Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 16 – Quick Summary
In My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 16, “Has All My Measurements Memorized,” Marin and Wakana’s made an announcement: the class had to participate in a beauty pageant for their school festival. Marin wasn’t interested until she learned that females had to dress as males and vice versa – so, it was cosplay! Suddenly, she was all in. Further, she was taking Wakana in with her, and she let the whole class know. How did the class respond? How did Wakana respond? And what character will Marin select for her cosplay?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 16
The crash of thunder as she realized the teacher’s meaning was a nice touch. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Obligatory reminder: choosing a favorite quote for this series is really hard due to too many choices! But, I’ll push forward as best I can!
I’ll choose an early quote because it had a humorous introduction. The teacher announced they had to participate in a pageant. Everyone assumed that Marin would take on that role, given she’s a model. But she had no interest whatsoever.
Then the teacher said this pageant had a special rule. If a girl participated, she had to dress as a man; if a boy participated, he had to dress as a woman. Then, they had to woo members of the same sex with some kind of performance.
Marin’s world went quiet. Her brain laid out the pieces, took a good, hard look, and came to a stark realization.
“Dress as a guy?!” she exclaimed, sitting up, eyes wide (02:07). “You mean I actually get to cosplay at school?!”
I just love her enthusiasm.
Favorite Moment from My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 16
After all these years, Wakana received some of the praise his work deserved. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Wakana Backed Marin’s Decision
Obligatory reminder: choosing a favorite moment for this series is really hard due to too many choices!
This episode did more than just make it hard: it deployed a multi-stage series of best moments that culminated in the very best moment. It’s hard to disentangle without relating their entire episode, so I’ll focus on the last stages.
We all know Wakana’s history. The poor guy still can’t accept that he’s talented. Or that his talent can be recognized. It’s wildly beyond his imagination that anyone would actually celebrate his talent.
He’s also humble. No, I don’t think it’s humility that drives his inability to accept that he’s talented. He’s still suffering trauma from his childhood. That’s the cause of that particular inability. When I say he’s humble I mean he does not want to claim any exceptions for himself. He doesn’t want to be the center of attention. Wakana wants to put his head down and do the work that needs done.
Marin knew that about him. Remember my favorite moment from episode 4? Remember Marin’s reaction when she learned he had worked himself into a state of exhaustion to finish their first costume? Marin remembered. No way did she want to put him through that. So, she bravely suggested she would try to make the costume.
Marin was going to try, though she knew she didn’t know how. Kinda feels like a humor interpretation of Frodo saying he’d take the ring to Mordor, though he didn’t know the way. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Wakana knew it wasn’t going to work. But he swore he’d help her. Internally, he was working out how he’d make time to fix whatever she came up with, despite his other responsibilities – which entailed carrying stuff and work on interiors because the teacher said all the boys in the class should do that.
Delivery: The Class Backed Wakana
So Wakana was in a gloomy mood when he joined the rest of the class as Marin went shopping.
They were shocked. He didn’t know why they were all looking at him; he feared the worst. Then one of the boys said (18:28), “”Huh?! The interior design? It’s fine! You don’t need to be here!”
Wakana still misunderstood. So the guy spelled it out for him, saying (18:35), “You need to make the pageant outfit, right?”
Seeing him realize they respected his role, indeed, that they were counting on him, was a beautiful thing. They didn’t think he was weird for being Marin’s tailor. They thought it was cool. Then they learned he let Marin go shopping, and they all panicked. Apparently, she has a reputation. They encouraged him to go help her to limit the amount of damage she could do.
As he ran down the hall, several of them stuck their heads out the door. One of them said (20:39), “For real, we’re counting on you with that outfit! Good luck!”
The class really encouraged Wakana. And does Nowa look intense or what? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Wakana finally got it. They really, really trusted him with this. And they thought it was something worthy of praise. The animation really sold the idea that this thought was almost too good for him to accept; but accept it he did, for one of the first times in his life. Sure, he treasured Marin’s praise. But he did something specifically for her and her cosplay. In this episode, the entire class sung his praises. And he could not have been more relieved.
What did you think of Nowa catching Marin’s chair after she realized she could cosplay for the pageant? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 16: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Season 2 • My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 – Episode 4 discussion
- Lost in Anime: Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru (My Dress-up Darling) Season 2 – 04
- The Anime Rambler – By Benigmatica: Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Episode #16
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 13: Wakana Gojo, 15 Years Old, Teenager
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 14: You Can Equip Boobs
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 15: I Wuuuuv Slice-of-Life Scenes!
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 16: Has All My Measurements Memorized
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 17: 800 Million
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 18: I’ll Make It Happen, No Matter What with These Two Hands
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 19: Capture Those Delicious Memories!
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 20: The Only Way I Can Think of to Express That Gratitude Is with Money
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 21: Because I Don’t Intend to Sleep Tonight
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 22: So We’re Gonna Do It All Right Now?!
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 23: I Didn’t Think Anything Good Would Ever Happen to Me
- My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 24: Dear My Dress-Up Darling
