Maison Ikkoku
Series Overview
Reviewed by:
Margaux Zion (July 12, 2002)
When I first heard about Maison Ikkoku, I thought to myself, "Well,
If it's by Rumiko Takahashi, it has GOT to be good."
Maison Ikkoku the animated series, spans 96 beautifully told episodes
based on the manga of the same name by world-renowned manga-ka Rumiko
Takahashi.
The main players include:
Yusaku Godai (Main character, hopeless ronin, room 5)
Kyoko Otonashi "Kanrinrin-san" (Beautiful new apartment manager, recently
widowed)
Yotsuya (Godai's mysterious neighbor, heavy partier with other residents
of the Ikkoku-kan, room 4)
Shun Mitaka (Kyoko's tennis coach, "Mr. Right")
Mrs. Ichinose (Loud, obnoxious drinker, room 1)
Kentaro Ichinose (Ichinose's son, ashamed of his mother, room 1)
Akemi Roppongi (Gorgeous Cha Cha Maru coctail waitress, also drinks
heavily, room 6)
Other important characters:
Ibuki Yagami (Godai's student, obsessive stalker)
Master (Cha Cha Maru Owner)
Sakamoto (Godai's best friend)
Kozue Nanao (Overly affectionate friend of Godai)
Ba-Chan (Godai's grandmother)
Soichiro (Kyoko's husband's dog)
Soichiro Otonashi (Kyoko's deceased husband)
Asuna Kujo (Mitaka's arranged fiance)
Others:
The Chigusa family (Kyoko's parents, Tokyo business people)
The Godai family (Godai's parents, restaurant owners)
The Otonashi family (Kyoko's father in law, and niece)
The Yagami family (Yagami's parents, Mr. Yagami is the head of personnel
at a major Tokyo corporation)
Cabaret Manager
Pre-School staffers
Puppet Club members
Quick Summary:
Godai, room 5, falls hopelessly in love with his new apartment manager,
the recently widowed Kyoko Otonashi upon her arrival at the Ikkoku-kan.
Her mind is nowhere near the desire to ever be in love again, because
of the devistating loss she suffered. Her life revolves around her
love for her late husband and Maison Ikkoku. Kyoko eventually learns
to deal with the loss of her husband, and returns another's love despite
the disapproval of her family, and the teasing from her tennants.
Over the span of the five years that the series takes place, Godai
struggles with the burdens of becoming a man- dealing with his nosy
neighbors, going to college, finding a job, and fighing for the woman
he loves.
The big picture:
The series as a whole follows a very regular, seasonal schedule. The
viewer can usually tell when the episode aired just by the events
that are examined. Each "year" followes similar themes:
Winter- Godai looks for ANOTHER part time job to pay for a
nice gift for Kyoko. Usually is follwed up with a new year's episode
Spring- Kyoko visits Soichiro's grave with the Chigusas and the Otonashis,
Becomes distant from Godai
Summer- Usually involves some kind of fun trip and a Mitaka/ Godai
rivalry.
Fall- Godai runs into girl/friend problems
This cycle is of course filled in with various other obstacles for
Godai, for example running away from home, playing baseball with the
crew, getting drunk, battling Mitaka....
I thought that this cycle made the show as a series seem very episodic,
much like the way American cartoons are modeled. Most viewers should
be able to watch up to 70% of the episodes in random order, and still
understand the plot of the show.
then...
During the last 15-20 episodes, the fluff turns into more serious
relationship problems and misunderstandings for Kyoko/Godai. The sequence
of events is more important than ever, and the episodes seem more
like a movie broken up into 22 minute segments. In this period, there
is no more happy Christmas. Trust between characters is broken and
mended. There are several walk-ins that mislead the characters to
jealousy and pain. Towards the VERY end, time passes by more
quickly all together. Weeks and months pass by in a matter of scene
changes.
I expected more of a gradual struggle on the Godai/Kyoko relationship.
Their relationship is more of a head on collision then a gentle merge
and understanding. Done very well, I must say, but it could have been
a bit closer to the climax in the manga.
Perhaps there was a bit too much distraction during the climax. In
one episode, Kyoko catches Godai with Akemi in a love hotel. Of course
Akemi would never go to a love hotel with Godai! (He was bailing her
out after her date ran out on her, and was left with no money to pay
her bill) Kyoko jumped to conclusions, and I thought, "uhhh. Not ANOTHER
misunderstanding episode! How many times does Ichinose have to calm
Kyoko down!?"
Character Development:
Godai: Godai goes from wandering ronin to college student, to salaryman
applicant, to preschool headmaster, and further. Godai literally grows
up before our eyes. Now that I'm done with the series, I kind of miss
the days of 20 year old Ronin-Godai and that cute boyishness that
drew me into the series. Since he played that role during most of
the series, I'm more used to him running after and dreaming about
Kyoko than him actually being a mature late twenty something with
responsibility.
Kyoko: Kyoko, already two years older than Godai, is already a mature,
responsible adult. What captivates the audience is her fragile emotions,
and sensitivity to her suitors. Her ability to overcome hardship,
and accept love into her life once again is quite an achievement for
her.
Art:
I didn't catch the name of the character designer for the anime characters,
but I see alot of pre and post Maison character similarities in the
cast:
Ba-chan, Cherry, Cologne, Happosai, and Myouga (Maison Ikkoku, Urusei
Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha) all have that lip that Takahashi's
"old people" feature. They also have a very short stature.
Godai, Nanao, and Mitaka have hairstyles drawn almost exactly like
those of Ataru, Ranma, Ryouga, and Kuno (Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2,
Ranma 1/2, Ranma 1/2)
Girl-type Ranma (Ranma 1/2) looks strikingly like Akemi from Maison
Ikkoku. (When Ranma's hair is actually down for a costume or something).
Actually, I saw Ranma 1/2 before Maison Ikkoku, and as soon as I saw
Akemi, my mouth dropped to the floor in shock of the similarity. Except
for the physical difference in age between the two characters, they
are almost identical.
Which brings me to:
Hey! That guy reminds me of _______
A re-occuring pattern that I have found with the major Takahashi series
is that characters seem to resemble earlier personalities:
Mitaka is very much like "Mendou" from Urusei Yatsura, the serial
that preceeded Maison Ikkoku. From Mitaka and Mendou, later came "Kuno"
in Takahashi's Ranma 1/2.
Urusei Yatsura's "Lum" evolved into Ibuki Yagami, Godai's obsessive
admirer. Yagami then evolved into Ranma 1/2's Shampoo, Ukyou, or Kodachi.
I could definitely see an older Nabiki (Ranma 1/2) being very much
like Akemi.
Kasumi (Ranma 1/2) definitely sprung from Kyoko.
I'd recommend Maison Ikkoku to adults, and very mature teenagers.
Maison Ikkoku is a love story. Most kids would probably find it boring.
Final thought:
I absolutely loved Maison Ikkoku. I am a very devoted fan of Rumiko
Takahashi's works. Maison Ikkoku did the Rumic collection proud.
There are still things that I want to go into deeper. Also, there
are some very minor things that irked me. I didn't want to spoil anything,
so feel free to email me at MargauxZ@aol.com,
and we can talk about Maison Ikkoku more!!!
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