God, it's collections like this one that exemplify why I love DVDs. I realize the gee golly newness of disks has long faded for most people - myself included - but then something like this comes around and inspires be to go preach the digital gospel once again. Here we have the first 12 episodes of a classic anime sitcom transferred onto 3 shiny disks with quite nice video and audio upgrading. That may not sound like much to the modern consumer, but consider that I originally owned these same episodes on 6 blocky VHS tapes (some subbed, some *shudder* dubbed). Huge improvement, to say the least. Now onto the review...

Maison Ikkoku is not an anime that would sell well if it was produced today. The current trend in Japanese animation is for a very shiny, very cute, and often very dark series with a unfortunate interest in being a little too innovative for its own good. To contrast, this show comes from a much simpler time, where stories were allowed to be happy, people were allowed to look relatively normal, and neither magic nor guns were needed to solve the characters' problems (not that I'm against magic or guns, but there's a time and a place...). There is melodrama and comedy, but both of those elements come from the characters and their actions, and that allows the cast themselves to control the flow of the plot and not have any storyline forced upon them.

The problem with this is that its total lack of a gimmick makes it hard to make the recommendation for this extraordinary anime noteworthy. The plot itself is quite simple, almost too simple for today's audiences: a young ronin (historically a masterless samurai, but in present times the term is used for people who failed to get into college the first year they applied) named Godai lives in a small apartment building known as Maison Ikkoku, which is known for its rowdy occupants. Godai is attempting to study for this year's entrance exams, but he is finding this extremely difficult due to his neighbors' inclination to hold drunken parties in his apartment every night. Finally he gives up and decides to leave, but as fate would have it, on that very night a young woman named Kyoko arrives. She's the new manager, and from the moment he lays eyes on her Godai falls head over heels in love. Kyoko, however, seems mostly indifferent about love in general, and just goes about trying to be a good manager for the rather unruly tenants.

Godai inspects some peculiarly warped shingles.	An advertisement for the "Beer = Power" coalition.

As you might notice, that is not a premise for a series; it is a short-term situation. And Maison Ikkoku takes this situation, and allows the characters to build upon it as they see fit. If the plot at hand has run its course in terms of comedy or drama, it just lets it go. The ronin/entrance exams plot is milked for about five episodes, allowing the initial relationship of Kyoko and Godai to be built on a non-romantic goal and also giving the rest of the tenants a perfect opportunity to annoy the hell out of Godai (much to the viewer's amusement). However, once the show feels as if they have done all they can with it, they move along to another situation with more long-lasting premise. It is in this way the show always feels fresh, and the characters never have to rely on the same old gags.

Speaking of which, it is the characters that truly bring Maison Ikkoku to life. Rumiko Takahashi knows how to handle a large cast in her manga, and aside from Urusei Yatsura this work was probably the best example of that strength. Luckily, that aspect was translated very well into anime form, as all the characters are interesting and fun to watch in all their actions. Make no mistake, however - there is very little depth to be found in the personalities themselves. Really, most of the secondary characters can usually be summed up in two-word descriptors each (Akemi is the lazy tease, Yotsuya-san is the devious leech, and so forth), and Kyoko is really the only one with somewhat ambiguous goals. However, the show effortlessly throws these players into circumstance after circumstance where their main characteristic traits are used to the best advantage, and one never really gets tired of their antics. Also, very few shows can pull off characters like the residents of the complex, where they never do anything remotely likable and yet you still like them. Maison Ikkoku somehow does it perfectly, and yet many lesser series accidentally make these characters MUCH too unlikable, and it kills the entire show (GTO is a good recent example of this). Oh, and the show is funny too. Really, really funny.

The animation is quite good for a series of this age. I've always been a huge fan of Takahashi's simple yet effective character designs, and here her heavy, curved lines are at their best here. The color palette is largely understated, fitting in nicely with the simple stories. Also, in a nice touch completely differentiating itself from today's series, the most radical hair color anyone in the series has is red.

In audio news, the music is just as soft as the art. Really, Maison Ikkoku is probably the mildest in tone of Takahashi's popular works, and thus every facet of it displays this quality.

The box set and extras are similarly understated, but not so much in a good way. I mean, at first I thought 12 episodes was rather skimpy for a full "collector's set," but then I realize this is Viz we're talking about here - a company who considers it pioneering to put more than two episodes on a VHS tape. And the break in plot is suitable, good enough that if people stop collecting the series with this set then they won't be left hanging too much (But then why would they stop? Seriously, I want to know.) There is an advertisement for extras on the box, but on review it's just textless OP/ED. Whoa, Viz, stop it with the bells and whistles already!

In summary, Maison Ikkoku is exactly what a good anime sitcom should be - a cast who are able to build their own interesting plots from within them, great humor, and characters you really care about. There is an emphasis on slightly soapy drama, but there is a good lot of humor to back up the angst. So if your only exposure to Takahashi's works is the dubbed airings of Inu Yasha on Cartoon Network, check this one out and see the mistress of the anime sitcom in her prime. All in all, it's great; and there's really nothing more to be said.

Distributor: Viz
Creator: Rumiko Takahashi / Kitty Film
Released: 1986

Video Quality: A
Audio Quality: A-
Presentation: A-
Content: A
Overall: A-