āMy Dress Up Darlingā is one of the best examples of how perspective is important to character development and the story. Because if you think about it, MDUD is a love story between two protagonists. Both Marin and Gojo fulfill the role of the āaverageā MC and the person who is out of the MCās league. Itās like this:
From Gojoās POV, heās the social outcast loser who fell hard for the gorgeous, popular, cool girl at school. He canāt fathom why this super cool girl wants to hang out with him, but heās willing to do whatever it takes to keep their friendship going. Even though heās crushing hard on her, he thinks he doesnāt have a chance with her, thus his focus is just to maintain their friendship.
From Marinās POV, sheās the weird, lovable nerd who is a klutz and constantly embarrasses herself. She then falls hard for this sensitive, handsome artist who takes care of her needs (like cooking her delicious, healthy meals). The artist also agrees to make her dreams come true - cosplaying - by designing clothes for her FOR FREE, which makes her fall even harder for the artist.
This is also why I believe the story really gets going after the Shizuka arc. Once you start seeing the story more from Marinās POV, Marin starts coming off as more of the āaverageā person while Gojo becomes more of the dreamboat. Itās fascinating because both perspectives work. Marin IS super cool and a klutz. Gojo IS a social outcast and a handsome, sensitive artist. It makes for a fun dynamic, especially when the story switches POVs.
Also, this helps flesh the characters out. I feel like MDUD would not be anywhere near as successful if it didnāt do the switches to Marinās POV. If the story didnāt, then Marin would just be another manic pixie dream girl there for Gojoās development, which would be lame. Ironically, Marinās character becomes more lovable and interesting when the story starts letting her be more flawed, accident-prone and flustered.
Gojoās character also becomes more lovable because making him the out-of-their-league person from Marinās perspective feels like a natural progression. I meanā¦heās a handsome artist who is an amazing cook, designs 5-star level cosplays for free, and is a subconscious smooth talker (the ābeautifulā line). In any other story, heād be the object of affection.
Anyways, I recommend My Dress Up Darling.
