History Characters / MyDressUpDarling

[[folder:Marin Kitagawa]]
!!Marin Kitagawa
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Hina Suguta (Japanese), Creator/AmandaLee (English) [[labelnote: Foreign [=VAs=]]]Erika Langarica (Latin Spanish), Creator/DeborahMorese (Italian) [[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kitagawa_marin_2.png]]

The female lead, title character, and ''de facto'' main character. A popular first-year highschooler who works part-time as a model, Marin wants to get into cosplay to become her favorite characters from manga, anime and videogames. Unfortunately, she lacks the ability to make costumes, leading her to enlist Wakana Gojo's help when she learns that he's skilled at making clothes.

* SupportingProtagonist: Marin is both the title character and main character with Gojo as her LoveInterest. While Gojo's growth as a person and her role in his development are major aspects of the series, Marin's perspective and internal thoughts increasingly become the focal point of the story as she reconciles with her own development as a person even beyond her relationship with Gojo. In fact, she's the one who catches feelings ''first'', and we see her internal thoughts much more frequently as a result. It's her wants, her needs, her dreams, her desires, and her experiences that drive the story forward, with Gojo alongside her as her LoveInterest and de facto BestFriend. She is Gojo's guide in moving forward as a person and artist, and it is Kitagawa's sheer force of personality that inspires Gojo to do what he does for her, because for her to succeed in her courtship of him, he has to overcome his insecurities with her help.

[[folder:Wakana Gojo]]
!!Wakana Gojo
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Shōya Ishige, Creator/TomoyoTakayanagi (Young) (Japanese), Paul Dateh, Jack Britton (young) (English) [[labelnote: Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/VictorUgarte (Latin Spanish), Creator/AlessandroGermano (Italian) [[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wakana_gojou_5.png]]

The male lead and Marin Kitagawa's LoveInterest. Coming from a family of Hina Doll makers, he wants to follow in his grandfather's footsteps in the family business. Unfortunately, when a girl told him he was weird and gross for liking Hina dolls, he became a loner out of fear of being ostracized for his hobby, until he meets Kitagawa.

* AccidentalPervert: He enters his bathroom unaware that his grandpa let Sajuna use it beforehand. [[spoiler:He also didn't quite seem to get what [[HormoneAddledTeenager suddenly grasping Kitagawa's waist]] with both hands when he's usually shy about physical contact would imply.]]
** A smaller example, but while taking the last measures for Kitagawa, Gojo accidentally touches her crotch with his finger. It's the only moment she's visibly flustered, but she doesn't attack or yell at him for it.
* AffectionateNickname: His cousin Miori calls him "Wacchan". [[spoiler:His childhood friend also called him that way in the flashbacks]].
* ApologisesALot: He has a habit of saying ''sumimasen'' (meaning "Excuse me", "Sorry" in Japanese) even when the situation deems unnecessary.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler:Gojo took on the Haniel cosplay as a personal challenge, and his eventual intent in making it was to fully bring out the character's eerie, unsettling angelic UncannyValley aspects that will "make people still want to fall in love with you" that he believes Kitagawa can portray. When the pair get to Comiket, it's a massive, runaway success to the point they're stopped well outside the venue building for a near-unending circle photoshoot, and afterwards Kitagawa is approached by a recruiter asking if she wishes to be a pro cosplayer... with Gojo left outside the circle, in what appears to be a mire of jealousy, staring into the crowd created by his work and Kitagawa's portrayal, and wishing he hadn't committed to those words.]]
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: The withdrawn, melancholic and brooding ShrinkingViolet to Kitagawa's gentle girl.
* BrutalHonesty: While critiquing Kitagawa's attempts at making a cosplay costume, Gojo acts uncharacteristically blunt and critical due to his own expertise, wondering how she made something so awful even with a kit that comes with detailed instructions. It takes him a few seconds to realize what he said before apologizing profusely for his scathing remarks. On the other hand, he doesn't dole out praise lightly, and if he compliments something (or someone), he really means it.
* CharacterDevelopment: He overcomes many of his social awkwardness and personal insecurities directly from his relationship with Kitagawa.
* CharacterFocus: Kitagawa is a cheerful person, already quite self-assured from the start, who falls in love with Gojo pretty fast, however, he has some deep seated insecurities that must be dealt with first before they both see eye to eye; with that the later story developments focuses a great deal more on Gojo than Kitagawa, as he grows more as a person, making new friends, an overall more sociable guy moving towards finally accepting himself fully, no more being afraid of growing closer to Kitagawa thinking she would be settling for less by sticking with him.
* CharacterTic: He tends to raise his hand completely open and straight near his face like a student addressing a teacher whenever he has a particular question he wishes to ask someone, highlighting his socially awkward nature in doing this outside a classroom setting as well as (especially later on as he gets more into cosplay) his intense desire to learn about things he doesn't understand.
* CluelessChickMagnet: Downplayed, but his kind nature seems to have gained him the affections of not only Marin Kitagawa, but also [[spoiler:Sajuna Inui]]. He is, of course, completely unaware.
* CompanionCube: Gojo's prized hina doll head made by his grandfather, which indirectly kickstarts the plot with Gojo promising to make its outfit which causes him to be accidentally found out by Kitagawa. It becomes less so as the story advances and he slowly opens up to other people thanks to Kitagawa.
* ConsummateProfessional: Gojo takes gathering information about a character for a cosplay hilariously seriously instead of settling for simple references and character notes, opting to play eroge games to get a feel for Shizuku-tan, and preparing to watch 127 episodes of an anime series.
* CovertPervert: Obviously he's not immune to sexy thoughts, especially about Kitagawa, but he always tries his best to remain respectful and chaste.
** He has a ''very'' suggestive dream about Kitagawa in her Shizuka cosplay, and the scene they cut to right after is a ''[[MasturbationMeansSexualFrustration box of tissues]]'' in his room.
** [[spoiler: He turns on the TV at a LoveHotel and immediately turns it off when he realizes it's porn]]. That said, [[spoiler: he does almost immediately [[NotSoAboveItAll turn the TV back on to watch it on mute for a while]]]].
* {{Determinator}}: Once he finally decides to get the Shizuku-tan costume done, he works nonstop to finish it on time for the cosplay event, all for the sake of seeing Kitagawa smile.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: As the male lead and LoveInterest, Gojo's growth as a person is directly influenced, enabled, and motivated by Kitagawa, who drives the plot through her sheer force of personality. While his growth as a person is a focal point of the story, it is ultimately in service to her courtship of him; he can't become her future boyfriend before overcoming his insecurities with her help.
* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: While at school working on the Rei cosplay, Kitagawa is nearby with her friends gushing over Rei's amazing qualities. So absorbed he is in both his work and gaining understanding of why the girls are gushing, Gojo accidentally mutters "I get it..." just loud enough for them to hear, immediately pulling their attention as he freaks out over letting that slip.
* ExtremeDoormat: Downplayed but present. Gojo's classmates dumped the cleaning after class duties on him, and he was too nice to refuse even when he didn't want to do it. Kitagawa calls him out on this, telling him he should be honest when he doesn't want to do something, especially when they're clearly taking advantage of him.
* {{Fingore}}: Frequently has accidents during his sewing jobs, given that his hands are covered in sticky plasters even before cutting one of his fingers with a pair of scissors.
* FormalCharactersUseKeigo: He always uses very formal speech patterns, which emphasizes his polite, humble personality as well as how he lives an old-fashioned lifestyle with his grandfather.
* FlatWhat: Gojo's standard reaction to anything he doesn't understand is to go completely deadpan, even if he was just a jittering mess seconds ago.
* FriendlessBackground: Since the incident with the girl who called him gross for liking Hina dolls, he closed up from other people (barring his own family) and had no friends during elementary and middle schools.
* GenderBlenderName: Wakana is more often a female name in Japan, though it fits with his [[RealMenWearPink feminine interests and skills]] despite being male. Lampshaded by Akira, who before meeting him in person assumed by his name that he was a woman.
* GentleGiant: He's this for a first-year highschooler, standing 185cm (close to 6'1"), but is extremely polite, meek and shy.
* HormoneAddledTeenager: Donwplayed. Being in the proximity of a beautiful girl like Kitagawa inevitably turns him on, no matter how much he tries to repress it. To his credit, though, he always focuses on the job at hand and never takes advantage of her.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Gojo is MASSIVE for a Japanese first-year highschooler at 185cm[[note]]The average height for an ''adult'' male in Japan is only 171cm[[/note]], and is noted by his classmates to be broadly built and made to do some of the heavy lifting at the School Festival where the other boys struggled. Kitagawa, no shortie herself at 164cm, is dwarfed by him when they walk side by side. His especially large and flexible hands are [[HasAType heavily implied to be a turn on for Kitagawa]], [[spoiler:especially after that time in the LoveHotel where he grabbed her naked waist with both hands and was able to fully encompass it]].
* InelegantBlubbering: When Sajuna compliments him about his work with the Shizuku-tan costume, he's so moved by her words that he starts crying and grabs her hands giving a garbled "Thank you so much!", creeping her out.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: His BrutalHonesty on Kitagawa's failed attempt at cosplay almost drove her to tears, though he quickly apologized when he realized. Also, whenever he pulls a SheIsNotMyGirlfriend, he unwittingly puts her in a tough spot because, unknown to him, she would very much love to date him for real and he's struggling with why [[AllLovingHero she'd be interested in him despite giving her so many reasons to]].
* InsecureLoveInterest: The primary reason for his SheIsNotMyGirlfriend outbursts - he sees Kitagawa as being so ''astronomically'' out of his league that he is incapable of imagining her being interested in him, despite having practically won her heart by the fifth episode. Early on it's so bad that [[BreakHerHeartToSaveHer he actually attempts to cut ties with her entirely because he's worried that the inevitable rumors that they're dating will damage her reputation]].
* LastNameBasis: As he starts the series without a single friend, he's never called by his given name by his peers, and only his grandfather calls him Wakana.
* LimitedWardrobe: Aside from his school uniform, he only has white undershirts and an indigo samue, a traditional working suit popularly worn by artisans, farmers and some Buddhist monks. Because of this, he feels out of place whenever Kitagawa takes him to a trendy place like Ikebukuro. When he's attending a cosplay meetup, his outfit gets him mistaken for someone cosplaying a monk. That said, this seems partly due to feeling much more comfortable in more traditional Japanese clothing - when Kitagawa takes him shopping in Shibuya for new threads, he ends up only picking out a couple of jinbei.
* MartialArtsHeadband: Seemingly uses a simple washcloth for this purpose, punctuating his moments of most intense focus, and the climaxes where he experiences the most [[CharacterDevelopment growth.]]
* NiceGuy: Always kind and polite to everyone, sometimes even to a fault. Kitagawa even criticizes him in episode 1 for always taking people at their word and not realizing his classmates just use him to do campus chores in their place.
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: As opposed to his everyday life where he becomes a nervous wreck around [[HeadTurningBeauty Kitagawa]], Gojo completely [[NoSell no-sells]] the content of Kitagawa's eroge and hentai in general. He's more interested in taking notes on how to replicate the costume design and finds the content of the eroge so absurd that it has no effect on him. [[DownplayedTrope That said]], he isn't [[NotSoAboveItAll quite immune to regular porn]], [[CovertPervert perfectly understood the implications of being in a love hotel]], and [[MomentKiller was moments from getting steamy with Kitagawa in said lovel hotel before their reservation ended]].
* ObliviousToLove: Probably owing to his own insecurities, he doesn't catch that Kitagawa's teasing later becomes less joking and more because she's genuinely attracted to him.
* OneHeadTaller: With Kitagawa, since he is of above-average height for Japanese people.
* OneNoteCook: Gojo is noted to be a fine cook, but living with only his grandpa for company means that he only knows how to make old-timey Japanese dishes. Kitagawa's much more slapdash cooking style takes him aback every time, though he finds himself pleasantly surprised by the way some of her dishes come together.
* RaisedByGrandparents: He lives with his grandpa, as his parents have passed away prior to the start of the series (their portraits are seen on the family altar in the first episode's opening scene).
* RealMenWearPink: His social isolation was due to struggling with this concept when he was younger because a childhood friend called him weird for his interest in Hina dolls. One thing that immediately warms him up to Kitagawa is that she looks right past this and notices that he's a real wizard when it comes to sewing, make-up, aesthetics, handiwork ''and'' cooking.
* RedOniBlueOni: The calm, timid Blue to Kitagawa's Red.
* SeriousBusiness: Gojo makes it clear that his sense of aesthetics and his personal view of beauty is this to him that he can't call something beautiful arbitrarily, he has to absolutely mean it. Cue him calling Kitagawa beautiful in a sleep deprived state, which shortly after makes her head-over-heels for him.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Even though he's genuinely attracted to Kitagawa's looks and cheery personality, whenever anyone suggests they're dating he's quick to deny it.
** He actually mentions this trope ''ad verbatim'' in the English dub, specifically after Sajuna mentions to Kitagawa that she's not out to get her "boyfriend".
* SociallyAwkwardHero: Due to his own personal hangups about his passion for doll-making and a childhood event that scarred him emotionally, Gojo is incredibly shy and meek. He struggles to express himself in any context outside of clothes and doll-making and has not made a single friend since the traumatic event all the way up to his first year of high school.
* SupremeChef: He's a very good cook, albeit mostly with traditional Japanese dishes[[note]]Specifically, the Gojo family seems to exclusively eat Washoku, meaning they don't cook with any meat besides fish (as because of the buddhist influence killing red meat animals was forbidden or at least restricted for much of Japanese history) and do so near-exclusively with in-season ingredients. It should be noted Gojo doesn't have any problems ''eating'' meat, he just doesn't consider preparing it himself due to Washoku being what he's used to.[[/note]].
* TextileWorkIsFeminine: Much of his social anxiety comes from a former childhood friend calling him a freak over his love of dolls and dollmaking, and he's horrified when Kitagawa walks in on him using the school's sewing machine out of fear that she'll think less of him for being good at it. Much of his character development comes from Kitagawa helping helping him realize that his interests are just as valid as anyone else's and that those who would disparage him for them aren't worth his time.
* WhenHeSmiles: In Chapter 10/Episode 4, when Kitagawa assures him that he'll one day be a great dollmaker like he hopes to be, he smiles genuinely happy for the first time in front of her. Kitagawa can't help but comment on it, much to his surprise.
[[/folder]]

!Cosplayers
[[folder:Sajuna Inui]]
!!Sajuna Inui
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AtsumiTanezaki (Japanese), Creator/RisaMei (English) [[labelnote: Foreign [=VAs=]]]Valca Ponzarelli (Latin Spanish), Creator/ElisaGiorgio (Italian) [[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/inui_sajuna.png]]

A famous online cosplayer who goes by the online name "Juju-sama". She specializes in cosplaying young Magical Girls.
----

* CovertPervert: Obviously he's not immune to sexy thoughts, especially about Kitagawa, but he always tries his best to remain respectful and chaste, such as [[spoiler: when he turns on the TV at a LoveHotel and immediately turns it off when he realizes it's porn]]. That said, [[spoiler: he does almost immediately [[NotSoAboveItAll turn the TV back on to watch it on mute for a while]]]].

* BigSisterWorship: She adores Sajuna, thinking her to be super cute and gushing about her to Gojo and posting pictures of her cosplay. Her motivation for cosplaying as Souma onii-chan is because he reminds of admirable elder siblings, such as Sajuna.

* AmbiguouslyBi: While she is obviously Gojo's love interest, Marin's passionate gushing over how much she loves her favorite female characters and over the cuteness and beauty of fellow female cosplayers does make one question if she's strictly heterosexual.

* CuteClumsyGirl: Has shades of this, first by being shown quite unskilled at seweing cosplays despite the very detailed instructions, and later by somehow falling wholesale in a pool after having tried to dip a single foot.

* ValleyGirl: Due to her GyaruGirl image, Kitagawa's dialogue is translated in this manner in the English dub and sub, peppering her dialogue with "likes" and other vernacular. Can vary in other languages depending on how well the archetype translates to this, with some of them having her using no special jargon whatsoever.

[[folder:Mr. Kitagawa]]
!!Mr. Kitagawa

* SharedFamilyQuirks: While lamenting over his daughter's RidiculousProcrastinator tendencies, it takes only a second of self-reflection to realize she gets it from him, who shared her procrastination tendencies when he was younger.
* UnnamedParent: His first name has yet to be revealed.

** She shows visible dissapointment when Gojo finds a way to make her BunnyGirl outfit not fall off despite having no shoulderstraps, much to his and the store clerk's confusion, implying she wanted to make a WardrobeMalfunction happen around Gojo.

* {{Bokukko}}: She apparently uses ''ore'' while talking online.

--> ''"...That was seriously intense..."''

* GirlsAreReallyScaredOfHorrorMovies: After she watches a horror movie with Gojo, she's left having nightmares the following night and unable to sleep.

* GirlsAreReallyScaredOfHorrorMovies: Sajuna has a very low tolerance for horror media, which was foreshadowed by her unease scoping out the abandoned hospital for the ''Flower Princess Blaze!!'' photoshoot. In Chapter 83, she admits in an inner monologue that when preparing for the ''Coffin'' photoshoot, she was only able to get halfway through the game before getting too scared and needing to stop playing, and being very visibly on edge throughout the chapter.

-->"Oh shit!"

* MinorRoleMajorImpact: She only shows up extremely briefly at the very beginning of the story, but she is the major catalyst behind Gojo's issues and insecurities about his hobbies.

* CosplayOtakuGirl: She is ''the'' embodiment of this trope. Loving all things anime, manga and video games, Marin wants to get into cosplay to become her favorite characters, especially in regards to Shizuku-tan.

* CastingGag: Marin Suguta has also voiced [[Characters/BangDreamMorfonica Toko Kirigaya]], who is also a popular high-schooler in her school, shares the similarity of [[BookDumb being not the sharpest sled in terms of school studies]], and is the same height, at 164cm.