Split Screen: New Caledonia Smash!

Thanks for tuning in to Split Screen! After Emma’s solo takeover two weeks ago, and my substitute Assassin’s Creed Buzz This last week, we are back in action with your regularly scheduled programming. When last we left our heroes, both literal and metaphorical, Jun-pyo was about to bare all (maybe) on Boys Over Flowers, and the UA kids couldn’t bear another minute of villainy without All-Might’s assistance on My Hero Academia! Will everyone escape emotional and physical damage? Probably not, but let’s find out!

(Haven’t checked out Split Screen before? You can read all of our previous posts here.)

Boys Over Flowers Episode Six (up to minute 34)

M: It’s been a while since we’ve watched these shows!

E: And yet, it is still fresh in our minds.

M: I was missing them! I was really excited for today’s Split Screen viewing party. What’s gonna happen? There were good cliffhangers in both shows.

E: The intense cliffhanger of what was hiding under Jun-pyo’s shirt.

M: They’re continuing this horrible “is Jun-pyo going to force himself on Jan-di” tease. I don’t like it.

E: It might have worked better if not for the fact that Jun-pyo has demonstrated his lack of knowledge of boundaries and the word “no” before. It feels like a legit possibility that he’d try to force himself, even though I feel like the show just wants me to go “oh Jan-di, you so paranoid and suspicious.”

M: Here’s the thing, the show has gas-lit me into actually feeling that way about Jan-di! I’m sitting here thinking “come on, be nicer to him,” even though he’s done absolutely horrible things to her in the past.

E: He just started so utterly awful that his slow forward progression feels super relieving, and you start to like him more. We’ve also been given a lot of context for the reason he is the way he is, which makes us feel pity for him.

M: On the other hand, I feel like Jan-di has regressed. At first, she was a crusader for justice and now she’s incredibly paranoid and yelling at everyone around her.

E: She was more paragon of justice by coincidence.

M: She stood up to F4 over and over and over again!

E: Her specialty seems to be aggressive verbal takedowns. Now that she’s accepted F4 into her life, that’s not the best method of confrontation anymore. They need to have conversations about why the way they are is not okay, and Jan-di is not equipped to do that.

M: That’s true. So the big reveal, after that cliffhanger, was a bathing suit. Big whoop. But we also answered an important question: Jun-pyo’s hair is, seemingly, real.

E: The “windswept look” is the ultimate wig test. Jun-pyo seemed real, F2 Minor Minor (whose name I have forgotten over the break) seemed not real.

M:  I also think that Ji-hoo’s hair is real, which is alarming on a number of levels.

E: I’m not convinced, even if it did get wet. Well, maybe it’s just a bad dye job.

M: Clearly, based on F4 minor dude’s hair situation, the wig quality on this show is not good enough to sustain wet hair. That’s my major evidence.

E: It didn’t look convincingly wet to me in the scene after his swimming rescue, so maybe they ruined one and gave him another damp one.

M: Okay, we’ll continue to monitor next week.

E: Madelyn said that nothing happened this episode while we were watching. I think I agree, when you compare it to the breakneck amount of stuff which happens every other half-episode. This 30 mins really just included Jun-pyo’s lack of ability to express his emotions in several situation.

M: I’m gonna walk back my “nothing happened” assertion, at least a little.  I say it every week about both shows, so it means nothing at this point anyway. I did forget that Jan-di almost drowned. What was up with that?

E: I feel like I must have spaced out or was saying something beforehand, because I don’t know what happened to make her drown.

M: They mentioned Jui,  but it wasn’t translated

E: Jui seemed to be in reference to riptide. That didn’t seem like what happened, unless they simulated it really poorly. Her friend said “pins and needles” during the drowning sequence, so maybe she got a cramp.

M: That must have been it, but it looked like she should have been able to stand up. Not clear at all.

E: Anyway, it mostly served as a device to remind us of Jun-pyo’s literal paralyzing fear of drowning. He had to watch Ji-hoo play the white knight and save her.

M: We did get the origin story for that too, in the Destiny Islands hot tub.

E: I’m just saying, his swim trunks looked like the cover art for the final remixes. I swear that’s what they looked like.

M: Back to the point though, apparently Jun-pyo was KIDNAPPED???

E: The show loves to throw these traumatizing backstories in as asides, narrated by Yi-jung. They did the exact same thing with Ji-hoo’s.

M: I’ve totally forgotten about that, what’s his damage?

E: His parents died, that model lady’s family took him in, his autistic tendencies, etc. How did you forget it? We watched it like three times thanks to technical difficulties.

M: But Jun-pyo’s backstory was so intense. Why didn’t Jan-di’s brother tell her about this? He’s the Midoriya of rich Korean men, he probably keeps a notebook of important facts.

E: Kang-san SLACKING. This backstory really gives us context for the bundle of issues named Jun-pyo. Taken away from his family, he’s kidnapped and drowning in a car. Staying with his family, his mother sent a SWAT team after him for running away from camp.

M: Doesn’t that make more sense now that we know he was kidnapped? Most moms don’t have the SWAT resources, but you know if they did, they would use them to protect their already traumatized children. If you had been kidnapped as a kid and then went missing from camp, don’t you think mom would call in the SWAT squad?

E: Fair. I’m just saying, there’s a compelling reason for his trust issues.

M: He could benefit from some therapy.

E: Yes, he seems to think the best way to deal with his immense fear is purposefully triggering a panic attack by immersing himself in water.

M: Immersion therapy. Literally. Actually I think it’s exposure therapy but for the sake of the pun.

E: We also got the GIlmore Girls-inspired plotline we were promised last time.

M: Uh, more like Gilmore Girls plagiarized. It only got more similar in its full execution. Both Jan-di and Rory lost their jewelry by accident while hanging out by the water with their forbidden love interest? Come on.

E: I think it’s pretty clear at this point that Ji-hoo’s doing it on purpose.

M: Ji-hoo is a jerk. He pretends to be all wounded and deep, but he’s just a mean person. He’s almost worse than Jun-pyo because he’s pretending to be nice. Jun-pyo is at least obviously messed up, but I think Ji-hoo should know better, and he’s putting up a nice guy front.

E: Yeah. If Jun-pyo is lowkey emotional abusive, then Ji-hoo is lowkey emotional manipulative. He uses your insecurities against you insidiously But, since he doesn’t do it straight out, you can’t get directly angry at him.

M: He’s a snake. In the water. Run Jun-pyo, run.

E: Wearing her anklet as a bracelet was creepy enough, but once Jun-pyo had that “grab the wrist” reaction, Ji-hoo should have known what was up. But he pretended not to know until Jun-pyo asked about it straight out. He then gave a super vague and casual response pretty much engineered to bother him.

M: There were only two ways that Jan-di could have gotten that bracelet. One: she bought it herself. Not super likely because she’s poor and has a mega-rich boyfriend, but I’ll entertain it. So maybe she sees Ji-hoo wearing it, it’s a kind of awkward moment, a little tiny bit funny, then he gives it back and it’s over. Two, and much more likely because again, her boyfriend is impossibly wealthy, Jun-pyo bought it for her, and he’s a known killer, so this could be bad. So best case, kind of awkward interaction, worst case, ya dead.

E: They’re all pretty bad friends. When Jun-pyo somehow got concussed by that volleyball, staggering and falling, they just let him go like “oh Jun-pyo and his drama.”

M: To be fair, he’s a stubborn guy. Maybe they don’t know about the dangers of concussions, and they know he usually has to nurse his pride first.

E: Maybe they thought he was setting up a long-con again, like not knowing how to swim.

M: Yes, he arranged to be kidnapped at eight years old to set himself up to grab Jan-di’s…didn’t he grope her?

E: He kissed her.

M: Right, sorry, yeah. He set it up to pay it forward to his teenage self. Yi-jung did say that Jun-pyo was a genuine player because of the romantic firework display.

E: Yi-jung also sussed out whether Jan-di’s friend was a lesbian or not.

M: It was a smooth move. It was handled real cool. Like “Oh, are you interested in Jun-pyo? Because you seemed pretty weird when they were fighting. Should jump on that when he loses interest. Or, uh, maybe you like Jan-di. Hyuck hyuck?”

E: You know, she did not deny it outright. She just said Jan-di has someone she likes. Changing the subject.

M: That would be earth-shattering. Mostly because I’m so rooting for Yi-jung and Ga-eul.

E: He helped her on a horse, what else do you need for a relationship.

M: Why did they ride horses? That scene was weird. Was that in someone’s contract rider? Literal rider?

E: I felt like the activity scenes were meant to show Jun-pyo getting more anxious and manic. Like, in the horse scene, he ended up way ahead of everyone.

M: It just didn’t seem like the best use of the episode budget, that’s all. As we learned from Noble My Love, animals aren’t easy to work with on set.

E: Thinking of it, they’ve been on this island longer than Ji-hoo was in Paris.

M: Yeah, his whole story was a little bizarre.

E: Theoretically it makes sense. He has no close connections, he’s a high schooler so it’s not like he can get a real job, so the foregone conclusion might be going back where you came from. But that seems like a 3 to 6 month kind of decision, not a three day decision.

M: Also, does Ji-hoo literally only speak Korean? At all? Because as far as I know, everyone in Paris speaks English. Seems odd that these boys who come from very wealthy families with international connections would not speak English.

E: More than not knowing the language, he doesn’t know anybody. He’s socially awkward, anxious, and the only person he really knows is his girlfriend who is always busy.

M: Great! Paris is great for that! There are a lot of museums. There are a lot of cafes. He can go play his violin  in pretty places. Seems ideal.

E: Being socially awkward isn’t not wanting social contact, it’s being bad at the social niceties and meeting people.

M: He was there long enough for a solo vacation in Paris! Not even!

E: That’s literally what I said. Yes, it was accelerated, but yeah, otherwise, it’s a realistic reason for a relationship ending.

M: Sure, that’s fair. I thought I was gonna identify with it a little, as Clickbait Boyfriend spends much more time waiting for me to come home than vice versa, but then I remembered this was a single day, and that was that.

E: Finally, we ended with Jun-pyo’s angry kayaking and Ji-hoo’s determination to not deal with the angry kayaking.

M: Ji-hoo looking stylish, like a middle-aged stockbroker’s wife in the Hamptons for a weekend. Working up a light sweat.

E: Wow, now I’m super happy you said I would look good in that outfit.

M: You would make it look cute. He just looked kinda oddly delicate. To defend Jun-pyo, I would have been pissed too if I saw my jerk friend kayaking in that weird deliberate way he was doing it.

E: It’s the same as his violin playing: he really seriously does something he doesn’t know how to do.

M: That’s true, I didn’t put that together. We should probably move on to romance tracker.

E: I mean, trouble in almost paradise, but it’s Jun-pyo. He’s got the red flower symbolism, it’s him. We should predict for other characters.

M: I’ll give an outside chance to either Jan-di ending up with nobody, because I think that’s still a live option, although realistically it would only be because she’s waiting for Jun-pyo to mature a little first or something. Or, based on the tantalizing hints this episode, she ends up with Ga Eul.

E: Not the classic lesbians in Paris, but I’ll take it.

M: Non-romantic predictions for this week?

E: I predict that Jun-pyo will actually start drowning, but Jan-di won’t want to do CPR on him because of what happened last time, and his other friends just stare at him when he’s hurt, so he’ll die.

M: Dang, it’s a ‘boy who cried I don’t know how to swim,’ situation.

E: No, but I think there will be a real drowning situation and Jan-di will have to “get over” both his fake out last time and her fortune teller dream to help him.

M: There’s already been so much drowning. This is only episode six. High drowning quota on this show. My prediction is that the little flower girl is going to accidentally interrupt some kind of romantic moment that Jun-pyo has planned and he’ll scream at her, thus proving he could never be a good father, and ruining everything with Jan-di. PS: Didn’t even mention that scene with the parents. Very cute little vacation role play. 13/10.

E: I totally forgot about that scene with the parents, that was super cute.

M:  Least annoying they have ever been, and they had still stolen an umbrella from the chicken place. So the bar is low.

My Hero Academia S1E12: All Might

E: So, we got the big climax of the season this episode.

M: Wow, spoilers much? There’s still an episode to go!

E: I think it’s pretty clear though. It’s not over, but you know, falling action and resolution do still need to happen.

M: Yeah, well, it’s clear now. Thanks Emma.

E: I like to watch this fight to see where they spent the time and resources and where they didn’t. I have a few sequences like that. That’s not a criticism really, I think they spent the time in the right place, it’s just interesting to note.

M: I was reading an article about anime salaries, and it’s appalling how little some people are paid.

E: Yeah, it’s bad (EDITOR EMMA: But DO NOT get me started on the nonsense controversy about Crunchyroll, just go read this Answerman post).

M: So fine, crappy punch away! Fight for your rights, animators.

E: At least it’s not as bad as being a mangaka. Small victories.

M: Well, it’s not as bad as being a garbage collector either. Although maybe that’s not so bad, who knows?

E: Writing a manga weekly will kill you. You’ll die, you’ll literally die from it. Whether it’s from the workload or angry fans.

M: What about doing a weekly podcast and several weekly blogs?

E: You’ll come close to death but revive each time.

M: But I thought you only had shock absorption powers?

E: What?

M: You also have regeneration? Super fast regeneration?

E: Oh yes. Ha ha. Speaking of that, I don’t think I had watched any of the dub for this before, and I didn’t like the translations much.

M: Why not?

E:  So, for some context, a lot of My Hero Academia’s dub was aired as simuldub- meaning that the dub comes out at the same time as the sub. I suppose that means that they don’t get future scripts and I assume the dubbing translators don’t have enough time to scroll through the whole manga looking for which lines might particularly matter while also constructing English sentences that fit the character and the lip flaps. I’m not an expert on this process, but that’s my guess.

So, a few episodes ago now, when Kacchan and Kirishima jumped at the fog guy, what he actually says isn’t “you’re good heroes” or whatever it was but rather “oh, that was close.” That implies that fog man does have a physical body and that they just missed. That’s how Kacchan knows how to attack, not because of the neck armor. Something that I think the dub does badly is illustrate how observant Kacchan can be; he comes off more as a hit first, think later kind of guy when he’s more of a I thought about it faster than you idiots, so I’m gonna hit kind of guy.

M: Sorry, I stopped listening because you said the guy said “they mist.”

E: Oh no, I’ve lost her in the puns. As for the Nomu, they didn’t really stress how weird it was that he had two quirks? I mean, I guess it carried the same effect anyway, I don’t know. That one bothered me less.

M: Doesn’t Fire ‘n Ice have two quirks?

E: But they’re related quirks. Controlling temperature. Shock absorption and regeneration are different.

M: They’re sorta related though! Theoretically, shock absorption is really just about your body regenerating fast enough to neutralize the shock.

E:  I guess that’s true, you’re right.

M: Still, I understood that two quirks was supposed to be #shocking. Get it. #SHOCKing?

E: Yes, I get it.

M: We got the most Deku of the Deku moments in this episode.

E: Peak Deku.

M: Sprinting into incredible danger, tears streaming down his face, mid-internal monologue. What more could you ask for?

E: If only one of his arms had been entirely broken.

M: That would have completed it. Just flopping in the wind. I guess he has broken finger in there.

E: Yeah, but he’s put his elbow guard down to cover it so you can’t see it.

M: Laaaaame.

E: Speaking of peak people, as soon as Madelyn saw sticky balls guy, her first word was “leave.” He hadn’t even said anything yet.

M: No, he said something like “what the heck?” and just, what are you adding to this situation, buddy.

E: I said this during the episode- whoever told the English voice actor to give him a lisp was wrong and I hate them. Does he have a lisp in the sub? I can’t tell when it’s Japanese, but I can SUPER tell when it’s English.

M: Strong but wrong choice.

E: What else stood out to you from this episode?

M: What the heck is Birdman doing way out in the middle of nowhere? Can’t you fly, dude?

E: Well, you do remember that they all got separated right?

M: I do remember that.

E: So, first of all the squall zone and fire zone are literally walled in so it’s harder to get out even if you can fly. And also, I don’t think this counts as a spoiler, he cannot fly.

M: What a useless quirk. You’re telling me this guy has to go through his whole life with a bird head, and he can’t even fly?

E: He has a different quirk unrelated to his bird head.

M: Why does he have a bird head then?

E: Genetics.

M: Okay, I’m just going to let that one go. Why did Hand-Eye Dude (EDITOR EMMA: Shigaraki, for clarity’s sake) just watch All-Might fight and not help finish him off?

E: What’s he gonna do?

M: I dunno, punch him or something!

E: Yes, because your genetically engineered super weapon is doing so great, so you, with your normal human body, should go punch him. That’ll work.

M: Okay, flip side then. Why did none of the students help All-Might while he was literally bleeding to death. They’re just standing there, watching him fight, while these other two super villains stand by. Freeze them! Do something!

E: If you’re talking about right after the Nomu’s regeneration then 1. All Might told them not to and 2. clearly ice man Todoroki doesn’t know what to do when the first strike doesn’t work. If it’s after All-Might started punching then 1. clearly All-Might was handling it and 2. the force of his punches was generating a lot of wind that literally held them in place. We saw it. It’s called physics.

M: I still think they’re lazy. Speaking of not lazy, All-Might,standing there being thinking “I feel weaker, I wonder why?” Could it be because you’re suffering from some major talon puncture wounds? Couldn’t be that!

E: Gaping wounds in the side are no excuse when you’re a hero.

M: It is the classic Mulan wound. Bandage him up, Heal Girl. Then bring him out of the tent ad reveal he’s…a woman.

E: OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

M: A life for a life. My debt is repaid.

E: Cut to Mineta for a reaction shot.

M: Oh man, Mineta would have some choice reactions to All-Might being a lady. Choice.

E: Honestly, that would be the best place to use him.

M: Yes! To undercut myths about toxic masculinity using a literal ball covered baby.

E: Prediction time! They’re clearly not out of the woods yet. Want me to give the title?

M: Is it: Not Out of the Woods Yet?

E: No, it’s “In Each of Our Hearts”

M: Quick reminder in case anyone forgot: Kingdom Hearts…is Light!

E: That opening line did give me flashbacks.  All Might in the open door like the literal light coming out of Kingdom Hearts.

M: Look, superpower Axel the ice cream generator is one of the top heroes, so it’s not impossible.

E: You literally saw his quirk this episode, and it was not ice cream generation.

M: I always forgot what his quirk is, other than muscles.

E: long pause. It’s Hardening

M: Mineta has thoughts on that one.

E: We were just talking about Mineta, so I was highly aware of the innuendo. I went through like three variations of how to explain it, but I couldn’t think of any way to say it.

M: Okay, first prediction, and I feel pretty good about this one: Mineta makes a comment about boobs.

E: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

M: Prediction two: everybody sees shrivelling All-Might, and they’re grossed out.

E:

M: Prediction Three: Aizawa says something mean about Deku, but he doesn’t mean it. He just has to keep up an emotional wall.

E: Aizawa from his death bed: “Deku, why weren’t you more useful.”

M: “Why did you have to neg me in my hour of need? Multiple times? In voiceover too?”

E: Deku: Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Aizawa! Voiceover Deku: I knew Mr. Aizawa couldn’t handle criticism.

M: I can’t make another prediction until you respond in emoji. These are the rules.

E:

M: These are elaborate this week!

E: I don’t want my emojis to get boring.

M: Okay penultimate prediction: Deku’s gonna have to smash something…Could probably have phrased that better.

E: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

M: Stoppppp.

E: Okay okay.   

M: Yeah, related prediction, we’ll get some good good floppy arm content.

E: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

M: Nooooooooo. What is wrong with you? You’re becoming Mineta.

E: Now that I have that I have this face in my copy-paste, I have become sick with power.

M: Emma, you’re sprouting balls on your head.

E: Save me. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

M: It’s too late.

E: Any last prediction?

M: Yeah, final prediction: the season will end with a big group hug and class photo. For the yearbook.

E: 

–

Hey everyone! We’re so happy to be back at our regularly scheduled Split Screen, even if I did enjoy my one week takeover two Mondays ago. We’re almost done with My Hero Academia Season One and we are not even close to done with Boys Over Flowers Season One. Sigh.

Next time! We get some good floppy body part action in My Hero Academia ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) and Ji-hoo probably gets murdered in Boys Over Flowers.

If you still want to catch up with us, we’re watching My Hero Academia on Hulu (dubbed) and Boys Over Flowers on Netflix!

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