My dear in disguise (or Sono Bisque wa Koi wo Suru Doll) is one of the most popular anime of the 2022 winter season, and with good reason. The story follows Goro Wakana (Ishige Shoya Ishige in the sub/Paul Dateh in the dub), a boy who has a passion for making Hina dolls, who befriends Kitagawa Marin (suguta hina in the sub/amanda lee in the dub), a popular fashionista who desperately wants to cosplay. With her sewing skills and creative passion, and her knowledge of anime and games, the two come together to create the perfect cosplays to fulfill Marin’s cosplay dreams, and perhaps discover romance in the process. .
Anime handles cosplay and creative passions with utter reverence, understanding the process of costume creation and the culture that surrounds it to such a degree that, as someone who has been cosplaying for many years, I have never felt more understood. My dear in disguise it’s a love letter to what cosplay means to the participating cosplayer, but it can also poke fun at the somewhat silly nature of the hobby and the ridiculous scenarios that arise when trying to recreate a fictional costume in real life.
The first few episodes of the anime focus on Goro learning the craft of cosplay and what it entails, figuring out how to translate a character’s costume into real life in a way that is worthy of Marin’s love for the character. Marin explains that for her, cosplay is the ultimate way to show how much she loves a character, something Goro can immediately understand, so once she collects her references from the game, she pays close attention to every aspect of the game. costume, including some that would not be immediately obvious, to be able to replicate it correctly. When they go shopping for cosplay supplies, Goro chooses fabrics based on the weight of how the fabric appears in the references, as well as the context of the character’s history. He chooses things like heavier black fabric to suit the upper-class nature of the character’s school uniform rather than the shiny black fabric Marin initially goes for, and a longer black wig with a purple undertone that can be trimmed to length. correct instead. of the shorter pure black that Marin initially chose. It’s this attention to detail that cosplayers will immediately relate to, like going to your local Joann Fabrics or the fabric district if she’s in town to pick out the fabric for her costume that is Just fine because what you think fits with the character’s backstory and your personal preferences is one of the most compelling aspects of creating a costume.
My dear in disguise emphasizes that one of the most interesting things about cosplay is how cosplayers can adapt a costume to their own tastes, or how they personally interpret a character. The anime puts a lot of emphasis on how there are so many ways to cosplay that are all valid, and the most fun part is doing it the way that suits you best, and then sharing that love of the craft and the character with everyone else. . On My dear in disguiseAnyone can cosplay anything regardless of their gender, size, budget, or looks because that’s what makes cosplay enjoyable, and the fact that it sparks so much creativity is a creative’s greatest strength.
However, it is from here on out that Goro and Marin are faced with the harsh reality of cosplaying and wearing. Because Marin decides that she wants to go to a cosplay event that is two weeks away, Goro is forced into every cosplayer’s living nightmare: the crunch. Concrunching is that time leading up to a convention when a cosplayer does nothing more than try to complete a costume as quickly as possible, until that time when it’s the night before the event and the cosplayer must decide if they’re going to pull a whole. night to finish or pack up their sewing machine and take it back to the hotel with them, or worst case both. Watching Goro stay up all night and be in a constant state of exhaustion until he wakes up at 1am wondering if he can really finish the costume is an experience most cosplayers are all too familiar with.
Goro makes it through and Marin’s reaction to the full costume is what makes the experience worthwhile for him. The sheer euphoria she feels upon wearing the costume for the first time, seeing her love for the character manifested in such detail, makes Goro realize how much this costume means to her and why she put so much effort into it. . Cosplay is Marin’s version of Goro’s love for Hina dolls.
Once they arrive at the cosplay meetup, Goro immediately notices the variety and variety of cosplayers there, and the friendship and camaraderie that exists between all of them. There are cosplayers of all ages there, cosplayers dressed as characters who are not the same gender as them, and everyone gets excited to see others who share the same love for these characters. Once Marin wears her cosplay, she is immediately asked for photos and develops a line of photographers waiting to take her photo, however the moment is cut short once she begins to develop heatstroke due to her costume and wig ( If you’re a cosplayer who’s attended a summer convention, you’ll understand how sweaty cosplayers get!).
Meanwhile, Goro learns the cause and effect of cosplay choices, with the heavier black fabric he chose being the cause of Marin’s overheating, and also that he needs to better account for mobility issues when tailoring costumes, as that Marin can’t raise her arms properly in the dress. Most importantly though, they both had a ton of fun at the event and the joy of community and meeting people with a shared love is what makes the blood, sweat and tears worth it at the end of the event.
A few episodes later, Marin and Goro are planning a group cosplay with a famous cosplayer named Inui Sajuna and his younger sister Shinju who is a photographer. It turns out that Shinju wants to try cosplaying with her sister, but she can’t broach the subject for fear of failing or being judged, so she and Goro secretly plan a cosplay for her to join them. She really wants to dress up as one of the male leads in a magical girl anime, but she feels that she wouldn’t suit her as well as Sajuna suits the costumes she chooses. Goro and Sajuna discover how to create a cosplay on a budget and how to transform Shinju’s curvaceous body into a teenage anime boy with tricks like ties and shoulder pads, and the transformative power of wigs and makeup. It’s a learning process for both of them, but the costume ends up working fantastically and in the debut for Marin and Sajuna, who are absolutely overwhelmed and elated by their transformation. The excitement of having another cosplayer join your group is downright electric, and the reassurance Shinju receives from her cosplay only goes to show that cosplay is truly a hobby for anyone.
throughout its runtime My dear in disguise It reinforces over and over again that cosplay doesn’t have to be exclusively one thing, it’s each cosplayer’s personal way of showing their love for a character. As Marin says in episode 11, people who cosplay think a lot about making their costumes and go by their own interpretation, so each one is totally different, but that’s the amazing thing, it’s that freedom that makes the cosplay be fun. While the show pokes fun at the realities of cosplay and the various inconveniences that result from it, it’s the heart of the creativity behind it that makes the show so relatable. Anyone can cosplay anything as long as they love what they are creating and at the end of the day, the community and love shared with other cosplayers is what makes it worth fighting for.
This anime simultaneously understands the thought and intent behind each cosplayer’s costume, as well as the harsh realities involved in creating that costume, but also understands the heart that lies beneath the stitching and foam armor.
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