Recap
Hashimoto wins for best friend of the year, supporting Aoki even though they like the same guy. They accept their new roles as rivals and say their love interests’ name out loud. Only, Hashimoto says ‘Aida’.
Turns out she never noticed the ‘a’ on her eraser had already worn off. This whole time she’s liked Aida, who is Akkun. Now they aren’t rivals and can cheer each other on, but Aoki feels strange about liking Ida.
He blames this recent distraction for the 6 he gets on a test where Ida gets a 98. But that’s an excuse for a study group! Akkun proposes it and Hashimoto joins.
On their way to Ida’s place, Hashimoto explains how before High School Akkun helped with something, and she’s liked him ever since. She encourages Aoki to be excited, but Aoki is flustered. He gets to see Ida’s room and meet his dog Mametaro, but he can’t get over the feeling he doesn’t match Ida.
When Ida leaves the room, Akkun guesses that Hashimoto likes Ida. She denies this, but won’t reveal her true crush. His obliviousness is upsetting, but Hashimoto is determined not to give up.
Later, she leaves with Akkun while Ida and Aoki stay behind. Ida notices Aoki’s lack of focus and Aoki is annoyed by how calm Ida is considering everything. When Ida says he’s been thinking about Aoki, Aoki wraps himself in Ida’s curtains in embarrassment. When Ida realizes Aoki has been thinking about him too, an equally embarrassed Ida wants them to focus on studying.
On his way out, Aoki meets Ida’s mom. She’s got Ida and Aoki from Cinderella as her phone wallpaper, awww. Then Ida calls Aoki his classmate and Aoki is upset.
Ida continues to seriously contemplate Aoki, which flusters Aoki but also clues Akkun into what’s going on. Aoki then tells Akkun the story of the eraser, leading Akkun to force Aoki to come clean with Ida. He talks over Aoki, pretty much apologizing for him to Ida.
Then Ida talks over Aoki, telling him not to worry about it and he’s relieved.
Aoki, who finally really understands his own feelings, looks devastated.
Thoughts
The show continues to artfully move through conflicts. Hashimoto and Aoki’s issue is quickly resolved and for a moment it looks like things might be okay when the real truth comes out.
The first time I watched this show I thought the initial misunderstandings were going to drag out much longer. Too often misunderstands have been used to fuel an entire show. But here everything has been cleared up by episode 3, kinda. Because Aoki and Ida were starting to like each other and now they’re back where they started.
It’s interesting how flustered Aoki is now that he really likes Ida when earlier he didn’t seem particularly embarrassed. Ever since he started to even suspect he likes Ida, he’s been very preoccupied with how much they don’t match as a couple. It’s not explicitly stated, but it feels like it’s because they are both guys.
In general, the show seems to have a light touch about lgbtq+ issues, where for the most part things aren’t explicitly stated but they are there. Like his classmates’ attitude about him and Ida last episode, which felt homophobic without anyone calling it that. But I also lack experience in this area myself, so I may not be seeing things that would be more obvious to others with different experiences.
Hashimoto’s crush on Akkun might not be as secret as she thinks. When Akkun was creating the study group, the girls around her were pushing her to join and pointing at Akkun.
The show continues to follow the manga fairly closely, although Ida’s dog Mametaro doesn’t chew on Aoki’s leg like in the comic. I think that would be hard to reproduce in live action so instead the dog lays on his pillow and judges Aoki with his eyes. I like that they’ve kept in Ida’s mom’s enthusiasm for the pair of them in Cinderella.
My Love Mix-Up! Main Page
My Love Mix-Up! is currently available in the US on Viki.