Have some interpretations of my own. Didn't really want to write in the comments section because I think this might be long. So I will just add here, as it seems to fit into this discussion board. Late to the party I know~
I will just ramble on a couple of points from above to expand on them. Many points and their messages were brought across pretty well by the translation team.
Red and Purple Hibiscus: First, Hibiscus meant young love apparently in flower language, according to Google, so is a very fitting use to this coming of age story, and the other informational tidbits in the other discussion board. Second, the colours representation. The purple hibiscus represents Tan as her innerwear(not even sure if that is a bra) has the purple hibiscus design. The red hibiscus, on the other hand, represents Oh aew due to the beach scene on the resort island where they tuck each other's ear with one red hibiscus. Third, the association of the scene. The purple Hibiscus was first noticed by Teh as Tan's shirt button was undone and he could see inside. For a young 16 -17 yo boy who was still discovering himself, he was more than curious. He was nervous, and possibly a little excited at a sight he had never seen before. The red Hibiscus was an experience of mutual bonding between him and Oh aew on the beach. While they laugh and chat with nothing around them but sand and water, they start getting closer and more comfortable with each other's presence. Then, just as naturally as they got closer, to each other, they also naturally step under a tree, and was surrounded by plenty of red hibiscus. After which, they both tuck the beautiful flowers into each other's ear endearingly. Last one, the choices. When Tan brought Teh to her house yard(?) to draw. She intentionally wore a very translucent top to show off her innerwear that has the purple hibiscus design. She then passes a outline-only hibiscus drawing to Teh to colour-in. She flipped her hair back and puffed her chest out in hopes that Teh would noticed her innerwear and desire her (and her femineity?) as he take reference from the "only" hibiscus thing there is there to colour-in. Instead, Teh chose red to colour the Hibiscus, as he only remembers the red Hibiscus from his time on the beach with Oh aew. Both forgetting that he once saw the innerwear of Tan and couldn't take his eyes off, and now completely neglecting her when she is trying to show him herself. Right here, Teh subconsciously has already made a choice between his 2 respective "young loves/ romance" that he was confused about. Next choice is that of Tan's. At the very end, in her last scene, she drew Teh in the costume of the protagonist character that he played at the start of the show. In that drawing, she added a purple Hibiscus on the left side of his chest. The scene where she was supposed to announced her decision on wanting to date Teh or not, it is clear that she wanted to, and they flashed her drawing on screen to show that the purple Hibiscus representing her, is on his chest (there could be a symbolism on chest placement that I will mention in another point further below)
Coconut scent: This is pretty obvious but just wanna say something about it because is sort of funny. In the beginning, Teh can be seen disliking coconut due to its smell. He has to be coaxed into drinking the coconut water for good luck by his mum and older brother. Then Initially, when they first reconciled, Oh aew went to Teh house for tutoring session, Teh also commented on Oh aew's pen having an awful smell because it smelled like coconut. Then Oh aew declared that he basically loves the scent of coconut and even his hair smells like it due to the hair products he use. After Teh subconsciously developed feelings for Oh aew, he no longer disliked the scent of coconut. He even asked Oh aew why does his hair smells so good when they made up after Teh got jealous and was being a little prick lol. After Oh aew told Teh that is just his usual coconut scent, Teh got a slight( I say slight as he definitely still struggles with understanding what his heart was telling him) epiphany. He then tried to confirm his realisation by slapping a huge coconut flesh on his face and eating it up lol. At this point, he probably low key knew his feelings, but at the same time confused by their existence.
My own interpretation 1>
In episode 3, after they return from the resort island studying. Teh can be seen wearing a dark red sleeveless and he ended up meeting Oh aew at the beach. They spent a long day together, where they go to the temple and Oh aew pray for blessings for his admission exams, promising the run to tip of the cape before sunset so he can announce to the sunset about the successful admission if the blessing was granted.
[Here is the first time the characters first alluded to the show's title: "I told sunset about you", this is where the sunset comes into the storyline and its underlying significance]
The red sleeveless I mentioned above that Teh wears during this day and scene that the show title was alluded. The chinese characters on the left of his chest literally just meant moon.
[As this is a cross culture plot with chinese culture, there is actually a very famous (iconic) hit love (for the characters' age I am not sure if it should be classified as classic lol) song titled, "The Moon represents my heart". The specific placement of the word Moon on the left side of the chest where our heart is instantly led me to think of this song. The whole time I was watching this, I kept thinking if the song or melody of it would just start playing at any moment lol.
To add on to this point, the sequel title of this series is named, "I promised you the moon". As at this moment of writing, I have not even read the synopsis of the sequel. But layering the above points together will make this into a kueh lapis lol. Teh wearing a sleeveless top that alludes to the title of the sequel as they film a scene where Oh aew speaks about his promise to the diety, his dialogue alluding to the current series' title. While the sequel title possibly holds a cross culture reference of the Moon representing the heart, aka "I promise you my heart".
Reinforcing on the left side chest being hinted to represent the heart in this show, is the aforementioned Tan's drawing of Teh where she added her Purple Hibiscus flower on the left side chest. Symbolising her decision to be with him.]
I am trying to think if there's any hidden reference in "sunset" woven into this. But I am coming up blank. There could be a reference to some iconic Thai literature or pop culture content that symbolise romance~
My own interpretation 2>
I am a little unsure about this. This is on the scene between Teh an Oh aew when Oh aew stayed overnight at Teh's house after their practiced run to the cape. They were feeling intimate, and as the sexual tension started to rose, Oh aew's back start to itch, using the back-scratching physical contact to take that step forward, Teh pulled Oh aew into his embrace, turning him so that Oh aew's back is against his chest. As Teh start to feel Oh aew up, his groping hand motion moves quickly up to Oh aew's chest, his hand motion continues to grab air.
[This scene seems to stayed a little longer than necessary to me, or I might be reading too much. But it seemed like Teh was groping Oh aew in the way he would grope a woman and expects to find a full chest there, hence the scene showed him grabbed air a couple of times before he realises that there is nothing there to grab]
The realisation that being physically intimate with a man is different from what he thought he knew about physical intimacy seemed to shock and confuse Teh, hence he just snapped out of it altogether and decided to sleep separately that night
[Being 16-17 yo, Teh probably was exposed to hetero porn or boys' dirty talk in school and with what he later on confessed to his older brother about only knowing the idea of hetero romance, this clash of reality and his default world setup was like a jolt of lighting for him]
From this "rejection", Oh aew probably also realises what the physical issue is. That he doesn't have a woman's body (Though the real issue is Teh unable to process his own feelings and desire vs the world and the view of the world's expectations). Which led to a scene further down where we see a broken hearted and confused Oh aew decided to try to "change" himself and put on a bra.
[Either he is a transgender, or he just really want to do something that would make Teh choose him, but throughout the show I don't see any hint on Oh aew being transgender, so I was also confused about this scene myself]
He then post on social media to make a statement I supposed(?). Which he then quickly deleted and can be seen removing the bra in disgust and cries in agony
[Following the thought of Oh aew not being transgender but wanting to change himself to please Teh, he probably realised that, that is not who he is, and cries out of the pain of knowing he will never become the type that Teh would like (presumably a woman, at that point of confused misunderstanding time lol)]
Afterwards, Teh received a screenshot of the deleted post from their trusted friend (thankfully this wasn't going to turn into some gossip drama plot point with the following that Oh aew has... ). And Teh just sigh in frustration
[That storyline ended just like that seem to indicate that Teh knew it was because of him, during their previous intimacy, and there was no need to clarify anything, but the main issue is he still doesn't understand himself]
End of my vomit of words from my fingers lol~
If only I took school exams as seriously as I took watching drama series hahah, this was long.~
Elijah_weiss:
