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My Dress-Up Darling Ep. 23 “I Didn’t Think Anything Good Would Ever Happen to Me” is basically the calm before the storm. With the calm being a chance for Juju to finally get over her hangups about cosplay. All while the storm being the upcoming Coffin group cosplay, which is coming along surprisingly smoothly despite the initial hiccups. All in all, it’s a good day for some compassionate cosplay here.
My Dress-Up Darling Ep. 23 “I Didn’t Think Anything Good Would Ever Happen to Me”: Details in Brief
My Dress-Up Darling Ep. 23 “I Didn’t Think Anything Good Would Ever Happen to Me” is the 11th episode (you can read my review of Ep. 13-14, Ep. 15-16, Ep. 17, Ep. 18-21, and Ep. 22 here) of the second season of this romantic comedy and slice of cosplay life anime series, and the 23rd overall. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the 15-volume long manga of the same name by Shinichi Fukuda.
CloverWorks (The Promised Neverland, Horimiya, Spy x Family) will be returning to production this second season, just as they did with the first season. In fact, longtime readers of THS will recall that we did a review of that first season here. Crunchyroll once more is licensing this anime for its global release. Keisuke Shinohara returns as the director, with Yoriko Tomita also returning as the writer.
Synopsis
Alas, My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is still ongoing as of this writing, although it’s probably going to end soon. In fact, My Dress-Up Darling Ep. 23 “I Didn’t Think Anything Good Would Ever Happen to Me” only just made its debut on Crunchyroll on September 13, 2025. Thus, to avoid spoilers for those of you who haven’t watched the new season yet, here’s the synopsis below:
“Everyone is getting ready for the upcoming Coffin group cosplay but they also have a surprise for Juju.”
My Dress-Up Darling Ep. 23 “I Didn’t Think Anything Good Would Ever Happen to Me”: The Good
Honestly, the star of My Dress-Up Darling Ep. 23 “I Didn’t Think Anything Good Would Ever Happen to Me” is why this episode is so good. And to note: the star of the show isn’t even Marin (voiced by Hina Suguta (JP) and AmaLee (EN)). No, the star of this episode is in fact Sajuna Inui (voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki (JP) and Risa Mei (EN)), also known by her cosplay name of “Juju”.
Juju gets some noticeable character exploration and even character development in this episode, to the point where she’s more of a deuteragonist than a side character. Not only that, but that development involves some deep fears for her about cosplaying and her own future that might hit any young cosplayers quite hard. Honestly, I do believe that this episode is a great watch for any younger cosplayers who are worried about being able to cosplay as adults. Needless to say, I do firmly agree with Suzuka (voiced by Marie Miyake (JP) and Celeste Perez (EN)) and Miyako (voiced by Mayuko Kazama (JP) and Sarah Roach (EN)) on this issue. As long as you enjoy cosplaying, you shouldn’t have to worry about appearing immature. Especially when there are so many adults who cosplay.
However, they’re not the only things about this episode worth watching. Wakana (voiced by Shōya Ishige (JP) and Paul Dateh (EN)) is also pretty important to the story along with Akira (voiced by Maki Kawase (JP) and Hannah Alyea (EN)). We get some nice chemistry between them as they work on the props for the upcoming Coffin group cosplay, and we even get to see Akira’s backstory, which honestly, gives me the opinion that her parents were basically engaging in child abuse by throwing away her manga like that. Your mileage may vary here, but that’s just my opinion, and I’m glad that now she has friends with which she can be herself around.
My Dress-Up Darling Ep. 23 “I Didn’t Think Anything Good Would Ever Happen to Me”: The Bad
Honestly, my only complaint is that there is a lack of delicious food in this episode. It’s a bit of an oddity considering that most episodes in the season have featured some delicious-looking food. In fact, the only time we get to see food period is in Akira’s backstory when she was basically the victim of child abuse, so it takes any enjoyment of the food out. Already, you can tell that this is a flippantly minor complaint to make. Fortunately, I do believe that we shall get food in the next episode. Just…probably not delicous-looking food. Honestly, if the props Wakana and Akira are working on are any indication, we’re probably going to get some of the most gruesome-looking food in any recent anime.
Aside from that, there’s not much in the way of action in this episode. In fact, there’s no action whatsoever. This anime is a slice of life romantic comedy cosplay anime, after all. If you want action, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, and/or Nyaight of the Living Cat. If you want some mostly nice and relaxing shows though, then you might want to watch Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, and/or The Ancient Magus’ Bride.
What did you think of this week’s episode of My Dress-Up Darling? Are you just as eager for the Coffin group cosplay next episode as I am? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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