Maison Ikkoku (film)

Maison Ikkoku (めぞん一刻) is a 2007 American animated romantic drama film directed by and, produced by  and  in association with  and distributed by. Based on by, it is Blue Sky Studios' first and so far only hand-drawn animated film, as well as the only one to be based on a manga and co-produced with Lucasfilm. The film focuses primarily on the gradually developing relationships between Yusaku Godai, a poor student down on his luck, and Kyoko Otonashi, a young, recently widowed boarding house manager.

Maison Ikkoku premiered in on April 17, 2007 and was released in the United States on April 27, to generally positive reviews from critics and anime fans. It was nominated at the for the  and. It was a box office success and grossed over $203.2 million against a $57 million budget in the box office.

In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States by the  as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot
The story mainly takes place at Maison Ikkoku (一刻館, Ikkoku-kan), a worn and aging boarding house in a town called Clock Hill (時計坂, Tokei-zaka), where 20-year-old college applicant Yusaku Godai lives. Though honest and good-natured, he is weak-willed and often taken advantage of by the offbeat and mischievous tenants who live with him: Yotsuya, Akemi Roppongi and Hanae Ichinose. As he is about to move out, he is stopped at the door by the beautiful Kyoko Otonashi, who announces she will be taking over as manager. Godai immediately falls in love with her and decides to stay. Godai and the other tenants find out that despite her young age, Kyoko is a widow who had married her high school teacher, who tragically died shortly thereafter. Godai empathizes with Kyoko and endeavors to free her from her sadness. He manages to work up enough courage to confess his love to her, and it begins to look as if a relationship between them might appear. However, Kyoko meets the rich, handsome and charming tennis coach Shun Mitaka at her tennis club. Mitaka quickly declares his intention to court Kyoko and states that he is very patient, and can wait until her heart is ready.

Godai, not willing to give up, continues to chase Kyoko. But through a series of misunderstandings, he is seen by Kyoko and Mitaka walking with the cute and innocent Kozue Nanao. Kozue is mistakenly perceived as being Godai's girlfriend (by Kozue herself as well). Angered by this, Kyoko begins to openly date Mitaka. Despite the misunderstandings, Kyoko and Godai clearly have feelings for each other, and their relationship grows over the course of the series. Godai eventually manages to get into college and, with the help of Kyoko's family, he begins student-teaching at Kyoko's old high school. Almost mirroring Kyoko's meeting of her husband, Godai catches the attention of precocious and brazen student Ibuki Yagami, who immediately begins pursuing him. Her outspoken approach stands in stark contrast to Kyoko, which helps Kyoko come face to face with her feelings for Godai.

Meanwhile, Mitaka's endeavors have been hindered by his phobia of dogs, as Kyoko owns a large white dog named Soichiro in honor of her late husband. He eventually overcomes his phobia but, when he is about to propose to Kyoko, his family begins to goad him into a marriage with the pure and innocent Asuna Kujo. Feeling the pressure, Mitaka begins to pursue Kyoko with increased aggression. He slowly realizes that she has decided on Godai and is waiting for him to find a job and propose. Mitaka is completely pulled out of the race when he ends up thinking he slept with Asuna and her later announcing a pregnancy. Taking responsibility, he proposes to Asuna, but finds out too late that it was her dog who was pregnant, not her.

As things begin to really go well for Godai, Kozue Nanao makes a reappearance in his life. Kozue tells Godai and the other Ikkoku tenants that she is thinking of marrying another man, even though Godai said he has his own proposal, which made Kozue believes he had proposed to her (which is another misunderstanding). Kyoko, feeling foolish and betrayed, slaps Godai and demands that he move out. When Godai refuses, he wakes up the next morning to find her gone and her room empty. Godai tries to explain himself by visiting Kyoko every day, even though she won't answer the door. After she calms down a bit, Kyoko checks on the house and runs into the other tenants. They try to convince her to return.

The seductive Akemi, sensing that Kyoko is still hesitant, threatens to seduce Godai if Kyoko doesn't want him. She later tells the other tenants that she only said that to threaten Kyoko into coming back. This backfires when Godai is spotted leaving a love hotel with Akemi (he was only there to lend her money). It results in Kozue resolving to marry the other man. As Kyoko is about to return to Ikkoku, she learns that Godai has ended it with Kozue, but she thinks he slept with Akemi. She insults him, tells him that she hates him, and runs away. Godai follows her explaining that she doesn't trust him and that, despite the other girls, she never considered one important thing: Godai's own feelings. He passionately tells her that he loves only her: From the first moment he saw her and forevermore, she is the only woman in his eyes. The two spend the night together. Having cleared his last barrier of getting a teaching job, Godai proposes to Kyoko and, with the blessings of both families, they get married. The story ends as Godai and Kyoko arrive home with their newborn daughter, Haruka, and Kyoko tells her that Maison Ikkoku is the place where they first met.

Voice cast

 * as Yusaku Godai. He begins as a poor 20-year-old rōnin studying for his college entrance exams after failing in the past year. He eventually gets into a third-tier college (with Kyoko's support). He is kindhearted and handsome, but indecisive and spacey. Godai is often "played" by the other tenants of Ikkoku, who habitually take advantage of him (e.g. they use his room for frequent drinking binges and steal food from his care packages). He falls in love with Kyoko at first sight, but initially lacks the courage (when sober at least) to tell her how he feels. Instead, he daydreams a lot and does several silly things (for example, he runs into road posts). But Godai is an honorable man who is worthy of Kyoko, as his love for her is a lasting and devoted love. He has, several times, tried making a move on Kyoko, but could not bring himself to do so; such actions make Kyoko think of him as a perfect gentleman. At the end, he marries her, and Godai and Kyoko finally found happiness and have a daughter, which they give the name Haruka Godai (五代春香, Godai Haruka).
 * as Kyoko Otonashi, a beautiful, 22-year-old widow who takes on the task of managing a broken-down boarding house. She is sweet and polite, but also has a violent, frightening side that emerges when she is jealous or angry, or dealing with her meddling and equally stubborn parents. She soon develops affection for Godai, and has a tendency to dote over him (with the other tenants teasing her for acting like a "good wife") and becomes jealous over him (though she lies to herself and denies that it is jealousy). However, it is hard for her to forget about her late husband Soichiro (who died just six months after their wedding), and her memories of her husband sometimes put her in a melancholy mood. Kyoko's love for him is sometimes reflected in dialogues with her dog, who bears the same name as her late husband. She believes Godai to be pure-hearted and not a pervert, unlike the other tenants, who try warning her about him. At the end, she is happily married to Godai and a new mother to their daughter Haruka.
 * as Yotsuya, a mysterious man who finds enjoyment in mooching, voyeurism, and generally tormenting his next-door neighbor Yusaku; he is famous for breaking a hole through the adjoining wall (and to use a smaller hole in the wall of Yusaku's room to peep into Akemi's). He is usually seen dressed in a business suit, a yukata or similarly formal attire and tends to speak in a very formal manner (even while drinking and partying with Akemi and Mrs. Ichinose), but what life he may have outside of Maison Ikkoku is a complete mystery to everyone. Yotsuya claims to have a job (but is not above stealing Yusaku's food) and comes and goes at odd and changing hours, keeping a schedule known only to himself. He torments Yusaku directly and Kyoko indirectly, as it is her job to repair the damage done by him. Yotsuya is willing to reveal the secrets of others if it benefits him, such as telling Kyoko what Godai does at night, in order to prevent the hole from being repaired.
 * as Akemi Roppongi, a boozy bar hostess who is known to lounge around wearing skimpy lingerie clothing while hanging around Ikkoku. Akemi works a short distance away in a bar named Cha-Cha Maru, where the tenants gather to drink when not in Yusaku's room. She is known to let some of the bar's male patrons buy her too many drinks, and often comes home from work drunk. Because she works the late-night shift at the Cha-Cha Maru and spends the rest of the night drinking, Akemi always seems to have a sleepy look on her face. She is generally aloof towards both Yusaku and Kyoko, but she is not above joining Yotsuya in tormenting Yusaku. Akemi will often display a blatant sexual interest in Shun Mitaka when he is around, even though she is fully aware of his interest in Kyoko. At the end of the series, she ends up marrying her boss and lives with him on the second floor of the Cha-Cha Maru. Her family name, which means "six trees," is also the name of a Tokyo district, infamous for expensive hostess bars.
 * as Hanae Ichinose, a short, middle-aged woman who is rarely seen sober and who loves gossip, relishing her room's proximity to the communal telephone. Her wage-slave husband seldom appears and is completely unknown to the other tenants until he gets temporarily laid off. She enjoys joining in with the other tenants to stir up trouble for Yusaku and Kyoko, but she occasionally acts with good intentions for the two, especially Kyoko, whom she sees as a "younger sister" (willfully ignoring the difference in their ages, as the other tenants point out). However, even when she is acting with the best of intentions, her way of doing things often leaves Yūsaku, Kyoko, or both in a worse situations than if she had not gotten involved.
 * Parker Goris as Kentaro Ichinose, a grade-school-aged brat, generally seen trying to get between his mother and her alcohol. Initially, he is antagonistic towards Yusaku, but events soon see him to look upon Yusaku as an "alright guy". He is also very fond of Kyoko, especially because he sees her as the only sane person in the building other than himself. He develops a crush on Kyoko's niece Ikuko, reminding Yusaku of himself, although Kentaro resents the comparison.
 * as Mr. Ichinose, a hard-working salaryman and unlike his wife, he is polite and doesn't get out of hand when he drinks.
 * as Shun Mitaka. In sharp contrast to Yusaku, Mitaka is wealthy, educated, and hails from an elite family. Mitaka works as a ladies' tennis coach more out of love for the sport than any need for financial support. To everyone's surprise, he is revealed to be 31 years old by his parents, which would mean he was 26 at the beginning of the series. Nevertheless, he is remarkably handsome, and his teeth have a trademark sparkle whenever he smiles. Kyoko begins to take tennis lessons from him early in the film, and Shun begins to court her. His biggest obstacle in the beginning is his morbid fear of dogs, which makes it difficult for him to be with Kyoko when her dog, Soichiro, is around. While very interested in and devoted to Kyoko, he is very popular with other women and has a reputation as a womanizer, a reputation not entirely undeserved (most of his more grievous actions have innocent explanations, but Shun has admitted to dating many women). Kyoko's mother strongly approves of him as a potential future husband for Kyoko (to Yusaku's chagrin).
 * as Kozue Nanao, Yusaku's steady date ("girlfriend" may be too strong a word, at least in Yusaku's view) and generally serves as an obstacle for him in his pursuit of Kyoko. Cute, sweet, and a little scatter-brained, she's oblivious to the fact that she is more interested in Yusaku than he is in her, and she does not recognize Kyoko (or Ibuki) as competition for his affection. Their relationship starts after Kozue finds Yusaku with a spare movie ticket (originally intended for Kyoko, who had just started dating Shun) and she invites herself along, setting the general tone for their relationship. Yusaku would like to come forward and break things off with Kozue, however he cannot find the right opportunity to do so without hurting Kozue's feelings deeply. The situation becomes more complicated after Kozue introduces Yusaku to her family, who approve of him and are all too willing to feed the perpetually starving college student.
 * as Asuna Kujo, a classically demure Japanese maiden from a wealthy family (Kujō family implied), Asuna is pretty, kindhearted, shy around people, and innocent to a fault. Her family and Shun's uncle have arranged a traditional Japanese marriage between her and Shun, against Shun's wishes. In contrast to Shun, Asuna is a dog lover and she is initially attracted to Shun because her many dogs seem to approve of him. Shun would like to end their arranged engagement, but often finds himself unable to, either because of his fear of her dogs or his fear of hurting her feelings (mirroring the situation between Yūsaku and Kozue). However, after the engagement, a remark by Asuna that his smile seems forced (as in a photograph when he got second place at a tennis competition) makes Shun realize that she is a very empathic and compassionate woman whom he can be happy with. Asuna is initially unaware of Shun's feelings for Kyoko, but she is not above pursuing Shun, albeit in her own fashion. At the end of the series, Asuna marries Shun Mitaka and has twin girls, Moe and Mie, and a third child on the way.
 * as Ibuki Yagami, a high school student where Yusaku was briefly a student-teacher (which is the same school Kyoko attended and met Soichiro). Ibuki was at first unimpressed with him, even ridiculing one of her classmates for her short-lived crush on Yusaku, but Ibuki develops her own crush after misinterpreting him as a sort of tragic romantic hero. Even after she spends more time around Yusaku, her feelings for him persist even after his tenure at her school ends. Ibuki tends to hatch devious plots that put her together with Yusaku, usually putting him into a compromising situation. Yusaku is not interested in her, but is a pushover about it as always, and Ibuki refuses to be denied.