Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake

I can say without reservation or regret that this was the WORST drama I've ever seen come out of Japan.
I'm disappointed and appalled.
I know it's another oldie, but I've heard and read about it for years now, and because it stars Kaneshiro Takashi, I decided to finally give Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake (God, Give Me More Time) a try.

When it was finally over, I typed a response on the AZNV.tv site, and it read simply: gag.

Kamisama is a 1998 release about a composer, Ishikawa Keigo (played by Kaneshiro), who gives up on life after his girlfriend dies trying to give birth to his child.

Six years later, he meets the co-star, Kano Masaki (played by Fukada Kyoko), an irritating and completely self-absorbed girl who resorts to prostitution in order to obtain concert tickets.
She contracts HIV as a result, and then she proceeds to take Keigo down with her ~ and everyone else in her life.

I suppose the real crime here is the rest of the world's disbelief in hell.

Everything is rosy & light, with pinwheels and rainbows, and with happy tunes in your head while skipping merrily through life while sucking on a lollipop.

It's immature, it's gay, and it's a dangerous way to blithely decide you're going to make your way through real life.

Masaki was a high school bitch who walked over her inferiors, thought that her shit didn't stink, and who cared about herself more than anyone else in the world.
Then she makes a totally ignorant decision to do the wrong thing, and for the next, 11 episodes we're supposed to go through a box of tissues feeling sorry for her?

GAG

I couldn't wait for her to kick off after the 2nd episode.

She treated her mother like dirt, talked down to her father, cared less about how her own brother would be treated by his peers, and she even dragged her idol, Keigo, into her sh*t by whining and crying like a baby every time things got rough.
Through the 12 episodes, she never once asked about him, his life, his past, his feelings ... nothing. It was always about her, how she felt, what she was thinking ...

ENOUGH already. My God, how pathetic can one human be?

THEN she has the audacity to get pregnant.

That was when I wanted to stop watching Kamisama, but I couldn't.
I'd gone that far, so I had to go all the way.
AGAIN, she didn't give a flying fack about her so-called love when he wanted to have sex with her.
She vaguely said it was wrong, but that was it.
It was as if she wanted him to contract the disease as much as he thought that he wanted to do.
He had issues to deal with, and she cared less.
He was suffering immeasurable pain, and she cared only to add to it with her own ignorance and selfishness.

I can't BREATHE anymore.

Now we have a shattered family, a destroyed music career, and a new life to think about.
WE do, not Miss Masaki, who to the bitter end refused to let go of herself and think about someone else.

Thank God she faded away, thank God the baby and Keigo didn't get her disease, and thank God this isn't reality.

Or, is it?

As I watched this incredibly annoying drama, I began to see things differently.
It came out in 1998, which was about the time when these programs started to pick up steam, so I guess the major hype about Kamisama had to do with Kaneshiro being the star, but also that it set a precedent with young, sappy girls in Asia.
This is where Kawaii and foolishness come into play.
Instead of leaving the sickeningly sweet sentimentality on the playground, where it belongs, it somehow took over the nations of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan like a deathly plague.

Second, it was subbed in the first episode by Nippon Golden Network, and then for whatever reason, SARS came into play.
By far, the WORST on the planet when it comes to subbing efforts.

That and the ridiculous story aside, Kaneshiro gave a superb performance as usual.
HE was the only reason I continued to watch Kamisama, and I'm beyond relieved to know that he's starred in some much, higher caliber films since 1998, too.

And, this poor guy ... Kato Haruhiko.
He was Masaki's first love, or to her, a person to use, abuse, and take for granted as she stomped her way through life. I liken him to the precious piece of artwork in a beautiful crystal shop, and Masaki is the bull that comes crashing through the storefront window, knocking down and destroying everything in her path.

Poor, sweet fellow. He also starred in Over Time, and he played another neglected soul, but who ends up on the good end of the stick this time.

Alas, if this movie was meant to convey the fact that people do make mistakes, but that they needn't have to suffer as a result, then Kamisama missed the mark by a few miles.

IF Masaki had truly repented, IF she had been honest with herself, and IF she learned from her mistake, changing her caustic and self-absorbed ways once and for all, I think this drama would have been more interesting and beneficial.
Unfortunately, it did none of these things.
It concentrated too much on her spoiled, willful side, and it tried to force me to take pity on her, which I refused and will always refuse to do with anyone who cannot see the forest for the trees.

Wake up and smell the damn coffee already!