The first episode of the drama series " The Reluctant Preacher " (Nippon TV, Saturday 9pm), starring actress Alice Hirose , was broadcast on April 12th. The scene depicted Shizuka Reimi (Hirose), who reluctantly became a high school teacher, lecturing her student Hina (Kiyono Asahime), caused a stir on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
Shizuka, 28, has been living as a NEET at her parents' house for two years for some reason, but reluctantly returns to society after being persuaded by her mother Kanako (Keiko Horiuchi) and her friend Kyoko Kago (Yoshino Kimura). Despite her reluctance, she becomes the homeroom teacher for Class 10 of the private school Meishin Gakuen, where Kyoko is the principal.
Meishin Gakuen, a prestigious preparatory school, has seen a sharp decline in applicants over the years, and the school reform committee, led by vice principal Shinjo (Kote Shinya), has set out a policy of "maintaining a reasonable distance from students, not getting angry, not praising, and not giving advice." Shizuka also greets the students in a friendly manner, but they look down on her. However, Shizuka, who hates to lose, tells Hina, the leader of the "first-string girls," "Shut up, you brat!", turning Hina's group into her enemy. Then, Ayaka (Toyoshima Hana), who is being bullied by Hina, comes to her for help, saying, "Please help me." And so the story unfolds.
Hina claims that she is not bullying Ayaka, but is just teasing her, but Shizuka refutes her. Hina, upset by the change in the atmosphere in the classroom, pretends to jump off the roof and demands an apology from Shizuka. Shinjo rushes to the scene and tries to force an apology from Shizuka, but Shizuka returns to the classroom and tells Hina that she has no intention of apologizing, asking her the difference between bullying and teasing.
She continued, "Bullying and teasing are the same. There's no difference. The only difference is whether the person being teased is okay with it or not," and then preached, "People who can't understand other people's feelings shouldn't lightly call it 'teasing'! There are a lot of people who don't understand this and do the same things when they grow up, but those people will one day... lose something important!"
On social media, Shizuka's sermon was a hot topic, with comments such as "It was so refreshing!", "Reimi-sensei's lines really hit home", "The moment when she moves people with her sermon is really moving", "It was so refreshing to watch", and "I can't get enough of her refreshing sermons!"
