Hey there, Split Screen readers! It’s your intro host Madelyn, ready to watch some fictional people walk around without masks and congregate in schools and coffee shops, my favorite pastime! This edition, we learn that Sun-ki is gasp Japanese, and that Deku is gasp prone to random crying. Let’s watch some Coffee Prince and My Hero Academia, shall we?
(New to Split Screen? Catch up on all the action here)
Coffee Prince Eighth Cup (up to minute 31)
M(?): So, hey, what an episode, amiright? My name is Madelyn.
E: Hello there, my sister named Madelyn. It was quite an episode, indeedy.
*M’s wifi stabilizes*
M: Man, WiFi trouble really sets you back. Identity theft is not a joke, Emma.
E: I thought I was doing an incredibly convincing job there.
M: Indeedy do.
E: Well, this episode picked up where it left off, and it was not a dream as I was still kind of thinking it was.
M: That’s reserved for the series finale.
E: “That’s why you drink your coffee!” Oh ho ho. Cheesy music. Curtain close.
M: I can’t believe this older actress is always type-cast as “the tough but loving older woman the poor girl wins over.”
E: Grandma’s her own beast though. She cheats at cards, and she does not like it when you call her on it.
M: Relatable. Imagine being an incredibly wealthy coffee manufacturer and this random barista sits in your hospital bed and calls you a cheater. Plus, you have to pee.
E: A cheater is a cheater. These rich folk were trying to hustle a poor, well-meaning young man.
M: Didn’t she already learn that Han-gyul had a boyfriend in the first episode?
That’s called capitalism
E: She was concerned about how friendly his American friends seemed to be, yes.
M: I completely forgot that! I hope the American friends visit.
E: We did get the fabled return of Donkey Kong this episode, so it’s not so far fetched that…what was his name? Randy? Something like that. He could come visit too.
M: Donkey Kong is my favorite romance option of the bunch.
E: He knows what he wants, and he very clearly states it. Which is definitely more than could be said about most of the guys on this show. Maybe with the exception of Min-yup.
M: Donkey Kong is what Min-yup would be like if he grew up with money.
E: Min-yup just doesn’t have a single subtle bone in his body.
M: I’ll get to Min-yup, but one more brief word about Donkey Kong: I like that he’s actually interested in supporting Yoo-joo’s work. Their partnership is also a business one. That feels like a much better fit for her than Han-sung, who will always be jealous of her work.
E: We find out that she and Han-sung have been dating on and off for around nine years now too, which I do think helps me understand their weird relationship a little more.
M: She was with Donkey Kong for three years in the middle of that though, right?
E: I don’t remember how long specifically she was with Donkey Kong. But even then, they would have been dating for six years prior to that, because I think it’s only been a few months since the show started.
M: What do you feel like that explains about their relationship?
E: Their weird banter about Eun-chan. Like, they’ve been with each other so long, but somewhat inconsistently. So, it feels like they’re simultaneously very secure and very insecure in their relationship. Does that make sense?
Ahahaha, we’re happy!
M: Like they’re pantomiming being very secure, secure enough to joke about a rival.
E: Yeah, kinda.
M: Poor Yoo-joo. It’s so hard to watch both of her boyfriends flirt with the secret girl.
E: She just has to deal with their nonsense as they both clearly crush on this twenty-something crossdresser.
M: Donkey Kong is an adult. You deserve an adult relationship, Yoo-joo!
E: Just keep him away from Eun-chan, the insatiable charmer.
M: I’m worried that Eun-sae needs another romance option, and Sun-ki is clearly off the table now, so…
E: In case we forgot, Sun-ki has a child. Also, in case you didn’t realize somehow, he’s Japanese.
M: Min-yup is sorry for the things he said about Sun-ki’s people.
E: Like, why would he be speaking Japanese if he wasn’t Japanese? Just because he’s a huge nerd? Or a polyglot who likes to show off? What was the thought process?
M: 
E: OH GOD. I HAVEN’T DONE MY DAILY PROGRESS IN SIX MONTHS! HE’S HERE FOR ME!
M: Sun-ki has been doing Duolingo for three years, so he’s fluent.
E: But, no, I’m taking Eun-sae and…either Donkey Kong or Han-sung off the table, that’s too much of an age gap for me.
M: Right, she’s still in high school. Oops!
E: Like, I assume Min-yup is around Eun-chan’s age, so that’s, like, slightly sketch, but his mental age is younger than hers, so whatever. But keep Han-sung away from her.
Flowers are a weird gift, don’t you think? Like, “here’s something that’s gonna die and you’re gonna have to throw out in like a week”
M: Eun-sae would love Sweeper so much though. And that balcony!
E: She can take Sweeper away from him, I’ll allow that.
M: Let’s talk about Min-yup: Man of Honor. Open book.
E: I understand the urge to want to share back when someone shares a secret with you. But Min-yup’s problem is that his only secrets are someone else’s secrets.
M: I can’t get a read on Sun-ki. Who is he?
E: Sun-ki is playing with fire, because Eun-chan could definitely get his secret child out of Min-yup if she wanted to.
M: I bet she will by the end of the episode!
E: That being said, I can’t believe he both went to the bathroom with her in there, and then proceeded to ask how she hides her breasts. With no prompting.
M: To be fair, he also shared his Japanese secret with her. They’re even.
E: That’s not really a secret though.
M: Seemingly no one knew.
E: Is it a secret if you’re just surrounded by self-absorbed idiots?
M: They don’t see race or gender, Emma.
E: Oh yeah, and Eun-chan tells Han-gyul she likes him, and then has the nerve to drop the “but we’re both men,” line.
M: And Han-gyul has to go to a shrink to sort it out. Do you think he’ll take the scary pills?
E: I hope not. I don’t know how South Korea is on these sorts of issues, but I do always cringe a little bit when there’s a totally incompetent psychiatrist on a show.
The noise of distress I made
M: At least this guy was clearly meant to be incompetent. The coffee! In front of the coffee prince!
E: Also just giving this random walk-in dude three days of medicine. Seems irresponsible.
M: Question of the week: was the painting upside-down?
E: Honestly impossible to know.
M: For Romance Tracker, do you think Eun-chan will actually date Han-sung for a while, or no?
E: No, I don’t think so. She seems pretty locked in to her feelings for Han-gyul at this point. I might have said yes like an episode ago, but I think they’ve passed that point now.
M: Another question: Is Ha-rim bi?
E: Ha-rim is an assassin who has taken a job to take out Customer 3, regardless of gender.
M: “Take out,” nice. Ambiguous.
E: Thanks, thank you very much.
M: We did forget to mention Eun-sae’s terrible audition. She was very bad.
E: And yet somehow the best of the people we saw.
M: The man emerging from the bag was a lot.
Her look is pretty fire though
E: Min-yup chose the wrong time to bring her flowers. Although it is sweet that he’s studying for G.E.D. Or whatever a G.E.D. is called in South Korea.
M: Min-yup is going to be the CEO of Coffee Prince by the end of this show. He is the keeper of secrets.
E: I hope so. I hope that’s the ending. Who cares about this romance stuff, I want to see Min-yup ascend the ranks.
My Hero Academia S4E7: “GO!!”
M: I’ll say it once, and then I won’t say it again: it is such a bad idea to have children on this mission.
E: Yeah. I mean, it would be one thing if it was one of their branch offices that they were targeting, but Eri is holed up in the main stronghold. And you really just need to send in a tactical Kiryu for those kinds of situations.
M: Got a few handy bicycles around? He’ll smash the heck out this guy.
E: Most of this episode was dedicated to the build-up to the raid. Research, getting a warrant, all that exciting stuff. Although I do appreciate that they spend some time actually showing us how these things go in this world.
M: I’m glad warrants are a thing.
E: I imagine there’s more cases of probable cause in hero society in that, well, the villain is out there doing something already. But it’s good heroes can’t just break into your home because they feel like it. Theoretically.
M: It would be too easy for someone like Mirio. He does have a villain quirk, after all.
E: Anyone could have a villain quirk, just depends how you use it.
M: He has the ultimate flasher quirk.
E: You’re right, he doesn’t have to limit himself to the cheesy flasher outfit. He can just disguise himself as a normal man.
M: Or just appear in your house, naked.
On the way to go moon Overhaul
E: Okay, let’s cease slandering Mirio’s name.
M: I love that the work study kids have gotten inexplicably good at rock-climbing.
E: They’re very focused right now, which I imagine would help with rock climbing, to a certain extent.
M: How pissed is All Might he can’t talk to Young Midoriya about his work study? What will they text about now?
E: He doesn’t like talking about Nighteye too much anyway, so it’s probably not a huge loss.
M: But he just committed to devoting himself to Deku’s teaching a few episodes ago. This makes it hard.
E: True, there’s no entry in Teaching for Dummies about what to do when your estranged sidekick takes your student under his wing and forbids him from talking to you about his work. The index didn’t have an entry.
M: Speaking of under his wing, when is Chekhov’s Tokoyami going to show up?
E: He’s busy doing bird bro things in Kyushu.
M: It’s going to tie together. They’re going to soar in like a flock of eagles at a key moment.
E: It’s a two hour flight in an airplane, so I wonder how fast bird bros could fly it.
M: Caw caw, bitches.
E: Madelyn, are you watching ahead? How did you predict Tokoyami’s classic line as he descends upon Overhaul?
M: I’m just imagining him saying it!
E: It would be with no irony whatsoever.
M: This episode really demolished some toxic masculine stereotypes.
E: Todoroki says, “heroes can cry.”
M: Todoroki says, “want half my soba?”
Soba is his favorite!
E: And you know that’s a big deal, because he was going to town on that soba.
M: Slurp slurp, bitches.
E: He would also say that without a drop of irony.
M: You would think that the boys would be used to Deku crying at random by now. Surely several times a week, he just thinks of All Might and wells up.
E: I think Iida was just concerned that he was the cause of the crying this time, rather than the stray All Might thought.
M: Pushing food on a sad person is highly relatable.
E: It’s a good way to handle it. Take this extremely spicy wasabi and cry for a different reason.
M: Zen Todoroki must bother the hell out of Bakugo in their weekend sessions.
E: It’s all fun and games until Bakugo teaches him how to say “slurp slurp bitches”
M: Oh no.
E: Anything else from this episode that you want to talk about?
M: Do you think Overhaul will take off his mask and reveal he’s Jun-pyo from F4? Because he’s got a secret coma dad.
E: Again, Madelyn, if you’re watching ahead, you have to tell me.
Me, slightly perturbed by Madelyn, behind me, whispering incredible predictions in my ear
M: I thought the Boys Over Flowers reference on Coffee Prince a few episodes ago was wild, but this is truly shocking!
E: Lawsuit watch? I don’t there’s much on either show, to be honest.
M: Han-gyul continues to kind of manhandle his employee, which isn’t great, and man, these kids are in danger.
E: They’re all licensed though. So technically, it’s all good.
M: Surely UA has some liability for them on these work studies though, right?
E: Sure, but nothing’s happened yet. Plus, I just bet they signed some sort of waiver.
M: The waiver you sign when you enroll at UA must be just biblical in length.
E: That’s how they get ya. Nobody reads the terms and conditions.
M: Which show was more caffeinated?
E: I mean, the My Hero kids woke up in the middle of the night, which feels familiar.
M: It gives me so much life that Miro has a natural pompadour, but Kirishima just goes through a bottle of hair gel a day. Or maybe he can harden his hair?
E: That’d be a lot of work just to keep his hair sticking up.
M: It’s like his version of One For All Full Cowling 5%. He’s practicing all the time.
E: I can’t wait until Kirishima gores someone with his horns.
No phones after bedtime!
M: Don’t take my predictions from me!
E: Are you ready for the next episode title?
M: Sure am sure am!
E: Season 4 Episode 8 is called “Suneater of the Big Three”
M: That’s whatsherface’s hero name, right?
E: No, it’s the other dude’s.
M: Oh right, like “eater,” got it. I thought his name would be Chicken Tender. Because he’s so scared.
E: Gottem.
M: Prediction one: someone captures Nighteye and he has to prove he’s a civilian by answering questions about Go Go Glitter Squad or whatever it was called.
E: Gung ho! Glitter Squad Ten.
M: Surprisingly, he passes.
E: 
M: Prediction two: the whole rest of this arc is going to be fighting the eight swords of the yakuza or whatever their vaguely intimidating group name was.
E: 
(except it’s bullets so…)
M: Sorry, took it back a century there.
E: No problem, swords is cooler.
M: Prediction three: Cementoss teaches the rest of the students some algebra. It’s like the test episodes of Assassination Classroom.
E: 
M: Prediction four: Suneater needs to eat some courage soup or something. He’s definitely going to save the day this time and prove he’s a member of the Big Three. But I don’t know what food will make him grow some balls.
E: 
M: Prediction five: Eri is actually Eraser-head’s daughter! I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding. But the coma dad is going to be someone significant. The villains will have to leave him behind, and he’ll be a very famous yakuza boss who probably has secret information, but the heroes won’t be able to wake him up. Or he’s a secret bomb, that’s also a possibility with Overhaul’s quirk.
E: 
M: Or someone will have to read to him everyday until he wakes up. Todoroki?
E: They never gave us payoff on that in Boys Over Flowers, did they?
M: He did wake up, but he never met Jan-di. But the Chairwoman was happy! This is your little teaser for Boys Over Flowers, new readers.
E: It was a ride.
–
Hello everyone! As always, thanks for tuning in to Split Screen. We’re watching the My Hero Academia dub on Funimation and Coffee Prince on Tubi. Next time! Suneater fights the power of friendship with the power of friendship and Sun-ki and Ha-rim pretend to be hooligans.
While you’re waiting, you’ve probably got more time to read during this time in history- so check out this anti-racist reading list from Ibram X. Kendi. The news cycle might be looking over what’s still going on, but you don’t have to.