The second episode of the Sunday Theatre drama " Mikami Sensei " (TBS, Sunday 9pm) starring actor Tori Matsuzaka was broadcast on January 26th. The scene where Mikami, the "bureaucratic teacher" played by Matsuzaka, gently pushes Kanzaki (played by Daiken Okudaira) who is standing in front of the school gate, became a hot topic on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers
The story begins with Mikami, a Ministry of Education bureaucrat who wants to change education in Japan, being transferred to a private high school called Rintoku Gakuin. Although it is a demotion, Mikami takes to the podium himself and leads 18-year-old high school students living in the Reiwa era while standing up to authority.
It was revealed that Saejima (Takako Tokiwa), a teacher at Rintoku Academy, was the mother of Mayama Yuzuru (Mayu Hotta), a suspect in the civil service exam venue murder case. Many reporters were gathered in front of Rintoku Academy. While teachers such as Mizobata (Takaya Sakoda) were calling on the press not to interview the students directly, Kanzaki came to school.
The reporters confront the school, saying, "I heard the reason Saejima left school was because a student exposed his affair," and "Isn't that the cause of that incident?" Kanzaki, who had broken the story of the affair, stands there frozen as he witnesses the scene.
Mikami appeared there and said "Good morning" to Kanzaki. He then gently pushed Kanzaki's back and together they walked towards the school. On the way, a reporter asked him, "Do you have any idea about this?" but he firmly refused, saying, "I don't know," and the two of them went through the school gates.
On social media, comments such as, "It was so cool how he gently pushed Kanzaki's back as he pushed the reporters aside and walked together with him!", "I really liked the scene where Mikami Sensei pushed Kanzaki's back as he walked. I wish there were more leaders like this all over Japan", "I don't know why, but I almost cried when Mikami Sensei pushed Kanzaki's back", and "When I saw Mikami Sensei pushing Kanzaki's back as he was standing in front of the school gates, I was moved to tears by his strong, yet painful kindness..." were posted and garnered attention.
