WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Dress-Up Darling Episode 8, "I Really Recommend Backlighting" now streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.
My Dress-Up Darling Episode 7 introduced viewers to Juju's older-looking younger sister Shinju after Marin asks for camera and photography advice. As one of Marin's personal cosplay idols, she's overly excited about the opportunity to group cosplay the sister enemy characters from the show Flower Princess Blaze. As they get to know each other in Episode 8, Shinju explains the differences between smartphones and cameras.
When she starts to go over average costs for the equipment, however, poor Gojo almost has a heart attack realizing how expensive the hobby is. Marin assures him that she will save up to buy said equipment, and they go on to look for potential photoshoot locations.
They find an abandoned hospital where the spookiness noticeably scares Juju. When it starts to rain, Gojo finds her petrified from the thunder and lightning and stays to comfort her, asking Juju why she pushes herself to cosplay. She explains that ever since she was little, she desperately wanted to be a magical girl and wearing the costumes brought so much happiness to her.
The reason Juju wanted Gojo to make such an important outfit for her is because when she saw his work with Marin, she fell in love and immediately felt jealous. She felt a need to have one for herself and said that jealousy is something you feel about things that matter. Deeply moved, Gojo realizes how happy his grandfather must have been when Gojo admired his work and holds Juju's hand out of excitement. Having been in all-girls schools, Juju is overwhelmed by the fact that she's never held a boy's hand before and faints.
After their school term's final exams, Marin invites Gojo to the beach in celebration of all their hard work. On the way, a bird steals Marin's burger and Gojo tries to steal it back, but to no avail. After they share his burger, Marin excitedly walks into the shoreline, urging him to follow her. As he hesitantly walks into the water, he explains that he's never been to the beach before since he's spent his whole life obsessed with dolls and practicing how to draw their faces.
Gojo realizes his grandfather was right to encourage him to observe more of the world, describing the scene as nothing like on TV or in photos. He uses the word beautiful to describe the beach, and as My Dress-Up Darling viewers know, that is a big deal for Gojo. In Episode 3, he explained it is hard for him to call something beautiful because he reserves the term for things he truly believes in his heart to be beautiful -- such as his grandfather's dolls or when he sleepily called Marin beautiful without realizing it after their first cosplay event.
Marin, deeply moved herself, is inspired to show him more places together all summer which Gojo happily accepts. Out of embarrassment, Marin attempts to calmly leave the shoreline to cool herself down from the thought of spending time with him all summer break. After pressing a cold soda to her cheeks, she looks back and is moved by the sight of him taking in the scenery. She takes out her phone to take a picture, implementing the backlighting trick Shinju taught her earlier. Gojo takes a few moments bask in the ambiance before he slips and falls on some seaweed, making Marin laugh as she runs to help him back up.
Not only is Episode 8 of My Dress-Up Darling incredibly wholesome, it's also beautifully animated. The beach scene especially is gorgeous, and combined with the wholesome premise, fans will likely rank this as a favorite episode so far in the series. There are hints at a summer of love for the two protagonists and viewers are excited to see where their cosplaying adventures take them.