slow-burning love and the realistic cosplay. We got the details from the director.

by Febri

28,094 views

Spoiler

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Kitagawa, Marin

Gojou, Wakana

Inui, Sajuna

Inui, Shinju

Sugaya, Nowa

Gojou, Kaoru

Liz

Tengeji, Mirai

Rune

Kaname

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-