With the amount of detail poured into the various cosplays depicted in My Dress-Up Darling, it would not be absurd to think Marin Kitagawa's favorite inspirations actually exist in reality. However, each storyline introduced has been created purely for the show's benefit, even though many fans would happily binge-watch Flower Princess Blaze!!, play through the Slippery Girls adventures and pour over SuccIDK for the full My Dress-Up Darling experience!
Marin's passion for all things Otaku is emphasized whenever the topic of cosplay comes up, particularly whenever Wakana Gojo requests more background information about the character she wishes to emulate. Gojo tirelessly works to help Marin, Juju, and Shinju Inui make their cosplaying dreams a reality in this refreshing slice-of-life romantic comedy available on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
6 Veronica The Gyaru
Marin's idolization of one of her favorite sharp-toothed video game characters, Prisoner Veronica, is a reference to the old-school Japanese ganguro subculture, a derivative of the popular 90s Gyaru movement. The ladies who embrace Gyaru prioritize averting from the norm and challenging acceptable beauty standards (taking the average Japanese woman as the ideal). These ladies emphasize their differences by darkened skin tones, dramatic make-up, and over-sexualized outfits; the quintessential rebels with a cause.
Unfortunately, what could be described as a feminist ideology has had an adverse effect, as the subjects' skin is rarely tanned naturally and the darker tones are often enhanced with cosmetics. This causes the Gyaru to easily be classified as "blackface," an offensive, racially motivated, and outdated comedy technique stemming from 19th-century America.
Seemingly oblivious to their insults, Marin and Gojo carry on with their Veronica cosplay plans until the issue of the ‘underboob’ comes to light. While fans don't get to see Marin's version of Veronica in action, this particular cosplay does appear in the intro scene for all 12 episodes, providing adequate fanservice (and insults) in the process.
5 Black Lobelia Of Flower Princess Blaze!!
With its strong Sailor Moon vibes, Flower Princess Blaze!! takes full advantage of the Magic Girl genre and is supposedly a huge hit within the My Dress-Up Darling realm. The main antagonist of the show is Black Lobelia, aka Neon Nikado, Shion's older sister. As another character pining for Soma's affections, the former Magical Girl Flower Princess's heart (and Flower Jewel) are blackened by rejection, inspiring her evil intentions and transforming the Magic Girl into a dark vixen and Shion's arch nemesis.
Marin's impeccable cosplay is only faulted by her excited expressions, as the young girl is seemingly incapable of keeping a straight face for very long. Gojo shows off his skills by including a cap adorned with a fleur-de-lis, with a matching jacket and accessories. Despite Marin's overexcitable and unprofessional behavior, the girls manage to capture some good scene recreations, and this will likely be the first of many collaborations to come!
4 Black Lily Of Flower Princess Blaze!!
After being blown away by Marin's Shizuku cosplay, Sajuna, better known as Juju, tracks Gojo down to commission a Black Lily outfit and subsequently gets roped into a collaboration piece with her new group of friends. Sajuna's passion for cosplay becomes apparent when her love for magic girls is revealed, which the young Juju once believed to be real. Heartbroken by the truth, Juju realized that her dreams could (almost) come true through cosplay.
In order to accurately represent her favorite characters, Juju is very particular about her cosplay choice, often dismissing her true desires due to her body type. Having such a petite physique limits Juju's options, but makes her the perfect choice for the younger, adorable magic girl roles.
In Flower Princess Blaze!!, Black Lily, aka Shion Nikado, is infatuated with the emotionally unavailable character Sakuya (who is secretly involved with Soma, cosplayed by Shinju). Shion and her sister, Neon, have a tumultuous relationship, as their own internal battles with grief fuel the toxicity of their relationship. The once happy and upbeat Magical Girl Flower Princess eventually succumbs to the dark side and becomes Black Lily in the emotional scene that Marin and Juju recreate at the hospital.
3 Soma-oniichan Of Flower Princess Blaze!!
The most surprising cosplay of them all is Shinju's depiction of Soma Tengeji, the beloved male protagonist from Flower Princess Blaze!! Soma is the love interest of both Sakuya and Neon (although his affections are only reciprocated upon the former) and gives off the impression of being the chad of the series. Shinju was quite intimidated by the idea of dressing up as such a desirable character, let alone a male, and would never have taken on the task if not for Gojo's encouragement.
Besides Marin's Veronica incident, Shinju's cosplay is the only other instance where the character was not chosen based on body type but rather stemmed from pure passion. Although she is quite well endowed, Shinju's gender-bending cosplay is successfully executed (for the most part) thanks to the girl's towering stature. Shinju will likely appear in a masculine get-up again, after practicing her chest binding technique that is!
2 Shizuku-tan Of Slippery Girls 2
The first official cosplay of the series is dedicated to Marin's favorite character, Shizuku Kuroe, from the erotic video game titled Saint Slippery's Academy for Girls - The Young Ladies of the Humiliation Club: Debauched Miracle Life 2. As his first attempt at human-sized clothing, this is arguably the most complex outfit that Gojo has made so far, with many multiple layers of fabric and ruffles using various techniques, all thrown into one look. Fans wait for a full 5 episodes to finally see this look, and as the first official cosplay of My Dress-Up Darling, it does not disappoint!
Marin surprises everyone with her complete commitment to cosplay when she shaves off her eyebrows with no hesitation (because their original shape did not conform to Shizuku's requirements.) While Marin's Shizuku-tan cosplay might be one of her most iconic looks, the outfit does come with its flaws that may not be outwardly noticeable, but significantly affect Marin's performance capabilities. While it is Marin's own fault for wearing an additional NuBra, Gojo's material choice aggravated her overheating issues, hampering the cosplay experience and causing them to leave the event early.
1 The Succubus Liz-kyun Of SuccIDK
It is difficult to tell if Marin's SiccIDK cosplay is a fan favorite due to the outfit's execution, or the success of Season 1 Episode 11 in terms of wow-factor. Regardless, Marin as the chocolate-loving vixen is arguably one of her most popular cosplays so far, based on a slice-of-life manga depicting the comical relationship between a sleepy succubus and her hardworking ward, Kaname. While most of the sewing skills are only applied to the top half of Marin's ensemble, her jacket, wings, and tail are immaculately created with the elaborate details fans have come to expect from Gojo.
For once, Gojo had to get creative by producing original content for Marin's cosplay, as the chibi drawing style of the SuccIDK manga did not supply enough details for a complete look. Gojo had to fill in the gaps by interpreting Liz's character and creating a unique design for Marin to wear, successfully adding his own flair to the sultry outfit. To recreate the SuccIDK setting, the pair conveniently end up at a Love Hotel with a room that (apparently) closely resembles Kaname-kun’s. Both Marin and Gojo get carried away in the moment after the succubus is officially unleashed and things get too hot for either to handle.