My Dress-Up Darling has created a scenario where its lead male and female characters, Wakana Gojo and Marin Kitagawa, are unequivocally crowned by fans of the series as “best boy” and “best girl,” respectively. While part of their massive popularity stems from their aesthetically and visually appealing looks, these aspects arguably only play a minor role. Tons of anime waifus and husbandos look pretty or handsome, but what makes Gojo and Marin some of the best ones out there is that they are exceptionally well-written characters with fleshed-out personalities and dynamic character arcs audiences can get invested in. RELATED: The Best Cosplay Tips We’ve Learned From My Dress-Up Darling On paper, Gojo and Marin don’t seem to have much in common. Marin is a flamboyant, extroverted gyaru who is popular amongst her classmates, while Gojo is an introverted loner who doesn’t have friends due to his fear of scaring people away with his love of crafting Hina dolls. However, what makes them click so well as love interests is their one vital commonality: they are extremely passionate people who are driven by their desire to make their dreams come true. Gojo hopes to become a professional Hina doll maker like his grandpa, and Marin wants to express her love for her various media obsessions by cosplaying her favorite characters. They unabashedly love their passions, but they each have unique internal obstacles that hold them back from fully exploring them. For example, it’s revealed at the beginning of season one that the reason why Gojo hides his obsession with Hina dolls is because of a past traumatic event in which his childhood friend scolded and yelled at him for liking Hina dolls. This was such a psychologically scarring moment for Gojo that it caused him to hide his passion from his classmates in the hopes of avoiding a similarly negative encounter, but at the cost of never getting close to anyone or making friends. Gojo probably would have continued to live in isolation and loneliness had it not been for Marin, a classmate who openly loves all things weeb and doesn’t care what people think about her. One of Marin’s core beliefs is that it’s okay for people to love what they love if it brings them happiness, and the worst thing a person can do is make fun of someone for having that passion. In the first episode of My Dress-Up Darling , when a guy at the salon Marin visits attempts to hit on her by poking fun at her anime memorabilia, she gets offended and gives him an icy-cold stare. Later, when she sees Gojo holding the Hina doll later in that first episode, Marin not only reacts with positivity and great interest, but she also ends up showing off her costume to express her love for cosplaying (though it is a little rough around the edges). RELATED: My Dress-Up Darling's Realistic Depiction of High School Awkwardness This is a crucial character moment for Gojo because, following that first encounter with Marin, he slowly adopts her philosophy by becoming more open and honest about his passion for making Hina dolls. He even becomes comfortable enough to share that obsession with Marin’s friends, who respond similarly to how Marin did in the first season. Marin’s friends recognize that Gojo is a great craftsman, which is why, in season two, they tell him to focus on making her costume for the school festival while they work on interior design. They understand where Gojo’s true strengths lie, so rather than stretching him thin by having him juggle multiple tasks, they offer him a helping hand, something Gojo never thought he’d get from anyone aside from Marin. By season two, Gojo is finally a part of a friend group that values him and is supportive of his interests, and it’s all thanks to Marin getting him out of his shell and opening his horizons. Marin undergoes a similar character arc as she overcomes her own internal hurdles. At first glance, it seems that Marin’s main conflict is as simple as she’s terrible at making costumes, which is quickly resolved in the first episode when Gojo offers to make a proper dress. However, as Gojo spends more time with her, it’s revealed that, in some ways, she feels just as lonely and isolated about her hobby as Gojo does. In the third episode of the first season, Marin confesses that she’s happy Gojo actually played the game she loves and is cosplaying from. This is because people very rarely watch or play anything she recommends. Instead, they would rather just end the conversation with a “Yeah, seems fun,” so the fact that Gojo took the time to understand something Marin cares about means a lot to her. This sense of companionship is what makes all the cosplaying scenes especially heartwarming, because anytime she poses and has a wide smile on her face, it’s because she knows Gojo is nearby, smiling back and having fun watching her. RELATED: My Dress-Up Darling And Becoming Your True Self Through Transformation Marin’s relationship with Gojo also gives her plenty of opportunities to break down her barriers and become her true self in a way that she doesn’t show to anyone except him. In the third episode of season two, Gojo notices how differently she presents herself in a modeling job compared to how she acts privately in front of him, especially when, later in the episode, the two throw a birthday party for Shizuku-tan, the character Marin first cosplayed as in season one. Some may think it's bizarre for Marin to celebrate a fictional character’s birthday with cake and masks of Shizuku-tan’s face, but Gojo appreciates that Marin feels comfortable expressing herself in a way that even her friends might not be aware of. Similarly, Marin’s ability to just let herself go and become her true self correlates with why she falls in love with Gojo in the first place. Gojo and Marin's budding romance stems from how much they’ve individually grown and developed since they became a part of each other’s lives. That’s not to say that they aren’t attracted to each other physically, as there have been more than a few instances where each of the pair has commented on their looks. The physical attraction is there, but the true foundational key to their romantic interest in each other is how much happier and better off they’ve become ever since they first met. While Gojo is not as upfront and honest about his feelings for Marin as she is with him, it’s clear how much he treasures being around her. “There’s someone who I really look up to in my class," he says in the ninth episode of My Dress-Up Darling Season 1. "She’s a ray of sunshine, loved by everyone around her. She’s incredibly strong and able to say whatever’s on her mind. I figured that she didn’t have troubles like I did. But then, one thing led to another, and I ended up spending a lot of time with her, and I found out she also had things she wanted to do but couldn’t. Things didn’t always go her way. She even messed up at times. She has the same feelings I do. She was just so happy. She can be really cute sometimes.” Gojo has more confidence in himself because of Marin’s tenacity to get him out of his comfort zone, so seeing her cosplaying as her favorite characters makes him feel jovial as well. He enjoys spending every second with Marin as they connect and bond over their shared interests. RELATED: Get To Know These Amazing Anime Girls and Women of the 2020s Marin is much more candid about how much she loves Gojo and wants to be his girlfriend. Her being so openly lovey-dovey with her crush is a genuine breath of fresh air within this genre, as some romance anime feature female leads who either try to deny their feelings for the male protagonist or are initially hostile toward them before eventually warming up. Marin, by contrast, not only immediately accepts that she’s in love with Gojo but also does everything she can to make him her boyfriend — the exact opposite of how we've seen her with other boys. Throughout the series, we see how cold and irritated Marin gets whenever a random stranger tries flirting with her. What makes Gojo different from all these other guys is that he takes the time to get to know Marin on a deep and personal level. This is why Marin’s love for Gojo rapidly accelerates as they spend more time together, and it’s definitely not one-sided. There are several moments that show Marin how much her crush cares about her, like when Gojo fakes being sick so that he can leave school early to take care of a sick Marin, or when Gojo reacts with extreme enthusiasm that Marin made a spam onigiri lunch for him, causing her to scream in her head that her “wuv for you grows every single day.” From romance anime like Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus to second entries of supernatural shows like DAN DA DAN , this season of anime is packed with great couples. Yet, at the end of the day, there’s something about Marin and Gojo’s relationship that not only feels unique but is intricately compelling, which makes me want to keep watching to find out what’s next in their romantic adventure. Ultimately, Marin and Gojo are, in my opinion, one of the most charismatic and charming anime couples in modern anime.
