Split Screen: School’s Out for Evil

Hello, and thanks for tuning in to Split Screen! It’s your trusty intro host Madelyn here, and I am super excited for this week’s blog! I feels like just yesterday that we started this crazy series, and we’re already at the season finale for My Hero Academia. It’s amazing how time flies by. First up though, we have got DRAMA on Boys Over Flowers. Buckle your seatbelts, everyone. It’s gonna go down.

(New to Split Screen? Check out our archive here.)

Boys Over Flowers Episode 6 (from minute 34)

E: So, Ji-hoo is the worst.

M: That’s really the big take-away this week.

E: He’s just so awful. Not as overtly awful as Jun-pyo, but intrinsically, subtly awful.

M: Jun-pyo is caveman-awful. He just doesn’t know how to behave better, even though he definitely should. Ji-hoo is psychopath-awful. He knows better and does not care.

E: In no way could he have thought anything he was doing was okay.

M: Like, you know that scene from The Princess Bride…do I even need to go on?

E: Yes. Which scene? There’s a lot of iconic scenes.

M: Boo lady.

E: Okay, what does boo lady have to do with this?

M: Ji-hoo deserves that kind of treatment. Boo! Boo! Scum! Filth! Rubbish! Et cetera.

E: So, to summarize, we find out that the real reason Ji-hoo left Paris was because his model girlfriend began dating someone else- or at least, was appearing to. Jan-di finds out about this new relationship and cries about it for him. In response, he kisses her, Jun-pyo sees, and then Ji-hoo doesn’t apologize to anyone for it.

M: What did he expect when his model girlfriend moved to France? Models just marry politicians in France. It’s a cultural inevitability.

E: I mean, it sucks. Not gonna play that down. But Jun-pyo had a line at the end that I really agreed with. When 4th F4 was defending Ji-hoo saying, “he was upset about the model situation” or whatever he was saying. But Jun-pyo pointed out that that was even worse than him kissing Jan-di because he liked her. He was using her to make himself feel better, and that’s worse. And it is!

M: He could have picked any of the island slaves. Kidding. Thinking about it now, this presidential relationship must have moved pretty fast, given that she’s only been in France for like a month and she’s already on tabloid covers. But also, we heard that Ji-hoo was bascially a mopey horror when he was in Paris. He couldn’t entertain himself, he was just super whiny and needy when she got home.

Boys Over Flowers episode discussion

I mean, when the other choice is Ji-hoo…

E: That’s stretching the interpretation of events as we know them a little, but sure.

M: It’s totally in character though. Even if nobody actually said that specifically, you know it’s basically what happened. He flew there at basically the same time as her, right?

E: Like a couple hours afterward.

M: So, if he had been going out to parties with her and doing fun things, and not being a sad sack with his violin all the time, maybe she wouldn’t have met the president at all.

E: Also, does he only know that one song on the violin? He was playing it again.

M: It’s his sad song, and he’s always sad. He’ll probably write Jan-di a song.

E: Dear god, please no.

M: On another note, I know you don’t get the appeal of helicopter rides, but Jan-di really should have been nicer to Jun-pyo there. That was obviously a nice gesture, and she just stomped all over it. Literally the same day, she’s smooching Ji-hoo.

Boys Over Flowers episode review

Well, somebody’s not getting a rose

E: I feel like the writing room is lost when it comes to Jan-di? I mean, she was kinda forced into this relationship, but she also acquiesced to it, referring to herself as “girlfriend” at least once. She accepts some romantic overtures like the dinner on the beach and getting on the helicopter, but also doesn’t want them. I mean, complexity is a part of character, and it’s fine if Jan-di doesn’t know how she feels. However, I feel like it’s the writers themselves who don’t know how Jan-di feels.

M: Yeah, clearly they think that she has this “soul-mate” hang-up on Ji-hoo, and that’s the problem, right? But we also see her seem genuinely touched by Jun-pyo’s romantic gestures multiple times, but then there’s no resulting growth in their relationship at all. She still made her classic blatantly grossed-out face when he tried to kiss her. It seems like at this point she should at least not reject him by looking like she’s actively going to vomit.

E: Obviously this is an overdramatized show, but maybe there’s some cultural context that I’m missing with my majority Western romcom exposure. That’s the only excuse left that might have weight to it.

M: Maybe. Look, I do appreciate that the guys are going to have to duke it out over Jan-di, as opposed to her having to beg to get back into their good graces. It’s a little progressive in that way.

E: I mean it’s good, but is it that rare?

Boys Over Flowers episode 6 review

Ji-hoo uses his ULTIMATE FINISHING MOVE: SAD VIOLIN!!!!

M: I feel like it’s usually a guy who has to choose between the girl next door and the bombshell.

E: It does have to do with audience. They want the women’s money and attention, so they make it to appeal to a female audience.

M: Plenty of rom-coms are about the unlikely ugly duckling getting the guy though. I’m just saying, Jan-di still seems to have some power in this situation, even though it seems pretty certain she’s going to be expelled. I wouldn’t have been totally surprised if Ji-hoo abandoned her to kiss up to F4, and it doesn’t seem like Jun-pyo has totally lost his feelings for her either, as well saw in the post-show montage. So she’s still in a strong position.

E: Yes, we both did appreciate that Jun-pyo, while mad at both of them, was particularly angry with Ji-hoo as opposed to her.

M: Emma, you made a good point while we were watching that the writers have done a really effective job getting us on Jun-pyo’s side.

E: Yes. We started with him making an effort, the whole normie make-over for example. Then we started getting context for why he is the way that he is: his overbearing mother, and the kidnapping. And finally, in this episode, we saw just how insidious Ji-hoo can be in comparison. Originally, even though I didn’t like Ji-hoo much anyway, he seemed like the kinder, gentler option. Yet, now, they’ve flipped those perceptions on their head, bringing us fully to the side of the  “romantic lead.”

M: It’s nice, because Jun-pyo had been set up as a real foregone conclusion, and as much as I hate random drama to keep obvious romantic leads apart, I think we’ve got some cool possibilities about where this can go. But also, how are we going to redeem Ji-hoo?

Shot composition does not ship it

E: I don’t know. I mean, as opposed to Jun-pyo’s over-the-top, campy “badness,” Ji-hoo feels more like….I don’t know, I’m trying to find a way to phrase this.

M: He’s a Nice Guy™ and I think that’s harder to rehabilitate.

E: Yeah, like Jun-pyo has a lot of qualities that can be channeled towards cruelty or kindness- he’s outspoken, he’s energetic, he’s opinionated, et cetera. Meanwhile, Ji-hoo simply has a lot of qualities that aren’t as transferable. Like smarminess.

M: It’s a Darcy/Wickham situation. I don’t want to forget to mention that Yi-jung and Ga Eul had another nice paddleboat moment. I really thought the lesbian conversation from last episode was going to continue, but alas. Maybe next time.

Boys Over Flowers episode 6 thoughts

“Did I leave the kiln on?” – Yi-jung probably

E: You said this during the episode, but I like Yi-jung a lot. He’s just so…normal? Like, he’s not overly nice, but he clearly wants his friends to get along. Yet he still recognizes that Ji-hoo did something inexcusable.

M: He’s a good friend. That’s what’s refreshing. Need some detective work done? On it. Need a strongman to get your friend to stop messing with your girl? Done. Plus, that acting work, that moment-to-moment reacting to Yi-jung’s soulmate comment? I mean, come on.

E: Yeah, that seemed to really bother him for some reason. I’m interested to learn more.

M: Okay, one last thing to mention before romance tracker: that sweet, sweet camera work, when Jan-di and Ji-hoo pass for the first time after kissing. Wow. Emmy-worthy.

E: It felt more like a rival confrontation. Like My Hero Academia, Deku and Kacchan face-off!

M: It’s literally the exact same shot as in the My Hero Academia credits. *sings a little incomprehensible Japanese* you know, at that part, and then they switch?

E: Yes, yes! It did!

Boys Over Flowers funny

This is DEFINITELY unedited. Promise.

M: On that embarrassing note, it’s Romance Tracker time!

E: I mean, in terms of the options she has right now, Jun-pyo all the way. Provided she doesn’t end up alone, which I doubt. I wish the show was about Yi-jung and Ga-eul.

M: Yeah, I’m a strong team Jun-pyo, although I could support a fling with Yi-jung. I think that would be a fun watch. Alternately, someone she meets at her poor school when she gets temporarily expelled?

E: I mean, I feel like with 19 episodes left, they’ve gotta introduce some kind of other complication.

M: Yeah, we need a third suitor, stat. Unless, Jun-pyo and Jan-di are gonna work it out by mid-way through the run, and it’s a matter of convincing his mom. The final boss, as it were.

E: Yes, the appearance of what seemed to be his sister in the next-on indicated that there will be some family heart-to-hearts.

M: Was that your non-romantic prediction?

E: Yes, why not.

M: I have two. One: Yi-jung continues to feel regret about his playboy past. I think that’s what was going on in that huge soulmate close-up. Two: as I foreshadowed earlier, Ji-hoo and Jan-di get expelled, despite their best efforts, and go to poor school for like, a week. Maybe twenty minutes.

E: I would like to see that, it’d be a nice environment to provide Ji-hoo some redemption.

Boys Over Flowers episode 6

Guess who?

M: We shall see. That poorly drawn Jun-pyo graffitti was not a good start.

E: I get he was trying to make her feel better. But. After you kiss your best friend’s girlfriend, you do not draw mocking graffiti of him on the wall, you do that on notebook paper and then you shred it.

M: Especially not when it looks like a cross between a Pikachu and a pig.

My Hero Academia S1E13: In Each of Our Hearts

M: Season finale! Woohoo!

E: Yeah! You hype for season 2?

M: Heck yeah!

E: Good! It’s managed to hold your interest over 13 episodes, so it’s already better than some other things we’ve watched.

M: I mean, let’s be honest, it was really like ten episodes of content, and three episodes worth of flashbacks. I’m excited for the promised budget increase next season.

E: Fair warning. It’s a premiere, so there’s probably a lot of flashbacks. I mean, there was a whole year in between the end of the first season and the beginning of the second after all. I’m not even gonna make you watch 3×1 because it’s all flashback, I’m just gonna tell you the pertinent details. But there’s enough important stuff in 2×1 to make it worth watching.

M: Okay, but I will complain about it. Guaranteed.

E: So as I “spoiled” last week, *eye roll* we got the resolution in this episode.

M: After the kids were so hyped to fight the villains three episodes ago while Eraser Head was getting his butt kicked, I was disappointed to see the top three heroes in class be like “we’re gonna take on the grunts.”

E: I feel like *insert sports metaphor here*. Like if Messi has the ball, you provide support, you don’t get in his way.

My Hero Academia Season 1 finale

He’s fine. Clearly needs no back-up. Super fine.

M: The better metaphor is that Messi is playing with the U18 squad, and he’s got the ball, and you’re like “I’m gonna slide tackle these other dudes.” Little did you know, Messi just tore his ACL.

E: But exactly! They didn’t know that he tore his ACL.

M: Are you telling me though that there are no rumors out there that All-Might is getting weaker?

E: I mean, we’ve seen that the younger generation at least hero-worships All-Might. We’ve seen that through Deku and, to a lesser extent, the rest of them. If they heard any rumors, they’d brush it off.

M: Yeah, but I don’t buy that Bakugo is cool with taking out the small fry. I mean, really? Isn’t he too proud for that?

E: Hmmmmmmmmm………..

M: Oops, spoiler territory.

E: Some dangerous ground.

M: Their insistence on fighting the grunts did set up a great moment where Deku thought about joining the squad for fully three and a half minutes.

E: It was like 30 seconds tops.

M: During the time he was monologuing, they literally created a Facebook event, invited him, and then sent him a a message begging him to “at least check ‘interested,’ dude.”

E: Poor Todoroki wanted people to come to his Beat Up Bad Guy Grunts Festival, and Deku just ghosted him.

My Hero Academia season one wrap-up

“I’m not mad, just disappointed.” -Todoroki, probably

M: Speaking of ghost, maybe for the season two premiere I’ll Pokemon type all of Class 1A. I’m sure no one has done that before. Totally unique idea.

E: You know Kaminari, the electric type. Todoroki is the rare fire and ice type. I guess Bakugo is also fire. Fire and rock?

M: Deku is normal type.

E: Normal water type, excuse you.

M: Is he a water type, or does he just know Water Gun or Rainstorm?

E: Okay, fair.

M: Wow wow wow, though. His only move: Struggle.

E: He’s a hard to use Pokemon, because all his moves inflict the same damage on himself as the enemy.

M: He levels up into a Gyarados though. He’s like an even more useless Magikarp who can use self-destruct.

My Hero Academia quirks

The dub literally uses “electric type” btdubs

E: One day, Deku. One day, you will be a mighty water dragon. Oh wait, spoilers.

M: Whaaaaaaat?

E: Damn, we might as well stop watching the show right now.

M: We probably should, because my hope of keeping track of who all fifty-six of these students are is gone. How were there more this episode that I had never seen before?

E: There are 20 students in Class 1-A. It gets easier to keep track of them in the later seasons because they show up more and do more. The first season mostly gets you used to big players like Deku, Bakugo, All-Might, etc. I found it easier to remember with subs, you learn with your ears and your eyes.

M: That guy who said he was fighting on his own? Who was that? Has he ever come to class before? Don’t answer that. Instead, let’s talk about face cast Aizawa. That’s rough, buddy.

E: Collapsed orbital floor does not sound like a fun thing to experience.

M: At least his full back wasn’t ripped off like Thirteen. Or “lacerated a little,” whatever the cop guy said.

E: Who knows how the actual physiology of Thirteen works though?

My Hero Academia season 1 review

Gee, no kidding

M: Speaking of cop guy, I’m pretty sure he’s evil. I don’t care that he’s supposedly All-Might’s best friend. He’s probably quirkless and jealous, so he’s feeding info about All-Might’s injuries to the villains. 

E: He does seem pretty sketch, huh?

M: Full access to the school? Come on. That’s Chekhov’s Keycard.

E: Speaking of villains, we leave Shigaraki bleeding after getting shot in both arms and legs, but fog man transports him, uncaptured, back to his sound-only TV.

M: That was so weird. Why was it on sound-only? Did they lose the remote?

E: Real answer? Probably have not gotten character designs done yet. Fake answer? Maybe he doesn’t like blue light.

M: It did seem late. He had to get a good night’s sleep. Oh, what’s that? He’s bleeding out on the floor of the karaoke bar? Didn’t even notice!

E: Yeah *has a laughing fit* Sorry, I’m just picturing him bleeding out on the floor while fog guy does karaoke.

M: #AggretsukoSeason2

E: Something I really appreciated when I watched this is the League of Villains callout. Like, it’s a stupid name, but they know it’s a stupid name. They were doing a trial run under a moniker before making their real debut.

M: It’s really the National Villains League. Major League Villainy. The Villain’s Open.

E: Deku does promise that a major incident is coming. The Villain’s League of Villainry is coming back, baby.

M: I don’t buy that hero nerd Deku is blissfully ignorant of another attack impending. This is your calling, dude. Telling the pros they did a bad job.

E: Yes, Deku’s job is to neg the pro-heroes.

M: I’ll bet he feels bad about what he said to Eraser Head now that Aizawa literally doesn’t have a bone floor for his eyes.

E: I bet he feels self-satisfied. “If only he’d listened to me, he’d still have an orbital floor.”

M: I want to give myself a pat on the back, because my predictions last week were solidly mediocre. We got floppy leg action instead of arm, so that’s half points. We did see 95% of Class 1-A all together, so that’s like one-third correct for the yearbook photo. What else did I say?

My Hero Academia deku

Nothing like some good floppy leg action

E: All-Might became Small-Might but nobody saw him.

M:  Yeah, that one was 100% wrong.

E: And there was no Mineta this episode.

M: I thought that was a really safe bet, but I’m glad to be wrong.

E: Don’t worry. Oh. Don’t you worry.

M: Okay, it’s time for Lawsuit Watch!

E: There was not a lot of new lawsuit stuff? Like, villain attack had already been going on, and you can’t sue your best friend for kissing your girlfriend, I think.

M: Yeah, just run-of-the-mill cheating and bullying in Boys Over Flowers, and no major injuries in Class 1A, so it’s just the pain and suffering lawsuits there. It’s a low risk week, all things considered. I think we can say they tie for last!

E: Maybe we should start a Who Needs Counseling Watch?

M: All of them. At all times. Time for some season two predictions.

E: The title of the premiere season 2 episode is “That’s the Idea, Ochaco!”

M: Who is Ochaco?

E: Gravity girl.

My Hero Academia characters

“Hello, yes, I am Ochaco”

M: Got it. Alright, prediction one: Eraser Head won’t be totally blind. That would be a real downer. Instead, he’ll only lose one eye and get a baller eyepatch.

E: 

M: Prediction two: Ochaco…I’m having a hard time interpreting this title.

E: To be fair, there are not a lot of lingering plot threads at the end of season 1.

M: Ochaco will be at the center of a love quadrangle with Deku, Iida, and Bakugo.

E:

M: You laughed at that for like a full minute, so I feel less good about it now.

E: I don’t know why I find these particular predictions so funny. Just. I don’t know.

M: Hold it together. Prediction three: Deku’s mom will pack him a really nice lunch for his first day back, with a nice note.

E:

M: Prediction four: All-Might and the police dude will go out for a beer and something fishy will go down.

E:

M: And finally, prediction five: On spaghetti day in the cafeteria, Mineta will make a meatballs joke.

E: Ba dum ching.

M: That’s not an emoji.

E:

M: AKA, he will sexually harass Momo.

E:

M: It will make Deku cry.

E: Deku uses Waterfall. It’s not very effective.

Hello, it’s Emma here! As always, thank you so much for continuing to watch My Hero Academia and Boys Over Flowers with us. We’re watching the MHA dub on Hulu and Boys Over Flowers on Netflix if you’re just joining us and want to spend a week or so catching up, or even just starting in the middle. With the amount of flashbacks, you’ll probably be fine.

Next time! We start Season 2 on My Hero Academia, complete with a new intro and everything. Who’s ready for some SPORTS?! As for Boys Over Flowers, we see if Jan-di and Ji-hoo really get expelled, and we see what Yi-jung is doing. We know which one we care about.

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