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| めぞん一刻 (Mezon Ikkoku) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Written by | Rumiko Takahashi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by | Shogakukan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Magazine | Big Comic Spirits | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Original run | November 15, 1980 –April 20, 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Volumes | 15(List of volumes) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Maison Ikkoku (Japanese:めぞん一刻,Hepburn:Mezon Ikkoku; "Ikkoku House") is a Japanesemanga series written and illustrated byRumiko Takahashi. It was serialized inShogakukan'sseinen manga magazineBig Comic Spirits from November 1980 to April 1987, with the chapters collected in 15tankōbon volumes.Maison Ikkoku is aromantic 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 betweenYusaku Godai, a poor student down on his luck, andKyoko Otonashi, a young, recently widowed boarding house manager.
The manga was adapted into a 96-episodeanime television series created byStudio Deen that ran onFuji TV from March 1986 to March 1988. AFinal Chapter movie, threeoriginal video animations (OVAs), and a music special were also produced, with alive-action film made byToei in 1986. A live-action TV special aired in May 2007 onTV Asahi, with a finale aired in July 2008. Both the manga and anime have been released in North America byViz Media.
Maison Ikkoku has been both critically and commercially successful, withover 25 million copies in circulation.
The story mainly takes place at Maison Ikkoku (一刻館,Ikkoku-kan), a worn and agingboarding house in a fictionalTokyo ward called Tokeizaka (時計坂; "Clock Hill"), where 19-year-old college applicantYusaku 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, shamelessAkemi Roppongi and the Ichinose family, primarily the alcoholic, gossiping stay-at-home momHanae Ichinose. As he is about to move out, he is stopped at the door by the beautifulKyoko 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 coachShun 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 innocentKozue 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 studentIbuki 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 hisphobia 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 heiressAsuna 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 woman I love ... burns with jealousy, leaps to conclusions, and turns to ice. But when she laughs ... the world is mine.
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 alove 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.
Takahashi createdMaison 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 inNakano during college, there was another decrepit apartment behind it.[6] The strange actions of the people living there served as inspiration.[7]
It wasBig Comic Spirits's editor-in-chief Katsuya Shirai who recruited Takahashi for the newly-launchingseinen manga magazine.[8][9] Soichiro Suzuki, Takahashi's third editor onMaison Ikkoku beginning from the eighth or ninth chapter, explained that having a young up-and-coming female artist attracted much attention for the new magazine.[9] Suzuki also said that Takahashi went with theromantic comedy genre for the new series because of the magazine's older reader demographic, but noted it still had the gag-like feel ofUrusei Yatsura in the beginning.[9] According to both Shirai and Suzuki,Maison Ikkoku was popular right from the start.[8][9]
Takahashi createdMaison Ikkoku simultaneously alongside the weeklyUrusei Yatsura. The newer manga's frequency changed asBig Comic Spirits's did; it began as a monthly magazine, switched to bimonthly after six months, and became a weekly publication in 1986.[9] In an interview during its serialization, Takahashi stated she usually took two days to create the story and draw rough drafts, and then took one night to finish them.[6] At the time she had three female assistants, refusing to have males so that they would not be distracted.[7] According to Suzuki, this increased to five assistants when it became a weekly serial.[9] The series' title utilizes theFrench wordmaison ("house") and translates to "The House of One-Moment". The story occurs over a six-year period, approximate to the publication period of the series.[10]
Written and illustrated byRumiko Takahashi,Maison Ikkoku was serialized in theseinen manga magazineBig Comic Spirits as 162 chapters between November 15, 1980,[11] and April 20, 1987.[12] The chapters were collected and published in 15tankōbon volumes byShogakukan from May 1, 1982,[13] to July 1, 1987.[14] The series has since been re-released in several different editions. A 10 volumewide-ban edition was released between September 1, 1992, and June 1, 1993,[15][16] 10bunkoban from 1996 to 1997,[17] and 15shinsōban throughout 2007.[18]
North American publisherViz Media originally released the series, adapted into English byGerard Jones,[19] in a monthlycomic book format from June 1993.[20] This release was collected in 14 graphic novels.[21] The images were "flipped" to read left-to-right, causing the art to be mirrored, and some chapters were out of order or completely missing. Four of the five missing chapters were published inAnimerica Extra Vol. 3 Number 1 and Vol. 3 Number 2.[22] Viz later re-released the series in its original format and chapter order across 15 volumes. These were released between September 24, 2003, and February 14, 2006.[23][24] AtNew York Comic Con 2019, Viz announced that they would releaseMaison Ikkoku in a collector's edition, with the first volume released on September 15, 2020, and the tenth and last on December 27, 2022.[25][26]
A radio drama was broadcast on November 20, 1982, onNHK Radio 1 as part of an episode of the "Radio Comics" program. The segment was hosted byYū Mizushima andKeiko Yokozawa, and featured manga artist Jun Ishiko as a guest. It also included an interview withRumiko Takahashi by Mizushima. The music for the episode was composed byIchirou Mizuki. It featuredMari Okamoto as Kyoko,Kazuhiko Inoue as Godai,Midori Katō as Hanae Ichinose,Yusaku Yara as Yotsuya,Eiko Hisamura as Akemi, and was narrated byJunpei Takiguchi.
Maison Ikkoku was adapted into a ninety-six episodeanime television series byStudio Deen and aired onFuji TV from March 26, 1986, to March 2, 1988. The series was directed by Kazuo Yamazaki for the first 26 episodes, Takashi Anno from episode 27 until 52 and Naoyuki Yoshinaga for the remainder of the series.[27] The production staff had previously worked on the anime adaption of Takahashi's previous work,Urusei Yatsura. After production of that series was completed, the team moved straight ontoMaison Ikkoku and the series took overUrusei Yatsura's timeslot.[28] A new HD remaster of the series has been created and released on twoBlu-ray boxsets in Japan. The first box was released on December 25, 2013, and the second box followed on April 23, 2014.[29][30]
An animated theatrical film titledThe Final Chapter was released on February 6, 1988, as a double feature withUrusei Yatsura Movie 5: The Final Chapter. On September 25, 1988, anoriginal video animationThrough the Passing Seasons that summarizes the story was released. A video titledKaraoke Music Parade and collecting all the TV anime's opening and ending animations was released in November 1989.Shipwrecked on Ikkoku Island was released on January 31, 1991, and adapts a story of the manga, whilePrelude Maison Ikkoku: When the Cherry Blossoms Return in the Spring utilizes all the flashbacks of Kyoko's life before she moved to Maison Ikkoku and was released on June 25, 1992.[31]
The anime was licensed for a North American release byViz Media in 1994, and was put on two-episodeVHS dub releases, but Viz dropped the English dub after 36 episodes. The remaining subtitled-only VHS releases went on until volume 32, without finishing the series. Viz released the series as 8 DVD boxsets from June 1, 2003, until June 4, 2006, with the latter episodes newly dubbed.[32][33] In the newer episodes, Godai was given a new voice actor, asJason Gray-Stanford was replaced byBrad Swaile. Other characters such as Kozue and Ikuko were also recast.
A live-action film adaptation ofMaison Ikkoku was released on October 10, 1986, by theToei Company.[34] Directed byShinichirō Sawai and written by Yōzō Tanaka, the movie stars Mariko Ishihara as Kyoko Otonashi,Ken Ishiguro as Yusaku Godai andMasatō Ibu as Yotsuya.
A live-action TV special premiered onTV Asahi on May 12, 2007. It stars Taiki Nakabayashi as Yusaku andMisaki Ito as Kyoko.[35] A finale to the show was aired on July 26, 2008, under the titleMaison Ikkoku Kanketsuhen and featuringAkina Minami as Kozue Nanao andIkki Sawamura as Shun Mitaka.[36]
Beginning in 1986, various collections of theme songs, incidental music, character albums, and music calendars were released onLP,cassette,CD, andVHS. Most of the albums were released throughKitty Records. AMaison Ikkoku Sound Theater series of 48 discs released the full soundtracks of all 96 episodes as audio dramas. An additionSound Theater release contained audio from theSide Story: Ikkoku Island Flirtation Story andPrelude, When the Cherry Blossoms Return in the SpringOVAs.
Two box sets,Maison Ikkoku CD Single Memorial File andMaison Ikkoku Complete Music Box, collected all of the theme songs and incidental music from the animated series.
A couple video games based onMaison Ikkoku have been released, the first beingMaison Ikkoku: Omoide no Photograph (めぞん一刻 ～想いでのフォトグラフ～) developed byMicrocabin, which was originally released in 1986 for thePC-9801 andPC Engine before being ported to theFamicom in 1988 byBothtec. Microcabin also createdMaison Ikkoku Kanketsuhen: Sayonara, Soshite... (めぞん一刻完結篇 ～さよなら、そして……～) in 1988 for the PC-9801 andMSX2. Threepachislot video games were also released in 2006, 2009 and 2012.
The series was featured in the music video"I'm Alive" of the American singer-songwriterNorah Jones, released in October 2020. The series was chosen due to the similarities of the female figure of the lyrics of the song to Kyoko Otonashi.[37]
Maison Ikkoku has over 25 million collected volumes in circulation.[38] In 2002, Christopher Macdonald, co-editor-in-chief ofAnime 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 howMaison 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 likeRanma ½.[40]
Jason Thompson claimed that whileMaison Ikkoku was not the first men'slove-com, it is "almost certainly the best" and definitely Takahashi's best work.[41] He also stated that because the main character is a university student,Maison Ikkoku is "slightly more sophisticated" compared toKimagure Orange Road.[42] Anime News Network (ANN) gave the manga an "A" for its story and an "A−" for its art, stating that the series shows off Takahashi's skill; "with a clear cut and rather simple plot, she is able to concentrate on the characters, using them to drive the story, while at the same time ensuring the proper reader reaction intended for each scene." They remarked that the story focuses on Yusaku and Kyoko's relationship, with the other characters used only "to create conflicts, exposition, and comedic relief."[43]
Commenting on the 2020 English release of the manga, Daryl Surat ofOtaku USA wrote "After decades ofMaison Ikkoku derivatives, the original hit manga remains as delightful as it was back in the 1980s." He also noted that unlike "every other will-they-won't-they Rumiko Takahashi romantic comedy", this one actually has an ending.[44] Caitlin Moore of ANN calledMaison Ikkoku "timeless and universal" and the most grounded and straightforward romance in Takahashi's oeuvre, where, although it is clear from the start who the main couple is and that they will fall in love by the end, it is not clear how that will happen. With Kyoko a widow, she called the manga one of the best portrayals of the slow and messy nature of the grieving process. Although she noted the art as dated, Moore felt it still holds up well with its simple but expressive designs, and that the suburban Tokyo setting gives a timeless feeling. Calling Viz's older translation "punchy, but not super faithful", she called the new one a good balance between faithful to the Japanese and natural-reading English. Moore finished her review with "I have long consideredMaison Ikkoku one of the greatest love stories of all time, but it's so much more than that. It's a romance, a comedy, a coming-of-age story, a story of loss and recovery."[1]Right Stuf Inc. calledMaison Ikkoku a classic rom-com that has many of the strengths of modernsitcoms and praised the back-and-forth between characters as always hilarious and the romance between Godai and Kyoko as both nuanced and sweet. They described the art as giving the characters "a comedic whimsy", and opined that "good art is never dated, because good art is timeless."[45]
ANN's Allen Divers wrote positive reviews of the anime, saying "The beauty ofMaison Ikkoku is the fact that the entire cast feels dynamic enough that each could be the center of an episode without pulling away from the main idea of the series." and called it a must-see for fans of romantic comedies.[46] Melissa Sternenberg of THEM Anime Reviews gave the show a perfect five star rating, calling the development between the two main characters refreshing and praising the supporting cast for reacting to what happens around them. Although she did point out the music and sound effects might seem dated. She finished saying "There may never be 'the greatest anime series of all time,' but I would bet a good amount of money that this series would be on most (respected) anime viewers' top five lists."[47]TV Asahi released two Top 100 Anime lists in 2005;Maison Ikkoku came in 80 on the nationwide survey of multiple age-groups, and 89 on the web poll.[48][49] A 2019NHK poll of 210,061 people sawMaison Ikkoku named Takahashi's third best animated work.[50]
I have long consideredMaison Ikkoku one of the greatest love stories of all time, but it's so much more than that. It's a romance, a comedy, a coming-of-age story, a story of loss and recovery.
MAISON IKKOKU, a romantic comedy from famed manga artist Rumiko Takahashi
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