My Dress-Up Darling Season 2

My Dress-Up Darling is not an anime that naturally crossed my radar. As a fan of anime, I heard about the show from other fans, but for the most part, I mentally grouped this series with other series that are, let’s just say, not up my street – the likes of Rent-A-Girlfriend, World’s End Harem, and really any other anime that centres ecchi as one of its main genres. However, seeing that My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 was one of the most anticipated anime of the Summer 2025 season, when Summer 2025 was such a jam-packed season already, I had to check it out for myself, and see what all the hype was about.

To be blunt, the first season of My Dress-Up Darling was just fine to me – for a rom-com, I found the series remarkably unfunny, and at times, the ecchi was far too invasive for my own personal tastes. However, I couldn’t deny that the series had a charm to it, so I decided to stick with the anime and check out this second season. Today, I’ll be sharing all of my thoughts on My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, and there will be spoilers! So, if you haven’t watched the second season yet, get on it! With that being said, let’s dive into the review.

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My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Review

Image by CloverWorks

Alright, let’s get down to business – I didn’t care for the first season of this anime. It was never boring, and it was definitely a well-produced series, but it spoke to practically none of my personal preferences for anime. I think that the show’s greatest strength is its wholesomeness, mainly because the other elements of comedy and ecchi don’t land for me. Luckily, My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 actually marks an improvement over the first season in most of these aspects, so tuning into the season weekly never felt like a chore.

In fact, with the conclusion of My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, I think I’m finally starting to see the wholesome side of the series that everyone fawns over in the anime community. The relationship between the two main characters, Marin and Gojo, has always been very heartfelt, so I can see where romance fans clicked with this series. However, I think that My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 carries this wholesome vibe beyond just the series’ main relationship, and into the very essence of the show, marking an all-round pleasant viewing experience from start to finish.

I hate to bring this up in nearly every anime review where it applies, but I do think that part of this marked improvement in the show’s quality for me comes from the toning down of the ecchi element. For those of you who enjoy this aspect of anime, don’t worry, it’s still very much present in My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, but compared to the onslaught of sexualisation that characters faced in the first season, this second season feels refreshingly hygienic. My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 no longer made me feel, to be blunt, uncomfortable. I’ve noticed a reduction in fanservice across a few anime series as of late, and it makes me wonder if anime studios have started to pick up on the rocky reception that fanservice is beginning to get – I personally do not believe that anime needs to have the copious amounts of fanservice that some shows are built on, but that’s a debate for another day. In short, My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 has less overt sexualisation than the first season, and it made me enjoy the show more.

Image by CloverWorks

From a production standpoint, My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is surprisingly worse than the series’ first season. The animation hasn’t plummeted in quality by any means, but there’s a choppiness to the visuals that wasn’t there before. This is a shame, because for all of my little issues with the first season of the show, I could never deny that it was a beautiful anime from a visual perspective. The first season aired back in early 2022, so I wouldn’t exactly attribute these production issues to a time crunch, but then again, I’m not behind the doors at CloverWorks, so who’s to say for certain? As a side-note, I don’t like how the openings of My Dress-Up Darling keep spoiling all of Marin’s cosplays, considering it feels like seeing them come to life is one of the main focuses of the show. I actually really like the My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 opening in every other way, but hopefully for Season 3, they stop showing off every single outfit.

On that note, I think that My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, as well as the series in general, is an anime that you’ll love a lot more than me if you have a deep passion for fashion, make-up, outfits, and particularly cosplaying. Particularly this season, a lot of time is spent on the intricate stages of outfit-making, as opposed to actually moving the plot forward. If you enjoy watching characters go to fabric stores, discuss the ins-and-outs of outfit-making, and then explaining in detail how outfits feel to wear, I think you’ll get a lot out of My Dress-Up Darling Season 2. In many ways, it reminds me of Bartender: Glass of God, an anime I can see people who love alcohol being really interested in, but for those of us who don’t really care about those things, a lot of episodes can feel like going through the motions.

The increased focus on cosplaying also leads to a muddling of the direction of My Dress-Up Darling Season 2. To be brutally honest, I don’t know what this season is trying to do or say. The blossoming romance between Marin and Gojo starts to feel like somewhat of an afterthought, considering just how much of a shell of his former self Gojo is this season. The first season of My Dress-Up Darling also focused on Gojo’s struggle with being interested in things that society deems ‘girly’, and put forward some really interesting talking points on gender norms and societal pressure when it comes to personal interests. A lot of that sense of maturity is gone in this season, and it no longer feels like Gojo is facing this very real struggle anymore. I was never bored or confused watching My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, but I also feel like the season lost some of the show’s spirit along the way.

Image by CloverWorks

There is certainly an underlying theme of living your truth in My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, but outside of a handful of episodes where they bring this theme to the forefront, you have to look pretty hard beneath the show’s cheery exterior to find this discussion. The first season was far more overt in the message it was trying to send to its viewers, and though My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 feels more wholesome than the original season, it does feel like its coasting off of the groundwork laid in Season 1, rather than introducing any new concepts itself.

With that being said, My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 continues the series’ trend of being a very progressive show, which I’m all for. In fact, My Dress-Up Darling is so progressive in every way that it makes some of the more distasteful elements stand out all the more. The conversation surrounding Marin darkening her skin for one of her cosplays ignited the anime community back in 2022, and I’m not looking to re-stoke those flames. However, it’s a glaring flaw that’s worth thinking about when you consider how well My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 does representation when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 features multiple storylines surrounding drag artistry, and even features an overtly gay character, which is more rare in anime than you might think.

There’s absolutely been a move towards more queer representation in anime as of late, and it’s very refreshing to see. Whether it’s Wind Breaker Season 2‘s heartfelt portrayal of Tsubakino, or Call of the Night‘s open discussion of homosexual relationships, these are serious shifts in how LGBTQ+ people have been viewed in anime over the years. As for the backlash that My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 has been received, mainly down to Chitose Amano’s episodes, I think that not only is the backlash hypocritical, considering cross-dressing was present in the first season, but the backlash also speaks directly against the message of the show, that message being that no matter how much many men are trained to hate themselves and their interests, trusting your instinct and pursuing your passion is the right thing to do. I give My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 major praise for sticking to its guns and not shying away from its more controversial aspects, even if their controversial nature at this point in history is disappointing.

Image by CloverWorks

With all of that being said, I found the miniature weight arc that Marin went through this season to be really strange and off-putting. I definitely think that weight should be a point of discussion in a show that’s almost entirely centred on outfits and appearances like this one. However, did anyone else find this storyline to be really mishandled? First of all, Marin is never portrayed as physically gaining any weight, yet other characters seem to notice her weight gain. On top of this, there’s a comedic vibe to the entire arc, rather than having the storyline feel like Marin is facing a genuine struggle. I also don’t think the issue was ever really resolved, making her weight journey feel like a tacky piece of comedy, as opposed to the serious mental struggle I think it could have been. Again, My Dress-Up Darling proves that while it can be very progressive in one way, it can really miss the mark in other ways.

Ultimately, I think my main issue with My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is that it doesn’t know what to be anymore. I’ve written-off the comedy aspect, considering I genuinely don’t think this show has made me laugh once. The romance element is certainly there, but this season seemed to shove it to the side a little, and though the cosplaying remains just as important as it was in the first season, I think My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 lost some of the passion behind why cosplaying was such an important thing to the show’s main characters. It’s a very wholesome experience, and makes for pleasant weekly viewing, but beyond this, I don’t think My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 really hits the spots I was hoping for.

Overall, My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is still misaligned with my own personal tastes, but the heartfelt romance between Marin and Gojo, the fun focus on crafting outfits, and the series’ progressive themes, particularly its LGBTQ+ representation, kept me coming back for more, and ultimately, enjoying the show each week. However, weaker animation, a diminishment of Gojo’s character, and an overall sense of unclear direction of the plot stops this from being one of my favourite series of the season. An improvement over the first season for sure, but not the incredible romance experience I was hoping for. What did you think of My Dress-Up Darling Season 2? Be sure to let us know, and thanks for reading!

See also: Call of the Night Season 2 Review

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Where to Watch My Dress-Up Darling Season 2?

Image by CloverWorks

You can stream My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 now on Crunchyroll. All episodes of the series’ first season are also available on the platform.

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