Characters
Kentaro Ichinose
Kentaro Ichinose is the jaded son of Mr. and Mrs. Ichinose of Room 1. He has faced many disappointments in life, and blames his parents for the majority of them.
In the beginning of the series, Kentaro is portrayed as your average bratty kid, but soon he develops and his reasoning is explored. At school he is laughed at because his parents are overweight and in the case of his mother, very loud. He doesn't go on long vacations during the summer, and is lucky if he even gets to spend an evening with his father more than once a week. All of this disappointment builds up and finally causes Kentaro to act out, and his chosen target is Godai....up to a point. When Godai calms down and finally gets accepted to college, he treats Kentaro with a bit more understanding and the two become more friendly towards each other. Of course, Kentaro is still able to recognize all of Godai's flaws, and would hate to think that they were alike in any way.
But the similarities between he and Godai do exist. Kentaro's develops a crush on Kyoko's neice Ikuko, and their relationship mirrors the early stages of Godai and Kyoko's courtship. Ikuko seems unconcerned with any attention he shows her, and Kentaro can never work up enough nerve to tell her how he feels. Kentaro's school-boy crush can, in many ways, stand in for the lustful, immature feelings that Yusaku has for Kyoko early in the series.
As the series progresses, Kentaro becomes a true voice of reason among the lunatics that live at Maison Ikkoku. On numerous occaisions Takahashi shows that this young boy is more mature than an entire house full of grown ups, with hilarious results. He gives up on acting out and becomes seriously jaded towards his parents. Where he once threatened to turn into a deliquent, he now requires his parents to blow into balloons to ensure they aren't intoxicated.
The Meaning Behind the Name - 一の瀬賢太郎
One of the most appropriate names in the series. "Kentaro" (賢太郎) is written with the kanji for "intelligence", "big", and "boy".
Voices:
Chika Sakamoto
Saffron Henderson & Sharon Alexander
Inheriting the role of Kentaro from Saffron Henderson, Sharon Alexander (pictured) has previously been heard as Tsubaki in Inuyasha, and Asaka Nogiku in Dokkoida!?