Home Sweet Home (Maison Ikkoku, Volume 3)

Rating:
Summary: Simply Great!! A Perfect Mix of Comedy, Drama & Romance!
Review: "Home Sweet Home", Volume 3 of the international masterpiece of romantic comedy, "Maison Ikkoku", continues the great comedy and touching romance seen in the previous volumes and steps things up a notch. This is a uniquely Japanese story, but it is universal in its appeal.

Maison Ikkoku is a run down apartment building in Tokyo. Living there is 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, 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 is 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. These characters would be at home in "A Confederacy of Dunces".

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.

Things get kicked up a notch in the emotion department in Volume 3, which contains 12 parts. Kyoko Otonashi, is sweet, kind, caring, generous and beautiful. Volume 3 shows that Kyoko has her own flaws: jealousy and a significant temper. Her temper and jealousy have made brief appearances in the first two volumes, but they shine in this volume.

A visit with a married classmate who has a child causes Kyoko to have her first thoughts about remarriage. However, she is quickly aggravated by the men in her life; Godai for his continuing indecisive relationship with Kozue, Mitaka for a compromising position she observes the dog phobic coach in. Kyoko's Mother meets Coach Mitaka and highly approves of him as a match for her daughter. It's not good for Godai that she can never remember his name. Godai also really meets up for the first time with Kyoko's Father.

Kyoko's dog, Mr. Soichiro gets lost; we discover why this dog shares the same name as Kyoko's late husband, and Kyoko sees Godai in a new light. Godai's college buddy Sakamoto crashes at Godai's place, while they work a temp job nearby. If you ever wondered how Kyoko acts when drunk, now's your chance. It's festival time, with the whole gang going to the fest, while Kyoko & Mitaka, and Godai & Kozue get some semi-private time. Platonic Kozue tells Godai she wants "Something to remember this summer by." Does that mean she wants to "do IT?"

This volume ends with a 5 part story arc. Wedding talk between Kyoko and Mitaka causes Godai to leave Maison Ikkoku, moving into an apartment in which the previous tenants, a woman who works in a massage parlor, and her gangster, gambler husband have not yet moved out. Confusion and misunderstandings abound, and a bad situation gets worse and worse for Godai.

This volume shows off Kyoko's temper and jealousy, but also gives the first good look at her feelings for Godai. Japanese culture abounds in this issue. We get to see a fair bit of Pachinko. A scene with Kyoko carry lots of canned food home shows that she was able to convert her Pachinko winnings into the canned food. The Lantern festival scenes show off some of the games, dancing and clothing which is common at these events. The yukata, a cotton summer kimono, also gets a nice showing as well.

The best of the volumes so far in this series, it manages to mix comedy, drama and romance to perfection. "Maison Ikkoku" tells a great story and just keeps getting better.

Rating:
Summary: Home Sweet Home--Truer words have (never) been spoken!
Review: Ah...life at Maison Ikkoku is never easy. Misunderstandings occur with alarming frequency, the neighbors go out of their way to make trouble for each other, and the gossip is worse than the tabloids. Kyoko gets huffy when she sees Yusaku and Mitaka each clinging to another woman (for perfectly innnocent and understandable reasons), but like Akane and Lum and Shinobu, she refuses to listen to those reasons. Then when Yusaku tries to break it off with Kozue, he can't find the nerve, which is sure to cause problems in the future (in this series, every little mishap causes problems). Kyoko takes a trip down memory lane while her mother tries once again to get her daughter to leave MAison Ikkoku, and Yusaku moves out. But he gets more than he bargained for when he moves into his new apartment, and before long, Maison Ikkoku seems like heaven...

Rating:
Summary: 3 cheers for Ikkoku!
Review: The third Maison Ikkoku graphic novel is good, as they all are. It has the first climactic multiple chapter story. A little complaint I have is that Nikaido, not to be introduced until the eighth graphic novel, is on the cover.

THE BLACK WIDOW'S BITE
A friend gets Kyoko thinking about remarriage. Kozue visits Maison Ikkoku and jealousy will erupt from Kyoko. And on her way to see Shun for their date, she sees him hugging another woman.
MY NOTES
Kyoko's gotten jealous before, but none so much as this.

CATCH OF THE DAY
Mitaka convinces Kyoko's mom him and Kyoko are dating, much to Mrs. Chigusa's (Kyoko's mom's) enjoyment. Meanwhile Godai goes out drinking with Mr. Chigusa.
MY NOTES
Kyoko's still mad at Yusaku, yet doesn't seem to be at the end of this chapter, but is again in the next chapter. WHOOPS!

TURN THE OTHER CHEEK
Kyoko believes Godai's acting so down is because of her giving him the cold shoulder, when really all he wants is food!
MY NOTES
Pretty funny. Kyoko cools off.

SOICHIRO TURNS AROUND
Mr. Soichiro (the dog, not the dead husband) gets lost.
MY NOTES
Though the chapter title may imply it, you don't get to see Soichiro's face (it's a pun on a different story element).

A BUNCH OF MUGS
Due a mix up, the Ikkoku tenants believe Godai is paying for their drinks at a pub he's working at.
MY NOTES
A great chapter. Contains a hilarious 'Kyoko Drunk' scene.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
The gang goes to a festival, only to get separated by a large crowd.
MY NOTES
Finally Yotsuya's peeping pays off!

MEMORIES OF YOU
The other tenants get Godai to thinking Kozue wants to... DO IT... with him...
MY NOTES
Some of it's OK. The thing that makes me love this chapter (or at least this page) is a hilarious 'DO IT' note Godai writes.

THE INCEDENT
A misunderstanding causes Godai to move out of Ikkoku!
MY NOTES
A pretty good chapter. For some reason I like this chapter but I can't seem to find any highlights.

A SMALL SPACE
A girl that works at a massage parlor and her Yakuza husband occupy, unknown to Godai, his new apartment!
MY NOTES
The Yakuza husband and Godai's arguments are pretty funny.

RECIPE FOR MISUNDERSTANDINGS
Godai learns the truth behind the misunderstanding, while Kyoko's led to believe that Godai moved out just to live with a girl.
MY NOTES
A funny scene where Godai runs into Mr. Yotsuya, and the rest is pretty good.

THE LIGHT IN ROOM FIVE
Not knowing the truth, Kyoko tells Godai that all the empty rooms at Ikkoku have been occupied. Of course, she then finds out the truth!
MY NOTES
Godai really should have known better than to trust a drunk Yotsuya to tell Kyoko some information.

DOWN THE HOME STRETCH
Godai moves out of his new apartment after the other occupants pawn all his stuff, and stays with Sakamoto.
MY NOTES
One could call it a 'moment' Godai and Kyoko have at the end of this chapter, but I wouldn't consider crying like children a 'moment.' Also, this is the end of this storyline.

Maison Ikkoku is not a manga to read in the presence of anyone, or even if someone can just hear you, because you will look like a fool laughing so hard.

Rating:
Summary: Ah! Home Sweet Home!
Review: The zany romance of irresponsible college student Yusaku Godai and manager widow Kyoko Otonashi continues in this fabulous book three! Everything seems to be in the way of Yusaku getting close to his appartment manager, Kyoko Otonashi. Especially his fellow tenants (who are drunkards and kooks who love to ruin everything in Yusaku's life), and Kyoko's tennis coach Shun Mitaka(the handsome, ladies' man with the sparkling smile and nice car), who has plans to win Kyoko for himself! Now Yusaku hears from his fellow tenants that Kyoko is engaged to Mitaka! He gives up his persuit of her and moves out of Maison Ikkoku. How will he ever win Kyoko's love now? Very interesting, frustratingly funny and the best humourous manga I've ever read. Maison Ikkou is action-packed for your funny bone!

Rating:
Summary: Ah! Home Sweet Home!
Review: The zany romance of irresponsible college student Yusaku Godai and manager widow Kyoko Otonashi continues in this fabulous book three! Everything seems to be in the way of Yusaku getting close to his appartment manager, Kyoko Otonashi. Especially his fellow tenants (who are drunkards and kooks who love to ruin everything in Yusaku's life), and Kyoko's tennis coach Shun Mitaka(the handsome, ladies' man with the sparkling smile and nice car), who has plans to win Kyoko for himself! Now Yusaku hears from his fellow tenants that Kyoko is engaged to Mitaka! He gives up his persuit of her and moves out of Maison Ikkoku. How will he ever win Kyoko's love now? Very interesting, frustratingly funny and the best humourous manga I've ever read. Maison Ikkou is action-packed for your funny bone!

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful romance
Review: Wow, I recently began reading the Maison Ikkoku novels, and I have to say this is one of the best romance stories ever told. Takahashi's blend of romance and comedy is wonderful. This particular book is very funny, especially the part when Kyoko get's drunk. This is a great series with believable characters that you will fall in love with. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a good romance!

Rating:
Summary: Godai moves out.
Review: Yet another wonderful volume of Maison Ikkoku. In this volume Mr. Soichiro comes up missing, and the entire Maison Ikkoku gang go out to look for him. This is a very sweet story because we get to see a flashback and find out why the dog has the same name as Kyoko's deceased husband. There is one picture of a weeping Kyoko that will break your heart. The main attraction of this book is when Godai moves out because of a misunderstanding. Godai moves into another apartment with an attractive woman who works at a massage parlor and her husband who looks like a member of the Yakuza. Good stuff. Maison Ikkoku In my humble opinion the best manga series there is. kono manga o yonde kudasai.