WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Dress-Up Darling Episode 9, "A Lot Happened After I Saw That Photo" now streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.
My Dress-Up Darling is a shojo-style seinen anime all about the wonderful world of cosplay and tailoring. The story stars protagonist Gojo Wakana who is rather meek at first, but after meeting Kitagawa Marin he dives deep into the world of cosplay. The duo soon met the famous and talented cosplayer Inui Sajuna and her younger sister Shinju as well.
The primary focus remains on Gojo and Marin but recent episodes have seen the timid Shinju step into the spotlight, and she soon embodied everything that makes My Dress-Up Darling so compelling and fun to watch. Shinju is relatable to each character around her, which may see her play a much larger role to play in future episodes.
How Shinju Became Every Major Character At Once
In recent episodes of My Dress-Up Darling, Shinju meekly stepped forward as an amateur cosplayer. She doesn't want to be in her big sister's shadow any longer and is certain she can succeed -- if her new friends can give her a boost first. She needs help from both Gojo and Sajuna to get started, but she may soon stand on her own as a skilled cosplayer. For now she's taking baby steps, and her progress is encouraging. Shinju pulls off a convincing cosplay as a male anime character with Gojo's help, and even her own sister barely recognized her. Shinju is the star right now, and that's no coincidence.
Shinju has an overlap with each of the three main characters around her, making her highly relevant to My Dress-Up Darling's narrative. This also means she may form a mutually beneficial relationship with all of them where cosplay is concerned. She already has a significant advantage from the start thanks to her big sister's expertise in cameras and image editing. Shinju can easily take professional-grade photos of her sister during a cosplay shoot, and can give Gojo and Marin advice on how to pick out and use a fancy camera. The dynamic duo are bound to owe her a few favors for that.
She also shares Gojo's timid and unassertive nature, meaning she has room to grow both as a cosplayer and a person. Gojo already busted his tail to make Marin's Shizuku costume in time for a cosplay event, so perhaps Shinju will do something similar in the future. A proper challenge should help her kickstart her personal growth. She even shares Marin's girlish physique, meaning both girls can easily cosplay attractive female characters; however, as Episode 9 showed, Shinju can also convincingly cosplay as male characters. Perhaps she can show Marin how it's done if the latter is ever in the mood for crossplay.
Shinju's Character Potential in My Dress-Up Darling
Shinju has become an amalgamation of her sister and her two new friends, allowing her to neatly represent all of My Dress-Up Darling's themes and inspiring messages in one charming package. She and Gojo made a serious effort to pull off her crossplay project, so it's unlikely that she'll just melt back into the background and let Sajuna and Marin dominate the scene. It's true that Marin and Gojo are the protagonists, but My Dress-Up Darling is sure to give each of its major characters a substantial storyline.
Gojo is already undergoing a heroic character arc of his own, while Sajuna is shaping up as a tsundere who just might challenge Marin for Gojo's heart in the near future. That leaves the shy but enthusiastic Shinju who finds cosplay empowering and fun, but there's no doubt she wants more. At the very least, she is bound to steal the scene again with an excellent cosplay. It's possible that she'll amaze everyone with a cosplay she made all on her own and prove she can handle this field all by herself. That would be a fantastic achievement and greatly boost her confidence, all while making her less dependent on her sister.
In fact, My Dress-Up Darling may even take a different route and set up this newly-empowered Shinju as another competitor for Gojo's heart, given the anime industry's love of harems. That could just as easily not happen, but for now anything is possible with Inui Shinju, and fans should pay close attention to her as the story progresses. No doubt she's got a few more surprises in store.
