LUNA SEA - 「I For You」 Theme Song for 『神様、もう少しだけ』/Kami Sama Mou Sukoshi Dake

Image courtesy of http://seesaa.jp

One of my all-time favorite J-Dorama's is Fuji TV's sentimental 1998 series  『神様、もう少しだけ』 which starred two popular rising stars at the time - the perky 深田恭子/Fukada Kyoko and hunky Taiwanese born, 金城武/Kaneshiro Takeshi. The story (penned by popular screenwriter 浅野妙子/Asano Taeko who also wrote the screenplays for the love/romance drama 『ラブジェネレーション』/"Love Generation" (1997) and the darker drama 『Age,35 恋しくて』/"Age 35 Koshite" (1994) as well as the movie adaptation for Yazawa Ai's cult manga 『ナナ』/NANA (2005)) was a bold departure from the familiar teen romance dramas of the time in that it had a bit of an unconventional plot where its heroine, 17 year-old heroine 叶野真生/Kano Masaki is infected with the HIV virus after engaging in her first 援助交際/enjou kosai experience to pay for concert tickets to see her life-long crush and favorite celebrity, the handsome 27 year old, song-writer and musicial wunderkind 石川啓吾/Nishikawa Keigo (possibly loosely based off of Komuro Tetsuya).

"I For You" - Masaki (Fukada Kyoko) and Keigo (Kaneshiro Takeshi)

After the concert, as Keigo is heading back to his condo, Masaki runs after his SUV in the hopes of catching his eye. In the pouring rain, she unveils her hand-painted banner displaying the words “I Love Keigo” to express her love for him. The normally aloof and reclusive Keigo is so touched by this heartfelt display of emotion and that he invites her to his condo to dry off and talk. Thus begins one of J-Dorama’s most touching and melodramatic series of the 90s. In subsequent episodes, as we see the love blossom between the two kindred souls, a number of trying obstacles are encountered which tests their resolve.

Keigo is still haunted by a previous doomed relationship in which his high school sweetheart, Takimura Lisa (portrayed by the ethereal (宮沢りえ/Miyazawa Rie) died while trying to give birth to their child (the child also dies).  At the same time Lisa’s sister, the pop singer “Kaoru” (仲間由紀恵/Nakama Yukie with 80s pop idol 工藤静香/Kudo Shizuka providing the singing voice work) secretly longs for Keigo and becomes insanely jealous of Keigo's growing affection for Masaki and tries her best to manipulate events to prevent Keigo from being near Masaki (in one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the series Kaoru lies to Masaki that Keigo has broken off their romance and has left Japan for America  -- aggrevating Masaki's already weaken condition).

The drama earned huge ratings during its broadcast and went on to win Best Drama series at the "18th Japanese Television Drama Academy Awards" (1998).  Its stars Kaneshiro Takeshi and Fukada Kyoko also won awards and accolades for their portrayals.  While many viewers have lambasted the high level of melodrama in the series (Kaneshiro's constant running; Fukada's incessant crying), "Kamisama Mo Sukoshidake" is often regarded as one of the best Japanese Dramas of all time.

Heavenly Beauty Fukada Kyoko - Image courtesy of http://www.360hy.com/mingren/star.asp?id=989

Fukada Kyoko was only 17 years old when she started in this series and it was one of her first major roles.  Fukada later went on to become a major star, appearing in a number of other TV dramas including 『ストロベリー・オンザ・ショートケーキ 』/(SOS) "Strawberry on the Shortcake" (2001); 『ファイティングガール』/"Fighting Girl" (2001); 『おとうさん』/"Otousan" (2002) and 『TOKYOエアポート 』/"Tokyo Airport" (2012). Fukada also starred in a number of films as well including 『Ring  2』  (1999); 『Dolls』 (2002); the fan-favorite popular cult film 『下妻物語 』 AKA "Kamikaze Girls" (2004); Miike Takashi's  『ヤッターマン』/"Yatterman" (2009) and the soon to be released film 『Roomate』 (2013) with 北川景子/Kitagawa Keiko. Fukada would also try her hand at singing as well releasing a couple of albums including "Dear..." (2009), "Moon" (2000) and "Universe" (2001).

 

Model-Singer-Actor - Kaneshiro Takeshi AKA Jīnchéng Wǔ - Image courtesy of http://www.chachaba.com

Kaneshiro was already a well established TV/film star in Taiwan and Hong Kong before he appeared in "Kamisama Mo Sukoshidake" having appeared in a number of films such as 『ChungKing Express 』(1994), 『Downtown Torpedos 』(1997), 『China Dragon』(1995) and 『Fallen Angels』 (1995).  While Kaneshiro did appear a few other Japanese dramas including "Love 2000" (2000) and 『ゴールデンボウル』/"Golden Bowl" (2002) as well as films like 『Returner』(2002) and 『K:20 - Legend of the Mask 』 (2008), he primarily starred in Chinese films such as 『Red Cliff Part I』 (2008), 『Red Cliff Part II』 (2009), 『The Warlords』(2007) and 『Wu Xia』 (2011) among others.  An accomplished singer and musician Kaneshiro released a number of albums in Taiwan and China prior to his work as an actor. 

Image courtesy of http://musictea.org/music/lunasea/album1223

LUNA SEA's haunting and touching rock ballad "I For You" was the theme song for the series and it is one of my all-time favorite theme song.  It was there 11th Single and was one of the tracks from their debut album "SHINE". Written by LUNA SEA lead guitarist SUGIZO, it reached as far as No. 2 on the Oricon charts for the month of its release and won them a spot at NHK's 49th "Kouhaku" Program/『第49回NHK紅白歌合戦』.
 

  

 "Kamisama Mo Sukoshi Dake" is sometime over-the-top and very much melodramatic at times but its core love story has to be one of the most poignant and emotionally charged. The drama made stars of its young leads and went one to become one of the most beloved J-Doramas inspiring a number of similar dramas in the years that followed. LUNA SEA's "I For You" was a perfect fit for the tone of the drama and is easily their best hit.