Split Screen: MonoMurder Hornets

Hello Split Screen fans! Thanks for tuning into another edition of Talk This’s premiere watchblog. This week, we hate on Monoma, struggling Youtubers, wedding venue pest control, and pregnancy pacts with grandmas. Queue up Coffee Prince and My Hero Academia, and let’s dive in!

(New to Split Screen? Check out the whole series here!)

Coffee Prince Fifteenth Cup (from minute 31)

M: Everybody’s getting married!

E: I don’t know why she assumed he meant five years from now. That’s not what I would assume.

M: She has mentioned to him, possibly numerous times, that she doesn’t want to get married right away.

E: Did she mention this to him? Or just to his mom/grandma, because that’s all I remember.

M: I can’t confirm. 

E: But either way, that feels like something you clear up immediately. Or maybe not immediately because your friends are dress shopping five feet away. But more immediately than she does.

M: The whole situation of bringing the two people who might have ruined your relationship to shop for wedding dresses with you is very bizarre. 

E: Very on brand for them though.

M: I can’t deny that, but even Yoo-joo and Han-sung clearly didn’t expect a casual marriage proposal on the shop couch.

E: “Hey! Pay attention to us!”

M: Just an absolute mess. Eun-chan and Han-gyul need to get better at having serious conversations about their future though. 

E: Yeah. To be fair, in that last conversation, they were surrounded by bugs the size of birds, so that might have contributed to rising tension.

M: Literal murder hornets buzzing around. 

Actually shocked they aren’t visible in this image

E: First you have to find an ideal location for a serious conversation, and that is not surrounded by what looked like hundreds of dragonflies.

M: Their conversation in the coffee shop though about kids and morning wake-up times was not taken very seriously either though. 

E: I guess not? I don’t know if it was super meant to be a super serious conversation at that point though.

M: True, but the red flag for me was Eun-chan said something about not having to talk about love, which is just a bad way to approach this. 

E: It wasn’t not talking about it, it was not having a checklist for what makes a partner.

M: Yeah…but you do need to make sure that your forbidden checklists don’t conflict though. What if she had wanted ten kids for real?

E: He’s rich, like you said. Adopt some orphans. Just like him!

No communication allowed

M: Remember when his dad screamed that the biggest mistake of his life was leaving his ex-girlfriend while the mom was prepping fruit five feet away?

E: She was in another room, so what if there aren’t walls, you can’t hear conversation from a room away. That’s science.

M: You’re right, my mistake. 

E: Grandma continues to be a whiny baby about this though.

M: Despite Han-gyul’s brilliant reverse psychology pitch for Eun-chan!

E: “Man, she’s just so responsible and orderly, really harshing my buzz, Grandma.”

M: Complaining about her not wanting to waste food so much that she eats his leftovers was a little much. 

E: That’s 100% a true statement though. I’m sure she does that.

M: Not saying she doesn’t. Just saying, not what I would have highlighted. 

E: Grandma responds by spitting her food out across the room. So apparently she agreed.

M: That’s the appropriate response. For a moment, I thought she was going to be taken in. 

E: Too smart for Han-gyul’s plays.

M: It’s too bad that she’s dying again. 

Ouchies

E: She seems fine in the next-on.

M: Rough wedding though. 

E: Yeah, rip their wedding. Got a dead grandma, murder dragonflies, and a couple yelling at each other. 

M: It’s a good thing Granny fainted, because if she had seen Eun-chan running around with a men’s engagement ring on her finger, she would have fainted again. But the murder hornets could get her this time. 

E: I think it’s a good engagement ring for Eun-chan though. Practical, doesn’t get in the way. Good for a long lasting engagement.

M: You’re right, she won’t need to get it polished or anything. I do think assuming that Eun-chan doesn’t like girly things might be a little off the mark? She’s very practical, but I don’t really feel like we’ve seen her actively repulsed by stereotypically feminine things. 

E: Sure, not actively repulsed, but all her chosen casual clothes are boyish. Her pink polo, for instance. 

M:That pink polo is the reason that Han-gyul’s dad likes her. Birds of a feather. 

E: See, she has the same taste in fashion as like a sixty year old man. Hence the ring.

M: I also thought that Grandma was going to flip out when she found out that Yoo-joo was pregnant, but actually, she was thrilled.

E: Yeah, I thought they’d be more upset that they weren’t married yet, but I guess it’s fine as long as they are getting married.

M: I can’t believe Han-gyul was ready to promise a child within a year to get her to sign off on his relationship.

E: He was just gonna steal Han-sung’s, I assume.

M: That would never work, Han-sung’s baby will have freaky limbs. That would be bold, the next con is faking a pregnant Eun-chan. 

Us watching this show

E: Are we forgetting anything from this episode? Oh! Assassin customer!

M: Ha-rim is a garbage man. 

E: Han-byul needs to get out while she can, maybe after stabbing him if she really is an assassin. 

M: Where was Sun-ki? He really should have stepped in. 

E: Sun-ki is only paid enough to deal with the Eun-chan and Han-gyul drama, everything else is overtime that he doesn’t want. 

M: I guess the only other thing was sisters’ earwax cleaning time. 

E: “Ignorant Hwang.”

M: I hope he proposes too. 

E: Specifically for in seven years.

M: Seriously! She’s still in high school. But I hope Min-yup comes in with the proposal to end all proposals and just completely shows up both of the Han boys. 

E: He should do exactly the one that Eun-chan described in this episode.

M: And then Eun-sae can move out and the butcher can move in. The end. That’s Romance Tracker. 

E: And they all lived happily ever after????

My Hero Academia S4E22: “School Festival Start!”

M: The more I think about it, the more the beauty pageant in this episode was really weird.  

E: Yeah, it’s sort of out of place. It might have made more sense to move it to the next episode or the previous episode. Sort of breaks the flow.

M: Literally anywhere else. This was the sympathetic villain backstory week, plus, speaking of garbage men, Monoma just shrieking at the girls.

E: It’s to remind you who the true villains are here. And it’s Monoma.

M: Let me tell you, it worked. 

E: So, I really like this arc, and I really like Gentle and La Brava as villains, even if it’s a complete whiplash tonally from the last arc overall.

M: Yeah, the change in the stakes here is a little hard to swallow. Deku yelling constantly about Eri’s happiness here feels either really weirdly focused on one person he barely knows, or it’s a really disingenuous cover for him selfishly wanting to make his dance debut. 

E: I do think the shift in stakes is important here though, because Deku is treating it at the same level as anything else he’s faced. And he’s fighting for the futures of the people he thinks deserves that future, right? And I think that’s the lesson of this arc overall. Gentle’s not really a bad guy, he’s just a messed up guy.

M: I think there are easy ways to strengthen that. One, have Deku be way more concerned about the students of UA, rather than hyperfocused on Eri. 

E: Last episode, he was thinking about all the hard work that Jiro and Mina were putting into this festival. So, he is thinking of his classmates overall.

M: Maybe the point is that he’s pretty self-centered. I could accept that, but I would like to see that broaden a bit. If he felt concerned about Class 1-B’s play, that would show he was a true hero. 

Beating up a tiny lady and a silver-haired man, like a hero

E: But I think the point is that his priorities are skewed? Like, I think the ultimate question of this series is going to be “who deserves to be saved?” If Deku wants to be a hero who saves everyone, who is “everyone?” Who is not “everyone” right? So you get the contrast of Deku wanting to fight for a “bright future” and La Brava’s “bright future” not being a part of that.

M: Side note: every time they said “bright future” this episode, my head went “odd future” and started bopping. 

E: Probably the intended effect, I’m sure.

M: My second point is that I would have loved to see just a minute more of what about Gentle was actually successful on Youtube. Because most of what we’ve seen has shown him as decently produced now that he has a PA, but very little of what makes his content even sort of engaging? Which on one hand, would have made La Brava’s imprinting on him a little easier to follow, and on the other, would even have underlined these points you’re making about how this video might have brought light to people. 

E: I mean, I don’t think Gentle is some noble virtuous gentleman as he presents himself, he’s obviously doing this for selfish reasons, in terms of wanting people to remember him, right? It’s just, is beating him up the answer?

M: The problem is it seems like a pretty clear numbers game here. If his Youtube channel really is pretty bad and he hasn’t convinced anyone else that he is this noble virtuous gentleman or whatever the goal of the channel is, then it’s just him and La Brava wanting to make a dumb Jackass video versus the hopes and dreams of a bunch of high schoolers, which seems pretty easy to weigh. 

E: Again, I don’t really mean that Deku’s in the wrong, just that maybe his viewpoint is narrow. Both those things can be true.

M: Totally! I’m just critiquing how that message could maybe have been even clearer, because I don’t feel like I would have picked up on those themes as strongly if I hadn’t had this discussion. 

E: I guess so.

M: I don’t know where this is going at all, so maybe none of this would work, but smacking down some dumb Youtubers feels like a social good. I jest, I jest. 

I just love this shot

E: Gentle does make a strong case for why provisional licenses are important. Oh, your body moved before you could think? That man is now crushed.

M: I guess, except that Deku is out here with a permission slip from All Might just beating up a random old man. 

E: He does have a provisional license though, so it’s legal.

M: I can’t believe All Might was just like “yeah, sure! Go ahead kiddo!”

E: All Might is an enabler.

M: All Might is not very good at setting boundaries. 

E: Anyway, all’s well that ends well, I guess.

M: Probably would have been better if they made through and cancelled the play. 

E: Defeat Monoma.

M: I thought for a moment at the end that Gentle was going to invite Deku onto his show. 

E: Interesting.

M: Remember when Deku told them that he’s All Might’s son? AGAIN?

E: I mean, everyone from the festival knows that his Quirk doesn’t work with his body. It was televised. He broke all his fingers.

M: I know, but at every possible opportunity, he’s just screaming about how he was born with a weak boy body and somebody helped him. Someone is going to put the pieces together. Somebody already did! The reporter at the beginning of this season. Youtube will be all over this soon. 

Real picture of me

E: Any other thoughts from you this episode?

M: Hatsume is definitely going to win the beauty pageant. 

E: We’re not into predictions yet.

M: It’s not a prediction, it’s a fact. She’ll have engineered the perfect dress. She would have had rope, by the way. 

E: Deku doesn’t know how to ask anyone for anything. Deku doesn’t believe in putting people out by asking for rope.

M: Todoroki could have woven a rope of soba. 

E: I’m not sure that would have been secure enough to hang a teenage child from.

M: Kota’s animal friends could have sewn a rope. 

E: Again, I think animal hair would have the same problem.

M: Why are they using rope anyway when they have a gravity quirk?

E: You still need something to tow him around with. Otherwise he’s just floating.

M: Mineta could have made a ball rope. 

E: No. Nobody wants that.

M: Okay, Lawsuit Watch? 

E: I don’t think there were any in particular? Oh, that customer could sue Ha-rim.

M: I would sue the wedding venue for inadequate pest control. 

E: Oh yeah, Coffee Prince has got this one. 

M: Caffeine-wise, I’m not so sure. Monoma is on something. 

E: Coffee does make me feel like I am filled with the boosting power of love, so there’s that.

M: That’s compelling, I’ll go with that. 

E: La Brava’s real Quirk is just an espresso shot to the heart.

M: Okay, give me the next title. 

E: Season 4, Episode 23 is called “Let it Flow! School Festival!” I imagine this is in Present Mic’s voice specifically.

M: Present Mic’s voiceover explanation for the love quirk was weird this week, by the way. 

E: Yeah, it was an interesting tone choice. He’s just very solemn about it in the sub. He doesn’t have like the weird “lo~ove”

M:  Also, ~~~~~YEEEEAAAAHHHH~~~~~~

E: I love the omniscient god of the My Hero Academia world, Present Mic.

M: Prediction one: Present Mic does running commentary for all of the performances like he’s both of the Muppets critics. 

E:

M: Prediction two: All Might is the only one who likes Class 1B’s play, but he loves it. He is a man of no taste. 

E:  

M: Prediction three: Deku tells no one about his morning, and everyone is pissed that he didn’t come back with rope. What the heck were you doing, man? 

E:

M: Prediction four: Monoma proposes to Kendo after the competition. It’s really weird, but it explains a lot. 

E:

M: “You, me, married! Okay!” Cue Present Mic administering the vows. 

E:

M: Stop, why do you have these?

E:

M: I can’t tell if that’s his reaction to a yes or a no. 

E: Probably either way.

M: Moving away from this, prediction five: Midnight somehow actually wins the pageant, because Mineta rigged the vote. Also the concert happens, but whatever. 

E:

M: Feels right. 

Hey there! Thanks for watching along with us on My Hero Academia and Coffee Prince! We’re all caught up on My Hero now, but these blogs remain behind. Maybe I will catch up. One day.

Next time! IT’S PARTY TIME BABY! EVERYBODY JAM!

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