My Dress-Up Darling (Japanese: その着せ替え人形（ビスク・ドール）は恋をする, Hepburn: Sono Bisuku Dōru wa Koi o Suru; transl. "The Bisque Doll Falls in Love") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shinichi Fukuda. It was serialized in Square Enix's seinen manga magazine Young Gangan from January 2018 to March 2025, and compiled in 15 volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by CloverWorks aired its first season from January to March 2022. A live-action television drama adaptation aired on MBS's Dramaism programming block from October to December 2024. A second season of the anime adaptation aired from July to September 2025.
By October 2025, the manga had more than 15 million copies in circulation, and has been generally well received by critics.
Contents
Premise
Wakana Gojo's passion for crafting hina dolls causes him to hide his interests due to social trauma. However, when his beautiful and popular classmate Marin Kitagawa discovers his talent, she sees beyond his apparent idiosyncrasies and encourages him to create cosplay costumes. With Marin's support, Wakana steps out of his seclusion and begins to gain confidence. Working together, they create unique and beautiful costumes showcasing their talents and true selves.
Characters
Wakana Gojo (五条 新菜, Gojō Wakana)
Voiced by: Shōya Ishige, Tomoyo Takayanagi (young) (Japanese); Paul Dateh, Jack Britton (young) (English)
Portrayed by: Kōta Nomura
A first-year high school student. Being an orphan, he was raised by his grandfather, a craftsman of hina dolls, who also inspired him to become a kashira-shi (頭師), a craftsman who makes the heads of hina dolls. Wakana has a large physique and is over 180 cm tall, but he has low self-esteem and is reclusive due to a bitter memory of being criticized by his female childhood friend, who thought that boys should not be playing with dolls, ending their friendship. As a result, he hid his doll-making hobby and had no friends until he met Marin. Thanks to Marin's encouragement and support, Wakana steps out of his comfort zone and embraces his love for crafting. He grows more confident with each project, and through their collaboration, Wakana finds a sense of belonging in the cosplay community that he had never experienced before. Wakana grows closer to Marin, he seems to be completely unaware to her falling in love with him, until he finally confesses to her and the feelings are mutual. At the end of the series, he is a successful doll maker and he has married Marin. They also had a daughter named Nichika.
Marin Kitagawa (喜多川 海夢, Kitagawa Marin)
Voiced by: Hina Suguta (Japanese); AmaLee (English)
Portrayed by: Riko Nagase
A first-year student in Wakana's high school class. An archetype of a gyaru, notable for her warmth, friendliness, positivity, and outgoing nature. Marin is shown to dislike overly critical people who judge others based on their interests. She is a huge fan of anime, and her entire bedroom is decorated with anime posters and merchandise. After a series of successful cosplays, Marin grows closer to Wakana and eventually realizes she is head-over-heels in love with him. She continually does whatever she can to invite him to different places and spend time with him, as a way to win his heart and make him her boyfriend, although Wakana seems to be completely oblivious to her feelings for him until his confession and they get together. She lives alone as her mother died when she was a child, and her father is often away due to work. At the end of the series she is married to Wakana and works as a model. They also had a daughter named Nichika.
Themes
This work describes the development and love of boys and girls, with cosplay as its central theme. Although it also includes some erotic scenes, the work is notable for its detailed portrayal of character psychology and the process of creating cosplay costumes. It showcases the creation of the Hina doll, makeup, and camera work, and the author personally visited the Iwatsuki doll-making workshops in Saitama City, known as the "Doll City," to gain insights into the real lives of doll makers and cosplayers.
Production
Shinichi Fukuda set Wakana as an orphan without friends in order to create a situation where he has to solve problems with Marin, instead of his parents or other friends.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Shinichi Fukuda, the series was serialized in the seinen manga magazine Young Gangan from January 19, 2018, to March 21, 2025. The individual chapters were collected by Square Enix in 15 tankōbon volumes. An official fan book was released on September 24, 2022.
During the Anime Expo in July 2019, Square Enix announced the English version of the series under the title My Dress-Up Darling and published it under its new publication imprint Square Enix Manga & Books.
A spin-off manga written and illustrated by Choboraunyopomi, titled My Dress-Up Darling XOXO! (着せ替え人形（ビスク・ドール）でchu♡, Bisuku Dōru de Chu), was serialized in the same magazine from December 20, 2024, to July 4, 2025. Its chapters were collected in one tankōbon volume, released on July 25, 2025. In November 2025, Square Enix started publishing the spin-off in English on its Manga Up! Global platform. In February 2026, Square Enix Manga & Books announced that they had licensed the spin-off for English publication, with the single volume set to release in October later in the year.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced in the ninth issue of Young Gangan, which was published in April 2021. It was produced by CloverWorks and directed by Keisuke Shinohara, with Yoriko Tomita handling the series' scripts, and Kazumasa Ishida designing the characters and serving as a chief animation director. Takeshi Nakatsuka composes the series' music. The first season aired from January 9 to March 27, 2022, on Tokyo MX and other networks.
A sequel was announced in September 2022. It was later revealed to be a second season, with the main staff and cast members reprising their roles. It aired from July 6 to September 21, 2025, on Tokyo MX and other networks.
Live-action drama
A live-action television drama adaptation was announced on August 30, 2024. The drama is produced by Kyodo Television and directed by Koji Shintoku, with Satoko Okazaki writing the scripts. Misaki Umase composed the series' music. It aired on MBS's Dramaism programming block from October 9 to December 11, 2024. The opening theme song is "Princess Hero" (プリンセスヒーロー), performed by Chō Tokimeki Sendenbu, and the ending theme song is "Lovely Baby" (ラブリーベイビー), performed by Pedro.
Reception
Sales
In February 2022, it was reported that the manga had an additional 1.5 million copies in circulation following the premiere of the anime adaptation. In June 2022, it was announced the manga had over 7 million copies in circulation. In September 2023, it was announced the manga had 9.5 million copies in circulation. In October 2023, the manga had surpassed 10 million copies in circulation. In May 2024, the manga had surpassed 11 million copies in circulation. By September 2024, the manga had surpassed 12 million copies in circulation. In October 2025, the manga had surpassed 15 million copies in circulation.
Accolades
In August 2019, the series was ranked sixth in the print manga category according to the votes for the fourth edition of the Next Manga Award, organized by Da Vinci magazine from Media Factory and the Niconico website.
The manga was ranked sixteenth for readers in the 2020 edition of the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guide from Takarajimasha.
The manga was ranked third in Honya Club's Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2020, a survey that collected results from 1,100 professional bookstore employees in Japan.
The series, alongside Artiste, won the Men's Comic Prize at NTT Solmare's "Minna ga Erabu!! Denshi Comic Taishō 2020" in 2020.