My Dress-Up Darling Has One Dub Actor Who Fans Can't Stop Praising

"My Dress-Up Darling" has made a sizable impact on the basis of its first season alone. The subdued, slice-of-life romantic comedy pulled in numbers that rival those of shows like "Attack on Titan," which is one of the most popular anime series of all time. While Season 2 is still a way off, it's likely to be just as big a hit as the first one, given how much popularity the series has already garnered.

Based on the manga by Shinichi Fukuda, "My Dress-Up Darling" follows the shy loner Wakana Gojo (Shoyo Ishige/Paul Dateh) as he forms a friendship with the popular and outgoing Marin Kitagawa (Hina Suguta/Amanda Lee). As the two bond over anime, manga, cosplay, and food, they begin to develop feelings for one another, but struggle with expressing them. With all 12 episodes of the subtitled and dubbed versions of "My Dress-Up Darling" now available to watch, it's hardly a surprise that fans have some pretty hefty praise for one of the series' voice actors.

In a thread started by u/MarvelGrantMan136, fans of "My Dress-Up Darling" shared their excitement about how good Paul Dateh is in the English version of the anime. "Paul Dateh is truly killing it. I am blown away that this is his anime debut," said u/jamiex304. "His emotional performance as Gojo as he was breaking under the pressure was amazing; hats off to him."

That Dateh is new to voice acting is indeed a surprise. The performer has taken so naturally to his role as Gojo that you would think he's made a career out of it. "I already thought he sounded great as Gojo," said u/Chun-Li_Forever, "but this episode showed something very vulnerable about his character. Something extremely scary to ask of any actor to do, especially for the first time. But he nailed it and rose like a pro."

This kind of enthusiasm will almost certainly help Dateh land even more voice-over roles. While Dateh, who is also a live-action actor and a musician, doesn't necessarily need to lean on anime to make a decent living, the role has changed his life substantially.

On Twitter, Paul Dateh shared his excitement over the success of "My Dress-Up Darling" and how much fans enjoyed his performance as Wakana Gojo. "Recording this made me cry," he confessed. "A year ago, I was working in marketing at a software company while taking acting classes at night & on weekends. And the year before, & the year before that. Becoming an actor felt so far away then. But this year, it's different," Dateh said.

That nabbing this one role had such a dramatic effect on Dateh's life is truly a remarkable thing. Everyone who has chased a dream has likely thought about giving up along the way. Thankfully for Dateh and fans of "My Dress-Up Darling," the actor persevered, and he now has a mountain of praise and a wildly popular voice-acting gig to show for it.