My Dress-Up Darling (2022)

[その 着せ替え人形 （ ビスク・ドール ） は恋をする]

Volume 9

Author/Artist: Shinichi Fukuda
Publisher: Young Gangan Comics

Synopsis:
When Kitagawa gets told that she's gained weight, it threatens both her modeling career and her cosplay.

Story/Characters:
Kitagawa was having a nice old time at the stylists when one of them takes note of her looking like she's got a bit extra, which later gets confirmed by her rather annoyed manager, who demands that she do something about it before it's time to start doing shoots for summer wear. Worst of all, of course, is the fact that she can't fit into her costumes anymore. Now, I'm sure real-world ladies in the audience will get annoyed seeing such a big deal being made over just a little bit of pudge, but Kitagawa is a model, after all. Anyway, the reason for her recent weight gain is not only the fact that Gojou's been feeding her well but also that she takes the leftovers meant for the next day and eats them right away (in addition to all the snacking she does between meals). Gojou estimates that she's been packing away at least 5000 calories a day, which really is a testament to her metabolism that she hasn't gained more weight than she has. Anyway, she opts to take a break from cosplay until she can get back in shape.

Picking up a conversation thread from earlier that doesn't involve her waistline, Kitagawa decides to invest in some loose socks (which apparently aren't trendy anymore) and then asks Gojou to take some pictures with her shiny new DSLR camera. Gojou is nervous about handling such an expensive piece of equipment at first but quickly gets into it once he starts taking snapshots. Although Kitagawa isn't cosplaying, they decide to go to a cosplay event where Chitose is appearing. Gojou has an extra reason to go because he connected with a prop-maker and is planning a meet-up so he can ask a bunch of questions. Suzuka, the one photographer from the two times Kitagawa dressed up as Shizuku-tan, has apparently been upgraded to a member of the supporting cast and we learn a little bit about the customs and manners of taking photos at cosplay events, as well as some things about camera angles and such. Meanwhile, Gojou meets up with Akira the prop-maker and they're both in for a surprise. Based on each other's names and the language they used when exchanging texts, Gojou thought Akira was a guy and Akira thought Gojou was a girl, but that's not the case. We learn that Akira does original designs for her cosplay, which impresses Gojou. When Kitagawa meets up with them, we learn that Akira and Suzuka are acquaintances and they go out for karaoke along with Chitose and Miyako, another cross-player they met earlier. Akira is clearly uncomfortable and I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing as of yet. (Perhaps it's just laying the groundwork for later.) A group cosplay gets proposed and Kitagawa is a little reluctant at first as she's still concerned about her weight, but all it takes is Gojou thinking it's a good idea for her to be 100% on board. As they're still short on numbers, it prompts Kitagawa to seek out someone we haven't seen in a while, and that's our cliffhanger.

Art:
It's amusing seeing the range of expressions Kitagawa has while agonizing over her weight gain. I really like the gimmick of telling a fair chunk of Chapter 67 via the snapshots Gojou is taking. I'm also a big fan of Akira's design. There are also a number of nice chapter covers, my favorite being the two-pager for Chapter 70 that both rings in 2022 and wishes well to the then-soon to be launched anime.

Other:
We get a color illustration of Kitagawa in this skimpy bear getup (possibly not facing the camera to hide those extra pounds), a black-and-white illustration preceding the afterword that's a preview of the next volume, and the afterword comic covering Fukuda's reactions to the storyboards for the first ep of the anime.

Conclusion:
These volumes that don't focus on a costume project can feel a bit odd, but we're setting things up for the next one and I imagine some of the core audience will appreciate the view from the enjoyers of cosplay who aren't active participants. I've got some hopes for what Akira will be bringing to the table and the prospect of a certain character coming back has me excited. We don't have any big payoffs like last volume, but there should be more than enough her for fans of the series to consider it worth a purchase.

Rating:
Own It