Maison Ikkoku

In the town of Clock Hill, there is an old boarding house called Maison Ikkoku. While the residence itself is fairly normal, most of its occupants are not. Yuusaku Godai, its most quiet tenant, has finally reached his limit with his neighbors' constant disruptions and boisterous partying. Wanting a calmer place to call home so that he can study in peace, he prepares to move away.

However, his plans to leave are suddenly interrupted when he meets the new boarding house manager, Kyoko Otonashi. Falling madly in love with her, he decides that the boarding house may not be such a bad place to live after all. Unfortunately for him, Kyoko has her own romantic troubles: she is a widow whose husband died six months into their marriage. And despite her blossoming feelings for Godai, Kyoko still cherishes her dearly departed husband, and she believes that no other man could possibly fill the void in her heart. But with Godai's persistence and some help of the other eccentric tenants, she may experience true love once again.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Otonashi, Kyouko Main

Shimamoto, Sumi Japanese

Godai, Yuusaku Main

Futamata, Issei Japanese

Yotsuya Main

Chiba, Shigeru Japanese

Roppongi, Akemi Main

Mita, Yuuko Japanese

Ichinose, Hanae Main

Aoki, Kazuyo Japanese

Ichinose, Kentarou Main

Sakamoto, Chika Japanese

Mitaka, Shun Supporting

Kamiya, Akira Japanese

Yagami, Ibuki Supporting

Fuchizaki, Yuriko Japanese

Nanao, Kozue Supporting

Tominaga, Miina Japanese

Souichirou Supporting

Chiba, Shigeru Japanese

Yamazaki, Kazuo Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Annou, Takashi Director

Yoshinaga, Naoyuki Director

Shiba, Shigeharu Sound Director

Reviews

Mar 25, 2025

Charan4284

Recommended

No matter how annoying it was with a lot of misunderstanding tropes and stupid characters, the ending was worth it. All 80+ episodes are just set up to the final arc.

The last few episodes are just magical and heart warming but I felt heart broken as i don't get to see more from this beautiful world anymore, because reality is often disappointing.

Anime gets a lot mature in the end with heart touching lines and moments.

This anime is usually very unrealistic but maybe that's what makes it more beautiful.

It's a simple story with complex relations. Predictable but beautifully portrayed.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 3, 2022

Trophycase

Mixed Feelings

Don't see a ton of middling reviews here so I'll give my take but try to keep it short by listing my main issues with the show and elaborating on them.

The pacing: Sometime in the first few episodes Godai proclaims his love for Kyoko at the top of his lungs, but then the show treats these early episodes as if they had never happened, and the characters are unsure about each others' feelings for another 5 years. The characters will seemingly make progress, then the show will act as if the progress doesn't exist.

Character Consistency: The minor characters definitely experience personality change as the show ... goes on. In the beginning they take a bigger role, with the show highlighting the interactions of all people at the house, whereas later they seem to become one-dimensional and take a back seat to the featured romance. They each revert to their main traits, Yotsuya likes to mooch food, Akemi likes to party and is a "wordly" woman, Ichinose is a drunk who loves to party. At some point during the middle of the series, Yotsuya speaks very poetically, but they sort have seemed to drop that character trait as the show went on. Very much was made about how Akemi wore indecent clothing around the apartment and jokes were made about Godai's "desire" for her, but these were mostly dropped, as well as the partial nudity being removed from the show. Kentaro's screen time basically becomes non-existent as the show goes on.

Godai: He is at times insufferably dense and timid. I get that part of the point of the show is getting into funny misunderstandings, but by the 50th time you just want to scream for the guy to stand up for himself and say what he really means.

Kozue Relationship: What was up with this? I mean they clearly have zero chemistry, never touch or show even a hint of affection for each other, but somehow they are "dating" for years. Also they "break up" and you assume that Godai sort of had ended things off screen, as there is an episode regarding this. She then essentially disappears from the show for probably 25 episodes (possibly a year or more in the show's timeline) then reappears out of nowhere, trying to get married to Godai just to throw a wrench in things. The show even mentions how they had gone without talking for so long.

The first 20 episodes: Frankly the first 20 episodes are so are quite bad. Maybe I just hadn't gotten used to the show yet, but I was very very close to dropping the show at this point when it started to pick up a little.

While I touched on mostly the negatives, overall the show was enjoyable and worth watching if you like a rom com. It's at times pretty wholesome and seeing Godai grow is enjoyable.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 22, 2025

pakosaan

Not Recommended

Maison Ikkoku: The series started off strong, and I genuinely enjoyed about 70% of it. The characters were engaging, and the slow-burn romance was well-paced in the beginning. However, the last 30% felt frustratingly repetitive. Godai's character became stagnant—his indecisiveness and lack of growth made it hard to stay invested. Kyoko also felt like a completely different character compared to earlier episodes, which made her actions harder to understand.

The art style suits the setting well, maintaining the classic charm of older anime. However, the story became predictable toward the end, dragging out conflicts unnecessarily. I had to speed through the final episodes just to finish ... it. It had the potential to be a great romance, but the lack of character development in the later episodes ruined it for me.

If you love classic romance anime and don’t mind some frustrating character arcs, you might still enjoy it. But if you prefer consistent character growth and a satisfying conclusion, you may find the ending disappointing. Personally, I regret pushing through the last part, as it left me feeling more annoyed than satisfied.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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