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Rating: 
Summary: The touching story continues!
Review: 'Tis the season to be jolly at Maison Ikkoku! It's Christmastime, and Godai wants to get Kyoko a present. So he splurges on a pair of earrings and gives them too...Kozue? Now he's broke and has nothing to give to Kyoko! Then it's New Year's Eve and Godai is all alone with Kyoko...can he stand the temptation? Then, at the end of the holiday madness, Godai goes home for a few days, but a chain of unfortunate accidents prevent him from coming home as soon as he planned. Next, Kozue takes Godai home for dinner. It's then that Godai discovers just how ambitious she is in their relationship. Meanwhile, Kyoko's parents are worrying that managing Maison Ikkoku reminds her too much of her dead husband. But when they can't get her to leave the boarding house, they start using sneaky, manipulative methods. Kyoko and the rest of the residents must learn how to stand up to her shrewd parents. Maison Ikkoku continues its sweet and (mostly) innocent humor in the second book. Once again, Rumiko Takahashi exhibits her mastery of the art of manga!
Rating:
Summary: The Love of Parents
Review: Another stellar volume of Maison Ikkoku. In this volume the primary focus is Kyoko's parents. It is obviously not unusual for parents to want the best for their children, but Kyoko's parents take it a bit too far. So in this volume the Ikkoku gang are faced with Kyoko's overprotective father and domineering mother. The mother even tries to enlist the help of Mrs. Ichinose in order to make Kyoko go back home and go back to her maiden name. It is all good fun, and also we get to see a doubles tennis match: Kyoko and Godai vs Mitaka and Mrs. Ichinose! Of course we also cannot forget about Kozue Nanao; she seems to want Godai and her relationship to go to the next level. kono manga o yonde kudasai!! (please read this manga!!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Romantic Comedies Ever Made!!
Review: Family Affairs, Volume 2 of the international masterpiece of romantic comedy, "Maison Ikkoku", continues the great comedy and touching romance which began in Volume 1. Maison Ikkoku is a run down apartment building in Tokyo. Living there are struggling and wishy-washy college student Yusaku Godai, who has fallen head over heels in love with the beautiful, young manager of the building, Kyoko Otonashi. Kyoko has some feelings towards Godai, but she is a widow, and still is not over the death of her beloved husband, Soichiro. Complicating matters between the two are rich, suave and handsome tennis coach Shun Mitaka, who is Godai's rival for Kyoko; and Kozue Nanao, a sweet, cute, and naive girl, who accidently has become Godai's platonic girlfriend. Kozue is clueless that Godai is in love with Kyoko. But the crowning touch are the 3 other residents of the apartment building: hard drinking, hard partying and hard gossiping Mrs. Ichinose, who lives with her young son Kentaro; Akemi Roppongi, a sexy party animal who is the bar hostess at local hangout ChaChaMaru, and who wears her see-through negligee around the building; and then there's the mysterious Yotsuya, who gets his kicks out of peeping, and breaking through Godai's wall so that he can mooch food from Godai. All 3 regard Godai as their personal toy, and they get their kicks from teasing him and holding their drinking parties in his room. They've also discovered that Kyoko is fun to tease as well. Volume 2 gives some nice overviews of several traditional Japanese holidays, as well a how they approach Christmas. In this volume, Kyoko has a fall and Godai gets an eyeful; a rainy day conversation between Kyoko & Kozue reveals more about Kyoko's late husband, Soichiro; Christmas comes and gifts are exchanged, but not exactly as planned (we also find out Godai & Kyoko's ages); New Year's Eve has a bumbling Godai & Kyoko alone at last; Godai's trip home is longer than expected, discover if absence make the heart grow fonder; and find out what happens when you secretly take care of a cat with the same name as your building manager. But the biggest story-arc occupies nearly the entire last half of the book: Kyoko's parents want her to quit her job and move back home. Her mother wants her to remarry, her father just wants Kyoko back home. The tactics that are used by her parents, especially her mother, are true to Japanese life, and have actually been used by Japanese parents toward their children, especially daughters. We witness the observance of the 2nd anniversary of Soichiro's death; we see the depth of feelings the tenants actually have for Kyoko; dog phobic Mitaka makes some moves towards Kyoko both on the court & off; Godai gets introduced to Kozue's family but he has his own vision of the future. Better than "Oh! My Goddess!", "Maison Ikkoku" will tickle your funnybone and tug at your heart strings. There are serious moments in this continuing storyline, but the emphasis is still on humor, although the sweetness of this story is always present. Don't call this a graphic novel; call it graphic literature.
Rating:
Summary: You thought you had family problems...
Review: Not only do Yusaku and Kyoko have to deal with the other tenants and Coach Mitaka, they have to deal with Kyoko's parents! Her dad is a tad bit overprotective, and when we first meet him he is slinking around the building in a trenchcoat, looking very suspicious. And her mother is a conniving witch who actually makes her daughter move out of Maison Ikkoku! Kyoko knows she should love her parents like a good daughter should, but it is so hard with parents like these!
Rating: 
Summary: Good continuation
Review: Rumiko Takahashi's funny, romantic series "Maison Ikkoku" is being rereleased in a cheaper edition, allowing more people to check out this unique story. It's a twist on the boy-meets-girl story, in which the girl is a haunted widow and the boy is a struggling college student. Yusaku Godai's life changed forever when the beautiful Kyoko became manager of the rundown Maison Ikkoku. His attempts to get closer to her were thwarted when he learned that her beloved husband died not long ago. Now he has another problem -- Shun Mitaka. He's rich, handsome, debonair, nice, and he's in love with Kyoko too. To make things even more complicated, Yusaku has to deal with Kozue, a girl he once worked with who has a massive crush on him. He likes Kozue, but not that way. Misunderstandings about restaurants, dog phobias, stinging jellyfish, puppet shows and a sprained ankle make Yusaku's life even harder -- and that's not including his crazy, obnoxious neighbors. "Maison Ikkoku" is hard to describe -- it's a little too dramatic to be a romantic comedy, but too funny to be a straightforward drama. There are a lot of situations that Takahashi does well and often, like Yusaku bursting in on the bathing Kyoko. The story is more streamlined and fluid, and even the dramatic interludes burst into comedy quickly enough (usually because of the crazy inhabitants of Maison Ikkoku). Yusaku grows up a little, gaining confidence and backbone (although he's still a pushover). Kyoko's jealousy and temper are shown more vividly here, when she thinks Yusaku is playing around with several girls. And one of the nicest things about Takahashi's work is that romantic rivals are not portrayed as mean or bad. Mitaka and Kozue aren't bad people, just unfortunately in love with the protagonists. They both actually seem quite pleasant, especially the dog-phobic Mitaka (which presents a major obstacle to a relationship with Kyoko). Both longtime fans and newcomers will enjoy the second volume of "Maison Ikkoku," with all its embarrassing humor and sweet romance. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good continuation
Review: Rumiko Takahashi's funny, romantic series "Maison Ikkoku" is being rereleased in a cheaper edition, allowing more people to check out this unique story. It's a twist on the boy-meets-girl story, in which the girl is a haunted widow and the boy is a struggling college student. Yusaku Godai's life changed forever when the beautiful Kyoko became manager of the rundown Maison Ikkoku. His attempts to get closer to her were thwarted when he learned that her beloved husband died not long ago. Now he has another problem -- Shun Mitaka. He's rich, handsome, debonair, nice, and he's in love with Kyoko too. To make things even more complicated, Yusaku has to deal with Kozue, a girl he once worked with who has a massive crush on him. He likes Kozue, but not that way. Misunderstandings about restaurants, dog phobias, stinging jellyfish, puppet shows and a sprained ankle make Yusaku's life even harder -- and that's not including his crazy, obnoxious neighbors. "Maison Ikkoku" is hard to describe -- it's a little too dramatic to be a romantic comedy, but too funny to be a straightforward drama. There are a lot of situations that Takahashi does well and often, like Yusaku bursting in on the bathing Kyoko. The story is more streamlined and fluid, and even the dramatic interludes burst into comedy quickly enough (usually because of the crazy inhabitants of Maison Ikkoku). Yusaku grows up a little, gaining confidence and backbone (although he's still a pushover). Kyoko's jealousy and temper are shown more vividly here, when she thinks Yusaku is playing around with several girls. And one of the nicest things about Takahashi's work is that romantic rivals are not portrayed as mean or bad. Mitaka and Kozue aren't bad people, just unfortunately in love with the protagonists. They both actually seem quite pleasant, especially the dog-phobic Mitaka (which presents a major obstacle to a relationship with Kyoko). Both longtime fans and newcomers will enjoy the second volume of "Maison Ikkoku," with all its embarrassing humor and sweet romance. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Takahashi does it again!
Review: This is another volume on the ongoing romantic saga of Maison Ikkoku, as Godai still tries to win the heart of his beautiful apartment manager Kyoko. This time, events get complicated by Godai's "girlfriend's" family and by Kyoko's parents, each one with a different point of view about what Kyoko must do to be happy...
This is a great story. Everybody who has ever fallen in love can easily identify with Godai and his clueless attempts to make Kyoko notice him without breaking the heart of Kozuo and Kyoko's confusion as two lovers try to get her attentions.
Takahashi creates plenty of believable characters. Even the wackiest of the inhabitants of the apartment building where Kyoko and Godai live have their human sides.
While I didn't find this volume as heart warming as other volumes of Maison Ikkoku (just how clueless and insecure a guy can get?), it is still an awesome read. If you enjoy romance, be sure to read this and all the other volumes of Maison Ikkoku. You will not be dissappointed!
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