How ‘My Love Mix-Up! TH’ Creates Its Own Identity – 3 Differences Between The Japanese And Thai Live-Action Series

BL GMMTV

2024-06-28
09:56

‘My Love Mix-Up!’, also known as ‘Kieta Hatsukoi’, has two live-action adaptations based on the original manga. With the Thai adaptation coming after the Japanese one, you may think there’s no point in watching it if you’ve already seen the first one. That couldn’t be further from the truth, though, since the Thai adaptation is more than capable of standing on its own! Here are three of the many ways it does this from its first three episodes!

Thai Culture

With this adaptation being Thai, the changes you are most likely to notice are the ones related to the new cultural context the story takes place in. Aside from the obvious language change, one of the best examples of how Thai culture influences the re-telling of this Japanese story is the way the twist of Mudmee’s crush is executed. The Japanese version uses the surnames Ida and Aida for its characters, with the first part of Aida’s name getting removed from the eraser, leading to Aoki mistaking Ida for Hashimoto’s crush. With the Thai names of these characters being Kongthap and Half, it’s not immediately obvious how this twist would be achieved since their nicknames are quite different. Thai people’s nicknames, however, are often quite different from their actual nicknames! Episode 2 revealed that Half’s first name is actually Pholkongthap, thus executing the iconic name mix-up in a distinctly Thai way! There’s also the complete revamp they did with the Cinderella play to make it more Thai, but more on this part of the story later!

Pacing Differences

While Atom still maintains Aoki’s hyper disposition and tendency to overreact while Kongthap’s much calmer mood is very reminiscent of Ida, the pacing of the Thai adaptation allows for more chances to expound on character dynamics and various plot points. The Thai adaptation, like most GMMTV series, has episodes that last around 45 minutes to an hour, which is notably longer than the 23-minute episodes of the Japanese adaptation. Examples of this include the badminton practice in the first episode, which allowed Atom and Kongthap to spend more time with each other, which further shows how Atom fell for Kongthap, as well as their episode 3 sleepover, in which both characters’ family troubles were discussed, leading to a meaningful discussion between them about what love is. Atom and Mudmee’s friendship even gets quite a bit more time to shine! The Thai adaptation seems quite determined not to let their extra runtime go to waste!

The Cinderella Play

One of the most iconic ‘Kieta Hatsukoi’ scenes has always been Ida and Aoki acting in the Cinderella play! The Thai adaptation, however, made quite a big change! Instead of dressing as the princess, Atom goes onstage as a male love interest for Kongthap’s character. Many fans even appreciated this change since the play now shows its audience that love interests don’t always have to be of opposite genders! There’s also the increased emphasis on music, with both Atom and Kongthap singing in the play, both solo and in a duet, making full use of Gemini Norawit and Fourth Nattawat’s vocal talents!

Of course, these aren’t the only differences, such as the switch from volleyball as Ida’s sport of choice to Kongthap being a basketball player instead as well as the new stray cat plot point acting like an invisible string between Atom and Kongthap. If you think we missed your favorite difference between the two adaptations, let us know in the comments or on our social media pages, and don’t forget to come back to BLTai for more BL updates!

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