There is no question that Marin Kitagawa of My Dress-Up Darling is one of the best girls of the winter 2022 anime season. Despite this, her counterpart Gojo Wakana is often criticized for being too dull in comparison. Yet as fans witness Marin help him open up and become more confident in himself, his shy and self-deprecating outer shell is slowly being chipped away to reveal a deeply caring and intellectual young man.
Many romance anime archetypes showcase male protagonists to be hunky and/or charming. Gojo Wakana is visually quite the opposite of this, often only seen wearing either his school uniform or work clothes. Nonetheless, as he comes out of his shell, Marin falls hard for him. Why does this happen? It isn't because of his looks, his clever pick up lines or because he's playing hard to get.
But first, what is the female gaze? In this patriarchal society, media often focuses on superficial and aesthetically pleasing details. In contrast, the female gaze explores aspects that are intellectually stimulating and rely on feeling and intuition. In My Dress-Up Darling, viewers get a unique perspective as they witness Marin fall for Gojo first instead of the other way around. Through her perspective, Gojo is an intellectual man with a heart of gold, learning to be unafraid and be authentically himself.
Although the series has many sweet moments, a major one comes when Gojo first presents Marin with her cosplay of Shizuku-tan. After clearing the misunderstanding about the short deadline, Gojo reveals he is just relieved that Marin still has time to cosplay. Upon realizing the amount of stress and sacrifice he went through in order to do this for her, she breaks down into tears.
After seeing the time and stress Gojo endured, one can absolutely conclude that part of Gojo's love language (based on the wildly popular "Five Love Languages" theory by Gary Chapman) is Acts of Service. In other words, Gojo shows his love for Marin by doing things for her, no matter what sacrifices that may entail. This can also be seen when he plays through the entirety of Slippery Girls 2, despite the interruption from his grandfather. There is no doubt that Gojo loves Marin but still has trouble saying it out loud. Still, he manages it to say it his own way.
Another aspect of My Dress-Up Darling that caters the the female gaze is the fact that Gojo is a little more submissive compared to Marin -- a trait that tends to be frowned upon in patriarchal-dominated media. By having a passion that is socially feminine, he is comfortable in his sexuality and inherently more intellectually mature, unaffected by the toxic masculine lens that often clouds popular media.
One of the first instances of Marin outwardly struggling with her admiration for Gojo is when she witnesses him talking with his grandfather about the details of his work as he observed the Shizuku-tan cosplay. Viewers watch Marin realize she is head over heels for Gojo as she witnesses his attention to detail and passion, taking note of his intellectualism and sensitivity to detail. Not only does she admire him for his knowledge and work ethic, but for the pureness of his heart.
Gojo's uniqueness comes in his wholesomeness and innocence. Unlike other male protagonists, he doesn't seem to have any ulterior motive despite the fact that he obviously does like Marin. He is purely working with her to make her happy, and the inherent wholesomeness does not go unnoticed. This can especially be seen when the two binge watch Flower Princess Blaze!! together. Gojo exhibits another love language, Quality Time, as he legitimately gets invested into the series as Marin eagerly shows him.
This is a characteristic Marin isn't fully used to, someone actually paying attention to something she likes. When she decides -- and ultimately fails -- to cook omurice for their dinner, Gojo turns a negative into a positive and praises it for its deliciousness and inventiveness. He not only exhibits emotional intelligence by doing so, but he also displays another love language: Words of Affirmation.
My Dress-Up Darling is unique in that viewers can witness Gojo through the female gaze and Marin through the male gaze. Of course, through moments of fan service and the fact that she is the reigning Best Girl, there is no doubt Marin was written for the male gaze. Interestingly, she provides a unique view of the female gaze as viewers witness her fall in love with Gojo. Why she falls in love with him, and the fact that the author Shinichi Fukuda is a woman, confirms that Gojo Wakana was indeed written for women.