The Seven Year Itch
By Dylan Acres
When I first published this site I don't think I could have possibly forseen that I would still be making updates to it seven years later.
But here I am, writing this article a few days late and prepping the latest additions to the site. It truly is a great time to be a fan of not only Maison Ikkoku, but Rumiko Takahashi in general. All of her series are running strong in the United States now, the Ranma 1/2 anime ended this past year, Urusei Yatsura's anime is halfway through with the movies finally hitting DVD this summer and Inuyasha is the most popular anime in the country right now, and the series is only a few weeks away from ending its very sucessful run in Japan.
Things on the manga front are going well too. Ranma 1/2 is chugging along smoothly, getting into the last third of its manga run and Inuyasha is doing just as well in its manga format as its animated companion is doing on television. On a personal note, the webmasters of Rumic World, my brother, Harley, Mason Proulx, and myself all played a significant part of finishing and publishing the translated edition of Urusei Yatsura online at Project ILM.
But this is the story of Maison Ikkoku, and as a series thats almost as old as I am, its attracting new fans in America at a more rapid pace than at any other time in its history. The anime has episodes that are being dubbed for the first time ever, showing Viz's commitment to the series on DVD, while the manga's re-release is bringing in new fans every month. Maison Ikkoku is finally receiving the attention it has always deserved as Americans are learning that a well-written love story is something that everyone wants to read about.
Dylan Acres is a psychologist and college professor. Maison Ikkoku has long been his favorite manga and he has written a number of articles on the series and Rumiko Takahashi including an analysis of the animation directors of Maison Ikkoku, Takahashi's love of the Hanshin Tigers and a cataloging of the color artwork of Rumiko Takahashi.
