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Spoiler Alert: This article/section contains details about future plot lines described in the manga, not covered in the anime. Do not proceed unless you want to be spoiled. |
| “ | I've only ever used the word "pretty" for very special things. It's sort of like I can't say it unless I really, truly feel it. | ” |
—Wakana Gojo to Marin Kitagawa, Chapter 7 | ||
Wakana Gojo (
Appearance[]
Wakana is quite tall for his age, standing at least 180 centimeters. When Marin asked him his height, he was interrupted before he could finish saying, meaning that he may be taller than 180cm. He has short, black hair and gray eyes, along with a tiny mole on the outer lower corner of his right eye.
Outside of his school uniform, he is always wearing a samue, a general work outfit consisting of a blue suit jacket and pants, with a simple white shirt underneath. He wears wooden sandals and wears a white headband while working. He tends to have it over his shoulders when not wearing his headband.
While shopping with Marin during chapter 33, Wakana purchases a jinbei, a summer outfit similar to his samue except for shorter sleeves and pants. It also has a pair of yarn knitting patterns on the sleeves, which are sewn together loosely for ventilation.
Personality[]
At the start of the series, Wakana was a withdrawn person in high school, having no friends and a secret love and admiration for hina dolls. This stems from his past where a girl angrily told him that boys shouldn’t like dolls and called him a freak, something that clearly affected him very deeply to the point where he closed himself off from everyone and lived his high school life as a recluse. Wakana notes Marin Kitagawa and how she has her own interests in anime and the like, but unlike him, is free to be completely open with them and has many friends. His solitary attitude makes him rather submissive with others, claiming that he doesn’t mind his classmates leaving him to do after class clean up, although Marin correctly pointed out that they were taking advantage of him.
Wakana's main goal in life is to become a hina doll craftsman (a kashira-shi - 頭師) like his grandfather. He is very knowledgeable and loving towards the dolls his grandfather’s store makes and sells. He also has his own and cherishes it greatly, to the point where he keeps it on his desk by his bedside and even talks to it. When the doll slipped from his hands, he leaped in order to catch it and frantically asked it if it was hurt. Wakana was completely mesmerized the first time he saw a hina doll, and this memory has remained with him throughout his entire life, to the point where he takes his love for them seriously and doesn’t call anything beautiful unless he means it from the heart. Due to growing up with his grandfather, Wakana has a great knowledge pertaining to outfits and sewing, having pointed out all the blatant flaws in Marin's prototype cosplay outfit, although he profusely apologized when he saw that his harsh criticism hurt her feelings. When Marin neither labels him as a freak nor gets mad at him for criticizing her outfit, he agrees on her request to make her a cosplay outfit for the character Shizuku Kuroe.
Wakana is rather shy and modest, not doing well with embarrassing or lewd topics. He was surprised to find out that Shizuku was from an eroge (adult video game) and was reluctant to take Marin’s measurements for the outfit. Whenever flustered, he tends to freak out or freeze up, which has led to Marin gaining a joy in teasing him. After having a certain dream involving Marin, Wakana was completely ashamed to the point where it was difficult for him to look or talk to her. While he does have a natural interest in girls (evident by the dream), he isn’t at all perverted and is very self-conscious, usually apologizing in embarrassing scenarios. This being said, Wakana's shyness doesn't completely dictate him. He was able to play Slippery Girls 1 and 2 to gain a better understanding of Shizuku's outfit, remaining fully observant to the details throughout and later chatted with Marin casually about it while they were out together (to the unease of some bystanders). When excited about something or helping Marin with her cosplay outfits, his shyness can be put on standstill while he's focused.
Wakana cares a lot about others, agreeing to run his grandfather's shop after the latter had hurt his back. Furthermore, even when he was completely exhausted from all his responsibilities (studying for his midterm exams, running his grandfather's shop and his other daily duties), he still pulled himself together and worked throughout the night to finish the Shizuku outfit. As further proof of him being a good person, when Marin revealed there was no set time that the outfit had to be done by, Wakana collapsed, but instead of getting upset or angry at her, he was instead relieved that there was more time to finish the outfit.
Wakana doesn't appear to have much of a life outside of his grandfather's store and helping Marin, as he always wears his work attire outside of his school uniform, and often spends his free time either sewing or painting hina doll faces. Because of this, doing things like going to the beach and watching Summer Festival fireworks with Marin were very new experiences for him. He was upset when he thought that his time and friendship with Marin had reached its end upon the completion of her Shizuku outfit, only to be happy when she decided to continue cosplaying and requested his help with it. Furthermore, Wakana becomes happy when Marin plans for them to go to the festival again in the following years, serving as proof to him that their friendship will remain strong.
History[]
As a child, Wakana Gojo originally lived with his parents. His life greatly changed after they died in a tragic accident. The loss of his parents greatly affected Wakana: the family of his cousin Miori Gojo took him in and tried their best to care for him, but Wakana greatly struggled to adjust to life without his parents. Depressed and shut-off from the world around him, Wakana would frequently cry in the middle of the night, and during the day would often hide underneath blankets. During this time, Wakana's neighbour and friend Nobara Aoyagi would frequently visit him, trying to coax him out of his shell by asking him to play with her or reading books to him. However, these efforts proved fruitless: Wakana remained reclusive and quiet throughout these visits.[5] Wakana was eventually broken from this stupor after his grandfather Kaoru Gojo, also grieving over the loss of Wakana's parents, brought Wakana on a daytrip to his workshop to see hina dolls which he and colleagues had handcrafted. Wakana immediately fell in love with the beauty and intricacy of the hina dolls, which allowed him to cope with the loss of his parents by giving him an outlet to immerse himself in. After this trip, Wakana asked to live with his grandfather, so that he could always look at hina dolls.[6] The news of Wakana's departure to his grandfather's home greatly upset Nobara, who felt hurt that she couldn't make Wakana happy yet hina dolls could. This hurt caused Nobara to lash out at Wakana after her final failed attempt to ask him to play with her, which he rejected because he wanted to look at hina dolls. Deeply angered and disgusted, Nobara berated Wakana for liking hina dolls, because hina dolls were for girls and he was a boy.[7] Although these words did nothing to sway Wakana from his love for hina dolls, they left him with long-lasting trauma and deep-seated insecurities about his passions: Wakana came to believe that he could never make friends because his hobbies were too different from everyone else's, and would disgust or creep people out. As he grew up, he never made any friends and all of his hobbies were related to hina dolls[8]
Plot[]
Fifteen-year old Wakana Gojou has never made any friends: he feels incapable of connecting with his classmates because he believes that his hobbies are very different from theirs, and maintains distance from them out of fear that they will find him disgusting, creepy, or mood-ruining because of his hobbies. Instead of trying to make friends, Wakana devotes his time and energy to his hobbies, which all center around hina dolls; Wakana tirelessly works on hina dolls to fulfill his dream of becoming a hina doll head maker.
Wakana speaks to Marin Kitagawa for the first time after she bumps into him while they're in class. Apologizing for the bump, Marin notices that he has paint on his body and touches him, asking what it is. Wakana stammers out that he is okay, startled by the sudden touch, which Marin acknowledges as she returns to her friend group. Wakana observes and admires Marin from afar, respecting her outgoing and accepting personality - in particular, a remark she makes that people shouldn't make fun of things that other people like. They speak for the second time that same day after Marin runs into him cleaning their classroom after school. Marin notices that Wakana is cleaning the classroom by himself and helps him, during which she bluntly asks him if their classmates forced him to clean the classroom alone. As Wakana tries to make excuses for their classmates, Marin admonishes him, telling him that what they did is wrong and that he should stand up for himself. These words would leave a lasting impression on Wakana, making him recall times in his life where he should have stood up for himself.
One day while trying to work on hina dolls, Wakana's sewing machine breaks. With no other options at home, Wakana recalls that his school has a room with a sewing machine that he can use. Wakana goes to use this room when the school's handicrafts club isn't around, believing that they would be the only possible interruption to his hina doll making. Wakana unexpectedly meets Marin again when she enters the room while he is in the middle of working on his hina doll. Initially mortified and frightened by Marin's sudden appearance because he believes that Marin will find him disgusting, Wakana's demeanor immediately shifts to shocked and flustered after Marin praises his handicraft and begs him to help her make beautiful cosplays. Wakana accepts Marin's plea for help, telling her that although he is inexperienced with making clothes for people he will help her to the best of his abilities. This sparks a close relationship between him and Marin and the beginning to many positive changes in Wakana's life.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Wakana Gojo/Gallery
Relationships[]
Marin Kitagawa[]
Classmates that never spoke, Marin Kitagawa accidentally runs into Wakana one day sewing at school when his home sewing machine was broken. Realizing that he could help her with her love for cosplay, she asks him to make costumes for her, which he accepts. Initially, Wakana is nervous about his ability to create cosplay clothes for Marin because of his lack of experience, as he's only made hina dolls. After the success of the first costume, his confidence in making the outfits grows and so does his love for creating them. Wakana becomes more open with Marin as the series progresses and her words of confidence can be the driving force for why cosplays turn out successful, as well as what initially drives him to improve himself. He thinks Marin is very pretty (something he doesn't say without meaning it) with a positive outlook on life, and admires her confidence. He gets flustered whenever Marin wears revealing clothing, which occurs often. He takes care of her when she's sick, helps her with cooking, supports her in her decisions, and teaches her the things she needs to know in school if she falls behind, showing he cares a lot about her outside of cosplaying. Though his feelings for her can arguably seem to remain platonic for most of the series, it is heavily hinted in chapter 62 that Wakana is understanding he sees Marin the same as he once did for hina dolls, indicating that he is realizing he loves her.
In chapter 107, Wakana finally confess to her, and Marin responds by jumping on him, also confessing her feelings. She passionately kisses Wakana after their confessions, and the newfound couple remain on the floor intimately.
Sajuna Inui[]
A second-year at Sakuranomiya All-Girls High School, she is a famous cosplayer and someone Marin looks up to. Wakana has seen her nude by accident, creating an awkward first meeting; though they are friends. She is the second person he creates clothes for. She greatly admires Wakana's work on her cosplay outfit, as well as how he helps her sister on her first one. It is hinted that the older Inui sister has developed feelings for him.
Shinju Inui[]
Wakana was surprised to find out that Sajuna's younger sister, in fact, appeared far older and more mature than her. The two soon get along, and after learning of Shinju's desire to cosplay as the older brother Soma from Flower Princess Blaze!!, Wakana decides to help her with it.
Akira Ogata[]
Through the prompting of Suzuka, Wakana asked Akira if he could help her with the Coffin props. She goes to Wakana's house to prepare the props with him. When Wakana sees her skills and joy in making the props, he is impressed and also makes him wonder how she got into the craft. Akira decided to reveal her story to him. Upon hearing about her past and how she treasured Suzuka and Miyako, Gojo said that he understood how she felt, because he felt the same way with Marin.
Kaoru Gojo[]
Wakana's grandfather whom he lives with. Kaoru teaches him about creating doll heads and deeply cares for him. Wakana is shown to care for his grandfather as well, as he took to manning his shop while he was recovering from a back injury.
Miori Gojo[]
She is his elder cousin. They are on friendly terms.
Harumi[]
Harumi is Wakana's aunt and the mother of Miori. Not much is seen of their relationship, except that they are in good terms.
Nobara[]
Nobara was an old friend of Wakana's. However when he told her his hobby of Hina doll making, she turns away, claiming that dolls are for girls and boys shouldn't play with them while calling him a freak. Nobara tells Wakana that she hates him while ending their friendship. After her fight with Gojo, Nobara felt a massive sense of Guilt about how she treated Gojo for liking Hina Dolls, now that she is a teenager she understands that the world isn't black and white, she wants to apologize to Gojo, but she doesn't know how to approach him. On chapter 106, they confront each other, and finally get back their friendship.
Etymology[]
- The name Wakana means "fresh, new" (
新 , waka?) and "vegetables, greens" (菜 , na?). - Wakana's surname Gojo means "five" (
五 , go?) and "article" (条 , jō?).
Trivia[]
- Before Wakana became friends with Marin, his interests were only: hina doll-making (practice), admiring hina dolls, and talking hina dolls.[9]
References[]
- ↑ My Dress-Up Darling Manga — Vol. 6 Chapter 46.
- ↑ Hina Suguta twitter
- ↑ My Dress-Up Darling Manga — Vol. 4 Chapter 27.
- ↑ Funimation Tweet
- ↑ My Dress-Up Darling Manga — Chapter 104 (p. 9-16).
- ↑ My Dress-Up Darling Manga — Chapter 103 (p. 13-15).
- ↑ My Dress-Up Darling Manga — Chapter 104 (p. 18-22).
- ↑ My Dress-Up Darling Manga — Chapter 1 (p. 8-10).
- ↑ My Dress-Up Darling Manga and Anime — Vol. 1 Chapter 1 and Episode 1.
[]
| Main | Marin Kitagawa • Wakana Gojo |
|---|---|
| Classmates & Others | Nowa Sugaya • Daia • Rune • Kensei Morita • Murakami • Shiki Kashiwagi • Takeru Koga • Seira • Karen • Hanaoka (Teacher) • Student Council President |
| Cosplay | Sajuna Inui • Shinju Inui • Chitose Amano • Akira Ogata • Miyako • Suzuka • Yosuke |
| AIRS Salon | Manabu • Hikaru • Riho |
| Others | Nobara • Usami • Rana • Marin's Editor |
| Gojo Family | Wakana Gojo • Kaoru Gojo • Miori Gojo • Harumi |
| Kitagawa Family | Marin Kitagawa • Masumi Kitagawa |
| Inui Family | Sajuna Inui • Shinju Inui • Mrs. Inui |
| Amano Family | Chitose Amano • Chitose's Sister • Chitose's Mother |
| Professionals | Tokio Shiba • Shougo Mizoue • Abe |