Thanks for tuning in, Split Screen fans! It’s your intro host Madelyn here, ready to deliver one of our most dramatic editions of the blog to date. On Coffee Prince, Eun-chan’s secret finally comes to light, and no one in the cafe is safe from the fallout. On My Hero Academia, Eri’s secret power is revealed, and no one in the neighborhood is safe from the fallout. So let’s fall into the action below!
(New to Split Screen? Catch up on all the action here!)
Coffee Prince Eleventh Cup (up to minute 33)
M: The long-awaited day has finally arrived.
E: I’ll be honest, I thought it was going to be in the 2/2 part of this episode, but I’m not mad that they’re getting it over with.
M: I was going to say, ‘can’t they let us enjoy the relationship for half an episode?’, but it was so squirmy that I’m glad they put me out of my misery.
E: Yeah, it’s pretty uncomfortable to see Han-gyul being a cool boyfriend while Eun-chan languishes in misery.
M: He called her as soon as he got home! What a sweet little guy.
E: “Should we elope to America?”
M: He came so far! So much self-acceptance!
E: He even told Ha-rim off for being homophobic.
M: I know! Don’t call her a girl because I like her! He’s already out! He probably told his former dad.
E: Who really is bathrobe man? We still do not know.
M: They hinted that he is related to Han-gyul’s orphanage years. Whether it’s an Atsushi situation or he’s a foster dad is still unclear.
E: He did know Han-gyul’s real mother too. So however that ties in.
M: It’s a tangled web.
E: I knew as soon as Han-gyul brought up his mother that there was no way Eun-chan would be able to tell him. “Oh, your mom was a tomboy??? Me too!!! Surprise!!!”
Pretty mama
M: How did she think just showing up in sort-of girly clothes was going to work?
E: I think that dressing in girly clothes was a mistake from the get-go. Like, you just gotta tell him. Don’t let your clothes do the work for you.
M: They also would not have done the work. Han-gyul would have been like “looking cute today!” He would not have picked up on it. The man literally saw her ID card that says she’s a woman, so I don’t think a slightly lacy blouse was going to cut it. He literally saw her as a woman at the art gallery.
E: I’ll give Han-gyul this, he puts the pieces together real quick once he knows.
M: It would have been really satisfying, if not exactly an engine of drama, for him to realize it was pretty much all on him and go back and apologize.
E: He does seem a little disproportionally upset about this. I mean, I do understand being mad at Han-sung and the other Coffee Prince guys, and I even get being a little upset about the lying. But, come on man. You don’t need to elope to America anymore. Just take a nap and get over it.
M: We haven’t given him much time, to be fair. He’s already blown off some steam. Punching Han-sung, going for a drive and not getting into a car wreck. That’s progress.
E: We’re pretty good, in terms of lack of car wrecks on this show.
M: So far. Although now that Eun-chan specifically called it out in her message when she hadn’t heard from him, I think we’ve likely avoided that trope. Speaking of tropes from Boys Over Flowers, amnesia might be good here, honestly. A net positive.
E: Yes, that’s the answer, just hit Han-gyul upside the head with a plank a few times. Solved!
M: A quick li’l rewind.
E: Han-sung and Yoo-joo are broken up now!
She took her toothbrush and everything!
M: Man, who cares? She’s going to go back to him after hearing him say to Han-gyul on the phone that he was over Eun-chan.
E: I bet she’ll make it to New York, and she won’t like it, and then she’ll go back.
M: We have outdoor dining now, what’s not to like?
E: The outdoor dining.
M: That’s real.
E: But that was basically the only other major event this episode, we stayed pretty focused on the main drama this time.
M: Ha-rim is such a tool. What a way for the secret to come out.
E: I mean, I think he sees it as protecting his friend, but he’s being over the top about it. Like, clearly she came in women’s clothes to tell him, right? She’s gonna tell him now, what’s the point of yelling at her?
M:
E: I do think that he thought that Eun-chan had already told Han-gyul when he started ranting. Unlike this dude above.
M: He definitely did. That’s what made it ten times worse.
E: And then he just throws all the other guys under the bus. “I didn’t know, bro, but all of them, they kept it from us.”
M: Why didn’t Mister Hong step in?
E: Mister Hong is not paid enough for this stuff.
M: You’re right, he’s got his own romantic drama to worry about Speaking of which, Eun-chan’s mom knew this was a bad idea. “You’ve really thought this through, huh?’
E: Alas, it was late at night, not the time for Mom advice giving.
this episode was all about the moms apparently
M: Where’s this romance going? I thought with Yoo-joo out of the picture we’d go full-on weird cousin love triangle, but that seems like it might not happen.
E: I hope not. Honestly, based on how this show has been paced thus far, I almost think that Han-gyul will be over it by the end of this episode. It depends on how much we focus on Yoo-joo in the second half.
M: When is he going to America? How far away is that now?
E: A month or two?
M: See, I thought it was sooner than that, but I could be wrong.
E: I’m not sure. I feel like the last time they mentioned it, it was a month or two, but I don’t know how long it’s been since then.
M: That makes a difference for my predictions. I do think Han-gyul will get over being mad, but also pretend to get over being in love with her, and it might also take traveling America to make him realize the mistake he made.
E: Maybe. I am curious what new conflict they’re going to introduce, because there’s still a decent chunk of show left.
M: Yeah, we’ve got about a third left. Still hanging in the air: Min-yup’s romance, Sun-ki’s kid, the adult love triangle, the sick granny…there’s a lot of fuel here. It’s interesting that both Coffee Prince and Boys Over Flowers have this funky love triangle dynamic where it’s a real love triangle for about the first third of the show, and then weirdly hangs around for the rest.
Clearly Han-sung just needs a grandfather subplot
E: Well, to give Boys Over Flowers….credit? There was that weird fortune-teller scene about her romantic partner versus her soulmate which sort of set up the final dynamic of that triangle.
M: You’re right. I hope we don’t have a repeat of the ‘rich boy goes overseas and gets brainwashed’ plot here though.
E: Please no emotionally manipulative videos left behind by a dead parent.
M: That’s a live option here, uh oh.
E: Terrifying.
M: My ideal endgame: Eun-chan and Han-gyul open a Lego cafe in America.
E: I love his Lego love. It’s so good.
M: It has so little to do with anything else on the show. It’s so special. It’s so precious.
E: Any other predictions for next time?
M: I don’t get why Han-gyul’s adoptive mom hates this other dude so much, but I think that’s going to come up soon.
E: I wonder if she’s worried that he’ll try to steal Han-gyul away. Except that Han-gyul’s a thirty year old man so.
M: Han-gyul gets baby-snatched is a pretty bold prediction.
E: Maybe there’s something more complicated with the whole mistress thing that she doesn’t want him to know about.
M: It’s going to be juicy.
My Hero Academia S4E13: “Infinite 100%”
E: The girls were back in town! Briefly.
M: The girls were back in town, girls were back in town! Pretty underwhelming that they did not get to save the day.
E: Yeah, I wish we had gotten to see a little more of their battle against the big guy.
M: Other than him threatening to get handsy with the seventeen year old? Yeah. Anything but that.
E: I just mean that they were fighting him for a while. Longer than any of the other fights. And it seems like maybe we should have gotten more than the very start and very end of it.
M: On the other hand, this arc did not need more time spent on side battles.
E: I go back and forth on whether this arc should have been shorter or whether it should have been longer. If we’re going with, there’s just this one raid, it definitely should have shorter. But I think all these battles would have been more interesting if they were in different locations doing different things against yakuza, so maybe this arc needed more expansion in that way.
M: Emma with the hot take: Anime is too long and too short.
E: I basically just mean…the pacing is bad the way it is, and it needs to be different.
M: It’s obvious they were trying to hold the reveal of Eri’s quirk as long as possible, but it also meant they held any backstory about Overhaul as long as possible.
E: I really think it could have been adjusted so that the viewer gets to learn more about Overhaul without revealing Eri’s quirk. A lot of the flashbacks here weren’t even necessarily about Eri’s quirk. I mean, we already assumed that she had something to do with the Quirk-erasing bullets, so confirming that part of it doesn’t really spoil any sort of surprise.
M: The bigger problem is that he has two motivations that do not mix.
Dissecting Overhaul does not know we are now dissecting him
E: Yeah, it’s like he was developed with a design theme that’s the hypochondria and the distaste for heroes and quirks as an illness. You can see all that in his character design, the way he visually looks. But then it feels like as the backstory was getting written, a different motivation came out. But it doesn’t really match his character design, so you can’t get rid of the initial idea or you just leave him with a weird mask. So it just ends up being both.
M: One or the other would have been much stronger. I think there’s an interesting character who is really not Overhaul who is interested in getting rid of quirks for the good of humanity through this cleansing idea. And then there’s Overhaul, who probably fits the “let’s just make a lot of money for the yakuza and reclaim our past glory with cash” better, personality-wise.
E: There’s ways you could tie them together interestingly. Like, take out any idea of an antidote to sell the heroes, maybe make the yakuza leader Quirkless, and you can keep a lot of the writing while still directing it towards the more interesting version of the character.
M: I think the arc would have benefited from a more Majima-inspired version of Overhaul. Just sprinkle a little more weird in there. The man has principals, but he’s a little effed up, a little more unpredictable.
E: His Quirk is a pretty cool idea though. It makes for an interesting enough spectacle.
M: I should have known Eri was going to have a time quirk. It’s so obvious in hindsight.
E: I mean, I think that’s usually a good thing when a reveal seems relatively obvious in hindsight, because it shows logical progression, right?
M: It’s not really obvious from the use of the quirk in the bullets, to be honest, but it’s obvious from the perspective of listening to Nighteye whine about his powers for weeks. Of course we need to introduce something to ruin him.
E: The man’s been skewered through his incredible abs, Madelyn, give him a break.
M: He seemed pretty chill about it. He’s like “Uraraka, you can’t move. Move me!”
E: He was more like, “Uraraka, you can’t fight Overhaul in his final Ansem Seeker of Darkness phase”
M: Full flesh spaceship.
“Would a mad scientist do this????”
E: Deku, meanwhile, has a perfect Energizer Bunny strapped to his back.
M: He should just fight crime that way until he dies.
E: Ah, but see…then he’s no different than Overhaul.
M: Except that he’s fighting crime.
E: By exploiting a child, yes.
M: What has this whole mission been? What percent of the team was made up of children?
E: Well, maybe Deku should learn from that. Be better or something.
M: Fair enough. For a moment, I thought they would all be transported to the past, and Deku was going to be the first One For All. A time loop.
E: Powerful. Powerful idea. I’m glad it wasn’t that though.
M: Like when the Flash goes back in time.
E: Right, of course. Maybe one day.
M: It was a dope fight. Not sure how Deku conjured kaleidoscope arms, but I can dig it.
E: I like how they showcase that this power at limitless 100% is…in some ways, just absolutely terrifying. Like, he’s just an avenging god basically.
M: An avenging god that is literally smashing the future.
E: With his kaleidoscope fists.
Deku’s secret quirk is a funky and hip design sense
M: So, it’s pretty cool that Eri is going to be able to revive Golden Age All Might, isn’t it?
E: I don’t know. I think doing that would probably take the Quirk back out of Deku though.
M: But she’s only rewinding All Might.
E: Yeah, but I think the power would have to come back. I don’t think it could just recreate itself.
M: Probably worth a try.
E: Like the hair would come out of Deku’s stomach and return to All Might’s head. Blergh, gross thought.
M: Still probably worth a try. He could give it to Deku again. Worst case scenario, she can at least revive his power as of eight months ago.
E: We’re not technically fully done with this arc yet, but I think my biggest disappointment from it- and I mention this because the ones I’m editing currently are way back (EDITOR EMMA: lol, now this one is way back), and you brought up some version of this prediction like three times- but I really think not having Eri and Shigaraki meet is a missed opportunity.
M: Is there a particular reason you think that?
E: Well, they’re pretty clearly mirrors of each other in significant ways. I can’t think it’s not on purpose. From a character design standpoint, with their eyes and hair, and their histories of being taken in by an evil person when they were helpless and raised for their nefarious ends. All for One was just better at it than Overhaul.
M: All For Number One Dad.
E: It just feels like there is some interesting dynamic there that doesn’t get played out. Maybe it’ll happen down the line, who knows.
M: It’s a shame Shigaraki doesn’t let his underlings do more of the planning. Toga and Twice did good work here.
E: I mean, his instructions to them were just “do what you want, guys” so, baby steps.
M: Lawsuit Watch?
Little walking lawsuit right there
E: Honestly don’t know why the boss thought it would be a good idea to entrust Eri to Overhaul. That seemed like negligence.
M: Look, just because you’re a brawler on the street, doesn’t mean you can’t be a good dad.
E: “Yeah, look into her power Overhaul, that seems like a smart plan!”
M: He didn’t realize Overhaul was a bad dude, okay?
E: Theoretically I think Han-gyul could possibly have a suit against Eun-chan. Identity fraud or whatever.
M: But she gave her real Korean SSN?
E: But he wrote it down wrong. She can’t prove what she said.
M: That’s his fault. His negligence.
E: I dunno, whose word do you think they will believe?
M: I mean, he’s gay now, so…
E: Still, various lawsuit potential on both shows this week.
M: Everyone should sue Nighteye for cruelty. And lies.
E: It’s not his fault!
M: Sue him for his abs then.
E: Arrested for ab crimes.
M: Ab-duction.
E: Caffeine watch? Deku with the espresso shot version of a girl, so.
M: Pretty clearly Deku here. Everyone else needs a nap.
E: Are you ready for next week’s episode title?
M: Heck yeah!
E: Season 4, Episode 14 is called “Bright Future”
M: Prediction one: Nighteye and All Might meet up. Nighteye gives All Might a hug and sees him living to an old age with grandchildren.
E: 
M: Prediction two: Where the hell is Aizawa? We gotta find him. Deku is going to die. That’s my prediction. That’s literal dialogue.
E: 
M: Prediction three: Once they find Aizawa taking a nap somewhere, he’ll save Deku, and then we’ll use Eri’s power to save Mirio too.
E: 
M: Prediction four: Hawks and Tokoyami arrive. The weather was bad. They’re sorry they’re late.
E: 
M: Prediction five: the rest of the work study passes without incident, so we jump forward a few months.
E: 
–
Hello, Emma here! As always, thanks for watching along with us on Split Screen! We’re checking out My Hero Academia dubbed on Funimation and Coffee Prince…well, we’re probably going to be jumping around free trials to watch Coffee Prince since it has disappear from Tubi. But we’re gonna do it! Have no fear!
Next time! The aftermath of the drawn-out fight with the yakuza plays out and relationship drama continues with our coffee bunch.