in a little while from now, if i'm not feeling any less sour
Some supplemental things about Maison Ikkoku that were too silly to add to the Manga Bookshelf post.
- Souichirou-san, the dog, as a predictor of the end story! Mitaka gets over his fear of dogs and manages to play with Souichirou-san, but he's never truly as fond of Soichirou-san, nor it of him, as Yusaku is. For example, when Souichirou is lost, it's Yusaku who manages to find him, whereas when the same thing is echoed again in the anime, Souchirou-san skips Mitaka and runs straight into Kyoko's arms. There are a ton of in-canon reasons for this, of course, but it struck me especially.
- While Yukari only shows up twice in the manga, she's constantly in the anime. Note that she leaves Tokyo to go back to her dead husband for O-Bon and immediately sends a box with matching yukatas to Ikkoku, for Kyoko and Yusaku. It makes her meddling more evident and more symbolic.
- I like the analysis that the anime Kyoko is more mysterious than manga Kyoko, because you often don't get to hear Kyoko's thoughts. It also, I think, echoes the difficult Mitaka and Yusaku have with figuring out just what the hell Kyoko's problem is. If you know that she's constantly hesitating and what over exactly, you feel like the guys are pressing her to make a decision she isn't ready to commit to-- which is what happens in the manga. But if you don't know, you feel like Yusaku and Mitaka totally have a reason to stress, and I'm pretty sure this is the reason the anime!Mitaka > manga!Mitaka for me.
- Kozue feels far less important in the anime, as she's around less. Maybe that's just because Nikaido's gone in the anime and she had a few of her. She just seemed far less important a player in the triangle than she was in the manga. Likewise, Asuna and that omiai happen sooner in the anime. The Maison Ikkoku Guide argues that rearrangement of the anime makes it feels like Mitaka is waiting longer, which is true, but in the manga it feels like Asuna definitely forces Mitaka's hand and makes him desperate to get Kyoko to say yes, whereas in the anime, Asuna is almost not an issue at all-- she's introduced so early and Mitaka ignores her for so long, so it's really Mitaka who is finally fed up with waiting. But she also seems far more obsessed in the anime, as she is constantly involving herself in Mitaka's life, after waiting for long intervals, instead of just charging full steam ahead for a solid story arc. So generally, both Mitaka and Yusaku's "other women" are different in the anime.
- The rearrangement of Yagami's storyline, though, definitely works well, with the job searching business followed by Yagami moving in as the last resort. It's a much smoother construction than the way her storyline works in the manga, since the last thing she does is yell at Kyoko, hahaha, whereas in the anime it feels like she finally gets closure, because she gets to stay with Yusaku for a few days and play house. And we get that circling around of the importance of family blah blah blah which is definitely more of a presence in the anime than it is in the manga.
- use of silence in the anime to be dramatic!! The anime is so good about it. The episode with Kyoko finding Souchirou-san with Yusaku is probably my favorite, if only because in the non-American release of the anime, "Alone Again, Naturally" was featured as the song they play after the silence, which is wonderfully fitting over the images of Yusaku still alone and sad despite this good mark to his name. But Yagami's "COWARD!!" moment in the anime had so much more power because of the sound of the rain.
- ALCOHOLICS, WHY SO MANY IN MAISON IKKOKU.
- Episode 74, the dramatic music of Yusaku and Yagami's father completely misunderstanding each other, how wonderful is that whole scene. Followed by the calm cheesy piano solo. I really do think Maison Ikkoku the anime is a perfect example of using anime techniques to improve on the original story structure instead of letting itself be too attached to its source material or diverging too much. Anime industry, please learn!! This is why you should stop making so many anime adaptations while the manga is still running.
- everything about episode 84 IS PERFECT. It's possibly my favorite episode, which is no surprise because Junji Suzuki is actually the director of a lot of my favorite episodes (the one where Yagami yells YOU'RE A COWARD in particular). From the Chopin soundtrack during the lounge scene, to the fact that I'm 95% sure they drew a Joan Miro in the hotel lobby, to the bit about Tarou waiting for his mother being like Yusaku waiting for Kyoko, to the almost book-ended scenes of Yusaku waiting on the porch, to Mitaka's "if only I could find a key to your heart" speech, to that heartbreaking moment where Mitaka realizes he could never have her, TO MITAKA PRACTICING HIS SERVES IN THE MORNING WHILE STILL IN HIS NICE CLOTHES. The episode is shockingly nuanced. For once it's hard to parse what exactly either of the men are thinking, and they both seem on the verge of giving up. The humor manages to be toned down enough so that you finally get to see everyone be serious. WHATEVER I JUST LOVE THIS EPISODE.
- I peeked into the American dub just to ~expose~ myself, and for the most part I have to say the Japanese track is much better. I don't like Kyoko's voice, and Yusaku kind of sounds like more of a brat. Mitaka is wooden, and Ichinose rubs me the wrong way entirely. However! American!Yotsuya has a British accent, which is A++++++ all around, and Kozue's voice is infinitely better, more mature, almost, in the American dub.
- have i mentioned yet how i came out of this series shipping mitaka/yusaku, because i did, and that's so incredibly wrong.
- Souichirou-san, the dog, as a predictor of the end story! Mitaka gets over his fear of dogs and manages to play with Souichirou-san, but he's never truly as fond of Soichirou-san, nor it of him, as Yusaku is. For example, when Souichirou is lost, it's Yusaku who manages to find him, whereas when the same thing is echoed again in the anime, Souchirou-san skips Mitaka and runs straight into Kyoko's arms. There are a ton of in-canon reasons for this, of course, but it struck me especially.
- While Yukari only shows up twice in the manga, she's constantly in the anime. Note that she leaves Tokyo to go back to her dead husband for O-Bon and immediately sends a box with matching yukatas to Ikkoku, for Kyoko and Yusaku. It makes her meddling more evident and more symbolic.
- I like the analysis that the anime Kyoko is more mysterious than manga Kyoko, because you often don't get to hear Kyoko's thoughts. It also, I think, echoes the difficult Mitaka and Yusaku have with figuring out just what the hell Kyoko's problem is. If you know that she's constantly hesitating and what over exactly, you feel like the guys are pressing her to make a decision she isn't ready to commit to-- which is what happens in the manga. But if you don't know, you feel like Yusaku and Mitaka totally have a reason to stress, and I'm pretty sure this is the reason the anime!Mitaka > manga!Mitaka for me.
- Kozue feels far less important in the anime, as she's around less. Maybe that's just because Nikaido's gone in the anime and she had a few of her. She just seemed far less important a player in the triangle than she was in the manga. Likewise, Asuna and that omiai happen sooner in the anime. The Maison Ikkoku Guide argues that rearrangement of the anime makes it feels like Mitaka is waiting longer, which is true, but in the manga it feels like Asuna definitely forces Mitaka's hand and makes him desperate to get Kyoko to say yes, whereas in the anime, Asuna is almost not an issue at all-- she's introduced so early and Mitaka ignores her for so long, so it's really Mitaka who is finally fed up with waiting. But she also seems far more obsessed in the anime, as she is constantly involving herself in Mitaka's life, after waiting for long intervals, instead of just charging full steam ahead for a solid story arc. So generally, both Mitaka and Yusaku's "other women" are different in the anime.
- The rearrangement of Yagami's storyline, though, definitely works well, with the job searching business followed by Yagami moving in as the last resort. It's a much smoother construction than the way her storyline works in the manga, since the last thing she does is yell at Kyoko, hahaha, whereas in the anime it feels like she finally gets closure, because she gets to stay with Yusaku for a few days and play house. And we get that circling around of the importance of family blah blah blah which is definitely more of a presence in the anime than it is in the manga.
- use of silence in the anime to be dramatic!! The anime is so good about it. The episode with Kyoko finding Souchirou-san with Yusaku is probably my favorite, if only because in the non-American release of the anime, "Alone Again, Naturally" was featured as the song they play after the silence, which is wonderfully fitting over the images of Yusaku still alone and sad despite this good mark to his name. But Yagami's "COWARD!!" moment in the anime had so much more power because of the sound of the rain.
- ALCOHOLICS, WHY SO MANY IN MAISON IKKOKU.
- Episode 74, the dramatic music of Yusaku and Yagami's father completely misunderstanding each other, how wonderful is that whole scene. Followed by the calm cheesy piano solo. I really do think Maison Ikkoku the anime is a perfect example of using anime techniques to improve on the original story structure instead of letting itself be too attached to its source material or diverging too much. Anime industry, please learn!! This is why you should stop making so many anime adaptations while the manga is still running.
- everything about episode 84 IS PERFECT. It's possibly my favorite episode, which is no surprise because Junji Suzuki is actually the director of a lot of my favorite episodes (the one where Yagami yells YOU'RE A COWARD in particular). From the Chopin soundtrack during the lounge scene, to the fact that I'm 95% sure they drew a Joan Miro in the hotel lobby, to the bit about Tarou waiting for his mother being like Yusaku waiting for Kyoko, to the almost book-ended scenes of Yusaku waiting on the porch, to Mitaka's "if only I could find a key to your heart" speech, to that heartbreaking moment where Mitaka realizes he could never have her, TO MITAKA PRACTICING HIS SERVES IN THE MORNING WHILE STILL IN HIS NICE CLOTHES. The episode is shockingly nuanced. For once it's hard to parse what exactly either of the men are thinking, and they both seem on the verge of giving up. The humor manages to be toned down enough so that you finally get to see everyone be serious. WHATEVER I JUST LOVE THIS EPISODE.
- I peeked into the American dub just to ~expose~ myself, and for the most part I have to say the Japanese track is much better. I don't like Kyoko's voice, and Yusaku kind of sounds like more of a brat. Mitaka is wooden, and Ichinose rubs me the wrong way entirely. However! American!Yotsuya has a British accent, which is A++++++ all around, and Kozue's voice is infinitely better, more mature, almost, in the American dub.
- have i mentioned yet how i came out of this series shipping mitaka/yusaku, because i did, and that's so incredibly wrong.