Patreon Pin Up 4/4/22 (Patreon)

Whenever a new female character starts taking the fan art community by storm, it can be part of my job to take notice. Think I'm above taking advantage of the flavor of the week? Think again! The latest one to make the rounds in my circles is Marin Kitagawa from an anime called My Dress Up Darling. 

Wanting to at least check out the show before starting the pin up, I reactivated my old Funimation account over the weekend. (Which if you've kept up on recent news you know that doing so was a bit like starting a tab at a bar scheduled for a bulldozer in the morning.) After an episode or two, I didn't yet understand what the hype was all about. Seemed like a pretty standard "manic pixie dream waifu accosts saintly male nerd" story I have seen a zillion times before. So many times that it's a big part of why I don't watch as much anime as I used to.  It's maddening, isn't it? Watching an entire series about romance between two characters, all the while knowing there's like a 98% chance said characters won't even kiss by the end. One might get so sick of the repeated romantic payoff blue-balls of being an anime fan that they would make their own story, a comic where any two characters with even the slightest chemistry are fucking like rabbits within a few pages of any given scene together! But I digress. 

So considering my negative stance on the genre, why did I watch ten episodes, only stopping because they ran out of English dubs? (Come at me, my soul is prepared!) Well, it does have a few things going for it to help it stand out. I've read that one easy trick to make a character in fiction more likable is to give them something they're very passionate about, and Marin and the gang have that in spades with their shared cosplay obsession. Marin could have been an overly pandering okatu fantasy character quite easily, but never falls all the way into the cliche. The show also strikes a rare balance of endearingly wholesome and yet extremely horny. Marin is a lot more open with her body than the average anime girl, but largely comes off as charmingly bold rather than trashy for it. 

I guess to summarize my opinion, I think My Dress Up Darling works because its successfully walking a lot of tightropes at once, and I find that impressive. But if you guys have any thoughts I'd love to hear them. What show should I take on next? Should I try that Komi Can't Communicate one? Seen a lot of that character around lately too. Let me know, and have a good Monday!