Maison Ikkoku (めぞん一刻) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from November 1980 to April 1987, with the chapters collected in 15 volumes. Maison Ikkoku is a romantic comedy involving a group of eccentric people who live in a boarding house in 1980s Tokyo. The story focuses primarily on the gradually developing relationships between Yusaku Godai, a poor student down on his luck, and Kyoko Otonashi, a young, recently widowed boarding house manager.
The manga was adapted into a 96-episode anime television series created by Studio Deen that ran on Fuji TV from March 1986 to March 1988. A Final Chapter movie, three original video animations (OVAs), and a music special were also produced, with a live-action film made by Toei in 1986. A live-action TV special aired in May 2007 on TV Asahi, with a finale aired in July 2008. Both the manga and anime have been released in North America by Viz Media.
Maison Ikkoku has been both critically and commercially successful, with over 25 million copies in circulation.
Plot
The story mainly takes place at Maison Ikkoku (一刻館), a worn and aging boarding house in a fictional Tokyo ward called Tokeizaka (時計坂), where 19-year-old college applicant Yusaku Godai lives. Though honest and good-natured, he is weak-willed and often taken advantage of by the other residents of Maison Ikkoku, each with their offbeat and mischievous personalities: Yotsuya the voyeur, shameless Akemi Roppongi and the Ichinose family, primarily the alcoholic, gossiping stay-at-home mom Hanae Ichinose. As he is about to move out, he is stopped at the door by the beautiful Kyoko Otonashi (née Chigusa), who announces she will be taking over as the resident manager. Godai immediately falls in love with her and decides to stay. Godai and the other tenants find out that despite her young age, Kyoko is a widow: after she married her high school teacher Soichiro, he died shortly thereafter. Godai empathizes with Kyoko and endeavors to free her from her sadness. He manages to work up enough courage to confess his love to her, and just as their nascent relationship begins to develop, Kyoko meets the rich, handsome and charming tennis coach Shun Mitaka at her neighborhood tennis club. Mitaka quickly declares his intention to court Kyoko and states that he is very patient, and can wait until her heart is ready.
Godai, not willing to give up, continues to chase Kyoko, but through a series of misunderstandings, he is seen by Kyoko and Mitaka walking with the cute and innocent Kozue Nanao, who he had met previously at one of his many part-time jobs. For the rest of the series, Kozue is mistakenly perceived as Godai's girlfriend, including by Kozue herself. Angered by this, Kyoko begins to openly date Mitaka. Despite the misunderstandings, Kyoko and Godai clearly have feelings for each other, and their relationship continues to grow over the course of the series. Godai eventually manages to get into college and, with the help of the Otonashi family, he begins student-teaching at Kyoko's old high school. Almost mirroring Kyoko's first romance, Godai catches the attention of precocious and brazen student Ibuki Yagami, who immediately begins pursuing him. Her outspoken approach stands in stark contrast to Kyoko, which helps Kyoko face her feelings for Godai.
Meanwhile, Mitaka's endeavors have been hindered by his phobia of dogs, as Kyoko owns a large white dog named Soichiro in honor of her late husband. He eventually overcomes his phobia but, when he is about to propose to Kyoko, his family begins to goad him into an arranged marriage with the pure and innocent heiress Asuna Kujo. Feeling the pressure, Mitaka begins to pursue Kyoko with increased aggression. He slowly realizes that she has decided on Godai and is waiting for him to find a job and propose. Mitaka is completely pulled out of the race following a drunken night, after which he misremembers sleeping with Asuna. When she later announces a pregnancy, he takes responsibility and proposes to Asuna, but finds out too late that it was her dog who was pregnant and not her; however he fully realizes that he has loved her since their first meeting and promises to never make her feel second-best in their marriage.
As things begin to really go well for Godai, Kozue Nanao makes a reappearance in his life. Kozue tells Godai and the other Maison Ikkoku tenants that she is thinking of marrying another man, and when Godai said he is planning his own proposal, Kozue misunderstands and believes he intends to propose to her. Kyoko, feeling foolish and betrayed, slaps Godai and demands that he move out. When Godai refuses, he wakes up the next morning to find she has left, moving in with her parents and leaving her room empty. Godai tries to explain himself by visiting Kyoko every day, but she refuses to answer the door or grant him an audience. After her rage cools, Kyoko checks on Maison Ikkoku and runs into the other tenants. They try to convince her to return.
The libertine Akemi, sensing that Kyoko is still hesitant, threatens to seduce Godai if Kyoko does not want him. She later tells the other tenants that she only said that to threaten Kyoko into coming back. However, this backfires when Kozue sees Godai leaving a love hotel with Akemi; innocently, he was called there only to cover the room fees. Before she learns the truth, Kozue accepts the marriage proposal from the other man. As Kyoko is about to return to Maison Ikkoku, she learns about the love hotel incident that has ended Godai's relationship with Kozue, but assumes he slept with Akemi. Kyoko insults Godai, tells him that she hates him, and runs away. Godai follows her, pleading that she does not trust him and that, despite the many misunderstandings he has had with other women, she never considered Godai's feelings. He passionately declares that he loves only her: from the first moment he saw Kyoko, she has been the only woman in his eyes. Kyoko finally decides to no longer hold back her feelings for Godai and the two consummate their love; the following morning, she happily confesses that she has been in love with him for the longest time. Having cleared his last barrier after securing a teaching job, Godai proposes to Kyoko and, with the blessings of both families, they get married. The story ends as Godai and Kyoko arrive home with their newborn daughter, Haruka, and Kyoko tells her that Maison Ikkoku is the place where they first met.
Production
Takahashi created Maison Ikkoku as a love story that could occur in the real world.[4] She originally only wanted to start the series focusing on Kyoko and Godai's relationship before moving on to include the other tenants to have a "human drama", but said the love story attracted her more and took over.[5] She had wanted to create a story about an apartment complex for some time, as when she lived in an apartment in Nakano during college, there was another decrepit apartment behind it.[6] The strange actions of the people living there served as inspiration.[7]
It was Big Comic Spirits's editor-in-chief Katsuya Shirai who recruited Takahashi for the newly-launching manga magazine.[8][9]
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi, Maison Ikkoku was serialized in the manga magazine Big Comic Spirits as 162 chapters between November 15, 1980,[11] and April 20, 1987.[12] The chapters were collected and published in 15 volumes by Shogakukan from May 1, 1982,[13] to July 1, 1987.[14] The series has since been re-released in several different editions. A 10 volume edition was released between September 1, 1992, and June 1, 1993,[15][16]
Reception
Maison Ikkoku has over 25 million collected volumes in circulation.[38] In 2002, Christopher Macdonald, co-editor-in-chief of Anime News Network, wrote that while far from her most popular, Maison Ikkoku is considered by many to be Rumiko Takahashi's best work. Although all her titles have a romantic angle, he said that with its lack of supernatural elements or aliens, Maison Ikkoku's simple premise of a university student who falls in love with his landlady is mundane in comparison, but it is this excellently crafted romantic story that makes it her greatest work. Macdonald wrote that what it does have in common with most of Takahashi's other works is "absolute, unadulterated hilarity", but this differs still in that it features hilarious situations that actually happen in the real world.[39] Like Macdonald, Comics Beat's Morgana Santilli noted how Maison Ikkoku is an anomaly in Takahashi's bibliography as it contains no fantasy or magical elements, but does include her signature wacky romcom hijinks of "jealous would-be lovers, plenty of pratfalls, and needlessly complicated misunderstandings", which makes it just as charming and fun as more popular works like Ranma ½.[40]
Jason Thompson claimed that while Maison Ikkoku was not the first men's
External links
- Maison Ikkoku at Viz Media
References
- Caitlin Moore. Maison Ikkoku Collector's Edition Volume 1 – Review Anime News Network, June 19, 2020, retrieved June 21, 2020^
- Viz Announces Two New Maison Ikkoku Boxed Sets Viz Media via Anime News Network, October 25, 2004, retrieved June 19, 2020^
- Serdar Yegulalp. Best Slice-Of-Life Anime