Maison Ikkoku

Rui

Rui

Karamatsu Boy
Administrator
It is apparent that some people here are Maison Ikkoku fans, both new and old. I will try to avoid spoilers as I ramble.

I finished the anime series myself a few weeks ago (finally - had only been watching it since the mid 1990s!) and have to say it was well worth the journey. Importing those last R1 boxes was a nuisance with the switch to TRSI distribution but they look nice on my shelves. A long time ago I checked out some of the manga and will probably grab it all one day to compare properly. Takahashi addiction is a dangerous thing...

The slightly dated music in the series and the setting of relatively poor people living together in the Japan of a couple of decades ago gives the series an unusual, pleasant feeling. Despite the huge gap in years and culture the universal elements of love and friendship are just as relevant aren't dampened at all. There were even a few moments during the series I shed tears for the characters and for the parts of myself I recognised in them.

I appreciate also that it's a romantic anime (with a large dose of comedy) aimed at a slighter older audience than usual. Almost all of the characters are adults, avoiding most of the tired cliches and irritating soppiness this type of series often struggles with.

Yotsuya weirdly reminds me of my husband. I like him, Akemi and [Mrs] Ichinose most of all. During some of the side stories near the beginning their silliness was annoying but somewhere along the line I became quite attached.

The other day I was watching the rather less polished Nuku Nuku Dash and giggled when I noticed the throwaway characters on the romance TV show in a few scenes were calling one another Yuusaku and Kyouko.

This topic is an attempt to get the MI chitchat into one place so I can keep track of it for selfish reasons, and to draw in people who may have seen it but not realised it was being discussed in an off topic thread.

R
 
Now I'm a quarter of the way through I've started a review of the episodes I've watched so far. I'll link to it from here once it's done. ;)

I am enjoying it immensely. What I like most of all is (and I'm coming to see that this is Takahashi's biggest strength) that all the characters are very human. Godai has a very touching longing for Kyoko but can't help being lustful over her as well, as much as he seems to hate himself for it. Kyoko seems torn (much like Lum, actually) between wanting to be a lover to Godai but also being very protective and possesive of him more like a mother. This plays on the age difference, which is later revealed to be no more than two years, but the very different experiences they have had up to now (Godai as a ronin, Kyoko as a widow) make them seem at very different points in their lives.
 
The manga is the definitive version of Maison Ikkoku. It actually takes place over a longer period of time than the anime, which crammed a lot of events into its final year. Moreover, some anime episodes were adapted from lightweight manga stories that were 20 pages long and, in the process of stretching them over 25 minutes, were made somewhat annoying. Not only that, but the anime omitted a main character who appeared mid-way through the manga's run, and his running battles with Yotsuya - which, of course, Godai is reluctantly dragged into - are highly amusing.

Okay, I'm done with my "the manga is superior" spiel. For now. I'll post some thoughts about the anime later.
 
Rui said:
I finished the anime series myself a few weeks ago (finally - had only been watching it since the mid 1990s!)
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This is weird. I bought the first VHS in the mid/late 1990s -- £21 per tape from United Publications if I remember correctly! -- and for reasons I can't recall ended up stopping at the thirteenth volume. A few years later I picked up the first 5 DVD box sets as they were released. But it was only this year, after hearing that they were hard to come by, that I finally nabbed the final three boxes. I didn't actually finish the anime until a few months ago.

I love Maison Ikkoku for the same reason as Ayase: the characters are believeable and human. Kyoko is not only my favourite in the show, but one of my favourites in anime as a whole. She's a complex and deeply flawed individual, trapped between her past and the future; she's not willing to commit to either Godai or Mitaka, but she's quick to anger at any perceived indiscretion. She has the best of intentions but often acts irrationally - just like a real woman :p

I've never been a fan of the Belldandy-type "perfect girlfriend" so Kyoko was a breath of fresh air. Was she the proto-tsundere!?
 
I'm only familiar with the first opening and first two endings, but it's hard to see anything equal the combination of Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa and Ci-ne-ma. I love Konnichiwa's vocals and imagery - presumably those are Akemi Takada drawings - and the fact that they are high quality but hardly animated at all gives it a unique style. Interesting side note, I almost always prefer first openings, except in Gundam where I always prefer the second.

People often credit Kyoko with being one of the first female anime characters to be a real woman, and given that Takahashi was her creator that's not all that surprising. But what does surprise me is that she writes such good men too. I'll talk more about this in my review, but she seems possesed of an excellent knowledge of the differences between men and women on an emotional level - and how they create conflict and attachment.

Edited for spelling "animated as "aminated" :lol:
 
Favourite OP was the last - Hidamari. The character designs in the animation seemed completely different but it was still very appealing. I also associate it with the final storylines and the maturation of the series itself.

Favourite ending was Fantasy. An extremely eerie melody coupled with the mildly creepy visuals gave this a lot of impact somehow.

I genuinely love all of the themes though. Those two just have a slight edge ;)

R
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
Rui said:
I finished the anime series myself a few weeks ago (finally - had only been watching it since the mid 1990s!)
Click to expand...
This is weird. I bought the first VHS in the mid/late 1990s -- £21 per tape from United Publications if I remember correctly! -- and for reasons I can't recall ended up stopping at the thirteenth volume. A few years later I picked up the first 5 DVD box sets as they were released. But it was only this year, after hearing that they were hard to come by, that I finally nabbed the final three boxes. I didn't actually finish the anime until a few months ago.

I love Maison Ikkoku for the same reason as Ayase: the characters are believeable and human. Kyoko is not only my favourite in the show, but one of my favourites in anime as a whole. She's a complex and deeply flawed individual, trapped between her past and the future; she's not willing to commit to either Godai or Mitaka, but she's quick to anger at any perceived indiscretion. She has the best of intentions but often acts irrationally - just like a real woman :p

I've never been a fan of the Belldandy-type "perfect girlfriend" so Kyoko was a breath of fresh air. Was she the proto-tsundere!?
Click to expand...

You forgot to mention the toned down "intimate" scene in the anime as compared to the Manga. :oops:
 
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ayase said:
presumably those are Akemi Takada drawings
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Yuji Moriyama was the original character designer, so they might be his. Moriyama's designs are softer and cuter than Takada's, who took over from episode 26 or thereabouts. But whoever did them, it's easily my second favourite opening. It's definitely the most nostalgic.

Ark: The hotel love scene was also absent from the anime.
 
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fabricatedlunatic said:
ayase said:
presumably those are Akemi Takada drawings
Click to expand...
Yuji Moriyama was the original character designer, so they might be his. Moriyama's designs are softer and cuter than Takada's, who took over from episode 26 or thereabouts. But whoever did them, it's easily my second favourite opening. It's definitely the most nostalgic.

Ark: The hotel love scene was also absent from the anime.
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I know. That's part of what I meant. Poor Godai.
 
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There's also one other scene that didn't make the transition, my recollection of which is a bit sketchy.

It's either when Godai loses his job, or when he fails to secure one after graduating. Kyoko comforts him by telling him that Soichiro struggled as well, to which Godai angrily replies that he's not Soichiro. That was a powerful scene and, I think, it was missed.
 
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fabricatedlunatic said:
Yuji Moriyama was the original character designer, so they might be his. Moriyama's designs are softer and cuter than Takada's, who took over from episode 26 or thereabouts.
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I did not know that. They certainly have a very similar style (although I suppose they were both copying Takahashi's manga drawings).
 
I never realised animation direction had such a big effect on character design. Is that the result of working off each director's storyboards? I would have thought they would have had model sheets for the characters though...

Dokite Tsukasa I know from Dirty Pair, and you can really see the similarities - his Kyoko even looks like Yuri!
 
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