mjf314

Shindo seemed to be willing to argue with Maya, but she always let Maya have the last word, and I feel like her arguments could have been better, but maybe I'm expecting too much from a sixth grader.

It seems to me unlikely that Maya had incriminating evidence against every single student, unless we're supposed to believe that Maya has supernatural powers. Even if she did, they could have secretly recorded her during class, to prove that she was bullying them.

Another option is to report Maya to the police for stalking. They had evidence that she was stalking them (the paper that she gave to each student), and I think stalking is illegal in Japan, if I'm not mistaken.

This drama reminds me of Kazoku Game, but I liked Kazoku Game more, because it felt less manipulative to me. I see that you haven't finished Kazoku Game, so I won't say more than that.

I watched episodes 5-10 and I still think Maya is a bad teacher and an evil person. If you bully students and everything happens to work out, it doesn't change the fact that bullying is wrong. It was luck that everything happened to work out. Whatever lessons she wants to teach, she could have taught without the bullying.

In episode 10, I don't like the scene where the woman says Maya should be fired because "She tells kids about the harsh reality that they don't need to know." I feel that this scene is trying to manipulate viewers into thinking Maya is a good teacher, trying to get us to forget about all the unnecessary bullying.

The kids were planning to ask "hard questions" but I think their questions were too easy. They should've asked "Why should a creepy stalker who spends most of her time spying on 12-year-olds, even when they're not in school, be allowed to teach?"

In episode 10, Maya forces the students to finish their food. This type of abuse can cause eating disorders.

Maya doesn't allow students to use the bathroom during class. This is bad for the students' health, according to several experts, and is against the policy of many schools.

I watched Shoplifters in a cinema on December 30, but nominations closed December 19. If they're going to call it "Best of 2018" then they shouldn't close nominations before the end of the year.

I would've voted for Shoplifters if it was in the poll.

I've watched 4 episodes, and so far, Maya is a horrible teacher and a horrible person. She claims to be "strict" because it's best for the students, but her strictness is nothing more than bullying - being mean for the sake of being mean, even when the students haven't done anything wrong. Maybe everything will work out in the end, but only because the drama is unrealistic. Her lessons are bad, and in real life, they would cause all kinds of psychological damage to the students. I'm surprised that some people have made comments saying that she's a good teacher.

What kind of lessons does Maya teach?
- She teaches students to blindly obey authority, no matter how immoral the authority figure is. She punishes students who are brave enough to stand up for what's right (when Shindo defends Kazumi, and when Kazumi defends Yusuke). The worst victim seems to be Baba, who started out likeable, but becomes corrupt due to Maya's bad influence. Maya selfishly uses Baba, not caring how it'll affect Baba.
- She teaches students that if they need help, they should give up rather than ask for help (for example when she refuses to talk to Kazumi outside class, and when she pressures Yusuke to drop out of school). Yusuke appears to have given up on learning, due to Maya's bullying. I know someone in real life who was failing elementary school, and became a good student after being inspired by a teacher.
- She refuses to take responsibility when many students do poorly. When so many students do poorly, it's usually the teacher's fault. Bad teachers (like Maya) get frustrated and blame the students. Good teachers strive to improve their teaching methods. Being overly critical demotivates students, causing them to give up. The time that she spends criticizing students is time that she could spend actually explaining the material. I've seen multiple examples of this happening in real life.
- Maya has failed to earn the trust of the students, and is therefore ineffective as a law enforcer, in the stolen wallet incident. Maya has created an environment where the real thief won't admit it, and anyone who witnesses the theft won't report it, because neither person trusts Maya to handle the situation properly. When Kazumi tries to return the wallet, Maya falsely accuses her with no evidence, which teaches the lesson "if you find a stolen wallet, don't return it, because you'll be falsely accused of stealing it."
- She teaches discrimination based on who the student's parents are (Yusuke).
- She promotes bullying by trying to persuade the entire class that whatever bad thing happened is one particular student's fault (the food incident and the dancing incident).

It's frustrating how no one manages to win an argument against Maya, because her justifications of bullying are nonsense. She either uses blackmail to avoid the argument, or uses an ad hominem attack, or wins the argument because the other character has no idea how to construct an argument. It's unrealistic how she persuades the parents so easily. I could understand if she persuades some of them, but all? It annoys me even more when the students don't defend themselves. When she talks nonsense, why don't they tell her "No, you're wrong"? Occasionally they do, but not often enough.