Cosplay isn’t all about glamorous photos and pretty outfits, and the popular new anime My Dress-Up Darling accurately shows the work that goes into it.
My dear in disguiseThe biggest hook for anime fans, aside from the season’s best girl Kitagawa Marin, is its emphasis on cosplay. Marin’s passion for the hobby and the effort the mangaka put into his research make the series a true love letter by capturing the emotion found in every aspect of cosplay, from choosing the character to wearing the finished product in a event.
However, it does not only show the aesthetic parts of the cosplay. For every great photo Marin posts on social media, there’s a much less glamorous path to it. For many, cosplay is more than just wearing the same clothes as her favorite character. It’s a labor of love for a character or series that has made an impact on one’s life, and many times they will prioritize it over basic needs like sleep or comfort. Some of these incidents can be avoided with proper time management, but others must be learned through trial and error. My dear in disguise excels at portraying this.
At the end of Episode 3, Marin casually tells Gojo that there is a cosplay event she would like to attend in two weeks. While she sees the comment as part of her conversation, Gojo interprets this information as a deadline for him to complete the cosplay. What follows in Episode 4 is a stressful two weeks in which Gojo tackles a family emergency, maintains the doll shop, and takes tests, all in addition to completing Marin’s costume. Every waking moment he can spare he is dedicated to making this outfit, to the point that he begins to ignore her and lets the house fall into a state of disarray. When he finally finishes, all he can do is tell Marin that she’s done and he quickly goes to bed.
While this may be an extreme example, it’s just a situation many cosplayers have found themselves in at some point, especially if they make their own costumes. In the western cosplay world, this is called crunch. It’s essentially a version of studying a bit for a test the night before instead of studying a bit every night. The main difference, however, is that Gojo more or less assigned itself the deadline in My dear in disguisewhile most of the cosplayers found themselves in a crisis due to procrastination.
With the cosplay done and Marin happy with the result, the following common experience of cosplayers is shown. In episode 5, after spending hours at the event taking photos, Marin returns to Gojo and tells him that she is overheating in the costume and needs to take it off. They find an empty stairwell and she exposes as much skin as she can without being too indecent in public, while he helps her calm down.
Very important details to consider when cosplaying are the location and possible extreme temperatures. If a cosplayer attends an event in the summer, like Marin and Gojo, overheating is a huge risk. Everything a cosplayer wears, from clothing to wig, retains heat. If a costume is made of heavy or dark materials, both of which belong to Shizuku de Marin’s costume, overheating can only occur faster.
The best way to prevent this is to dress with the temperature in mind. A good option for a summer convention would be to dress up as a character who wears light, airy clothing or exposes a lot of skin. However, because they are both beginners, Marin and Gojo prioritized accuracy over comfort. As someone who had previously only made doll clothes, Gojo didn’t consider Marin’s ability to move in the costume or how much heat she would retain. In fact, he insisted on the heavier fabric because it felt more suited to Shizuku’s surroundings.
The addition of the experienced Sajuna brings with it another problem for cosplayers. Though she initially refuses to cosplay Marin, she quickly changes her mind once she and Gojo offer to contribute the studio fee. Cosplayers may rent spaces and use them as series backgrounds, but they’re not cheap at all. Sajuna says the studio costs 15,000 yen (approximately $130 USD) per hour. Besides how much the cosplayer spent on her outfit, it’s easy to see that cosplay is an expensive hobby.
Despite all the difficulties, cosplayers love their hobby. Some have even made it his career. Cosplay is physically, mentally and financially exhausting for those who participate in it. My dear in disguise does not ignore this reality, showing the audience the fruit of a cosplayer’s hard work. The hobby is not for everyone, many try it and decide that the effort is not worth it, but those who get hooked give it their all.
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