Rick vs Maison Ikkoku

 

This month, I started reading Maison Ikkoku by Rumiko Takahashi. I had just finished reading all of her other(finished) works, so I figured I might as well finish with this one.

I heard a lot of good things about it: Namely that it's pretty much considered her magnum opus in the greater anime landscape. And yet I made it the last on my list.

I can tell you the reason, and it's kind of petty: I don't really do slice-of-life works. Okay, that's an exaggeration. I do like some such as Azumanga Daioh, but what I mean is that I just prefer watching more out there stuff like Ranma or Inuyasha, so this manga was definitely different.

Expectations:

Shown: Kyoko being jealous.

 

I really have high expections. I loved all of Takahashi's work so I'm not thinking I'm going to hate this.

Impressions:

I loved it, end of blog.

 

Godai will be a wonderful dad

Okay, I'm going to give you a little more than that. Maison Ikkoku is a really fun romantic-comedy. All the characters are memorable, even the one-offs!

Godai is a very real, flawed protagonist who is pretty relatable as a college student trying to move forward in life. He kinda reminds me of JD from Scrubs with his hilarious fantasies that end with him getting conked on the head.

I love Kyoko's personality, she does feel like a more realistic version of a lot of Takahashi's other female leads. It's interesting to see others basically call her and Godai out on their Will-they-won't-they relationship.

The thing about MI is that it does feel more down-to-earth and yet it also has as much wacky comedy as UY or Ranma.

At the same time, there's plenty of good heartwarming moments. One of my favorites is when Godai is talking to Kyoko with puppets, which was so. Cute.

The side characters were all really fun to watch, but I wouldn't lie, sometimes they can be annoying at the same time because the other tenants could be assholes to Godai. This is contrasted with characters like Kozue who I swear, she's so nice and sweet, I think even Takahashi was afraid she'd take Godai away from Kyoko.

 

I love Kozue so much...

 

That's the other thing that kinda irked me. Mitaka, the love rival for Godai, gets an alternate suitor with her own personaility, design and name and a whole arc to herself, while Kozue's other suitor… didn't even get a name. Like, Kozue at times felt like an afterthought! I may be biased because I loved Kozue that much, but you could've at least showed his face or something!

For the most part, I couldn't stop laughing at all the fun antics the characters went into and when it got sweet and heart warming, it got sweet and heartwarming.

So, I agree, Maison Ikkoku is great, it's funny, relatable, and sweet. Next time, I'm reading Rave Master.