📺 Anime
My Dress-Up Darling Season 1
85 / 100
✅ Great
Its refreshing to see a romance anime that actually gets to the point and has something to say on top of just good character development (atleast from the main cast). The cosplay theme isnt a vehicle for the romance, it IS the romance, carried by character animation with the highest floor in the laid-back space and VA performances that hit harder than the script has any right to. Only criticism is episode 9 cramping so much plot into itself that the season could have used one or two more episodes to stretch that part. Other than that I feel like the ost within the episodes gets overshadowed by the all-time great op/ed.
Pros
- an overarching theme of cosplay makes the romance a lot more exciting to watch
- character animation floor so high that no episode feels like filler
- both leads outgrow their tropes
- e11s 30 second silence, the boldest sound choice in the genre
Cons
- e7-e10 group arc overextended - e9 crams four episodes worth into one
- ost (outside of op/ed) is pretty mid
Story & World-Building 88 Characters 85 Animation 92 Pacing 80 Sound Design 90 Enjoyment 84