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 10

Author/Artist: Shinichi Fukuda
Publisher: Young Gangan Comics

Synopsis:
Kitagawa tries to recruit Juju for a group cosplay.

Story/Characters:
From what we know of Juju's personality, we know exactly what she's going to say when Kitagawa asks her to join in the Hitsugi group cosplay. (I do love how Kitagawa still cracks up at how quickly she gets shot down.) That could have been the end of it, but when Shinju hears about it and gets her hopes up (as she's a fan of the game), only for those hopes to be crushed when Juju says she turned it down, well, you know what any good big sister is going to do. We then have a little meet-up to discuss things. I particularly like how Shinju gets flustered when Akira complements her photography. Shinju is invited to cosplay as the main character of the game and though Gojou won't be making any of the costumes this time around, he gets asked to work on the props. Of course, with Gojou being serious about his research, Kitagawa invites him to come over to play the game himself. Akira then steps out for a bit and Kitagawa tells Shinju about her Rei cosplay. This piques Miyako and Suzuka's interest and they bitterly regret that they can't see it themselves as there was no recording allowed during her performance and with things so hectic before and after, there wasn't any time to take any pictures. Meanwhile, Gojou is returning from a trip to the can and he overhears the conversation between Akira and Chitose where Chitose asks Akira if she doesn't like Kitagawa, which she admits to. Akira feels bad that Gojou had to hear this and explains herself. Her feelings are paralleled by Juju, who isn't that enthused about this whole deal (and isn't all that fond of Kitagawa either) but tries to grin and bear it for Shinju's sake, as she's really excited about it. (Seriously, you try saying no when you see Shinju's big, full-faced smile.)

We pick things up with Gojou at Kitagawa's. We learn that Gojou's grandpa is with his cousin to see a nearby chiropractor, so Kitagawa teasingly invites him to spend the night. We then get the basic introduction to Hitsugi, a horror game set in a convent with a cast of nuns. Kitagawa then tries on her costume and the two talk about how they're going to handle the wig. By then it's getting late and Gojou is about to head home when we learn that there's been an accident and the trains have stopped running. This prompts Kitagawa to repeat her offer for him to stay over, but more seriously (and while dressed as a nun). She manages to convince him, but he can't help feeling guilty over the prospect of spending the night with Kitagawa when her father isn't around. His solution is not to go to sleep, so he loads up on energy drinks, but Kitagawa ends up misunderstanding what he means when he tells her he's not sleeping tonight. Although she's embarrassed, she steels her resolve and gets suited up for the occasion. Gojou is unintentionally dressed for purpose as well, as one of the few things Kitagawa has that'll fit him is a Nurujo hoodie with an ahegao Shizuku-tan on it. As her mind races about what she thinks is about to happen, Kitagawa ends up falling over and bonking her head. When Gojou rushes to her out of concern, she mistakes his intentions and asks to eat first to buy herself some time to work up her nerve. While they enjoy some cup ramen, she talks about how when she was a kid, she'd stay up late watching movies with her dad and he would try to sneak about eating some cup ramen because the moment she'd find out, she'd ask for "one bite" and end up eating the whole thing. Afterwards, Kitagawa ends up falling asleep and Gojou continues his playthrough. When Kitagawa wakes up the next day, she pieces together her misunderstanding while Gojou is reeling from the consequences of pulling an all-nighter with a horror game.

Kitagawa then has to deal with the embarrassment of her misunderstanding. (At least Gojou was blissfully unaware of what was going through her head.) She tries to resolve herself to tell Gojou how she feels about him, but the more she thinks about it, the more she fears how he'll respond. Gojou is in a conference call telling Suzuka and Shinju his impressions about the game. We then see Juju working on Shinju's wig while watching Flower Princess Blaze!! (which will come into play later). We then skip ahead to Kitagawa talking with Nowa about her woes (without naming names, of course) and Nowa's response doesn't help (with her thinking that confessing to a friend won't work out). She goes to Gojou's and when she's at the door, he asks her to leave. She doesn't have a chance to be shocked by this, because she almost immediately finds out it's because he's made fried mackerel (which isn't good for her diet). She insists on having some and after a fine meal, she asks him to walk her to the station. Is this going to be the big moment? Nope. All she does is ask if she can drop by tomorrow. Afterwards she's all bummed over chickening out, but this may well be the push that'll finally get her to cross the line.

We then have Akira drop in on Gojou so they can work on props for the shoot. She takes an interest in his work as a dollmaker and then they get to the day's task. There's a little bit of chat about the craft involved (and a warning about checking with your venue before using fake blood in a shoot). We hear about how Akira cosplayed as Luna from that bunny girl series and then she starts talking about her past, how she liked manga but her parents threw out her collection once she got to middle school. She was a closeted otaku until college, where she met Miyako and Suzuka and was able to enjoy her interests more freely. This of course resonates with Gojou. Meanwhile, the others are checking out the venue for the shoot and Miyako tells Juju that they're going to do a Black Lobelia cosplay. As you may recall, Juju has always wanted to do cosplays of characters like Black Lobelia but refuses to cosplay as a character she can't accurately represent. Miyako and Suzuka learned about this from talking with Shinju and try to convince Juju to trust them to help her accomplish her dream. One of the first things they do for her is show her how a silicone bra can be used to enhance even a modest bustline and adjust cleavage based on the look you're going for. Miyako, being rather modestly endowed herself, is applying firsthand experience here. Next is taping for the eyes and inserts to alter the shape of the nose. While this is going on, Miyako tells Juju that she had similar hangups about portraying characters that were a proper physical match for her, but as that's incredibly restrictive, she took on the challenge of portraying a character that was almost her direct opposite in every way, which led her to explore more creative solutions to cosplay. By the time Kitagawa and Shinju get back from shopping, we see the final result and it's quite striking.

Art:
There are a lot of great reaction shots this volume. Shinju is lovely as ever and Juju's death glares are exceptional. If you like a flustered Kitagawa, you'll get plenty of that when Gojou stays over, but this fun gets contrasted with her more serious agonizing later. (As a side note, as near as I can see, Kitagawa's diet is coming along nicely, so good for her.) Also, the last shot of Juju as Black Lobelia is quite effective as our cliffhanger.

Other:
We get a color illustration of Kitagawa and a quartet of single-panel comics of kid Kitagawa and her father. Prequel series when?

Conclusion:
There's a fair bit of character drama going on here that may or may not come to a head later. Kitagawa finds herself being pushed further toward actually making a move on Gojou. Will the upcoming group cosplay be an opportunity or will it just serve as a detour? It's hard to say, but I do like that we've brought the Inui Sisters back into the story and I'm looking forward to seeing where we go from here. If you're a fan of the series, you'll want this one in your collection.

Rating:
Own It