Like always, Gojo won’t do anything without thoroughly doing his research. Even though he won’t be designing any of the costumes for the upcoming group cosplay, he still wants to help out with the props. Naturally, this leads to a gaming session at Marin’s place. After hearing that he doesn’t need to check in with his grandpa, Marin is excited at the prospect of having Gojo all to herself for an extended period of time. Perhaps… even… overnight? The boy instantly panics at the idea. Male protagonists in anime never have any chill. They’re always freaking out, stammering, sweating profusely, what have you. I guess I understand it from a storytelling standpoint. These protagonists often wear their emotions on their sleeve, because both anime and manga are often blunt and straightforward in their storytelling. Most series want you to know exactly what the characters are thinking. This is why combatants in fighting anime will literally stop to monologue in their heads. God forbid the audience has to guess and interpret their feelings, y’know? So when I see male protagonists freak out in romance anime, I know it’s because we’re just being lazy. We don’t want to go through the trouble of depicting characterization without going about it in the most direct way possible. There’s also a chance that Gojo only looks like he’s freaking out for our sake. Maybe from Marin’s perspective, he’s actually keeping it together. Even then, however, it strikes me as bad storytelling. Just once in a while, I would like to see these teenagers try to hide their nervousness. After all, who among us hasn’t tried to keep it cool around the girl they like?
Well, the trains have stopped running due to an accident, so Gojo’s outta luck. Time to shack up with your super hot gyaru friend. Ugh, what a pain, am I right? Of course, he freaks out even further. Even though he’ll be sleeping in another room (her dad’s room), he acts like just staying under the same roof is the biggest sin. Oh hey, what a coincidence with all the nun stuff! But seriously, relax, my guy. It’s not like you’ll have her straddling you on her father’s bed like that one time at the love hotel. After way too much struggle on his part, Gojo eventually relents and accepts Marin’s invitation. At the same time, however, if he’s really that bothered, just call a taxi? Don’t tell me he doesn’t have enough money for one. Even as a kid decades ago, my parents gave me an emergency fund. And the way he’s acting, it might as well be an emergency for Gojo. But maybe this isn’t something they do in Japan. Either way, he goes and sabotages himself by buying a bunch of energy drinks. This way, he’ll stay up all night, because falling asleep would be… bad? I don’t get it. I like this show, and I’m rooting for these two to eventually get together, but Gojo’s being really pathetic right now. Seriously, this is straight up annoying. You’re not sharing a bed. You’re not even going to be in the same room. I could excuse it if this whole situation was funny, but it’s not. I’m just rolling my eyes.
Somehow, Marin gets the wrong idea and thinks Gojo is buying… I guess drinks for a more intimate encounter? We don’t have that sort of thing here, so I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking at. Either way, it’s her turn to have a small meltdown. Her assumption is completely out of character for him, though. You’ve been spending so much time with the guy, so you should know what he’s like. He initially couldn’t even bear the thought of sleeping over, but now you think he’s going to rail you all night? Without even checking in with you first? What? When has Gojo ever not been considerate of your feelings?
Ah, Juju, Juju, Juju… why are you like this?
Juju actually hesitated to answer Marin’s call, and this is a perfect reminder for why I never warmed up to her in the first season. Like c’mon, I thought you had a fun time cosplaying with our girl. Look, if she and Marin don’t get along, then fine. Sometimes, we just don’t vibe with certain people, and you shouldn’t force yourself to be friends with everyone. But that clearly wasn’t the case last season. We clearly saw her enjoy her time with Marin and Gojo. So I can’t help but assume she’s being the typical tsundere again. This prickliness might have been cute when I was a teenager, but I’m so over it by now. It’s exhausting to deal with these people in both fiction and real life. You gotta play mind reader and try and divine the true meaning behind their words and actions. You might get it right 90% of the time, but if you’re wrong even once, they flip out on you. Ugh. Just be straight with me. I’m not saying she has to do the group cosplay. Even if she knew ahead of time that Marin would try to rope her into another event, again, it’s not a big deal. Just decline politely, e.g. “Ah, I’m sorry, but that’s not for me. I prefer to cosplay alone.” You don’t have to scream. You don’t have to pout. It literally costs you nothing to be cordial.
Of course, the series wouldn’t bring Juju back just to say no. She was always going to join the group cosplay for her little sister’s sake. Sajuna loves everything horror (same), so she would love to see her big sis as one of the nuns. Her initial disappointment alone is enough to make Juju reverse course in an instant and call Marin back. So this might sound odd considering everything I just said above, but I actually think it’s okay to let Sajuna down from time to time. Not doing the group cosplay was never in question. If you’re not comfortable doing it, then don’t do it. You can be friendly to people but also enforce your boundaries; it’s really not rocket science. Your sister can get over it. She’s going to run into so many letdowns and disappointments in life, so in the grand scheme of things, not seeing her sister dolled up as a nun is nothing. But Juju seemingly likes to spoil her sister, and as an only child, maybe this is a sentiment I can never truly understand. At best, I had younger cousins, and I never felt any compulsion to protect and coddle their feelings.
Dragging out the Akira conundrum
Akira finally speaks after Marin leaves the room. She’s actually quite talkative with Juju. Then when Marin reenters the room, you can literally see Akira put her head down. Amane is pretty observant, so he instantly goes to talk to Akira when the group takes a quick breather. Their situations are polar opposites: when it comes to their hobbies, he has a supportive family, and she doesn’t. By connecting on that level, he can thus broach the more difficult topic: what’s up with her and Marin? Gojo even happens to walk by and join in on the conversation. Unfortunately, Akira answers the question in the most drama-stirring way possible: she doesn’t want to be around Marin or even talk to the girl. And then we don’t get to hear the rest of the conversation if it even continued. In my shoes, I would’ve asked her why, especially if they’re going to do this group cosplay. Look, let’s clear the air. Why would you want to go into a project with bad blood? But it’s also possible that the boys were stunlocked into silence by her answer. Again, I doubt Akira is actually a hater; I just can’t see it. But I am disappointed that My Dress-Up Darling tries to leave us on a bit of a cliffhanger regarding her actual feelings. The vibes in this show have been so chill. I don’t want the series to resort to cheap drama-baiting. It’s better than that.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- Eventually, Sajuna is invited to join the group cosplay as well despite some of the usual reluctance on her part. She’s still insecure over her height, which is understandable. There’s so much pressure for girls to look a certain way. Hell, we just went through the whole weight rigamarole with Marin.
- A seven hour game is pretty short. Actually, it’s nothing. I rarely buy short games unless they’re less than thirty bucks or so. I’m about to platinum Triangle Strategy, and I’m hovering around the 70-hour mark. But Gojo isn’t a gamer, so obviously, our perspectives are worlds apart.
- It’s actually funny to me that Marin only now brings up her Rei-sama cosplay. I’m not surprised, because sometimes the conversation just doesn’t flow that way. But you’re hanging out with a couple of cosplayers who like to cross-dress, and you just cross-dressed yourself. This sounds like the perfect topic for your little group.
- What a crazy reaction from her friends, though.
- Juju is mortified about doing the “dinner scene,” whatever that is. We might get to see it when Gojo plays the game at Marin’s home. As for Juju, well, we saw her being a huge scaredy cat last season, so maybe that’s what’s bothering her again. Even so, you’re just gonna be posing with your friends as nuns, right? Is that really something to be scared about?
- I like horror stuff too, but I can’t see anything remotely scary about this Coffin game; Gojo doesn’t either.
