The Characters

Yusaku Godai

The main character in Maison Ikkoku. Godai is from a lower-middle-class family and has failed his college entrance exams, earning him the title "ronin". The only place he can afford to stay and study another year is that crazy Maison Ikkoku. It's love at first sight when Godai meets Kyoko Otonashi, a widower, who is to become the manager of the nuthouse. Always broke, Godai's worried he'll never have enough money to please Kyoko, even with a job. But things start to go better for Godai.. eventually..

Kyoko Otonashi

Godai's main love interest. Kyoko Otonashi is a widower who takes her father-in-law's job as the manager of Maison Ikkoku, the crazy house, to make ends meet. But that's about all she's ready to due after her husband's death (which we never what was caused by). Kyoko is not ready to trust, let alone love, again, and she can have a temper. But later on she warms up to the idea of remarriage, and there are two people in mind.

Hanae Ichinose

Commonly referred to as Mrs. Ichinose, Hanae is the house gossip-- she knows almost everything about everyone. And the mysterious secret of the new manager, and later Kyoko and Yusaku's blossoming romance, get her very intrigued. Her husband, Mr. Ichinose, is all but missing from the house, and she raises her son Kentaro basically on her own. Mrs. Ichinose is known for her infamous fan party dance when she's drunk, which is a lot of the time.

Yotsuya

Yotsuya isn't just another crazy occupant of Maison Ikkoku. Well, maybe he is, but he's certainly interesting. Known to party hearty with his two friends, Mrs. Ichinose and Akemi, Yotsuya is a mysterious man whose job, even real first name, isn't known. He likes to balance beer bottles and dishes with his nose and chopsticks, respectively. Never one to fend for himself, Yotsuya is almost always sucking Godai into giving him food or drink. He likes to crawl around like a snake and uses a whole in Godai's wall to do another one of his hobbies on Akemi-- voyeurism.

Akemi Roppongi

Akemi is the final member of the trio who keeps Godai hopping. She loves to walk around the house in skimpy outfits just to annoy Yusaku, a hobby which Yotsuya enjoys. When she's not drunk along with everyone else, she works at the local Cha Cha Maru bar. Akemi is probably the easiest wacko in the anime to relate to, because she has had bad luck in love, and just bad luck period.

Shun Mitaka

Mitaka is a coach at the local private women's tennis club. Identified to most by his shiny teeth, Mitaka is Godai's only opponent for Kyoko's affections. The two try to dazzle Kyoko one by one, who gets flat-out exhausted and finally has to choose between the two. Mitaka's only problem is his fear of dogs-- which is keeping him from marrying the women who is engaged to by family means, Asuna.

Asuna Kujou