Maison Ikkoku is filled with comedy, romance, drama, and misunderstandings. Though I will say it's frustrating to read & even watch (I recommend the anime of this as well), but in a good way. It didn't stop me from reading or watching. The characters are enjoyable. The comedy is fun when not breaking up serious moments. (Only a few times it works) The romance is great (especially in the last 10 chapters.) All in all, probably 1 of my favorite romances of all time now. I'm going to break this down by character. Now I apologize if I mention things in the anime that aren't in the manga, but the plot is basically the same aside from filler in the anime really. They are both mixed in my mind because I watched it and then found the manga and read it.
Godai
He probably has the biggest development of any character in the story. He goes from being a wimp madly in love with this girl to being one of the greatest guys in the story. From Ronin to pre-school teacher, he goes on a journey to find his place. Calling him an unlucky protagonist is an understatement. At first, there are times when he's being an idiot where he kinda deserves it, but towards the end, he hits a massive unlucky streak that causes him a lot of shit. Just to name a few, getting 2 kids dumped on him while their mother runs off to find a man (she does, but still) & losing out on a job because he helped a pregnant lady, the list goes on. In the end, he achieves his goal by getting Kyoko who fell in love with at first sight.
The Ikkoku gang
While they did care for Godai, they took their teasing a bit far at times, usually to the point where it was cruel. When that happened, they went from being the loveable drunks to the annoying alcoholics.
Grandma Godai
Best character hands down. Want a spin off of just her doing wacky shit.
Kozue
Kozue was Godai's on and off again "girlfriend". She always misunderstands what Godai is trying to tell her and takes it too far. They dated, but it usually consisted of them just hanging out. Towards the end, you hadn't seen her in awhile and she gets proposed to be a co-worker. She is in love with Godai, but he says he doesn't have feelings for her, but would have most likely fallen for her if he hadn't met Kyoko. She gets mad at him over a misunderstanding and accepts the proposal. The thing is she gets mad at him for "seeing" someone else, but technically I found her anger to be kinda bullshit. I mean she was clearly seeing this other guy on and off like with Godai even to the point where he proposes to her. They reconcile and she tells Godai that the guy loves her, but it seems like she still likes Godai and will just get married and try and fall in love with her husband. That whole final plot with her seemed weird to me.
Yagami
She falls for Godai when he was a student teacher at her school. She causes him a lot of problems, but is a sweet girl. In the end, it shows her in college and she still loves Godai.
Mitaka
Godai's look a like. No, really, they look a like. He's Godai's love rival for Kyoko. The thing is Kyoko never had any feelings for him and just saw him as a good friend to hang out with. Similar to Kozue and Godai. His final plot deals with him being arranged to marriage and finally gives in. Though he does actually fall for the girl Asuna who he gets arranged with. His teeth sparkle. His kid's teeth sparkle. His dog's teeth sparkle. Asuna was a great girl and I'm glad she ended up with Mitaka.
Kyoko
Kyoko is let's say a mixed bag. Nothing really bad, but her emotions tend to be kinda frustrating. So early on, before coming to Maison Ikkoku. Kyoko was married to her highschool teacher, Soichiro. (That name is a fucking nuisance to Godai and it makes sense why.) They knew each other for years, and when Kyoko was 20, they got married. They were married for 6 months and then Soichiro dies. It destroys her. A few months later, she decides to become the manager of Maison Ikkoku because her father-in-law was the landlord. That's when she met Godai. She has incidents with Godai at first which kinda make her come off as a bitch at times. She thinks Godai is groping her at the beach when it's just some jellyfish. She stands him up after he works up the courage to ask her out on a date, and then they have a moment at the end, he tries to kiss her only for her to slap him. She offers to make Godai dinner for helping out her niece which makes him so happy. Well, turns out she just feeds him her dead husband's favorite meal and it makes her think about Soichiro. He comes up a lot. She's hung up on Soichiro for a good bit of the story, which in the beginning makes sense, but even after she falls for Godai, there are lingering feelings. One of the most frustrating parts is when Godai goes through all of this stuff to find out about this rock that she found. (anime only, but both the manga and anime add important stuff to her character that shouldn't be ignored) Well turns out in the end, the rock was a Christmas present on her first and last one with Soichiro. Godai being the great guy that he is tells her. After awhile, she becomes open to getting remarried and even shows that she's in love with Godai, but the problems with Soichiro still exist. In manga, after he finally confesses to her for real, she takes him to a Love Hotel. She brings up Soichiro and Godai can't get it up. Godai's problem is that it makes him insecure whens she talks about her dead husband because he doesn't know what she's thinking. She claims that he doesn't trust her even though he loves her and that she loves him which you think, okay. You have proven that your feelings are for Godai now, but the thing is a few chapters later, Godai finds her crying over Soichiro's items. She finally moves on and says her final goodbye to Soichiro after hearing Godai's speech at his grave, but for her to be mad at Godai for being insecure about her makes her come off as hypocritical. She does love Godai, and apparently had fallen in love with him early on, but this conflicting feelings and being hung up on Soichiro caused a lot of conflict. She finally married Godai and they have a daughter at the end.
Soichiro
The fucking dog. Her husband's dog who she named after her husband after his death because the dog responded to the name. She had an unhealthy relationship with this dog. The conflict towards the end with Godai being insecure gets brought on because she says the dog's name. Well, she gets mad because she finds in silly that he would tense up by hearing the name. Well, it's not the name, it's what it represents, your dead husband who you show that you have lingering feelings for while supposedly being in love with Godai. It never gets brought up that being the reason either.
This was a wonderful story with ups and downs, and the final chapters/episodes make the journey all worthwhile.
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