Maison Ikkoku Fanclub

Maison Ikkoku was a Seinsen romance Manga done by Rumiko Takahashi, one of the most acclaimed and popular mangakas of all time. Later it was converted into anime and helped to claim the throne of the best and most influential romance manga/anime of all time. If you want to share your love for this masterpiece, here is the right place to do it. A brief story on “Maison Ikkoku”. <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> Maison Ikkoku story begins in 1981 when Rumiko Takahashi began working on new story simultaneously with her already established first big work, Urusei Yatasura which had already started three years before in 1978. Instead of a wacky Science Fiction comedy manga as in Urusei Yatsura which was serialized on a shounen weekly magazine, “Weekly Shōnen Sunday”, Rumiko Takahashi began to work on a more mature orientated work this time, set in the real world with real life situations and deprived of strange creatures and UFOs, directed mainly to young adults, probably influenced perhaps to the fact that Urusei Yatsura was not only being followed by tenagers but by young adults too. This time, Takahashi’s new work called Maison Ikkoku began being serialized on a seinen manga magazine, “Big Comic Spirits” and lasted for 7 pleasant years. An interesting fact is that in it’s 7 years of run, the manga not only covered 7 years in the life of the characters but it also adapted the years seasons into reality as well. If it was christmas in real world, it was christmas in the manga, if it was news year in the real world it was also news year in the manga, spring blossoming sakuras, summer festivals, the manga got it all. This fact probably brought the readers even closer to the manga. The story deals with a young unfortunate student living in a rented room in a Tokyo old boarding house studying for his college entrance exams for the second time. A situation that it wasn’t helped with his room neighbours constantly having drinking partis in his own room. A fact which leds our protagonist wanting to leave this house until arrives a beautiful new manager and he falls instantaneously in love with her. Thus beginning our very appreciated love comedy of small dramas and real life situations. In Maison ikkoku, a young creative Rumiko Takahashi was in her top shape and her story telling was fantastic, the fact that the lead protagonists were around her age made things easier for her to get reference material, based on love situations and real life dramas, and also her own imaginative world coming in the form of the most inspired type of comedy there were. In 1987 Rumiko Takahashi finished Maison Ikkoku manga along with Urusei Yatsura manga, probably with her next work already in mind which began in the same year, also in the wacky comedy field, called Ranma. In 1986 an anime adaptation was made for Maison Ikkoku. Containing 96 episodes and only covering 5 years in the life of our protagonists, ignoring some arks a character of the manga and adding some episodes with new story, still not prejudicing the running of the original story, it ended in 1988 pretty faithful to the original manga. A month before the anime ended, in February 1988, an animated film was released, called “The Final Chapter” which can be included before the last episode, and featured new material not included on the manga. In 1986 a Live Action was made named, Apartment Fantasy, loosely based on the characters and with a new plot. OVAs were released in; 1988 - Through the Passing Seasons; 1990 - Shipwrecked in Ikkoku Island; 1992 - Prelude: When the Cherry Blossoms Return in the Spring With only Ikkoku Island being original story and the other two being resumes/summaries of the long running anime. In 2007 started a TV special with two episodes, the second of which being aired in 2008. Maison Ikkoku as other older Rumiko Takahashi works, molded the anime industry and is referenced as an major influence on the romantic comedy field of anime, still being unbeatable in the field even to this day, because never other romantic comedy anime lasted so long and influenced so much as Maison Ikkoku.<!--spoiler--></span></div> Links of interest; <!--link--><a href="http://ikkoku.yuku.com/">Maison Ikkoku Message Board</a> <!--link--><a href="http://www.furinkan.com/maison/">Maison Ikkoku @ Furinkan</a> <!--link--><a href="http://perfectedition.yuku.com/forums/2">Maison Ikkoku @ Rumik World Message Board</a> <!--link--><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison_Ikkoku">Maison Ikkoku @ Wikipedia</a>