Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf
That was a key part of my argument: There is plenty of evidence that only we the audience could see, but not the rest of the class. That makes us biased judges. There is also the problem that we, the audience, have been influenced by what the storyteller wants us to see, which makes us naturally sympathetic towards Mei's circumstances, but at the expense of learning about her classmates' perspectives.
The students don't know what Mei has gone through and what she has tried to do, and the problem is that Mei doesn't try to explain. Rather, when confronted by Izumi, she says the equivalent of "So what?"
If I were among the students, knowing only what they know, I would be incredibly pissed off with Mei's apparently nonchalant attitude. The tone of Mei's reply gives the impression that she "knows" she is guilty and that she doesn't care if her classmates think she is.
And that is what many viewers fail to consider, because we have indeed been affected by what we, and only we and a handful of other students such as Kouichi, have seen of Mei. We know by now that Mei often toys with people, such as the way she misled Kouichi in the earlier episodes and the way she joked about the moaning in the library basement. The problem is that, because of her deadpan delivery of these barbs, it is often very hard to tell when she is joking and when she is being serious.
That is the difficulty many of her classmates are dealing with, that Mei doesn't seem to care what happens to any of them. So, from this perspective, it becomes possible to understand why some students feel that Mei didn't take her responsibility seriously, thus putting all their lives in jeopardy. It's a pretty reasonable conclusion, given their circumstances.
A sincere apology would have helped greatly to clear all these misunderstandings, but Mei makes it sound as though she thinks: "Oh, what a bother. Fine, if it's an apology you twerps want, I'll give it to you. Not that I care what you losers think anyway."
Let us not forget that Mei has always been a socially inept person with few friends. She's actually a normal girl, just like everyone else, but because she has apparent difficulties interacting with other people, she often unwittingly creates a lot of ill will towards her. So, from her classmates' point of view, it becomes easier to believe that Mei was taking revenge on them by letting the counter-measure fail. Again, this is a reasonable conclusion for them to reach, given their circumstances.
But then you'd be speaking only for yourself, and not for the universe of all possibilities. That is crucial, because there are apparently enough people in the class who believe that it could have worked had Mei given Kouichi the cold shoulder. It is not a possibility that can be outright denied.
Bear in mind again that Mei doesn't explain herself, but behaves as though she thinks: "So what? Even if I were explain, you losers wouldn't believe me anyway." I say again: Mei's apparent "I-don't-care" attitude is what infuriates Izumi and many of her classmates, which is why it's reasonable for them to feel that an apology is in order.
This point actually counts very heavily against your argument because, in my opinion, it proves that Izumi is still thinking clearly. She doesn't blame Kouichi because she already accepts that she was at fault for not having explained the counter-measure to him beforehand. Had she joined those classmates in trying to lynch Kouichi, then and only then would I think she was being emotional and vindictive in the whole affair. As it were, I strongly believe that she wasn't.
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