Maison Ikkoku

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maison Ikkoku
Original title め ぞ ん 一刻
transcription Mezon Ikkoku
genre Comedy , romance , drama
Manga
country JapanJapan Japan
author Rumiko Takahashi
publishing company Shogakukan
magazine Big comic spirits
First publication 1980-1987
expenditure 15th
Anime television series
Country of production JapanJapan Japan
original language Japanese
Year (s) 1986-1988
Studio Studio Deen
length 25 minutes
Episodes 96
Director Kazuo Yamazaki
Takashi Annō
Naoyuki Yoshinaga
music Kenji Kawai
Takao Sugiyama
First broadcast Mar 26, 1986 - March 2, 1988 on Fuji TV
synchronization
Movies
► Maison Ikkoku: Apartment Fantasy (real film) (1986)
► Maison Ikkoku: Kanket shoes (1988)

Maison Ikkoku ( Japanese め ぞ ん 一刻 , Mezon Ikkoku ) is a completed manga series by the Japanese illustrator Rumiko Takahashi ( Ranma ½ , Inu Yasha ). It's a slowly developing romantic comedy of the his own category . So the story is meant to appeal to young men in particular.

The manga was later filmed as an anime series for Japanese television. The Maison Ikkoku is an apartment house in which the people involved live. The story focuses on the student Yūsaku Godai and the caretaker Kyōko Otonashi.

action

The plot revolves around the everyday stories of the residents of the Maison Ikkoku apartment house. The main character is the young Yūsaku Godai, who wants to prepare for the entrance exam to study and is regularly disturbed by his neighbors. He falls in love with the young widowed caretaker Kyōko Otonashi, who, however, also has other admirers.

Characters

Yūsaku Godai ( 五代 裕 作 , Godai Yūsaku ) At the beginning of the story, Yūsaku Godai is a so-called Rōnin , a school leaver who has not yet passed the entrance exam for a university and tends to daydream. But he soon passes the entrance exam for the educational science faculty of a private university. In addition to studying, he works for a nightclub, among other things. After graduating, Godai decides against a career as a salaryman - that is, against that of an office worker in a well-known Japanese company - in order to be able to work as an educator in a kindergarten.

Godai has been in love with Kyōko since he first met her. While the other tenants in the Ikkoku think he is lazy and unreliable, Kyōko Otonashi is the only one in the tenement who supports him; this reinforces Godai's feelings for Kyōko. Nevertheless, Godai has a relationship with Kozue Nanao, but it remains purely platonic. In addition, the student Ibuki Yagami has been chasing him since he taught her as a trainee lawyer during his studies.

He lives in apartment 5 (go) .

Kyōko Otonashi ( 音 無 響 子 , Otonashi Kyōko ) The young, widowed caretaker of Maison Ikkoku. With Yūsaku Godai and Shun Mitaka, she has two admirers, but for a long time she cannot choose between them. One reason for this is her late husband, whom she fell in love with as a schoolgirl (he was her school teacher) and to whom she still feels obliged.

Kyōko also lives in the house and has the only apartment without a number (the second kanji of her family name can be read as zero).

Hanae Ichinose ( 一 の 瀬 花枝 , Ichinose Hanae ) A gossip who likes alcohol a little too often. She is married to a salaryman who is rarely home. She lives with him and her son Kentaro in apartment 1 (ichi) .
Kentarō Ichinose ( 一 の 瀬 賢 太郎 , Ichinose Kentarō ) A boy of elementary school age who wants to marry Kyōko when he is an adult himself and therefore does not leave Godai good. Later, however, he falls in love with Kyōko's niece Ikuko and sees Godai as a kind of big brother.
Nozomu Nikaidō ( 二階 堂 望 , Nikaidō Nozomu ) Only lives at Maison Ikkoku by chance; he was originally looking for Ritsukoku-kan , a better apartment building. Shortly after moving in, Nikaidō engages in a guerrilla war with Yotsuya.

He only appears in the manga and film, not in the television series. He lives in apartment 2 (ni) .

Shun Mitaka ( 三 鷹 瞬 , Mitaka Shun ) Tennis instructor and heartthrob. He is interested in Kyōko, but he is mortally afraid of dogs, which Godai shamelessly exploited with the help of Sōichirō-san. At the end of the series, however, he finally marries Asuna, a young lady suggested by his family, even if he doesn't like this choice very much at the beginning because of her seven beloved lap dogs.

Mitaka means "3 falcons".

Mr. Yotsuya ( 四 谷 , Yotsuya ) The direct neighbor of Godai. Apparently he has no job, seems a bit mysterious and loves to annoy Godai. He's also a voyeur who loves to watch Akemi - and occasionally Kyōko when she visits Akemi - through a hole in Godai's closet.

He lives in apartment 4 (Yotsuya means "four valleys"). His occupation and first name are never mentioned.

Outwardly, he is similar to the secret agent Sekoi from the manga miniseries Dust Spurt by Rumiko Takahashi.

Akemi Roppongi ( 六 本 木 朱 美 , Roppongi Akemi ) A drunk and frivolous young barmaid who mostly walks around the house in underwear. She works at the Cha-Cha Maru bar, whose boss ends up marrying her after a series of unhappy relationships.

She lives in apartment 6. Her family name Roppongi means "6 trees" and is also the name of an entertainment district in Tokyo .

Kozue Nanao ( 七 尾 こ ず え , Nanao Kozue ) Kozue is a happy girl and shortly after her introduction - more out of a misunderstanding - becomes Godai's friend. Godai treats her like a good friend, but has little romantic interest in her. Due to a different misunderstanding, she finally breaks off the relationship, although their friendship is ultimately not damaged, and at the end of the series she marries a colleague from the bank she works for.

Nanao means "7 fish".

Ibuki Yagami ( 八神 い ぶ き , Yagami Ibuki ) A 16-year-old student at the school where Godai worked as a substitute teacher for a while. Her infatuation with Godai reminds Kyōko of her to Sōichirō, who was also a substitute teacher at Kyōko's school. When Ibuki finally discovers that Kyōko is in love with Yūsaku, but refuses to admit this, she tries everything to further promote their relationship.

Yagami literally means "8 gods".

Asuna Kujō ( 九 条 明日 菜 , Kujō Asuna ) Asuna embodies the ideal of the classic Japanese woman with her restraint, friendliness and innocence. She was awarded to Shun Mitaka on a marriage arrangement. She is a dog lover and feels drawn to Mitaka because her dogs like him - which initially does not suit Mitaka because of his dog phobia. At the end of the series, however, the two get married and have several children together.

Kujō is the name of an influential noble family and includes the number 9 (ku) .

Mr. Sōichirō (dog) ( 惣 一郎 さ ん , Sōichirō-san ) A large white dog, originally called Shiro (white) , but he is called Sōichirō . It belongs to Kyōko, whom she regards as a living memento to her husband, since Sōichirō-san ran up to him.
Sōichirō (husband) ( 音 無 惣 一郎 , Otonashi Sōichirō ) Kyōko's husband who died very early. He used to be a teacher at Kyōko's school until the two fell in love and married; however, he died of a serious illness a few months after their marriage. Its appearance remains unknown due to various adverse circumstances; the viewer / reader never gets to see his face, which visibly reinforces Godai's complexes with regard to Kyōko. The name means the only husband .

title

The title of the series can be translated in several ways. It can represent the address of the action, the maison (apartment building) No. 1 Koku Street; but ikkoku can also be translated as “moment” or as an adjective as “stubborn” or “hot-blooded”.

Publications

Manga

Maison Ikkoku was published in Japan from November 1980 to April 1987 in the form of 163 individual chapters in the Shogakukan publishing house's Big Comic Spirits manga magazine . These individual chapters were summarized in a total of 15 anthologies from 1982 onwards. In 1992 a 10-volume wideban edition of the volumes was published, and in 1997 a 10-volume Bunkoban edition.

In German, the series was published entirely by Egmont Manga and Anime , using the wideban edition as a template. Tonkam published a French translation, Viz Media an English one in the US and Glénat a Spanish one. Sharp Point Press published the manga in Taiwan.

Anime

On the basis of the manga, an anime television series with 96 episodes was created from 1986 to 1988, which has some additional storylines. The production of Studio Deen was directed by Kazuo Yamazaki, Naoyuki Yoshinaga and Takashi Anno. Akemi Takada and Yuji Moriyama were responsible for the character design, and Chitose Asakura was the artistic director.

From March 26, 1986 the series was first broadcast by Fuji TV in Japan. Translations into English, Spanish, French, Italian and Chinese followed.

Later there was a final movie, three OVA episodes and a music special. Only the movie was released in German by Kazé .

At the beginning of 2013, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Shogakukan and the 35th work anniversary of Rumiko Takahashi, it was announced that the TV series in 2 boxes will be re-released on Blu-ray in Japan. The first box will be released on December 25, 2013.

OVAs and specials

The following OVAs and specials for the anime series have been released in Japan:

  • OVA: Sōshūhen Utusuri Yuku Kisetsu no Naka de ( 移 り ゆ く 季節 の 中 で ), published in Japan on September 25, 1988
  • OVA: Bangaihen Ikkoku-kō Nanpa Shimatsuki ( 番外 編 一刻 島 ナ ン パ 始末 記 ), published in Japan on January 31, 1991
  • OVA: Prelude Maison Ikkoku: Meguri Haru no Sakura no yō ni ... ( プ レ リ ュ ー ド め ぞ ん 一刻 ), published in Japan on June 25, 1992
  • Special: Karaoke Music Parade ( カ ラ オ ケ ・ ミ ュ ー ジ ッ ク ・ パ レ ー ド ), released in Japan in November 1989
  • Special: 1994 Music Calendar , released in Japan in December 1993

Voice actor

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) German speaker
Yūsaku Godai Issei Futamata Markus Pfeiffer
Kyōko Otonashi Sumi Shimamoto Nana Spier
Hanae Ichinose Kazuyo Aoki Heidrun Bartholomäus
Akemi Roppongi Yūko Mita Katrin Zimmermann
Nozomu Nikaidō Ryo Horikawa Norman Matt
Yotsuya Shigeru Chiba Peter Reinhardt
Iioka Kei Tomiyama Gerald Schaale
Asuna Kujō Hiromi Tsuru Gundi Eberhard
Shun Mitaka Akira Kamiya Gunnar Helm
Ikuko Mayumi Shoh Julia Meynen
Yukari Godai Naoko Kyoda Luise Lunow
Sakamoto Toshio Furukawa Rainer Doering
Ibuki Yagami Yuriko Fuchizaki Tanya Kahana
Mr. Sōichirō Shigeru Chiba Thomas Hailer
Sōichirō Otonashi Hideyuki Tanaka
Mr. Chigusa Kosei Tomita Thomas Wolff

music

The music for the series was composed by Kenji Kawai and Takao Sugiyama. The five opening credits are

  • Kanashimi yo Konnichi wa ( 悲 し み よ こ ん に ち は ) by Yuki Saito
  • Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan
  • Suki sa ( 好 き さ ) from Anzen Chitai
  • Sunny Shiny Morning ( サ ニ ー ・ シ ャ イ ニ ー ・ ・ モ ー ニ ン グ ) by Kiyonori Matsuo
  • Hidamari ( 陽 だ ま り ) from Kouzou Murashita

The credits were given the following titles:

  • Ashita hareru ka ( あ し た 晴 れ る か ) from Takao Kisugi
  • Ci-ne-ma ( シ ・ ネ ・ マ ) by Picasso
  • Get Down by Gilbert O'Sullivan
  • Fantasy ( フ ァ ン タ ジ ー ) by Picasso
  • Sayonara no Dessan by Picasso
  • Begin the Night by Picasso

Real film

1986 Maison Ikkoku was filmed as a real film directed by Shinichirō Sawai. The score is by Joe Hisaishi .

occupation
Yūsaku Godai Ken Ishiguro
Kyōko Otonashi Morie Ishihara
Yotsuya Masatō Ibu
Akemi Roppongi Yoshiko Miyazaki
Hanae Ichinose Yumiko Fujita
Kozue Nanao Michiko Kawai
Cha-Cha Maru Master Hiroshi Fukami
Kentaro Ichinose Katsuma Nakagaki

Dorama

On May 12, 2007, TV Asahi ran the first part of a two-part drama under the episode title Rōnin-hen ( 浪人 編 ). This was repeated on August 15 on BSS and on October 21 on FBC . According to Video Research , the episode in the Kantō region achieved an audience rating of 12.1%. It was also released on August 24, 2007 including a making-of on DVD.

On July 26, 2008, the second episode Kanketsu-hen ( 完結 編 ) was broadcast on TV Asahi . According to Video Research, this achieved an audience rating of 8.0% in the Kantō region.

occupation
Yūsaku Godai Taiki Nakabayashi
Kyōko Otonashi Misaki Ito
Hanae Ichinose Kayoko Kishimoto
Shun Mitaka Ikki Sawamura
Yotsuya Ittoku Kishibe
Akemi Roppongi Yumiko Takahashi
Kozue Nanao Nana Eikura
Grandfather Otonashi Toshiyuki Hosokawa
Sakamoto Ryo Hashizume
Yukari Godai Egg Morisaka
Cha-Cha Maru Master Shingo Yanagisawa

Analysis and reception

Patrick Drazen calls the anime series one of the most interesting in terms of the use of symbols and cues to the audience. The Japanese viewer is given familiar stimuli, for example the sound of the horn of the tofu maker, to make the time of the action clear. There are also allusions to the Japanese creation myth Kojiki .

Paul Gravett writes that the manga is developing from a light, humorous comedy to the rewarding story of a grieving widow who is learning to love anew. Rumiko Takahashi succeeds in showing the depth of the feelings that are developing. The German specialist magazine MangasZene describes the series as a "lovable story about the prevented student Yusaku and his apparently hopeless love for the young widow Kyoko" .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Drazen, 2003, p. 49
  2. ↑ TV シ リ ー ズ め ぞ ん 一刻 Blu-ray Box 1 (初 回 限定 版) . In: amazon.co.jp. Retrieved January 9, 2013 (Japanese).
  3. ↑ TV シ リ ー ズ め ぞ ん 一刻 Blu-ray Box 2 (初 回 限定 版) . In: amazon.co.jp. Retrieved January 9, 2013 (Japanese).
  4. ↑ Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2 and Maison Ikkoku on Blu-ray! In: rumicworld.de. Retrieved January 9, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Life at Maison Ikkoku - Specials. In: furinkan.com. Retrieved July 26, 2011 .
  6. ↑ め ぞ ん 一刻 DVD. In: amazon.co.jp. Retrieved March 27, 2011 (Japanese).
  7. ↑ Drazen, 2003, p. 19 f
  8. ↑ Drazen, 2003, p. 50
  9. ^ Antonia Levi: Samurai from Outer Space - Understanding Japanese Animation , p. 41. Carus Publishing, 1996.
  10. ^ Paul Gravett: Manga - Sixty Years of Japanese Comics , p. 111. Egmont Manga and Anime, 2004.
  11. ↑ MangasZene No. 6, p. 12

literature

  • Patrick Drazen: Anime Explosion! - The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation . Stone Bridge Press, 2003. (English)

Web links