God, Please Give Me More Time!

(Kamisama Mousukoshi Dake)

Cast:
Kaneshiro Takeshi as Keigo Ishikawa
Kyoko Fukada as Masaki Kyouno.

Plot:

Many themes have been incorporated into this Japanese TV series, such as HIV, friendship, bullying, abortion, parentage and of course, love.

The story revolves around Masaki, a swoony 16-year-old high school student who is an avid fan of Keigo, a music producer. In order to get enough money to buy the tickets for his concert, Masaki engages in a night of sexual intercourse with a complete stranger.

After attending the concert, Masaki and Keigo met up by chance. Keigo bought Masaki to his home where he was entranced by her bubbly and naïve nature. After this one nightstand, Masaki left his house, having no regrets at all.

Three months later, Keigo came back from his music tour and chose to meet up with Masaki. However, Masaki at that time found herself HIV positive. And through here the story continues to unveil itself where Keigo and Masaki’s relationship continue to develop, from sympathy to friendship to love. Throughout this time, Keigo stayed by Masaki’s side, supporting her without truly understanding his underlying feelings for her and in the end, falling in love with her.

Themes:

Many themes are evident throughout this series and have thoroughly impressed me, as not many films are willing to touch on this subject, one of which is HIV. While most people tend to duck from this topic, this series managed to carry it out without problem, allowing viewers to experience the pain and confusion one goes through but it also shows how these people can still have a normal life despite these obstacles. However, not many view it this way as Masaki’s friends showed. They kept their distance when they heard of this news (though not directly from the person herself) and also made Masaki’s schooling as horrible as possible. However, upon hearing Masaki’s speech in the school hall, they embraced her and gave her the support and friendship she needed.

Although I’m not too fond about this sort of friendship where ‘friends’ disappear as soon as trouble appears, it’s good to know they still cared for their friend once knowing her position.

Parentage is also quite a poignant topic, displaying the ways Masaki’s parents acted towards the situation. Not only that but the relationship between the parents themselves. They may be a family but it did not carry that feeling in the beginning. The father only cared about his work and spent most of his hours in the office; the mother was the typical homemaker who was having an affair outside the house; and the younger brother was always buried in his studies. Throughout all this, Masaki was left to do whatever she pleased, including pubbing into the late of night. Upon realising the mother’s indiscretions, Masaki was devastated to learn she has no one reliable to rely on. However, her mother desperately tries to create a bond with her daughter. In the end, after learning Masaki is HIV positive, something that she has kept from her family for a long time, each individual member of the family reacted differently. The mother, maybe due to guilt, supported her daughter; her father was ashamed of this piece of news and won’t allow Masaki to go to school anymore; while her younger brother was cold and distant, perhaps now losing the role model he needed to look up on, and blamed all bad happenings on his sister. Nevertheless, as the plot progresses, the family comes together despite the mother and father having a divorce… although it’s for the better.

Characters:

Keigo Ishikawa is a handsome music producer who has become very famous and popular but he takes no joy in all of this. We learn it was because of his past that has kept him from opening up and showing his true emotions, hidden behind the cool, distant and non-caring exterior.

Having lost his wife a few years back, Keigo was still haunted by his past and it was only when Masaki came along did his life start to change… he actually started to care for someone. And although their relationship started off as a one-night stand, it progressed rather steadily.

He felt obligated to take care of this devastated little girl who needed him there all the way. This obligation turned into friendship and gradually became love when he realised that it wasn’t Masaki that needed him, but it was him that needed her. Thus, not only did he end up opening his heart despite the fact that history might repeat itself but Masaki also opened his eyes to the real world of music and how it can touch the people around him.

Masaki Ishikawa is your typical high school kid who would do anything just to see her favourite idol, including prostitution. Although Masaki was seen as a very naïve girl, she was one of the characters who underwent the biggest change of going through maturity.

After realising she was HIV positive, she went through the biggest nightmares possible, the fact that she might die earlier than anyone else, that she won’t have the chance to experience everything she wanted to do. When her friends turned her back on her and when her family started to break up, she felt lost and alone in a world she had never been to. And it was because of this reason that she was so let down when she learnt Keigo was not infected, she remained alone and the black sheep in everyone’s eyes.

Eventually, she learnt to make the most of what lies ahead and takes a even bigger step by stepping in front of her fellow school mates and made a moving speech about how she was infected with AIDS but she’s not going to be discouraged, she’ll make the most of her life. It was because of this optimism that led her to live for another three years and it was also because of her love for Keigo as well as her willingness was she able to live for so long. Her biggest decision came when she was pregnant with Keigo’s baby. While everyone, including her family and Keigo pushed her towards abortion, she wanted to keep the baby, thus she went through an internal struggle that eventually led to her keeping the baby.

Personal Opinion:

While at first, I wasn’t too thrilled with watching another one of these lame sad stories... OK, I lied, I’m a sucker for these sort of series ^^”. However there are many fault I would like to point out.

Firstly, I disagree with the whole prostitution act just for a concert ticket, it just makes it seem too desperate, especially when you end up with HIV. Secondly, the fact that Masaki and Keigo had sex later on in the series when Keigo knew he had a very very high chance of contracting HIV, the way he doesn’t seem to care just makes it unbelievable. Yes, of course, love is everything but he’ll have to consider the guilt that Masaki would have to carry if he did happen to become HIV positive.

Thirdly, Masaki’s decision to keep the baby when she knew that her baby also had a very high chance of contracting HIV also. Later on, she apologised in a video made especially for the baby, what’s the point then? She already knew in the beginning that if her baby happened to contract HIV, the baby would end up living a short life while always been looked upon as an inferior to others. But knowing these typical series, Keigo and the baby did not happen to be infected.

Lastly, isn’t there a procedure in the hospital whereas to let patients’ rest especially when they are in dangerous conditions? The doctors allowed Keigo to enter and leave as he wishes--let’s not forget how he keeps waking Masaki up after the baby was born. He needs to understand that giving birth to a baby while having such a frail body means more required sleep and rest, not waking the mother up at every single interval. Although I felt for him and knew he was suffering from his past experiences, the producers need to make it more realistic from another prospective.

OK, enough with the cons. ‘God, please give me more time’ is an extremely tear-jerking piece that just makes you fall in love as well as feel for the characters. Like I mentioned before, the themes in this series really impressed me; it also focuses on Masaki’s family life as well as her love life… you can defiantly tell how much Masaki has grown since the first episode. And while there are many crying and running and more crying, this series makes for an excellent piece if you are like me and enjoy watching sad stories. It’s also a complete bonus if you are fans of these two actors: Kaneshiro Takeshi and Kyoko Fukada. No doubt, this was the series which launched their career.