Getting Excited about Maison Ikkoku!

Within a few minutes of talking to me, I'm sure one trait is abundantly clear- I am a geek. I say this with pride and joy, because I have been into games, anime, manga, and a number of other geeky pastimes for many years. They have brought so much happiness to my life and introduced me to so many great friends, including my husband!

English cover of vol. 1

Recently, I've been extremely excited (once again) about my favorite manga series of all time, Maison Ikkoku. I'm a fan of pretty much everything Rumiko Takahashi has written, but Maison Ikkoku is my all-time favorite. It's a romantic comedy in Takahashi's usual style- slapstick, misunderstandings, and characters with quirks of every kind. But unlike her more famous works, such as Ranma 1/2 or InuYasha (also very good series that I love!), Maison Ikkoku is more a slice-of-life story, more down-to-earth and realistic. For me, slice-of-life + romantic comedy + slapstick + memorable characters = the best series I've ever read.

--WARNING: The blog post you are about to read was written by a passionate fan of the subject material and is very, VERY long.--

As much as I love the manga (and believe me, I LOVE that manga!), today's excitement actually stems from the anime. A few months ago, I started watching the Maison Ikkoku anime for the first time. It's very hard to find these days, so it's taken me quite a while to track down. It's been well worth the wait, though! (Just as a side note, I have been watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.)

The manga first started running in 1980, and the anime first started in 1986. The story is set in '80s Tokyo, and there is plenty of '80s fashion choices and, in the anime, music. I love retro stuff ('60s rock & roll is some of my favorite music), so I feel right at home in this series. The anime and manga sync up pretty well in terms of story, and Maison Ikkoku is actually the only one of Takahashi's manga-turned-anime stories that ends the same way in both the manga and anime. (It's also one of the shorter stories done by Takahashi, ending at 15 volumes, as opposed to Ranma 1/2 at 36 volumes in American and InuYahsa at a whopping 56 volumes.)

Godai and the other tenants meet Kyoko for the first time.

As for the plot (I'll try not to spoil anything!), it's about guy named Yusaku Godai who is trying to get into college. He's living in a run-down apartment house called Maison Ikkoku, where the other tenants tease him mercilessly about his miserable life and often make him even more miserable themselves. He's about to give up and move out of Ikkoku when a new manager moves in- the beautiful Kyoko Otonashi. Struck by her beauty, Godai decides to stay.

What can I say? I love Godai+Kyoko!

The rest of the story is a fairly typical Takahashi romantic comedy- the characters won't admit their true feelings, misunderstandings abound, somebody gets slapped, and everyone ends up closer for the experience. Some people (such as my husband) might find this dragged-out love story frustrating, but for me, that's the entire reason I keep coming back for more. (Even my husband is getting drawn into it as the series goes on!) With every episode, every moment, Godai and Kyoko get a little bit closer to understanding each other, and it's a beautiful thing to watch. And, of course, the slapstick comedy and constant interference by the rest of the cast is also just too funny not to laugh at!

One thing I especially love about this series is how realistic the characters are. Sure, at times they can be a little over-the-top, but there really aren't any "good guys" or "bad guys." They're all just people, trying to achieve their goals, sometimes getting in each other's way, sometimes laying aside their differences to try to understand another's viewpoint. It's a story about people living their lives- just the kind of thing I love.

Did I mention that the tenants of Ikkoku love to party?
Left to right: Mr. Yotsuya, Godai, Kyoko, Akemi,
Kentaro Ichinose, and Mrs. Ichinose.

Comparing the anime and the manga, I think the anime's greatest strength is the voices (in the Japanese version, anyway- I haven't seen the English dub). The studio that produced Maison Ikkoku got some of the best Japanese voice actors of the age to voice these characters, and it really shows. I especially think that they nailed Mrs. Ichinose's voice, with how hearty and boisterous it sounds. I also love the beautifully colored landscapes of Tokyo throughout the anime, which makes me miss my time in Japan** even more (another blog post for another day, I'm sure).

All in all, I am so excited about this anime right now. I loved reading Maison Ikkoku in print, and I'm loving it in its animated form as well. I love the characters and the story and everything about it! I'm getting so excited!!

**Although I know Japanese, I used the American translations and spellings throughout this blog post because I had not yet learned Japanese when I first encountered this series.