My Dress-Up Darling (Japanese:その着せ替え人形は恋をする,Hepburn:Sono Bisuku Dōru wa Koi o Suru;transl. "TheBisque Doll Falls in Love")[b] is a Japanesemanga series written and illustrated byShinichi Fukuda [ja]. It was serialized inSquare Enix'sseinen manga magazineYoung Gangan from January 2018 to March 2025, and compiled in 15 volumes. Ananime television series adaptation produced byCloverWorks aired its first season from January to March 2022. Alive-action television drama adaptation aired onMBS's Dramaism programming block from October to December 2024. A second season of the anime adaptation aired from July to September 2025.
By October 2025, the manga had more than 15 million copies in circulation, and has been generally well-received by critics.
Wakana Gojo's passion for craftinghina dolls causes him to hide his interests due to social trauma. However, when his beautiful and popular classmateMarin Kitagawa discovers his talent, she sees beyond his apparent idiosyncrasies and encourages him to createcosplay costumes. With Marin's support, Wakana steps out of his seclusion and begins to gain confidence. Working together, they create unique and beautiful costumes showcasing their talents and true selves.
Afirst-year high school student. Being an orphan, he was raised by his grandfather, a craftsman ofhina dolls, who also inspired him to become akashira-shi (頭師), a craftsman who makes the heads of hina dolls. Wakana has a large physique and is over 180 cm tall, but he has low self-esteem and is reclusive due to a bitter memory of being criticized by his female childhood friend, who thought that boys should not be playing with dolls, ending their friendship. As a result, he hid his doll-making hobby and had no friends until he met Marin. Thanks to Marin's encouragement and support, Wakana steps out of his comfort zone and embraces his love for crafting. He grows more confident with each project, and through their collaboration, Wakana finds a sense of belonging in thecosplay community that he had never experienced before. Wakana grows closer to Marin, he seems to be completely unaware to her falling in love with him, until he finally confesses to her and the feelings are mutual. At the end of the series, he is a successful doll maker and he has married Marin.
A first-year student in Wakana's high school class. An archetype of agyaru, notable for her warmth, friendliness, positivity, and outgoing nature. Marin is shown to dislike overly critical people who judge others based on their interests. She is a huge fan ofanime, and her entire bedroom is decorated with anime posters and merchandise. After a series of successful cosplays, Marin grows closer to Wakana and eventually realizes she is head-over-heels in love with him. She continually does whatever she can to invite him to different places and spend time with him, as a way to win his heart and make him her boyfriend, although Wakana seems to be completely oblivious to her feelings for him until his confession and they get together. She lives alone as her mother died when she was a child, and her father is often away due to work. At the end of the series she is married to Wakana and works as a model.
A cosplayer who presents herself under the nickname of "Juju" (ジュジュ). She is a second-year student at anall-girls private high school. However, despite being a year older than Wakana and Marin, Sajuna's youthful appearance and petite figure means she is often mistaken for a middle school student. She is outspoken, blunt, and headstrong, going to great lengths to achieve her goals. Sajuna cherishes her younger sister Shinju and does all she can to make her happy. Like Marin, she is a fan of cosplay, and she specializes in cosplaying asmagical girl characters as a way to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming one.
Sajuna's younger sister. Shinju is a middle school student. She is 178 cm tall and is sometimes mistaken for an adult. However, despite her imposing physique, she is incredibly timid. Shinju is close to her sister and holds her in very high regard. When Sajuna cosplays, Shinju assumes the role of photographer, using aDSLR camera borrowed from their father. She is also skilled at using a computer, processing and uploading the images she takes. While Shinju secretly wishes to cosplay herself, she fears falling short of her sister's high standards. Nevertheless, she starts to cosplay after encouragement from the others.
Suzuka is a photographer who often attends cosplay events and befriends Marin and Wakana. She gets overly excited by a variety of cosplay. She gets especially excited by cross-playing.
Akira is a reclusive female cosplayer and prop designer, who inspires Wakana with her art. Initially appearing to hate Marin, she is actually a secret super-fan of her cosplays.
This work describes the development and love of boys and girls, with cosplay as its central theme. Although it also includes some erotic scenes, the work is notable for its detailed portrayal of character psychology and the process of creating cosplay costumes. It showcases the creation of the Hina doll, makeup, and camera work, and the author personally visited the Iwatsuki doll-making workshops in Saitama City, known as the "Doll City," to gain insights into the real lives of doll makers and cosplayers.
Shinichi Fukuda set Wakana as an orphan without friends in order to create a situation where he has to solve problems with Marin, instead of his parents or other friends.[14]
Written and illustrated by Shinichi Fukuda, the series was serialized in theseinen manga magazineYoung Gangan from January 19, 2018,[15] to March 21, 2025.[16][17] The individual chapters were collected bySquare Enix in 15tankōbon volumes.[18] An official fan book was released on September 24, 2022.[19]
During theAnime Expo in July 2019, Square Enix announced the English version of the series under the titleMy Dress-Up Darling and published it under its new publication imprint Square Enix Manga & Books.[20]
Aspin-off manga written and illustrated byChoboraunyopomi [ja], titledMy Dress-Up Darling XOXO! (着せ替え人形でchu♡,Bisuku Dōru de Chu), was serialized in the same magazine from December 20, 2024,[21] to July 4, 2025. Its chapters were collected in onetankōbon volume, released on July 25, 2025.[22][23] In November 2025, Square Enix started publishing the spin-off in English on itsManga Up! Global platform.[24]
On December 27, 2024,XL Media announced the Russian version of the series in 2-in-1 omnibus editions under the nameThis Doll Fell In Love (Russian:Эта кукла влюбилась.)[25]
Ananime television series adaptation was announced in the ninth issue ofYoung Gangan, which was published in April 2021.[64] It was produced byCloverWorks and directed by Keisuke Shinohara, with Yoriko Tomita handling the series' scripts, and Kazumasa Ishida designing the characters and serving as a chief animation director.Takeshi Nakatsuka [ja] composes the series' music.[65] The first season aired from January 9 to March 27, 2022, onTokyo MX and other networks.[3][c] The opening theme song is "Sansan Days" (燦々デイズ;lit.'Sun-Drenched Days'), performed bySpira Spica, and the ending theme song is "Koi no Yukue" (恋ノ行方;lit.'Where Love Is'), performed byAkari Akase.[67]
A sequel was announced in September 2022.[68] It was later revealed to be a second season, with the main staff and cast members reprising their roles. It aired from July 6 to September 21, 2025, on Tokyo MX and other networks.[69][70][d] The opening theme song is "Ao to Kirameki" (アオとキラメキ;lit.'Blue and Sparkle'), performed by Spira Spica,[72] and the ending theme song is "Kawaii Kaiwai", performed byPiKi.[73]
Funimation licensed the series for simulcast outside of Asia.[74] On January 28, 2022, Funimation announced that the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day.[5] FollowingSony's acquisition ofCrunchyroll, the series was moved to the streaming service.Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia.[75]
Alive-action television drama adaptation was announced on August 30, 2024. The drama is produced byKyodo Television and directed by Koji Shintoku, withSatoko Okazaki [ja] writing the scripts.Misaki Umase [ja] composed the series' music. It aired onMBS'sDramaism [ja] programming block from October 9 to December 11, 2024.[6][e] The opening theme song is "Princess Hero" (プリンセスヒーロー), performed byChō Tokimeki Sendenbu, and the ending theme song is "Lovely Baby" (ラブリーベイビー), performed byPedro.[76]
In February 2022, it was reported that the manga had an additional 1.5 million copies in circulation following the premiere of the anime adaptation.[77] In June 2022, it was announced the manga had over 7 million copies in circulation.[78] In September 2023, it was announced the manga had 9.5 million copies in circulation.[79] In October 2023, the manga had surpassed 10 million copies in circulation.[80] In May 2024, the manga had surpassed 11 million copies in circulation.[81] By September 2024, the manga had surpassed 12 million copies in circulation.[82] In October 2025, the manga had surpassed 15 million copies in circulation.[83]
In August 2019, the series was ranked sixth in the print manga category according to the votes for the fourth edition of theNext Manga Award, organized byDa Vinci magazine fromMedia Factory and theNiconico website.[84]
The manga was ranked third in Honya Club's Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2020, a survey that collected results from 1,100 professional bookstore employees in Japan.[86][87]
The series, alongsideArtiste, won the Men's Comic Prize at NTT Solmare's "Minna ga Erabu!! Denshi Comic Taishō 2020" in 2020.[88]
My Dress-Up Darling was generally well-received. Reviewing the anime's first season,IGN's Kambole Campbell described the show as a "supremely enjoyable portrayal of the joy of sharing a craft." The review praised the performances as "genuine as they are entertaining."[89]Slashfilm's Rafael Motamayor wrote that the series is "not technical enough to turn the audience or the characters off, but enough that you can appreciate the very hard work that goes into cosplaying." He also praised its English translation as "go[ing] the extra mile to portray [Marin's] personality through the subtitles, capturing hergyaru idioms and even random gibberish that she says out loud."[90]Collider's David Lynn praised Gojo andMarin, the series' two main characters, as "simultaneously broadly universal and yet surprisingly complex" with "distinct strengths and flaws".[91] The series did receive criticism by some for itsfan service and sexualization of the characters.IGN's Campbell wrote that "There are a handful of leery moments that'll take some viewers out of it."[89] Writing forBleeding Cool, Alejandra Bodden generally praised the series' exploration of sexuality but criticized some scenes as being uncomfortable.[92]
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