The reality is that Summer 2025 is going to be a challenge to cover. I have a job and limited time, and I previewed 27 shows – it is what it is. Today is an egregious example, with six or seven that I planned to at least introduce (and most of them, probably cover). Sacrifices will have to be made – the blogging threshold will be tougher, digest posts more common if the schedule fits, maybe cut back severely on post length and cap counts. I’ll have to adapt as we go and see what works, and what’s impossible.
Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Season 2 is in a funny niche that way. I’ll absolutely blog it and I did quite enjoy the first season – I ranked it #13 on my (admittedly weak) 2022 list. But it’s a bit lost in the shuffle of the (for me) glitzier names on the schedule. And while I never hated it I did have a “love-indifferent” relationship with S1. Some eps were charm explosions, some rather silly and annoying. Plus, the topic of cosplay is not in itself one I’m all that interested in. Characters geeking out on anything can be fun to watch even if you don’t geek out on it yourself, but I prefer the romcom side of things here.
The one constant through all that was the direction of Shinohara Keisuke, which really stamped him as one to watch (literally). Witty, sharp, stylish, beautiful – he did a great job, and he’s still doing it. This premiere happily was a reminder of everything I loved about My Dress-up Darling and almost none of what annoys me. Starting with a cold open of the “TsuCom” anime-in-an-anime, everything was snappy and sharp as a tack. One of the things this series does best is show teenagers acting pretty realistically like teenagers, and that includes the avalanche of sexual tension and how it effects them.
Bunny suits are the MacGuffin of the week. They play a prominent role in “TsuCom” and Marin is naturally clean to cosplay her favorite bunny assassin. Wakana has to learn on the fly here, never having made a bunny suit before. How does the bust stay up? Marin suggests clear straps, but the purist in Wakana chafes (I guess that’s a dirty word with cosplayers) at the notion. Eventually they head for a craft store where they have a truly hilarious encounter with a clerk who initially assumes Gojo-kun intends to wear the bunny suit himself. The gent eventually teaches Wakana how to keep a bunny bust up without straps – you use “boning” (the 14 year-old in me guffaws), one of those costume terms I’d never heard before.
This scene is nice in that it trumpets a theme that’s central to Bisque Doll, the idea of accepting people – and their proclivities – as they are. It’s reinforced later when Wakana and Marin go to a Halloween party with her cospals. Wakana slowly realizes that none of these people care about the things he’s been hiding all his life, and that he can be himself with them. That’s a euphoric realization, especially for a teenager. The elephant in the room has always been whether we’re eventually going to see Wakana put down the camera and step into frame, cosplaying himself. So far it’s a now, but you get the idea that Marin would love to see it happen.
The other elephant in the room is the elephant, of course. For a guy Gojo’s age this kind of activity would be unbearable torture, you would think – that kind over overstimulation every day? If we’re honest, the answer is pretty obvious here. They’re in high school, obviously into each other, and are living basically without adult supervision. Just do it already – make it a part of your relationship and go about it responsibly. Isn’t that better than walking around in a state of perpetual frustration, which he certainly is and Marin is a lot of the time too? Charming and gorgeous as it is, how Sono Bisque Doll handles the evolution in the romance has always been the key to reaching its full potential. But for now, it’s all good as long as it’s as charming as this episode was.
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