Ah, Maison Ikkoku, I’ve heard so much about you: Rumiko Takahashi’s famous romance manga; a story with a beginning, middle, and end; and nutty as a fruitcake.

You didn’t disappoint.

Maison Ikkoku follows the love story between Yusaku Godai and his landlady Kyoko Otonashi. The series starts off with Yusaku still cramming for college entrance exams and Kyoko just arriving in Maison Ikkoku to be the manager. The story continues for a few year’s worth where we eventually see the characters grow, move on, have fun, and enter into more goofy situations than a geek in a teen movie.

Unlike Rumiko’s other works, such as Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, and Inuyasha, Maison Ikkoku’s story remains grounded in reality. Despite the apparent zaniness of the situations, the conflicts and misunderstandings that arise in the series are realistic enough that we could see them happening to people we know. They arise from miscommunication, wrong timing, wishy-washy attitudes…

…which basically leads us to the characters. In the series, you’ll meet a crowd of eccentrics ranging from Mrs. Ichinose, the nosy neighbor who’s surprisingly reliable at times, to Mr. Yotsuya, the peeping tom whom nobody knows anything about–even his first name. Like in any good romantic comedy, Kyoko and Yusaku are not without their requisite other angles. For Kyoko, it’s the dashing tennis coach Shun Mitaka of the Blinding White Teeth, who is chronically afraid of dogs. For Yusaku, it’s the ever-present not-girlfriend Nanao, the lone reason why I have a love-hate relationship with Yusaku. I mean, how could he lead the girl on like that? But I digress.

The characters are the best part of the series. Most of Maison Ikkoku’s humor and conflicts arise because of the eccentricities of the cast. Once you get to know something about the characters, you come to understand how they could get stuck in those types of situations and perpetual conflicts. Because of this, few things felt forced in the series. On the other hand, nor are the situations predictable either. Takahashi throws enough clever surprises along the way… keeping you laughing and reading.

Regarding the art, those used to Takahashi’s recent art style would have to tone down their expectations a bit. This is one of Takahashi’s earlier works and the art here is not as detailed as say Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha. This looks a bit dated. However, even in her early days, Takahashi’s art is still clean and expressive.

Viz Comics translation of the story is a good one. You might get a weird feeling of missing something in the first few comic volumes, though. That’s because Viz decided to skip a few episodes when they were making the comic. Nevertheless, I think the Lost Episodes are available now. They were last released as part of the Animerica Extra anthology book.

I haven’t seen the animated series yet, though. But if it’s as good as this manga, I don’t think it’d disappoint.

Individual Rating: Art: 8; Story: 8; Characters: 9

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2004 at 7:50 pm and is filed under Maison Ikkoku, Manga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.