Split Screen: Stain Removal

Thanks for tuning in to the first Split Screen of 2019! Intro host Madelyn here, welcoming you to a new year of flowery, action-packed high school drama. We’re kicking off 2019 with a double-header: a full episode of Boys Over Flowers and two episodes of My Hero Academia! We’ll journey to Macau and Not-Tokyo to check in on everyone’s favorite teenagers. Will Jun-pyo and Jan-di reunite? Will Deku get a good letter of recommendation out of this internship? Read on to find out!

(New year, new reader? Catch up on all of 2018’s Split Screen content here!)

Boys Over Flowers Episode 14

M: This double-feature was overwhelming.

E: Yeah, I was exhausted just from watching all of it, and now we have to talk about it all.

M: Boys Over Flowers does work as an hour-ish long TV show. We were appalled by how long it was when we started this series, but it did feel much more coherent in a full episode.

E: Although shorten a few montages of people just walking around looking at things, and you’d probably have a normal 45-50 minute production.

M: Beggars can’t be choosers. We pick up with F4 2.0 on a gondola ride, where Jan-di’s Korean friend, whom we now know is a business heiress, is also practicing her gondoliering.

E: Very badly. Woo-bin was ashamed for their country.

M: Ashamed in multiple languages, I might add.

E: He’s suddenly been using a lot of English which I don’t remember being a character trait ever before, but he hasn’t had a character trait before, so I guess that makes sense.

M: That’s exactly what I was going to say. His character traits now are “hip English user,” “possible crime lord,” and “style icon.”

E: We’re having a hard time remembering even what happened in this episode

M: This show is always jam-packed, so I think we can be forgiven. The gang almost ran into Jun-pyo at a, in Woo-bin’s words, killer restaurant. Instead, they went for Italian, and left Jun-pyo to text under the table.

E: Italian’s always a good choice anyway.

M: In China?

E: Hey, Woo-bin said it was also killer, so must be great. Anywhere has good food in any culture if you have enough money I think.

M: Very true. I’m pretty sure Manager Jung sent those photos to Jun-pyo, but it was very mysterious.

E: I’m still not sure about that. I mean, I guess photos taken without the subject’s knowledge always feel this way, but it felt very stalkery to me.

M: I’m really glad it wasn’t staged as a fake date with Ji-hoo.

E: Nope, you could clearly see the backs of F2’s heads.

M: Let’s skip over the weird, angsty Jan-hoo conversation about dreams because blech. Instead, the most important part of the episode: the trumpet alarm clock.

E: How did I forget about that moment? God there were so many iconic moments in this episode, but the trumpeter takes the top trumpet.

M: Apparently he’s a high ranking manager too. This is part of his job.

E: You could see it by how dead he looked inside.

M: Next up, some sporty sport fun. Jun-pyo is bad at mini golf, an important business skill, and despite Manager Jung’s refusal to clear his busy schedule to see his old buds, F3 goes the extra mile. Or several hundred miles.

E: I thought we’d finished the sports festival on both these shows. Remember when Jun-pyo and Ji-hoo raced on horseback?

M: Oh, the good old days. Now everybody is playing angry basketball in bizarre parodies of athletic clothes.

E: They really did look like they were wearing costumes for a high school theater production of like High School Musical. Just very “actors wearing athletic clothes.”

M: You know, they have similar themes. Jun-pyo is torn between love and duty. There’s a basketball court. There’s a gay friend, apparently.

E: That whole scene was so extraneous and pointless and just a touch offensive?

M: We’ve got thirty-five minutes of show to cover before we get there. Once again, major props to F3 for their unwavering devotion to Jan-di.

E: Yi-jung is such a good friend, and it makes me happy.

M: Even when Jun-pyo called them out, they held their ground and then some.

E: If, by held their ground, you mean sucker punched Jun-pyo in the face.

M: Usually I see the violence on this show coming. This was a delightful surprise.

E: I thought they were going to have Jun-pyo react to the fact that Jan-di can’t swim anymore, and I was going to roll my eyes a bit, but at least be happy they had somehow justified that little detour- but instead I got violence. Which is often how this show goes honestly.

M: Jun-pyo, the character, not the performer (although he’s good too), is a good actor.

E: His strategy seems to be “look off into middle distance and say things in the same tone of voice” though. Which works! Just not very varied.

M: He says some mean stuff though. He said some really mean stuff about Jan-di to his boys.

E: And to her face!

M: I didn’t think he gave quite as good a performance there, except his very last comment. If I’m Jan-di, I see it as the cry for help that it obviously is.

E: She’s a little too busy crying herself. She does a couple times this episode. Including when they play hide-and-seek which is both adorable and terrifying at the same time.

M: It felt like we’d switched to the Persona 5 anime.

E: They were talking about “selfish desire” on My Hero Academia too, so we were just on a Persona 5 theme.

M: They’ve got to change Jun-pyo’s heart! No, a twist! It’s really his mom’s heart they have to change.

E: “You’ll never see it comingggggg~”

M: That would be an excellent crossover. Joker for Boys Over Flowers.

E: First though, we bring Jun-pyo to Smash. As predicted by Jan-di’s little drawing in the condensation.

M: Hide and seek is a weird post-break-up activity. The danger of having boy friends. It also set up some more Ji-hoo weirdness which I will continue to ignore.

E: That part was fine though. She heard Jun-pyo’s (actually pretty awful) English and started crying. The mask that they gave Ji-hoo was not doing the actor any favors when it came to trying to show how he was feeling. It had weird little lips and his eyes were actually lost in shadow. Out of context, it kinda looked like a scene from a weird B-grade horror movie.

M: Gimme a kiss.

E: Nooooo thank you.

M: The break-up scene with Jan-di and Jun-pyo was weirdly reassuring. He literally said the exact apology needed as an  “oh, don’t you want me to say this?” trick, which come on. I see right through that.

E: I didn’t doubt that he still cares about Jan-di, but he’s a lot more stuck in his own guilt than I thought he’d be. I really thought it would be like exclusively pressure from his mother, but it seems to be pressure he’s putting on himself too.

M: I am really glad that the show didn’t string us along for another two episodes before we saw that it was all an act for Jun-pyo’s mom.

E: And his dad with the clever foresight to put together an incredibly specific guilt-tripping video when Jun-pyo was just a boy.

M: That’s why Shinhwa is rich, because of money moves like that.

E: I do find that to be a more compelling conflict than just big bad mom versus sweet little Jan-di or whatever. The fact that he does actually feel some responsibility to this company.

M: The problem is that I don’t see a way out. He’s really busy, right? It’s the classic marrying into a wealthy family conundrum. She doesn’t know what it takes to be a Gu. Plus, I don’t know if Jan-di wants that kind of life, but I can’t imagine Jun-pyo walking away from Shinhwa now.

E: Well, she certainly deserves a chance to make that decision for herself, right? Not just being shut out by him and more specifically by his mother without seeing how it might be to deal with that.

M: I agree, but she will be terrible. She’ll say something incredibly dumb and blow a huge deal.

E: But what if she says something incredibly and charms someone into giving them a big deal. Could go either way.

M: They’re going to need some creative maneuvering to make this work.

E: Alternatively, his sister could get involved somehow and deal more with the company business.

M: There’s clearly some patriarchal bias. Obviously Mama Gu is much better qualified to lead this company.

E: Well, they can break down the barriers of traditionalism and stuff.

M: Speaking of breaking down barriers, let’s talk about Min.

E: Like what? Why? Why is this here? What purpose is this serving? Why couldn’t the role of telling Ji-hoo he clearly still has an ongoing crush on Jan-di not go to Woo-bin or Yi-jung? Why is there this weird interlude?

M: They needed a reason for Jan-di and Ji-hoo to stay in Macau for another day, and they needed Ji-hoo to realize he’s not over her the way he thinks he is. Maybe they thought this would be funny? It kind of was? The mug???

E: It was funny in an uncomfortable way. Because Ji-hoo does not have the social skills to parse this kind of obsession with him, so it comes off as creepy rather than charming. Because I kind of doubt that Ji-hoo really understands that Min is so taken with him. So it unfortunately casts Min as a bit…I don’t know, conniving? It’s at least not the best light.

M: My new motto for anything involving Ji-hoo is let’s ignore it. It makes me really glad we didn’t split this episode, because this nonsense would have been a third of what we watched next week.

E: He doesn’t even really feel like a character who’s going to come back in any capacity. So at least it’s over with?

M: Nah, he’ll be around for the first half of next week. It does seem like a gimmick so that Jun-pyo can deliver Jan-di’s shoes. Or rather, so Manager Jung can give Jan-di the $2500 flats Jun-pyo ripped off of another heiress’s foot for her.

E: I can’t believe this is Cinderella now.

M: I am VERY nervous that Jan-di’s friend is being set up as a secondary love interest for Jun-pyo. There was some banter. A nice spontaneous dip. I think she’s obviously here for an eventual arranged marriage, or even just to show him how much easier it would be to be with someone from his own world, and I don’t like it one bit.

E: I didn’t get too strong a feeling of possible romance from it.

M: The SLO-MO DIP.

E: Okay but they use slo-mo on literally every shot.

M: I am just concerned. That’s all.

E: Madelyn is constantly concerned when watching this show.

M: Wrapping up some loose ends, Ji-hoo and Jan-di went all over the stupid city again. Good advertising for Macau. Kang-san almost died, and Ji-hoo’s maybe father saved him.

E: I’m sorry, like what? Why is this rando man- who also somehow knows Manager man from the porridge shop- Ji-hoo’s dead father?

M: He can’t be. There has to be some other connection.

E: They zoomed in very purposefully on that family photo he has- not just on Ji-hoo but on Ji-hoo and the man whose knee he’s sitting on. Implying that the father is also important in this recollection or whatever. And looking at this guy’s face- it’s not impossible. He also seemed to be caring towards Kang-san in that one scene where he was turning out the light. In a sort of fatherly type way. I’m just saying.

M: I think it’s more likely he was the doctor that tried to save them. Although, I thought he was a chef? This is very confusing.

E: He was definitely a chef, because it is definitely fish man. Do you think that Ji-hoo and manager man from the shop are brothers?

M: The thought had crossed my mind.

E: That’ll be bad for manager man’s little crush.

M: Okay, on that note. Romance Tracker?

E: Things are not going so well. Jun-pyo and Jan-di are doing pretty bad, we got no Yule this time around, and Ji-hoo and Manager man are headed towards a Veronica Mars type-thing. So it’s just disaster all around.

M: Yuck yuck yuck. At least it looks like Jan-di and Jun-pyo are going to reunite next episode? Maybe?

E: Currently Madelyn is on her knees, hands clasped towards the sky, sobbing. “Please?”

M: Only a slight exaggeration.

E: Yi-jung being so upset over how Jun-pyo was handling the situation also seems to indicate that he’s going through some sort of personal transformation about how he deals with relationships, so that might factor into Yule.

M: Celebrate!

E: Merry Christmas by the way, for all who celebrate.

M: More like Happy New Year, but nice. Have some bloopers.

E: The bloopers this time were pretty good. I enjoyed Ji-hoo on his invisible bike.

M: More of that in the future, please.

E: In the real show.

My Hero Academia S2E15 & E16: “Midoriya and Shigaraki” & “Hero Killer: Stain vs. U.A. Students”

M: This arc escalated quickly.

E: Yup. We get both Stain and Shigaraki making their own moves at the same time in Hosu which Deku just so happens to be passing through, of course.

M: Sometimes you get lucky.

E: Or unlucky, perhaps.

M: In today’s first episode, which featured more than just Deku and Shigaraki, thank goodness, our good and evil interns made some progress. Deku got to go out and be a hero on the streets after almost punching an old man in his home, and Shigaraki realized that he’s dedicated to his own ideals.

E: His ideals include murder, but hey, he’s still a bud that needs to flower or whatever Stain said.

M: F4 is looking for a new member. Just kidding, Stain is already in the group. That’s what I’m calling Jan-di now.

E: Anyway, Stain and Shigaraki do not turn their wrong-footed start around, instead deciding that their viewpoints on the world are fundamentally opposed to each other. Or rather, Stain recognizes that they both think the present situation needs to be different, but they both want it to transform in different ways.

M: It’s nice to see some nuance in the villainy. Stain is nuanced and interesting in a way that I don’t find the League of Villains to be.

E: I think it’s because even if Shigaraki wants to kill All-Might, he doesn’t really have an explanation or ideology behind that desire. He just wants to. Whereas Stain seems to have some idea about how the world should be and a clear sense of why it is not that way and how he can fix it. It’s just that his solution is overly extreme.

M: In many ways I think he’s a lot more principled than all of the heroes we’ve met so far, except Professor Dog Bear Thing. Get it?

E: Why Professor Dog Bear Thing?

M: Isn’t he the principal?

E: Oh I get it, took me a second. Very funny.

M: Some of the characters made leaps forward that seemed like too much for the three days they’ve been interns. Like Deku bouncing off the walls when yesterday he couldn’t do one bounce over a bunch of trash. Todoroki seems to have gone through years of therapy in the span of seventy-two hours.

E: To be fair, I think it’s been a bit longer than that since he went to visit his mother which is where this change seems to originate.

M: Okay, but maximum two weeks, right?

E: Yeah, it does feel like a bit much. Especially Todoroki, because I kind of believe like “oh Deku gets the hang of it in the heat of the moment” right? That’s just a physical thing. Whereas Todoroki has a whole psychological shift happen very quickly.

M: Since when do he and Deku get along?

E: They’re BFFs now!

M: They communicate so well. They’ve on their own fighting the most dangerous villain who has killed dozens of pros.

E: Maybe they’ve been texting.

M: I guess so. Deku has him on speed-dial apparently.

E: I do think it’s a good choice to have this whole Stain thing happen during the internships though, because (with the exception of Deku and Uraraka and…even Iida, I guess) the internships they’re focusing on are not great. These do seem like heroes that are perhaps a bit preoccupied with themselves.

M: It’s a good parallel to all the stuff that Stain is ranting about. Realistic too, because this is what being an intern is like. Big question though: why did Deku text Todoroki? Why not Mineta?

E: I’m assuming he somehow knew Todoroki was in Hosu. Either because they’ve been texting or Endeavor is located in Hosu? I’m not fully clear on that. (EDITOR EMMA: Endeavor is not located in Hosu, so going with the texting buddies explanation).

M: That was weird too. It didn’t seem like Todoroki was based in Hosu and they just decided to go there at the exact right time. It’s fine, I’ll let it go, but a little weird.

E: I believe that Endeavor would go after the Hero Killer. Like, that’s his chance to shine right? Catch this big bad hero killer before All-Might does anything about it? So I believe that Todoroki would end up in Hosu; the timing is still a bit convenient.

M: i’m just saying, I might have texted someone who I knew had a speed-type quirk. Dark Shadow or someone?

E: Again, fair, I’m just assuming that Deku knew Todoroki was in Hosu. I have no basis for that.

M: Mineta’s power would have been useful here too.

E: For sure! Honestly, anything that would have immobilized Stain would have been useful, because he can cut you all he likes with his throwing knives, but he has to lick you with his warty tongue before he can use his Quirk.

M: That was so disturbing.

E: Right? I was surprised though when you audibly gasped at it.

M: His tongue is gross and the whole thing is gross. How did no one else figure this out yet?

E: Deku did mention that the news had speculated about his Quirk being something to the effect of immobilization, I guess.

M: And how on earth did Deku think of blood type as a possibility in the heat of battle?

E: He’s a smarty except when the plot doesn’t want him to be.

M: Blood type, which they’ve been showing to us on the character cards. I thought the beef stew was the important part, but no.

E: I was trying to misdirect you.

M: You succeeded.

E: Of course Deku is type O though. That’s the universal donor, right?

M: Yeah.

E: But yeah, Stain’s Quirk is a weird one. Still not as scary to me as Shigaraki’s Quirk, but it’s quirkier that’s for sure.

M: How do you discover that Quirk?

E: Maybe he was rubbing some spit on his own cut and accidentally immobilized himself?

M: That seems like an impossible thing to do to yourself.

E: What do you mean?

M: The whole point is he can control the people he licks, right?

E: It seems to be just freezing them though.

M: So every time he licks his own blood, like bites his tongue or gets a paper cut and sucks it, he paralyzes himself?

E: His one weakness! Paper cuts!

M: I don’t buy it.

E: I don’t know then, maybe he was sucking poison out of a snake bite once. Maybe he bit someone as a child.

M: That last one has to be it.

E: Yeah, I was just throwing things out there, but that’s not that far-fetched actually.

M: We also learned a little more about the Nomus and the fact that All-Might is really freaked about someone having the power to transfer quirks.

E: He seemed to be thinking of someone in particular.

M: Well duh. How dumb do you think I am?

E: I was just building off your comments!

M: Anyway, looks like Iida has some darkness in his heart. Makes sense. He’s the older looking character, Deku is the twelve-year-old. Watch out Norty, here we come.

E: Yes, the true final enemy of My Hero Academia. The Thirteen Darknesses.

M: No, it’s Shido.

E: You know Nomus are basically Shadows. Which could apply to either series.

M: Before this becomes the most ambitious crossover event of all time, Lawsuit Watch!

E: Somebody could probably sue Iida’s pro hero supervisor for negligence. He just ran off without Iida.

M: Once again, we have some bad internship experiences, and not just the kids who are about to die.

E: They’re the same bad internship experiences as they were last time we checked in, so I don’t know if they count for the tally this time. But there wasn’t much of anything on Boys Over Flowers.

M: Boys Over Flowers came away totally clean, unless Jun-pyo wants to admit he got clocked in the face.

E: So, no lawsuits.

M: I caught a glimpse of next week’s title. What a doozy!

E: “Climax”

M: Ugh, okay. Prediction number one: None of the kids die, but maybe Native the Offensive Hero does.

E: We don’t know his nationality.

M: Doesn’t seem super likely that a Native American hero is working in fake Tokyo, but sure.

E:

M: Prediction two: Gran Torino takes out one of the Nomus, then calls it a day and gets some ice cream.

E:

M: Why does no one know him?

E: He’s old.

M: He trained All-Might!

E: He was a teacher at UA for a year, officially.

M: Yeah, but All-Might’s superfans have to know about him. Something’s fishy here, and it’s not just the taiyaki.

E: Well, the taiyaki were ruined, so. Can’t be them.

M: Prediction three: Iida drops out of UA, he’s so ashamed of himself, but Present Mic taunts him about it until he decides to stay.

E:

M: Prediction four: The Geodudes continue to take abuse from their internship manager, and they think “man, this internship has to be the worst one. No one could be having a worse time than us”

E:

M: TEA!

E: TEA!!

M: I’m gonna need a cup of TEA.

E: Anything else?

M: Final prediction: Stain gets away, but only thanks to a well-timed Nomu.

E:

–

Thanks for tuning in to this double feature edition of Split Screen! We probably won’t be doing that again. Don’t make me do it again.

Next time! We get some true tragedy on Boys Over Flowers and finally return to Korea after a long delay. Those two things are only semi-related. Meanwhile, on My Hero Academia, the lawsuits come from a place you might not expect and things start moving in a bad direction.