WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Dress-Up Darling Episode 3, "Then Why Don't We?" now streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.
Thus far in My Dress-Up Darling, main love interests Marin and Gojo have been keeping their exchanges a secret. At least, that is what the socially insecure Gojo thinks. At the start of Episode 3, Gojo has a relatively embarrassing dream about Marin, which prompts him to avoid her all day at school due to embarrassment.
All of Marin's attempts to discuss her cosplay plans with Gojo are a failure as he darts away every time she tries to start a conversation. Overhearing his classmates, who wonder if he and Marin are dating, certainly does not help the situation at all.
After school, Marin finally corners a hiding Gojo. As he explains his embarrassment about her having to be associated with him and the dating rumors about them spreading, Marin answers with a simple, "Why don't we?" Before he has time to form a full response, she plays it off as a joke and takes Gojo by the hand, pulling him out of hiding and taking him along for a shopping trip.
Episode 3 of My Dress-Up Darling includes many wholesome, slice-of-life moments that fans were eager to see more of after the more sexually charged Episode 2, where Gojo took Marin's measurements. Marin sweetly reassures Gojo by telling him she is glad he came along with her. She even teases him a bit while trying on clothing at a lingerie store as he waits uncomfortably outside the dressing room. A random passerby can be seen admiring and being envious of their youthful high school romance, but is later flabbergasted -- along with others in line at the ramen shop -- as Marin and Gojo intellectually discuss the plot of Slippery Girls.
As Gojo drops Marin off at the train station, she shows him some photos of well known cosplayers. Gushing at how gorgeous they are, she asks what Gojo thinks. He then explains that he cannot call something pretty or gorgeous unless he really means it from the heart, as he does when he first laid eyes on his grandfather's traditional dolls. Although Gojo immediately apologizes, Marin reassures him by telling him she understands where he's coming from and that she, too, has things she's picky about. As they part ways, she expresses her gratefulness to Gojo, saying that most people she recommends her games to don't actually take the time to play it, and that what Gojo is doing truly means a lot to her.
Marin's constant reassurance to the evidently insecure G0jo is enough to make any anime fan melt, and viewers are excited to see how this budding relationship blooms as they share more moments like these. So far, it is hard to calculate if My Dress-Up Darling will lean more toward the well-loved wholesome moments or the risqué fan service, but one thing is for sure: Marin is definitely one of, maybe even the Best Girl of the Winter 2022 anime season.
My Dress-Up Darling airs every Saturday on Funimation and Crunchyroll.
