Split Screen: Apologize!

It’s blog two of the second era of Split Screen, and folks, I’m excited. It’s your friendly neighborhood tea-drinker Madelyn here, ready to get the caffeine jitters from our newest arrival. This week, Coffee Prince serves up a cup of hot, steaming drama, and Class 1-A serves up a slice of teamwork butt-kicking on My Hero Academia. Sounds like a delicious edition to me!

(First time reader? Get your complete Split Screen fix here!)

Coffee Prince Episode 1 (from minute 33)

M: I’m excited about Coffee Prince! This was a good pick. 

E: We said “oh no” a lot this episode, but it was in a good way. I think.

M: “Oh nos” are definitely a good sign in Split Screen. 

E: I mean, it does depend on the kind of “oh no,” but in this case I think they were the promising kind.

M: We finally set up the promised premise of the show: our super fake (for many reasons) gay lovers. 

E: Oh no.

M: There were so many delightful little bits I don’t know where to start. I’m looking forward to more of the relationship between Eun-chan and…Mr. H? I don’t remember the full name of the cafe owner. 

E: I was gonna say, let’s start with Sweeper aka Terry, but Mr. H is also already a legend.

M: He wore plaid on plaid!

E:  Madelyn already has her favorite character. 

M: A style icon. Terry is still my favorite character though. 

E: I mean, Terry doesn’t even count because, duh, of course he is the default favorite character. If Terry isn’t your favorite character, I don’t want to know you.

M: Awoo!

E: I really appreciated that the direction remained pretty fun too. Both with everybody sort of being in the same place at the same time despite only interacting a little or at all,  and the scene of Eun-chan on the bus trying to work out her money situation had the fun light effects on the windows with all the writing. Those two parts stuck out to me.

M: Some of the effects, especially the cartoons, are nice and subtle, which is a fun balance in a show that doesn’t seem to be going for subtlety. 

E: Yeah, I wouldn’t call any of that last fifteen minutes or so subtle.

M: This half of the episode focused on Eun-chan doing everything she could to earn roughly $10,000 to pay for the missing diamond ring and also weather an unexpected rent hike. 

E: I think the $10,000 was just the rent. So there’s that, the diamond ring, her scooter… I think that’s it? As if that’s not already way too much.

M: From what I remember of her calculations, maybe it’s actually closer to fifteen or twenty thousand. 

E: I remember her saying she had $6000 in savings and needed $8000 more. So yeah, probably like $15,000 if you incorporate all her other little earnings.

M: As a result, she tries to take on as many odd jobs as possible, including working in a wine bar, but also weighing the value of money versus pride. 

E: I’m glad they didn’t stretch that out for like a whole half episode. Like, she had to think about it, but there was one jump cut to the morning and she’d made up her mind. 

M: She’s in a time-crunch, so good for the show for making her swallow her pride quickly. I mean, after walking like an injured gazelle in heels all night, it’s not like she had much pride left anyway. 

E: High heels are hard! And that skirt she had to wear was also pretty ridiculous.

M: True and true. I am very bad at walking in heels, I still don’t think I look like that. 

E: Cross your fingers.

M: I also don’t offer trash to young men waiting for cabs, so I have that bit of pride. 

E: I did enjoy the searing awkwardness that permeated most of the conversations in this half of the episode- awkward in different ways, but still. Usually I cringe at stuff like that (and I still did in some cases), but this was fun.

M: It was nice to have an interaction that was awkward but not unpleasant between Eun-chan and Han-sung. That’s already shaping up to be a different kind of relationship than anything we saw on Boys Over Flowers, as opposed to the relationship between Eun-chan and Han-gyul, which is clearly just Jan-di/Jun-pyo. 

E: Which is still good! But yes, I’m glad there’s not another Ji-hoo type character. At least, so far.

M: What do you think happened with him and his ex?

E: Well, it seems like she very suddenly took off for New York for some reason or another. Maybe her career? Or just an impulse? But that seems to be the crux of their issue right now.

M: The man can’t even enjoy a bagel anymore, so clearly it was devastating. 

E: He had to hurl his canned coffee at the wall, just thinking about the frustration of not being able to eat a bagel any more.

M: He seemed very chill about the fact that Han-gyul also likes this girl though. Are they brothers? Cousins? 

E: I think they have the same last name? Although I am not 100% on that. So they’re something, probably? But not clear what the actual relationship is yet.

M: Either way, they both could inherit the coffee empire, but neither wants to. 

E: They’re creatives.

M: What a nightmare. A parent with two creatives for children. No wonder Coffee Grandma is trying to throw herself down the stairs in the Next On. 

E: I was more preoccupied with the close up shot of the fly crawling right next to Mr. H’s eye. That’s all I got from the Next On.

M: Anyway, the real meat of the episode comes after Han-gyul gets drunk and almost taken advantage of by a gold-digging rando lady, and Eun-chan shows up to collect her reward. 

E: Listen, I have some respect for gold-digging rando lady who at least respected herself enough to take advantage of the free breakfast and nice shower before leaving.

M: She brought pajamas and everything. 

E: She plans ahead, okay? She’s got her life together- in the wrong way, maybe, but still together.

M: Anyway, the obvious outcome occurred. I thought it was going to be Eun-chan on her knees apologizing–

E: Oh no.

M: But instead, a fight over Han-gyul refusing to apologize for disparaging Eun-chan’s family turned into a close encounter on the ground with his partially open robe.

E: Oh no.

M: A little unclear how open it got. 

E: Best not to think about.

M: She ambushes him at the urinal later, so no real secrets in that department. 

E: Yes, she then decides to follow him on his honestly incredibly awful series of blind dates to insist on an apology (not for the close encounter, but rather for a comment about her parents) as he tries to deal with girls barking at him and showing how they can touch their chin with their tongue. Or, my favorite, the girl who just said “you’re so cute and sexy” in English.

M: She continued into a corny pick-up line about angels too, I think. 

E: Again, a girl who knows what she wants.

M: So now, it looks like Eun-chan is going to be Han-gyul’s lover. Did not like his wink. 

E: “Lover” with strong air-quotes

M: He has not made that clear yet. 

E: So also at this point, I think it’s interesting that Han-sung immediately picked up on the fact that Eun-chan is a girl even before seeing her, while Han-gyul at least appears to be believing that she’s a guy. Which she went along with, probably just to avoid complication at the time.

M: It’s going to cause some hilarious issues down the line. 

E: Maybe some antics and hijinks.

M: Are we ready for a Romance Tracker?

E: I don’t think so? Let’s let it get into episode 2 before we re-open the section in earnest.

M: I know Eun-chan is going to end up with Han-gyul, but I think we have a better second contender than Ji-hoo in Han-sung. 

E: I mean, he has a dog instead of a violin so already like…no competition.

M: Trading up. 

E: Any general predictions for next time based on the…Next Time?

M: There was a lot going on. I like that we’re going to get more silly imaginary moments, based on that shot of Eun-chan dressed as both bride and groom simultaneously. 

E: Also make-over! But with boys’ clothes!

M: I missed makeovers!

E: Clearly we watched too much What Not to Wear as children. 

M: Have you watched Queer Eye in Japan yet? You gotta. 

E: No, I’m kind of afraid of it. How much cringe is it on a scale of 1 to 10?

M: Other than JVN, they’re all pretty good at pretending to understand Japanese. 

E: Oh no.

My Hero Academia S3E17: “Class 1-A”

M: I think some of my predictions were pretty good this time. 

E: I can never remember your predictions, so I’ll go based on your word.

M: No one from UA had already passed, but Todoroki did in the first thirty seconds, so I feel like that counts. And we saw the gross power you mentioned. 

E: AUGH. AUUGHH. I don’t like it. That’s the end of the episode let’s not think about it yet.

M: Some other things were close to right. I said there would be five spots left at the end. Wrong, but five UA students had passed by the end, so the number was right.

E: That’s a stretch.

M: And I said Bakugo would tag Deku out. He didn’t, but Aizawa called both of them out. 

E: Aizawa acting like a proud father was the most disturbing part of this episode.

M: He looks weird without his goggles. His hair still seems kinda shampooed. 

E: He’s trying to show off for his secret wife.

M: I won’t accept anything less for this relationship. 

E: So, fun fact of the week, most of the stuff that happens this episode is anime-original. Apparently in the manga, these five have just passed. Who knows how. Apparently like this.

M: Is Froppy even a character in the manga? Seems like she only ever appears in original stories. 

E: It’s more that Froppy is like the second most popular female character, so she gets a lot of stuff added when they want to add stuff.

M: Did they include Army Man just because he could baby her?

E: He is a proud father of two green haired children. One on his back, one swaddled in his arms.

M: This was a fun plot, although I don’t think we’ve ever seen Momo having trouble creating everything she needs before. 

E: I mean, it’s a logical extension, right? We know that she uses up lipids when she makes things, so obviously there’s a finite amount she can make. She should have put in a request to bring some highly packed energy bars or something.

M: Just shots of olive oil. 

E: Horrifying.

M: It’s pure fat, it just makes sense!

E: And the speaker she makes is not only big but mechanically complex.

M: Sure, I’ll buy the speaker being draining, although I feel like during the Final exam with Todoroki, she should have been more concerned about making dolls constantly, but fine. What didn’t track was having trouble making some clay? For eight vents? Doesn’t seem like much. 

E: To completely cover eight vents so that the AC cannot escape, that’s a lot of clay. More than just being too much, it’s kind of impractical.

M: The infinite nesting dolls and the fact that all the undercover kiddos were like “why didn’t you make us all costumes” during the last arc…there just hasn’t been much talk of her limits up to this point. 

E: Even if there hasn’t been, I’m of the mind that it’s a good thing to insert. Because otherwise, like you were suggesting early in the episode, she could just make a plane if she wanted to. And that unbalances her power from the rest of the cast.

M: I’m not mad about it in theory, I’m just mad that a character that we’ve never met before somehow knows more about a 1-A student than I do, even with Present Mic’s worldbuilding narration. 

E: Again though, once you know it takes lipids, you have to assume that there’s a limit to it. Even if you can’t be 100% sure what that limit is.

M: Can she not cannibalize a major source of lipids in her–

E: She can’t eat Froppy.

M: That’s not what I was suggesting, although only marginally less inappropriate. I was referring to some major fat deposits on her body.

E: Madelyn.

M: What’s the point of having those if they don’t fuel your power?

E: God that’s some body horror stuff right there.

M: She could just deflate them and then take some olive oil shots–

E: NO!

M: Okay, I’ll drop it. 

E: In an episode where Kirishima became a mass of tangled-up flesh, please don’t make me think about Momo’s deflated breast skin.

M: You’re right, she could eat Kirishima! Pure fat ball!

E: NO!

M: I’ll ask again: can Kirishima still harden?

E: I dunno.

M: Anyway, good teamwork from Momo and co. even if she didn’t end up making jetpacks or whatever. Don’t know if I buy that super smart lady…Intelli right? Come on, that name? Come on. I don’t know if I buy the “the only thing she’s not smart about is heart!” win, but still, nice. 

E: I mean, it’s at least set up for that. She’s pretty clearly using the admiration of her fellow students in order to pass herself while leaving them behind.

M: I’m glad Deku called out that it makes no sense to hunt in a group of ten or more, because it’s been bothering me.

E: It doesn’t make sense unless you have a Todoroki that could just freeze everyone to the ground- oh wait, he’s gone off by himself to fight the ninjas.

M: Honestly, good for him? That’s how the test is designed to work. You shouldn’t have one hero carry nineteen others to victory. Not if you want the most qualified licensees. I was wrong though. Cranky Endeavor didn’t mean anything. 

E: We’ve got another 7-8 episodes, so give it a minute maybe.

M: Eight more episodes of this exam?!?!?

E: Of the season. I won’t tell you how many are the exam.

M: Oh my god, you scared me. I thought we’d have to see the whole thing in Deku flashback like five times. 

E: Anyway, I guess let’s talk about flesh man. For once, I am 100% with Bakugo. Just kill him. Just murder this man.

M: Go die. 

E: It just already says a lot about him that he’s just sitting on this bridge, taking out people that go by but not bothering to pass the exam. He’s just letting the flesh balls lay on the ground in their misery.

M: Maybe it’s like a meditative state, you don’t know. 

E: I don’t think so.

M: If Bakugo murders him, will they change back?

E: Nope, Kirishima is stuck that way forever. Bakugo uses him as a weapon from now on.

M: Shiketsu is really the Slytherin to UA’s Gryffindor, huh?

E: Yeah. We’ve got flesh dude, the girl from last week, and Inasa the wind guy giving Todoroki the stink eye in the passing room. So, they’re not making the best impression.

M: I guess the Ninjas could be Durmstrang, or Hufflepuff. Those are not similar at all. IQ lady was definitely Beaubatons. 

E: Could make them Ravenclaw too, just because of IQ lady.

M: All ladies though. 

E: True.

M: I hope Bakugo doesn’t burn too much flesh. 

E: Kaminari will electrocute the flesh instead. That’ll smell better.

M: Tasty. 

E: Lawsuit/Caffeine watch?

M: I think Coffee Prince takes the caffeinated award this time. I didn’t see any literal cups of coffee, but the “apologize” sequence alone hits the spot. Han-gyul did also literally drink enough tea for a urine waterfall, but the energy of that sequence is pure caffeine. 

E: Meanwhile, I am suing My Hero Academia for emotional damages because man that quirk gives me the shivers, I don’t care if don’t think it’s as gross as you were expected, it’s literally my worst nightmare.

M: You just oversold it, that’s all. It’s gross, but the visual itself isn’t crazy gross. 

E: *speechless noises*

M: I would still give My Hero the Lawsuit title. Kids fighting kids doesn’t ever seem like a good idea. 

E: Are you ready for next week’s title?

M: I’ve already got some predictions cooking. 

E: Alright, season 3 episode 18 is called “RUSH!”

M: Okay, so that clearly refers to the time pressure…unless…

E: Unless….someone just…needs to rush….

M: Prediction one: we witness the one true ultimate move: Sugar Rush. 

E:

M: Prediction two: Deku is clearly going to lose. He’s not going to get his license. He’s scraped by one too many times. He’ll probably let Uraraka tag him out so she can be the 100th person. 

E: 

M: You’re right, why didn’t Momo make guns?

E: UA just goes on a murder rampage because Bakugo has inspired them too much. Aizawa immediately regrets his proud dad moment.

M: Prediction three: Bakugo does manage to tag Flesh King out, but they can’t change people back until after the test. So he carries Kirishima around and helps him “tag” people. 

E: That’s both shockingly wholesome and disturbing. 

M: He rolls him like a bowling ball to tag the other flesh masses. 

E:

M: Prediction four: we haven’t seen Iida in awhile or Invisible Girl (lol). Do we think she’s already passed? 

E:

M: She probably passed and no one noticed. They’re going to have to give out 101 licenses. 

E: She’s trying to talk to Todoroki in the passed room right now, and he’s just entirely checked out.

M: Who else haven’t we seen? It’s not that many. 

E: I was gonna say most of the class honestly. We saw the five who passed, the three in the Deku group, and the three in the Bakugo group this episode.

M: So I guess, prediction five: Iida, Tokoyami, Tail Man, and freaking Mineta are going to be a boy brigade. But they’ll only win when Pinkalicious swoops in for an acid attack. 

E: ･:*:･ﾟ( ͡ºั ͜ʖ ͡ºั )｡･:*:･ﾟ

M: Oh no. That’s not Mineta, that’s Aoyama. He’s hiding somewhere, bonus prediction. 

E:

–
Emma here! As always, thanks for watching along on these shows with us. I’m all up to date on MHA season 4 myself, and now I just can’t wait for us to get through this damn drag of a licence exam arc. We’re skipping the charity episode. It’s my executive decision.

Next time! We see the result of Han-gyul’s spur of the moment plan and an unlikely hero emerges from Class 1-A.