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Imagine SAO if it didn't take itself too seriously, and was written by someone who actually understand games. That's Shangri-La Frontier. There's no you die in game you die irl here. It's just gamers having fun. But then, how would it have any stakes if no one actually dies? Surprisingly there is. But how? Well. that would be a spoiler so I won't elaborate much, but throughout the story, you will come to care a lot about one particular character and you will worry about that character's wellbeing because they're one of the few characters in this story that can actually die.

If you've never watched Gundam before, you will hate this.
If you're a fan of Gundam Build Fighters and Divers, you will hate this.
If you're watching this after the Witch from Mercury, you will hate this.
If you're a fan of Gundam in general, will hate this.
This anime is complete nonsense and is just a cheap ad for Bandai's upcoming Gundam Metaverse, which was doomed to fail from the start. This is nothing but a big waste of time. The story is nonsensical and the fights are non-interesting and holds no weight. And even the timeline itself makes no sense. They brought back characters from Build Fighters ... and Divers for no reason at all, and they served no purpose. And most of the new characters are extremely boring.

One thing I can say for certain about this anime is that, this is the only Christmas anime series in existence. There are other anime that had episodes centered around Christmas but this is the only anime to be entirely centered around Christmas. Well, this in it's spiritual successor Seiren but Seiren is disappointing.
This anime have 6 heroines in total, 7 if you count the OVA episode and each 4 episode is centered around 1 heroine. Each episode is it's own story so you can basically skip episodes.

The episodes for each arc is as as follows
Morishima Haruka Arc - Episode 1 to 4
Tanamachi Kaoru ... Arc - Episode 5 to 8
Nakata Sai Arc - Episode 9 to 12
Nanasaki Ai Arc - Episode 13 to 16
Sakurai Rihoko Arc - Episode 17 to 20
Ayatsuji Tsukasa Arc - Episode 21 to 24
Kamizaki Risa - Epsiode 25 (OVA)
Tachibana Miya - Episode 26 (OVA)

You can just pick any of those arcs and starting watching with no problem without watching any of the previous or after episodes as each arc is standalone. And since each episode is around 20 minutes, each arc takes about 1:30 minutes at average so this is the perfect series to watch on Christmas Eve and Christmas. As for which arc is the best, that would all depend on your personal taste. I can only give you the personality of the heroines each arc is centered around on. Morishima Haruka is the daring School Madonna senoir who is somewhat airheaded. Tanamachi Kaoru is classmate best friend type who wouldn't hesitate to wrestle a guy or grope their ass and also talk about other girls with them. Nakata Sai is the soft spoken and shy Junior. Nanasaki Ai is the responsible Junior. Sakurai Rihoko is the glutton childhood friend and Ayatsuji Tsukasa is the serious and studious class rep. And Kamizaki Risa is the stalker girl who've had a crush on the MC for a long time. Tachibana Miya is the the MC's sister but episode 26 is more about Miya being worried about her brother than any romance stuff so no incest stuff there. This is an anime that I kept coming back to every Christmas and once you've experienced it, you will too. It has this retro but timeless charm to it that a lot of romance lovers will enjoy.

Remember people saying "I don't want to be horny. I just want to be happy."? Well, My Dress-Up Darling ask "Why can't you both be horny and happy?"

This anime is adapted from the manga with the same name. And as an adaptation, it's the perfect adaptation. There's very few anime adaptations that can be called the perfect adaptation and this is one of this is one of them.

Story
The story is quite simple. The main male character is passionate about his hobby which is Hina doll making but due to his bad experiences in the past, he wasn't able to show it openly. Enters ... Kitagawa Marin, a popular Gyaru who is very passionate and isn't ashamed to show openly about her hobby, which is anime, manga, eroge and most of all, Cosplaying. But the problem is, she can't sew to save her life, that's where Gojo comes in. As someone who sew clothes for Hina dolls all his life, he was very well versed with sewing. The story is basically just these two characters supporting each other and helping each other overcome their problems and become the best version of themselves.

Art
The art in this anime is perfect. They took the already amazing art from the manga and made it even better. Beautiful things become extra beautiful and horny things becomes extra horny. Some people would even joke that Marin's boobs has more animation than the entire Seven Deadly Sins season 5. But if you ask just because they animate those scenes super well, does the animation in other scenes suffer? No. All the episodes have very good and consistent animation greatly complimenting it's amazing art style. For a slice of life romance anime, this anime has the level of animation you often only see if Kyoto Animation's works.

Sound
The sound department in this anime is ok, I guess. It complements the story quite well but none really stood out to me apart from the opening and ending.

Character
Characters are the most important in a romance anime in this anime gets it right. A lot of people say the main character Gojo is just a cheap self insert character but I can bet that Gojo is 2 times more accomplished than those people ever will be. While the MC is quite good, the most important and standout character of this series is without a doubt the heroine, Kitagawa Marin. She is out going and not afraid to speak her mind. But most of all, she don't judge people's hobbies. And unlike a lot of extroverts, she doesn't force Gojo, who is in introvert to come out of his shell and interact with people. And she's also not afraid to be lewd either. And most of all, she isn't afraid to admit her mistakes and apologize when she need to. I can go on all day here about how great Marin is but I won't. What you to know is, Marin is great and she's better than a lot of other characters and majority of the real people.

Enjoyment
I'm a manga reader so I already what will happen in the anime even before it came out. Even so, I was never bored for a scene while watching this. Every scene is greatly fun and enjoyable. Some people say the horniness is bad but I'd say they're snowflakes.

Overall
If you like Slice of Life and Romance, you owe it to yourself to watch My Dress-Up Darling ASAP.
Also, in case you're wondering, this anime is by no ways similar to 3D Kaonojo Real Girl. 3D Kanojo is a bad adaptation of a mediocre manga, have mediocre art, and less than than stellar animation. If you're salty than can't help it because that's the truth. There's a reason so many people talk about Marin while majority of the people don't know Igarashi Iroha.

I normally don't write reviews on manga. But this one I gotta write because I don't want other people to do the same thing that I did and waste their time on this garbage.

Story (3/10)
It's not the worst I've read but it's definitely one of the worst. It goes over 200 chapters without any development at all. This is one manga where manga readers won't be able to spoil the anime only watchers because literally nothing happens. It's like the mangaka just took all the worst parts of other romance mangas and put them into one manga. One chapter would end with a cliffhanger and ... in the next chapter, that cliffhanger would be immediately forgotten or trivialized, and repeat the process. There was one plotline about Chizuru wanting to be an actress or something and Kazuya wanting to supporting that but that was very quickly forgotten after one arc.

Art (8/10)
Art is the one good thing about this manga. It actually feels like a waste. All these good character designs are being wasted on this crap of a story. I would honestly read a manga where Reiji only did the art and the story is by someone else.

Characters (3/10)
The characters in here are just the worst. They're so unbearable. The main character, Kazuya, is a total wimp you wouldn't feel bad for him if he got NTRed by everyone because it'll still be his fault. And I swear the bastard have an NTR fetish. He have fanaticized multiple times the girls NTRing him with another guy. Like what dude? And there's Ruka, who's only good thing is that she looks like a bubbly high school girl. She's overly clingy to the point of annoying. The main character have told her multiple times that he don't like her yet she still don't back off and she get in between the two main leads multiple times on purpose. And the manga plays it off is it's fine, because she's cute. And she likes the main character because what, he made her heart beat slightly faster than it normally is. And then there's Mami, who is just a total bitch. She dumped the main character before the series began yet she constantly made effort so that he can't get another date for no reason. Plus, she literally have no motive for anything she does. She's just a bitch and a lier. And then there's the heroine, Chizuru. Tbh, she's not that bad compared to the other characters. But her problem is just that she just so bland. There's really nothing outstanding about her character. The best character in this manga would be Sumi but that because she gets no screen time. Mind you majority of the characters in this story are adults. Not teenagers. Yet not none of them act like teenagers. They would throw tantrums, have misunderstandings and do nothing to resolve those misunderstandings. I can't remember the number of times Kazuya almost confessed to Chizuru only wimp out last minute.

You can't even self insert as the main character because no matter how pathetic you are, there's no way you're THAT pathetic. If you are, I'm sorry for your parents.

Enjoyment (3/10)
I used to enjoy this manga in the early chapters when it felt like there was actually something happening. Then I start to notice the patterns and how they repeat. Each arc has the exact same pattern that repeats over and over again, which also ends with nothing being resolved and no progress being made. It just makes me so frustrated and angry to read.

Overall (3/10)
If you plan to read the manga after watch the anime, don't. If you've seen the anime, then you've seen it all. I've read over 100 chapters before dropping it and barely anything happens there. From what I've heard from others who continued to read it, it's still the same. If you haven't watched the anime or read the manga, well good for you. All I can say is, this is a story only incels who think with their genitals can enjoy. If you a functional brain, you won't enjoy it. Go read something else. Go read Domestic Girlfriend, because at least something happens there and the mangaka doesn't' drag the story on.

If you came here looking for something ground breaking or something never done before. You'll be sorely disappointed. This is not what this light novel is about. There's nothing new here that hasn't been done before.

With that said, if you came here to look for a sweet romance story where great chemistry between characters and sweet and wholesome moments, you're in the right place. This story does nothing new, just the same troupe you'd probably seen in other light novels and manga. But it does that troupe exceptionally well, or at least better than most.

The story can be summed up pretty simple. There's this ... pretty girl who is very popular and there's this guy who doesn't have many friends and situations brought the two to start interacting with one another. It's simple. But the story does that simple thing exceptionally well. There's not many characters in the story but the character interactions between the characters that are in the story are done very well and organically. The chemistry between the characters are great too.

When it comes to plot, there's really isn't much going on and there's no need to. The main focus of this story is about the two main characters gradually getting closer and closer. As they get closer, the space between them lessen and they become more open to each other, it's that kind of story.

So if you enjoy sweet romance stories where they take the time to build up the relationship of the involving characters, you'll definitely enjoy it.

As first glace, it's easy to dismiss this as just another 'Idol' or 'Music' anime. I almost did too. Trust me. It's much more than that.

Story: 9/10
Vivy, or in the beginning, Diva is an autonomous robot or AI, made purely for bringing happiness to people through her songs, or as least that's what she was supposed to do, until Matsumoto, and AI from 100 in the future came to her with the grave news of an AI apocalypse that will happen 100 years in the future, where AI wipes out most of humanity and she's the only one who can stop it, as she's the ... only robot, or AI that survived that long.
The story is divided in multiple arcs, with any new arc having a few years or decades time difference from the last arc, where Matsumoto would appear to change an event that will influence an AI uprising in the future. You can see Vivy as growing a character each arc. The story also pose an interesting question of "Will you save the people in front of you and risk a potential apocalyptic future or will you try to avoid the apocalyptic future by ignoring those you can save". Trust me, it's not an easy question for Vivy to answer. Add to it that she already have another question that she's been looking for the answer of.
Stories of each arc is designed tug on your heartstrings, nothing less from the Nagatsuki Tappei, the author of Re:Zero. Ending of each story arc will make you fell conflicted, as the questions in posed can also be applied to us.

Art and Animation: 9/10
What can I say. Wit Studio, the studio that previously worked on Attack on Titan delivers. Normal scenes look quite good while the action scenes(Yes. This anime has action scenes and a lot of them at that) delivers. Choreography is amazing which adds to the already great art. Plus, there are occasional close up super detailed shots of AIs especially Vivy, which just shows us how inhuman she actually is, are breathtaking.

Sound: 8/10
As an anime with a Music in it's genres, it also delivers in this area. The Sound Director here is Aketagawa Jin , who previously worked on Ahiru no Sora, Aldnoah Zero, Anohana, Dr. Stone and such. So, you should know what to expect.

Character: 9/10
If you've watched or read Re:Zero before, you know Nagatsuki Tappei excels at writing characters. Vivy starts off as quite a mechanical character, which makes sense, since she is a robot. But with each arc, her character development is apparent. Vivy is a character who don't talk very much and is quite devoted to her mission of making people happy through her songs, a reason which enables her to cooperate with Matsumoto to stop the AI Apocalypse since, she can't make anyone happy if everyone is dead. She will try to save everyone she come across regardless of whether they are AI or human if she knows they're in danger. Matsumoto on the other hand is quite a contrast to Vivy in the fact that he's quite talkative and will sacrifice a lot of people if it for the sake of his mission, that is, preventing the AI Apocalypse. And seeing these two contrasting personalities having to clash with each other while trying to cooperate to achieve their ultimate goal is very interesting. And they way they end up influence each other is also interesting, and organic, despite both being AI.

Enjoyment: 9/10
What can I say, this anime gives me a lot of enjoyment. It makes me feel a lot of things, like, happiness, sadness, conflict, adrenaline and many more.

Overall: 9/10
I would give it a 10/10 if not for the fact that it's still not complete and there's room to mess up in the future. But so far what I've seen is a solid 9/10 and I'm surprised that more people aren't talking about this anime. It's a solid masterpiece in the making and if it continues the way it is going, I can see it becoming a classic.

This is one of the worst animes I have watched. That's saying a lot since I enjoyed In Another World With My Smartphone greatly.

Story 1/10
I don't even know what the story was even supposed to be about. It's doesn't even follow it's source material. I went into this after watching it's impressive predecessor Kakyuusei TV series from 1999 and was greatly disappointed by it. They like to throw in some unrelated "sad" stories out of nowhere for no reason which also has no relation to the main story and want use to be sad and think it makes sense.

Art 1/10
The art was a quartar decent. ... The characters have too much angles, too thin, which in term makes them look tall, and overall, kinda look bad, and I really liked Code Geass character designs.

Sound 1/10
The op and ed was pretty bad and even among the soundtracks, there was nothing actually good. Plus the voice acting was just bland and terrible. There was a character who was voiced by a VA who clearly has no experience and has no idea what she was doing. I even wondered if she paid her way into it or used some sort of connections. From the research I did, this was her first and last role. And even the main characters are voiced by a bunch of no names who never really had or ever had any main roles apart from some hentai. And I have no idea what sort of brains decided to use a female VA with a very womanly voice to voice a male character.

Character 1/10
The characters are just unbearable. They showed little to no development over the series. And I had a hard time finding out who was supposed to be the main character. Traditionally, the MC would be Oriya Rouma, since he was the MC in the VN. Then they throw in that otherworldly character Kishida Shun who came out of nowhere for no reason and confuse the hell out of me. And all the other male and female characters are very forgettable. I still can't remember any of the character names and I can remember all the character names from the previous Kakyuusei sereis, Highschool DxD and other similar ones, so that's saying a lot.

Enjoyment 1/10
Every episode of this anime is just unbearable and just had me thinking wtf is this shit. I had little to no enjoyment watching this. That's not even the problem of the source material since a lot of the stuff in here seems to be some original stuff made up by dumb story writers and directors.

Overall 1/10
This anime was an absolute crap and an absolute waste of my time. Even a hentai would have much better story than this. There's absolutely no reason to watch this. If you watched 1999's Kakyuusei and plan to continue into this, I suggest don't. You would be greatly disappointed. It's like some waste of ground and food idiot just played the game one day and thought "I want to be in this story but not as the MC but as a different mysterious character that knows the girls and that the girls like for no reason".
There are plenty of other animes with similar themes to this but are actually 100 or 1000 times better, like this one's predecessor Kakyuusei 1999 TV series, or Da Capo. I suggest you go watch those.

A very good anime from the 90s that was overlooked and overshadowed because it's a non mecha anime that came out in the time often called the Great Mecha Boom, because of the success of shows like Gundam Wing and Evangelion. If you are interested in the 90s anime but is tired of Giant Robots punching other Giant Robots and Monsters, this is a good anime for you.

Story: 8/10
Imo, this is one of the few good VN to anime adaptations. The story is not too unique. It's fairly simple and easy to follow which, imo, is a good thing. And it's not dumb like quite ... a number of romance anime. The romance in here, while being not actually that true to reality, or the best, is still quite realistic compared to most harem/romance anime.

Art: 8/10
When it comes to art, I have to say, this is the peak of 90s moe animation. The art and animation stays consistent through the entire run of 13 episodes. The characters looks good and cute, the BG not great but ok. It has everything you'd expect from a 90s anime. The fan service is there but not that much and not the main focus, which would be either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste.

Sound: 6/10
Unfortunately, IMO, soundtrack is not the strong point of this anime. The OP is quite catchy. The background soundtrack does it's job but none of the really catch my ears.

Characters: 8/10
As expected from an anime adapted from a VN/ Dating sim, this anime features a vast array of colorful female characters. They cover wide range of different character troupes. While none of the characters are too unique, they are good enough to make you actually care about them(at least the ones that get enough screen time anyways). Plus, the main character looks quite distinct and has a lot of personality, for a MC character of a VN, which is supposed to be a self insert character, much to my surprise. Plus, this main character is not oblivious the feelings of the girls around him, unlike a lot of romance and harem MC. Plus, despite being a "harem" anime, you won't see the girls constantly fighting for the MC's D and you will rarely see the MC being surrounded by more than 2 girls. And the girl's in here often go out of their way to improve their relationship with the MC instead of just maintaining the status quo. The MC also often go out of his way to actually get into a relationship, which is quite refreshing to see after seeing so many wimpy MCs.

Enjoyment: 9/10
As a huge fan of moe, this anime is a hidden gem and a rare find for me. While it's not the greatest that I've seen, I can say without a doubt, it's one of the best, at least for me. I had a great time watching it.

Overall: 9/10
This was a great find for me. It's an anime I enjoyed watching and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have an English release, which is a shame. I hope a licensor or a streaming service would pick it up sometime later so that more people can enjoy this 90s hidden gem.

There's only one thing I can say about this. That is, you're better of watching the 1999 adaptation of Kakyuusei, which is 100 times better. The only reason to watch this is, if you've watched the 1999 adaptation and aren't satisfied with the main heroine choice, and want a different heroine. But even still, you might want to know that despite being the chracters, the personalities of these characters are very different between these two adaptations. Mizuho is much more cheerful and friendly in the 1999 adaptation but she's more or less a typical tsundere in this one. Miko is very spacy and airheaded in ... the 1999 adaptation but in this one, she's kinda seem smarter(?) which is not really supposed to be her defining trait. Ai is a lot more shy in the 1999 adaptation but in this one, she's too open for a shy girl. Plus, the MC is in the 1999 adaptation has a more distinct look and has more character.