MAISON IKKOKU - DEAR, SWEET KYOKO

The romantic and hilarious story of Maison Ikkoku - Dear, sweet Kyoko it was written by the talented Japanese designer and screenwriter Rumiko Takahashi, (famous for the series of Urusei Yatsura, The mermaid saga, Onor pound gospel and especially Ranma 1/2 ) which made her deserve the nickname "Pmanga princess". The first" manga "(Japanese comic) of Maison Ikkoku was released in Japan in 1980, but the cartoon aired about 6 years later and is divided into 96 episodes. For the publication of this comic in Italy, it had to wait until 1994 and thanks to the Granata Press and the cartoon series, it was also known by the Italian boys, but in many respects this version is not perfectly faithful to the original manga.

The story of Maison Ikkoku - Dear, sweet Kyoko takes place precisely in the Maison Ikkoku, a shabby student boarding house located on the outskirts of Tokyo. Here we find Yusaku Godai, a nineteen-year-old student who is preparing for the entrance exam to the faculty of Pedagogy and who unfortunately cannot concentrate in his studies, both because of his innate laziness and distraction, and because his neighbors make a huge noise, making him the an impossible life, organizing parties and cackling in the throes of the booze given by whiskey, beer, wine and any type of alcohol. We find Mrs. Ichinose, an alcoholic and mother of a nine year old boy, Academy a girl who works as a waitress in a shabby place and Yotsuya, an unscrupulous trickster who has created a gap in the wall adjacent to that of Yusaku, in order to disturb him during his studies. Godai is exasperated by this situation, so he decides to leave the Maison Ikkoku, when he suddenly meets a beautiful girl with whom he falls madly in love:Kyoko Otonashi, the new administrator of the Maison Ikkoku. Kyoko She is a young girl and 2 years older than Goday, plus she carries with her a very sad past full of bitterness that have tempered her character and made her more mature and responsible. Kyoko in fact she was married to a young high school teacher, Soichiro Otonashi, who unfortunately died after a few months of marriage from unknown causes. Kyoko therefore decided to look for a job and become independent, therefore thanks to father of Soichiro, obtains an apartment and the position of administrator of the Maison Ikkoku. Kyoko located goday likeable and naive, qualities that distinguish him from all tenants of the Maison Ikkoku and that will give birth to the friendship between the two, but in his eyes he still appears as an insecure puppy and the only person who remained in Kyoko's heart is still the beloved soichiro.

During this period Kyoko helps Godai to pass the long-awaited entrance exam for a private university "Sanryu Daigaku"for the faculty of pedagogy. Kyoko, however, continues to think about Soichiro and by coincidence, she continually finds objects that remind her of the beautiful happy days in the company of Soichiro, plus she has a dog that she called with the same name as her husband and that is always close to her.These are not the only difficulties goday must meet to conquer the heart of Kyoko, in fact when the two boys start dating and going out as simple friends, Godai will have to deal with Kyoko's suitorsOne of these is Shun Mitaka, a handsome, rich young man and Kyoko's tennis master, but these are not the only qualities he possesses, in fact, contrary to Godai, he is also mature, cultured and responsible, qualities that could impress. Kyoko. But also Shun Mitaka he has weaknesses like his fear of dogs and his swaggering playboy air, which certainly does not help him towards Kyoko, who still remembers the sweetness of her husband Soichiro Otonashi, also Mitaka's relatives combine an engagement of interest between Mitaka and the very rich Azuko and this will put an end to the poor tennis player's dreams of Kyoko.

But the difficulties for Godai do not come only from the boys, but above all from his suitors, first of all Kozue Nanaowhich will further complicate the relationship between Yusaku and Kyoko. Kozue Nanao met Yusaku Godai several years earlier, when our protagonist worked at a liquor store. Kozue is a very shy and clumsy girl and very happy for the meeting with Godai she falls in love with him, mistakenly believing that the thing is mutual, this is because Yusaku invites her to see a romantic movie after Kyoko had given up her invitation. Yusaku Godai's awkwardness and fear of openly confessing that he only loves Kyoko, will lead him to a whole series of misunderstandings (such as the gift of Kyoko's earrings for Valentine's Day), which will culminate in his official engagement with Kozue and " blessing "from the girl's parents. But with the passage of time Kozue realizes the sentimental distance from Yusaku Godai and after a long series of misunderstandings and misunderstandings, he will end up falling in love with a former schoolmate of his.But another cyclone will arrive on Godai's life: Tagami Ibuki. It happens in fact that Godai finds himself in a substitute period in a high school class and here he is immediately noticed by the head student Yagami, who falls in love with her professor.

Although he becomes aware of Godai's falling in love with Kyoko, Yagami does not give up and invents a whole series of stratagems to always stay close to his beloved professor Godai, in fact he asks him for private lessons, promises him important recommendations from part of his father, draws a heart on his shirt and even runs away from home. Despite everything, this gets the opposite effect on Godai, who feels almost oppressed, even if he would like Yagami to remain his friend, as if that wasn't enough, the presence of Yagami shakes Kyoko who suddenly feels that that girl could take away the only one person who in this period has been really close to him. Godai now has the green light towards Kyoko who, sentimentally matured towards him, seriously understands the importance that lazy and clumsy but very sweet boy has in his life, therefore a serious relationship begins to be born between the two, not before having asking permission from her late husband Soichiro in prayer.

Godai takes Kyoko to his country, here he meets his parents and the boy's grandmother gives Kyoko a ring that belonged to her mother and her grandson some money. After witnessing several comic and spicy situations that make this series hilarious and romantic at the same time, the fateful day of the wedding between Kyoko and Godai arrives and during the party, Mitaka and Azuko reveal that they are expecting twins. The two will live in Kyoko's apartment and Haruka Godai will be born from their love, whose name means perfume of spring.

All the characters and images of Maison Ikkoku are copyright Rumiko Takahashi and of the right holders. they are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.