Welcome, this is my first blog entry so I figured... what better than Maison Ikkoku? Ha! You can't think of anything so there we have it. I'd like to start by explaining just what in the hell this madness you're about to read is. First of all I have absolutely no will power when it comes to my favorite anime titles. A simple mention of them, someone I know watching it or just thinking about them often in general is enough to trigger a re-watch. Over the last week or so I watched Maison Ikkoku for the fourth time and in the mean time had been thinking about bringing back something I enjoyed doing in the past. Counting! Yes, counting... I hate math, but this type of counting I can tolerate. What I do is make a sheet and jot down things that happen often throughout the series and count to see how many times they occur. This might sound insane... well it is so I won't disagree with you. With that said, this is extremely time consuming and takes a tole on you after a while. You'd be amazed at how many things you miss even if you had a conscious effort to do this. Since I've done this before with other series (not quite a hard as this besides maybe Slam Dunk) I get into a groove relatively quickly and begin to resemble Yagami Light with my zooming pen strokes. But don't worry, nobody is in danger besides maybe myself.So why do I do this you wonder? To get the most out of something I already love. The amount of focus you need in order to pull this off is unquestionably the most you'll ever use while watching anime or anything for that matter. I'm big on details and like to know things inside and out and this Maison Ikkoku viewing was like none other. I feel closer to the show then I've ever been before and that's all I could ask for. So here we go.
[SPOILERS BELOW!]
GodaiIs called a ronin - 37 times
The nervous hand on head - 80 times
Yells - 641 times
Part time jobs - 7 jobs (9 if you count retuning to one and where he ends up.)
Sneaks around (making phone calls/ getting home late) - 24 times
Eats cup ramen - 6 times
Number of times in the closet - 2 times
Times he's with Sakamoto and doesn't complain about anything - ONLY 2 times
Home made meals from women - 12 times
Nervous walk - 10 times
Cleans his room - 3 times
Says kanrinin-san - 342 times
Says Kyoko-san - 155 times
Kyoko
Sweeping outside - 45 times
Slaps Godai/hits him - 10 times
Tells everyone to leave Godai alone - 21 times
Encourages Godai - 29 times
Wears the Piyo Piyo apron - 96 times
Send people off (have a good day) - 40 times
Wearing makeup - 10 times
Repairs apartment herself - 4 times
Mops floor - 5 times
Does the laundry - 20 times
Says Godai-san - 403 times
Says welcome back- 28 times
Yotsuya
Steals stuff from Godai - 13 times
Sneaks up on Godai - 9 times
Mention of him being mysterious - 6 times
Re-opens the hole in the wall - 3 times
Watching Godai sleeping - 2 times (Creepy...)
Seen leaving the apartment by himself - 10 times
Uses black mail - 10 times (many many more if you count bribes)
Wearing suit and work attire - 39 times
Bottle balancing - 10 times
Whisper voice - 32 times
Holds Godai back - 6 times
Sings - 9 times
Visibly in the holes he's made - 32 times
Wears a tuxedo - 6 times
Says Godai-kun - 131 times
Enters Godai's room through hole - 14 times
How many false names he gives out - 5 names - see below
Yotuya is the family name so... are any of the names he gave out real? I highly doubt it.
- Episode 36 Kennosuke: pronounced as Gorobe. "They call me honest Goro-chan."
- Episode 44 Kamekicho: pronounced as Tsurii.
- Episode 44 Fuji: pronounced as Kawada-cho.
- Episode 50 Kikuchivo: pronounced as Tamezou. "I'm known as Tame-san the kind hearted."
- Episode 65 "My real name is Chandler Yotsuya, but you can call me Phillip Yotsuya-maro"
Drunken dance - 55 times
Kentaro embarrassed of his mother - 8 times
(I should have counted how many episodes her husband was in)
Akemi
Running around in nightgown/revealing outfit - 78 times
Mitaka
The smile - 44 times
Visibly afraid of dogs - 38 times
Says Otonashi-san - 126 times
Yagami
Pisses off Kyoko - 8 times
Forces herself on Godai - 14 times
Says Godai-sensei - 162 times
Asuna
Says ano (uh) - 20 times
Scenes WITHOUT dogs - 4 times
Soichiro-san (Person)
Number of times he's brought up - 88 times
Number of times they hide his face - 22 times
Soichiro-san
Barks (bow) - 847.......
General
Parties in Godai room - 54 times
Drinking elsewhere (Chachamaru etc) - 40 times
Mention that Godai is going to fail - 33 times
Daydreams. (Kozue's dad with a shotgun etc) - 32 times
Misunderstandings - 87 times
Smoking - 53 times
Vendor horn - 15 times
Godai vs Mitaka battles - 31 times
Rains - 18 times
Snows - 6 times
This next section was a crazy suggestion from my friend Matt, but I was up to the task. The number of times each specific apartment door is opened. By far the most easy to miss if you're not paying close enough attention.
Doors
Godai's - 111 times
Yotsuya's - 2 times
Akemi's - 10 times
Ichinose's 35 times
Kyoko's - 83 times
Front Door - 178 times
Bath room - 6 times
Vacant Room # 3 - 8 times
Top 10 Favorite Episodes (No order)
- Episode 4 - This is my only favorite that I can't sum up in one word. It's just excellent and quite possibly one of the most funny in the entire series. Always great to see that early on. Godai's yatta dance outside of Kyoko's door is hilarious. You have Yotsuya busting down the wall with... a LOG!? Where did he get that? The intense music as Godai hands in his test (failed lol) and the determined look on his face. To his displeasure he gets caught cutting class by Kyoko but his attempt to leave the noodle/sushi shop is top notch. He even follows that one dude into the bathroom. Greatness.
- Episode 10 - The Beach episode. This is where we first learn that Mitaka has an unhealthy fear of dogs. Little did he know that Soichiro-san was in the back seat of the car. The scream of his makes me crack up and just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Kyoko takes over the wheel and acts like a psychopath speeding a swerving past cars. Everyone thinks they're going to die. The competitiveness between Godai and Mitaka is really good in this episode. One of my favorite parts is just seeing Soichiro-san float away on a raft *laughs*
- Episode 29 - Halloween dry well action. Kyoko mistakingly confuses which well to get into. Of course she picked the one she couldn't get out of on her on. One by one everyone gets stuck in the well making it more cramped and uncomfortable. The best part here is Yotsuya pushing Mitaka in and them fighting over who gets to life Kyoko up. Nobody can get out besides Yotuya who's the exception to any rule. Quality stuff.
- Episode 32 - Mysterious egg! Where to start? Godai's uncontrollable screaming (for good reason) is so damn funny and also results in waking everyone else up. Godai thought he was having a dream about Yotsuya giving him and egg in the middle of the night but it tuned out to be reality. My favorite aspect of this episode is how EVERYONE is scared which was very interesting. Akemi's impressions of how Yotsuya would react to either scenario was dead on as was her seiyuu who did a great job there. All I can say is poor Sakamoto.
- Episode 35 - Godai and Kyoko's date chase. Godai's grandma decides to set them up on a date and gives them a schedule to go by. Coincidentally, no matter where they go they run into someone from Ikkoku-kan. Well it's no coincidence at all and the chase is on. Godai and Kyoko spend a large chunk of the episode running away from. Great fun.
- Episode 37 - Without a doubt my favorite episode in the series. Dress up madness! It all starts with Kyoko believe it or not who decides to dress up into her high school outfit. She gets caught in the process and one by one everyone dresses up in some crazy costume. Not just is the premise of this episode great, but the fact that each and every participant just goes with the flow after a while. This is the most out of character episode of them all and even Mitaka gets in on the action. Perfect episode in every way.
- Episode 44 - Follow Yotsuya! The gang decides it's about time they found out what exactly Yotsuya does for a living. He certainly doesn't sell rubber bands I can assure you. Everyone takes turns following them but it's as if Yotsuya knew they were following him all along... Well he did so that's no surprise. All their efforts and no results. All things Yotsuya continue to be as much as a mystery as ever.
- Episode 46 - Ice skating. Little does everyone know that BOTH Godai and Mitaka (of all people) can't skate if their lives depended on it. They clash heads quite a bit in this one and in the process get pointed and laughed at by all those in the rink. Akemi and Yostuya show up half way adding insult to injury. All is good in the world once Kyoko decides to teach them a thing or two. They race to see who can catch her first and in the process get the hang of it. Very funny.
- Episode 68 - The baseball team from hell. Master leaves building a team to Godai's grandma (bad move) and of course she assembles the most loony of them all. Eventually Yagami shows up helping the team out quite a bit and Godai summons enough strength to strike a few people out. Nice tension and comedy wrapped into one.
- Episode 69 - Visit to the pool. While Goda's luck seemingly can't get worse Mitaka brings everyone to the pool that Godai is working at with his buddy Sakamoto. While he tries his best to not get discovered he can't help but worry about Kyoko being with Mitaka. It's then that Kyoko sees the hickey (which Sakamato mistaking gave him during the night lol) and she gets furious. She tells Godai she hates him and bites his shoulder! HAHA In the end he comes to her rescue, returning her bathing suit top that had fallen off.
One last thing... Something I've been thinking about for years now. Whenever I watch the "Sunny Shiny Morning" opening I can't help but think that Yotsuya under no circumstances would EVER give food or much else for that matter to ANYONE. I think because of that I enjoy seeing that sequence for it's weirdness alone.Anyway, that's about it for now. I hope those reading this enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed working on it. Till next time.
