Kamisama mousukoshi dake

I must admit, I first watched this out of a desire to gaze upon Takeshi Kaneshiro's sculpted loveliness ... but I was unwillingly impressed with, if not the drama itself, at least some of the issues it attempted to tackle. Let me just say that it is definitely a melodrama with a capital OH COME ON! ... but it didn't waste time trying to unnecessarily white-wash the heroine or overly dumb-down the issues it seemed determined to deal with. And let's face it, an HIV positive schoolgirl as the protagonist (who didn't conveniently contract the disease by means of a fated blood-transfusion)in a prime-time Japanese television drama is an edgy pick. Despite the fact that there was not one episode where Masaki wasn't crying, or Keigo wasn't running (or when Masaki didn't utter a weak "Keigo" as her dominant form of conversation) ... it was engaging. And yes ... the need to gaze upon TK's sculpted loveliness was indeed satisfied ... but the brain matter stepped up to bat as well. Not bad. Not bad at all.