WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Dress-Up Darling Episode 4, "Does This Belong to Your Girlfriend?" now streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.
When My Dress-Up Darling last showed the odd couple, Marin had just told Gojo that the next cosplay event takes place in two weeks after they spent the entire day shopping together. In complete shock about how soon this is, Gojo spends the entire train ride home in a panic, wanting to make Marin happy but realizing how unrealistic the deadline seems. It takes him a while to finish doll clothing as it is, so an actual-human size cosplay proves an extremely difficult feat.
Yet because of his desire to please the very eager Marin, he accepts the constraints of the deadline and gets straight to work. As timing has it, it's also exam season at school -- and after finding lace stockings in a shopping bag, Gojo's grandfather injures himself and has to be taken to the hospital. Everything is suddenly happening at once in Gojo's life, yet he remains determined to put a smile on sweet Marin's face.
As Gojo secludes himself to focus on studying, working on the cosplay and taking care of the shop in his grandfather's absence, Marin starts to notice his distance. She attempts to bring him dinner after a few of her texts go unanswered, but he is not home. Gojo remains at the shop, working on her costume in the late hours of the night. He is noticeably tired and laments that he is physically ill and mentally worn out.
He starts to doubt his abilities and becomes overwhelmed by insecurities, eventually admitting to a momentary defeat and lying down on the floor in tears. Just about to give up, Gojo has a flashback to his grandfather from his youth. As a child, he'd asked if making traditional Japanese dolls every day was hard. His grandfather agreed, saying that loving something doesn't necessarily mean having a knack for it, but it is his love for the dolls that motivates him to continue to make them, even when times are rough.
This precious memory, paired with the recent memories he's made with Marin throughout My Dress-Up Darling so far, motivates Gojo to fight through the tears and keep on going until the sun rises. After Marin clarifies that the cosplay event wasn't a set event, Gojo collapses on the floor in relief, explaining he was grateful that there was still time for her to cosplay.
Marin collapses in tears, realizing the sacrifice Gojo made to do this for her. After they share a tender moment and apologize for the miscommunication, she finally tries on the cosplay, and it's perfect. She makes the perfect Shizuku-tan from Slippery Girls 2.
It is quite interesting to see Marin's dream realized as early in the series as Episode 4. Still, viewers have cosplay events to look forward to, and surely Marin wants to cosplay as other characters too. Fans of the series will surely enjoy seeing Gojo and Marin's next adventures together unfold as new episodes of My Dress-Up Darling air every Saturday on Crunchyroll and Funimation.