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My Dress-Up Darling Anime Gets Official Hina Dolls

The My Dress-Up Darling anime Twitter account announced on Thursday that the series will receive official hina dolls inspired by the characters of Wakana Gojō, Marin Kitagawa, Sajuna Inui, Shinju Inui, and Kaoru Gojō.

Aniplex posted a teaser video, confirming that the dolls will be produced by Suzuki Dolls, the doll maker that assisted with the manga's research on the traditional craft and served as the model for the studio depicted in the series.

Third-generation doll maker Akito Suzuki will create the collaboration dolls. The video depicts the process behind creating the dolls along with a short interview with the maker. "I am applying my efforts diligently to create dolls for this project that will properly replicate the anime," he said.

Last month, fellow Suzuki Dolls craftsman Keisho Suzuki that all 300 sets of the company's "Bell's kiss" line of modern-style hina dolls sold out shortly after the anime's fourth episode premiered.

Approximately a year before manga artist Shinichi Fukuda launched the My Dress-Up Darling manga in January 2018, Suzuki was approached by Fukuda and the publisher to be the model for Gojō. Suzuki guided the artist around the workshop and was interviewed several times in the making of the manga. He approves of the manga's portrayal of doll-making: "I feel like it beautifully depicts the craft."

The manga launched in Squre Enix's Young Gangan magazine in January 2018. Square Enix Manga & Books publishes the manga in English, and it describes the story:

Traumatized by a childhood incident with a friend who took exception to his love of traditional dolls, doll-artisan hopeful Wakana Gojō passes his days as a loner, finding solace in the home ec room at his high school. To Wakana, people like beautiful Marin Kitagawa, a trendy girl who's always surrounded by a throng of friends, is practically an alien from another world. But when cheerful Marin--never one to be shy--spots Wakana sewing away one day after school, she barges in with the aim of roping her quiet classmate into her secret hobby: cosplay.

Funimation is streaming the anime as it airs in Japan, and is also streaming an English dub. Crunchyroll is also streaming the English dub.

[Via Otakomu]