MAISON IKKOKU

is a manga by Rumiko Takahashi which ran in the manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1980 through 1987. ''Maison Ikkoku'' is a bitter-sweet comedic romance involving a group of madcap people who live in a boarding house in 80s Tokyo. The story focuses primarily on the blossoming relationship between Yusaku Godai—a poor student down on his luck—and Kyoko Otonashi, the young, recently-widowed boarding house manager. The manga has been translated into English and fifteen volumes spanning the series are available from Viz Communications.
The manga was adapted into a 96-episode TV anime series which ran on Fuji TV from March 26, 1986 to March 2, 1988. The anime included some story arcs not covered in the manga, and is notable for being the only one of Rumiko Takahashi's four long-running series wherein the television series ending corresponds to the manga ending. A ''Final Chapter'' movie, three OVAs (one original story and two summaries), and a music special were also produced.
The relationship between Godai and Kyoko was meant to be resolved a lot sooner, therefore, having later stories focus on the other tenants, but the former was more popular.[1]
A live action movie was also made by Toei in 1986, though it deviates strongly from the story in the manga and anime. A short TV Drama aired in May 2007 on TV Asahi starring Misaki Ito as Kyoko. A young man named Taiki Nakabayashi has won the role of Godai.

Contents

Characters

Anime License

Media

Anime staff

Anime theme songs

Opening

Ending

List of Maison Ikkoku episodes

Live action movie

Staff

Cast

TV Drama

Cast

Staff

Production

External links

Characters

Main articles: List of Maison Ikkoku characters

All of the tenants' names involve a pun on the character's room number. With the exception of Mr. Yotsuya, main characters tend to refer to and address each other informally with their given names; however Yusaku, while usually referring to her by her given name, almost always addresses Kyoko with her job title of "manager."

Anime License

''Maison Ikkoku'' licenced in North America by VIZ Media in 1994, and was put on 2-episode VHS dub releases, but Viz dropped the English dub after 36 episodes. The remaining sub-only VHS releases went on until volume 32, without finishing off the series. In 2002, the series was given a second chance, and re-established the English dub with a partial new voice cast, released in its entirety on DVD.

Media

Main articles: List of Maison Ikkoku media

Anime staff

★ Executive producer: Hidenori Taga

★ Planning: Tadashi Oka -> absence (Fuji TV), Shigekazu Ochiai (Kitty Films)

★ Chief director: Kazuo Yamazaki -> Takashi Annō -> Naoyuki Yoshinaga

★ Assistant director: Naoyuki Yoshinaga -> absence

★ Series organizer: Tokio Tsuchiya -> Kazunori Itō -> Hideo Takayashiki

★ Music: Takuo Sugiyama (ep.1-26, 38-96), Kenji Kawai (ep. 27-96)

★ Color coordinator: Michiyo Yasuda (ep.27-52)

★ Character designer: Yuji Moriyama -> Akemi Takada

★ Art director: Chitose Asakura

★ Director of photography: Tsugio Ozawa

★ Sound director: Shigeharu Shiba

★ Sound effects: Yasufumi Yoda

★ Sound production: Omnibus Promotion

★ Animation directors: Yuji Moriyama, Akemi Takada, Masaaki Kanan, Keiko Hattori, Ryūnosuke Otonashi (Naohito Takahashi), Tsukasa Dokite, Atsuko Nakajima, Kiichi Takaoka, Hiroshi Ogawa, Keizō Shimizu, Junji Suzuki

★ Producers: Yōko Matsushita (Kitty Film), Makoto Kubo (Studio Deen), Yūko Katō -> Yoshinobu Nakao and Kenichi Kawano (Fuji TV)

★ Animation Production: Studio Deen

★ Produced by Kitty Films and Fuji TV

Anime theme songs

All of the opening and ending theme songs are contained in the ''Maison Ikkoku CD Single Memorial File'' box set.

Opening

★ ''Kanashimi yo Konnichi wa'' (Yuki Saitō, ep.1-23, 25-37)

★ ''Alone Again (Naturally)'' (Gilbert O'Sullivan, ep.24)

★ ''Suki sa'' (Anzen Chitai, ep.38-52)

★ ''Sunny Shining Morning'' (Kiyonori Matsuo, ep.53-76)

★ ''Hi Damari'' (Kōzō Murashita, ep.77-96)

Ending

★ ''Ashita Hareru ka'' (Takao Kisugi, ep.1-14)

★ ''Ci · ne · ma'' (Picasso, ep.15-23, 25-33)

★ ''Get Down'' (Gilbert O'Sullivan, ep.24)

★ ''Fantasy'' (Picasso, ep.34-52)

★ ''Sayonara no Sobyō'' (Picasso, ep.53-76)

★ ''Begin the Night'' (Picasso, ep.77-96)

List of Maison Ikkoku episodes

Main articles: List of Maison Ikkoku episodes

Live action movie

Staff

★ Release date: October 10, 1986

★ Distributor: Toei

★ Director: Shinichirō Sawai

★ Music: Joe Hisaishi

Cast

★ Kyōko Otonashi: Morie Ishihara

★ Yūsaku Godai: Ken Ishiguro

★ Yotsuya: Masatō Ibu

★ Akemi Roppongi: Yoshiko Miyazaki

★ Hanae Ichinose: Yumiko Fujita

★ Kozue Nanao: Michiko Kawai

★ Chachamaru Master: Hiroshi Fukami

★ Kentarō Ichinose: Katsuma Nakagaki

★ Also featuring: Kunie Tanaka, Hisako Manda, Ichirō Arishima, Hideji Ōtaki

TV Drama

Cast

★ Kyoko Otonashi - Misaki Ito

★ Yuusaku Godai - Taiki Nakabayashi

★ Hanae Ichinose - Kayoko Kishimoto

★ Yotsuya - Ittoku Kishibe

★ Akemi Roppongi - Yumiko Takahashi

★ Shun Mitaka - Ikki Sawamura

★ Grandfather Otonashi - Toshiyuki Hosokawa

★ Sakamoto - Ryo Hashizume

★ Kozue Nanao - Nana Eikura

★ Yukari Godai - Ei Morisaka

★ Cha-Cha Maru Master - Shingo Yanagisawa

Staff

★ Airing Time: Scheduled to begin May 12, 2007

★ Broadcaster: TV Asahi

★ Screenplay - Yoshikazu Okada

★ Producer - Seiko Uchiyama

★ Director - Katsuhide Motoki

★ Music - Yoshikazu Suo

Production

★ Tohokushinsha Film Corporation

★ Shogakukan ・ Big Comic Spirits

★ TV Asahi

External links

'Official sites'

★ Maison Ikkoku Manga Product Page at Viz.com

★ TV Asahi TV drama site
'Fansites and reviews'

★ Maison Ikkoku Database

★ Life at Maison Ikkoku

★ Rumiko No Sekai's Maison Ikkoku Section

★ Kyoko Otonashi Shrine

★ TV.com Episode Guide