2.5 Dimensional Seduction

Being focused around cosplay, this anime has to draw an immediate comparison to My Dress-up Darling. However, there is an immediate difference noticeable in that this anime leans a bit more towards fan service, if the title wasn’t already an indication. However, the ecchi takes a bit of a backseat (though never fully departs) as we instead learn this is really a sports anime. Let me explain.

Basically we have Okumura, who is the last member left of the manga club after everyone else has graduated. He’s a classic otaku with some trauma that has led him to reject 3D women. Lilysa looks to join as a place for her to share her love of Liliel, who is also Okumura’s favorite character. She cosplays as the character, and soon enough the lines between 2D and 3D love blur as they attend events together and grow closer. The sports side comes around towards the end of the first cour as they encounter Nagomi, a professional cosplayer who sees Lilysa as challenger to her spot at the top as one of the four heavenly queens. Yeah listen the explanation is ridiculous but they needed stakes, and this isn’t the only time they treat this as a sport. Anyways, Lilysa’s journey makes her lots of friends: Mikari, Okumura’s childhood friend and a model who is in love with him (duh); Nonoa, a very shy person who started cosplaying to break out of their shell; and Aria, a gyaru with a mysterious reason I’ll let you discover yourself. The way she meets these characters along with their interactions make this a more wholesome show.

The show’s wholesome nature might also be that it serves as a love letter of sorts to cosplay, and the media that inspires it. While in the first episode we seem to be here just for objectifying 2D women, by the end of the first season we’re getting into the passion that manga, anime, and games can inspire. Despite the fact the characters aren’t too deep, nor the plot generally, it manages to nail this pretty well. Episode 22 really feels like a finale of sorts to all this. Episodes 23 and 24 then are a change of pace, and watching them immediately almost makes it feel like a parody or something as we head to the beach and they remember this is a romcom and the title promised more fan service. There are still some deeper moments as a reminder that Okumura is a character, and they set up the already announced second season.

Now due to taking vacation in the middle of this show airing my memory of the first cour is a bit hazy, while I watched the second cour all at once over a few days since I didn’t pick it back up immediately after returning. So my feelings are more based on the second half of the season, but I think it was pretty strong as a show even if the romance was a bit lacking for most of that portion. On the other hand, as a harem anime it will likely never manage to score as highly with me anyways. Regardless, I’m ready to see more romance anyways in the second season, along with the cosplay continuing as they get deeper into that than My Dress-up Darling.