--- Maison Ikkoku Guidebook Release 8: Part 3 of 8 Copyright 1995 by the Misery Loves Company (see the full copyright notice in part 1 of this guidebook) Chapter Synopses: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several of the synopses here are based on the English translations published by Viz Comics. Be aware that Viz's version is sometimes different from the original story. .5.> =================================================================== @v1c09 == v1c9 VW1c9: == == [arukoho--ru rabu ko--ru] == == or == == Alcohol Love Call == ================================================================== @viz1_3 Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau, May 1994. Based on the English translation: [Part 1], Number 3, Part 5 Viz Comics, 1993 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn Cover price: $2.95 US, $4.00 Canada [ 94.05.15 ; 92 lines ] It's late night at Ikkoku-kan, and we find Kyoko in the hall, kneeling over Akemi, who is sprawled on the floor, thoroughly drunk. Kyoko tries to haul Akemi to her room, and is aided by Mrs. Ichinose. Akemi soddenly explains: "S'm custom'r shaid he'd buy me a lil' drinkie...'n' another...'n' another...'n'...." "He must be bankrupt now," snorts Mrs. Ichinose. As they maneuver Akemi down the hall, Mrs. Ichinose reminds Kyoko that Godai had gone out drinking with his college friends that night. Kyoko asks if he gets "out of hand" when he drinks. Mrs. Ichinose doesn't know, but warns that they'd better stay out of his way if he's one of those "obnoxious drunks." Akemi says, "Godai? He'sh prob'ly one a' those sloppy, weepy drunksh!" Kyoko: "Now she has me worried...." As the trio reaches the stairs, they hear a clatter outside and a drunken voice cursing the grabage cans he's just fallen over. Kyoko wonders if it's Godai, but Mrs. Ichinose says it's "some other obnoxious drunk." Then another drunken voice is heard, yelling "Attenshun ev'rybody!" Kyoko knows that THIS is Godai and rushes out to quiet him. As she reaches the street, Godai yells at the top of his voice, "I, Yusaku Godai am in love with Kyoko Otonashi!!" Godai's friend, Sakamoto, is drunkenly amazed that Godai actually came out with that. Kyoko is shocked. Godai yells again: "I'm in love with Kyooo-ko!" Kyoko pleads with Godai to quiet down, but Sakamoto protests: "Aw, c'mon! Don't shtop him! He'd never be able t'say it unlesh he wash thish drunk!" Godai disagrees, saying he's not saying it because he's drunk; it's true because he's sober. Then he recognizes Kyoko through his alcoholic haze. He asks if she heard what he said, seeming not sure if he's glad she did. Kyoko pleads, "Come on... Let's get you to your room." "Go to my room...?" Godai ponders unsteadily. "Immediately! Please!" Godai sweeps her up in his arms, crying "I'll take you there myshelf!" What follows is Ikkoku-kan's patented pandemonium, with Godai unsteadily carrying Kyoko toward his room, Kyoko loudly protesting and whomping Godai with ther fist, Sakamoto tearfully pleading with Mrs. Ichinose not to stop Godai, and Akemi musing dreamily that she didn't think he was "one a' those lady-killer type drunksh." Godai manages to get up the stairs, where he meets Yotsuya. "Well, well, well... You two certainly broke the ice quite suddenly, didn't you?" At Godai's request and over Kyoko's protests, Yotsuya opens the door to Godai's room. "Now I can peep on them... Enjoy, you two!" Godai trips and plunges headlong onto the bed, Kyoko underneath him. Burying her face in her hands, she thinks, "Forgive me, dear husband!" Nothing happens. Kyoko realizes Godai is now snoring loudly. She pounds him furiously with her fists as Yotsuya, peeping through the crack in the wall, sneers, "Hmph!" She hurls a book at him. Then it's morning. Godai awakens dreaming of Kyoko and hugging the foot of the unconscious Sakamoto. He throws up in the sink as Sakamoto yawns himself awake. The two hung-over friends groan and grumble, and Godai notices his head feels bruised (where Kyoko pummeled him). Going to the bathroom, the two encounter Yotsuya, sporting a bandage on his forehead where the hurled book had hit. He frowns at Godai. "You almost got all the way last night. The manager was quite annoyed. Well, it's not too surprising, really. It does tend to upset the ladies if you stop in the middle." Godai is frantic, since he can't remember what he did the night before. He asks Mrs. Ichinose, who tells him he danced around naked and begged Kyoko to look! Kyoko is outside, sweeping. As Godai approaches, she turns away with an unfriendly grunt. Godai and Sakamoto end up eating at the "Oodles of Noodles." Godai is in despair: "My life is over." Sakamoto has doubts about the naked dancing tale, but Godai remains convinced that's what he did. At the next table, two women recognize Godai and begin to whisper and laugh at his escapades of the previous night. Godai wonders what he might have said. Sakamoto has a suggestion, and Godai ends up under the table, moaning "Lord, take me now!" On the way back to Ikkoku-kan, they pass Cha Cha Maru, and Akemi and the manager rub it in a bit more. Meanwhile, Kyoko is trying to sort out her feelings, talking to Mr. Souichiro. She wonders if Godai could really have meant his drunken declaration of love. "It's too serious for a joke, isn't it? I was up all night wondering if he hadn't passed out, would I have...." Godai tries to sneak past Kyoko into Ikkoku-kan, but a bark from Mr. Souichiro gives him away. The two look uncertainly at each other while he tries to collect his thoughts. He apologizes for his behavior, saying "I guess it wouldn't do any good to say it was just the alcohol." Referring to his profession of love, Kyoko says, "I'd prefer it if you did it when you were sober." Godai angrily retorts, "You think I'd do something like that when I was SOBER?!" -- referring to his supposed nude dancing, of course. Kyoko responds that she can't tell if he's serious if he's drunk. He flares back, "Do you think I'm the kind of person who'd do something like that SERIOUSLY?!" She bursts into tears. "You mean it was just a joke?! You said you loved me... as a JOKE?! How could you?!" She treats him to a resounding slap and runs inside. He finally realizes he hadn't been dancing naked after all. In her room, Kyoko sits at the table, burying her head in her arms and weeping. "I'm sorry, Souichiro. I'll never even LOOK at another man again." Outside, the disconsolate Godai crouches by Mr. Souichiro's doghouse and wails, "Kyoooko!" The dog matches his wail with a mournful howl. Mrs. Ichinose, just leaving the house, snorts "Are you still drunk?" -- Joseph Grau Footnotes: ---------- Glenn writes: 94.05.07; subject: Re: Sober Godai vs Kyoko This is about the chapter when Godai drunkenly declares his love for Kyoko. Some notes regarding Joseph Grau's synopsis (posted on May 7). > Maison Ikkoku [Part 1], Number 3 > Viz Comics, 1993 > Part 5: Alcohol Love Call > Akemi soddenly explains: "S'm custom'r shaid he'd buy me a > lil' drinkie...'n' another...'n' another...'n'...." In the original Japanese dialogue, how is drunken speech indicated? Is drunken Japanese slurred like it is in English? Does it turn into heavy slang? > Godai yells at the top of his voice, "I, Yusaku Godai am in > love with Kyoko Otonashi!!" Interestingly, throughout the entire scene (in the original) Godai always calls her "Kyoko-san" and never once stoops to calling her plain "Kyoko". I suppose being drunk is no excuse to be impolite. :) > Godai trips and plunges headlong onto the bed, Kyoko underneath him. > Burying her face in her hands, she thinks, "Forgive me, dear husband!" Original version: Kyoko just said "Souichiro-san!" I have a question: In Volume 1, on page 194 (the final page of the chapter) there are three screams written like sound effects: 1) kyouko sa---n 2) oo-----n 3) urusa--i (= shut up!) Obviously Godai says #1, and Souchiro-dog said #2. But who said #3? Was it the neighbors, or could it be Kyoko? Joseph Grau on May 7 wrote: > curious about.> > > Thanks, Sue! Hope there will be some comments from the others. (If > not, I think it will be the first piece of translating I've seen on > here that someone HASN'T commented on!) ^o- Now that you have quoted Viz's version of that scene, we can do a side-by-side-by-side (^_^) comparison. Interestingly enough, for every single line, I prefer Viz's rendition over Sue's. Of course, she did provide us with just a first draft of a translation, but it's still reassuring to find out that whoever translated those three pages (Gerard and/or Matt) aren't as incompetent as I sometimes say they are... (Lest you have the mistaken impression that it didn't take very long to write this message, please note that I needed to do *lots* of dictionary flipping to figure out the correct pronunciations of the kanji :( ) ====================== pp. 192-193 from v1c9 = Viz 1.3, Part 5: Alcohol Love Call Original text Shambaugh-san's Viz's version: (in romaji): translation: (typed in by Joseph) -------------------- -------------------- -------------------- Godai: ano... SAKUBAN wa Um... Last night, Umm... I'm, ah, very various things... sorry about last iroiro to... night. Kyoko: haa...... Yeah... Oh... Godai: KEIBETSU shiteru You must despise me. You probably think I'm a complete jerk. deshou ne. Kyoko: ie, chotto bikkuri No, although I was a No... I was just a little startled... bit... surprised. shimashita kedo.... Godai: SAKE no UE no On top of being drunk, I guess it wouldn't it was so absurd, you do any good to say it furachija can't let it pass, was just the alcohol. TOORImasen yo ne. eh? Kyoko: ano... ICHIHAN (?) Um... In general, Actually, to tell the ni aaiu koto wa, that kind of thing, I truth... I'd prefer it wish you'd held me if you did it when you [shirafu] no seriously... were sober. (? paraphrasing) TOKI ni SHINKEN yatte itadaita HOU ga...... Godai: [shirafu] de Could I do a thing Huh? dekimasuka, like that seriously?! You think I'd do something like that anna koto_!! when I was SOBER?! Kyoko: ara_!! YOpparatte Hey!! You were drunk, But how can I know aren't you worried if you're serious or tanja, HONKI ka about whether it was not if you're drunk?! JOUDAN ka NAYAmu ja serious or a joke?!! arimasen ka!! Godai: boku ga HONKI de Do you think I'm the Do you think I'm the type of person who kind of person who'd anna koto suru could do a thing like do something like that NINGEN da to that seriously?!! SERIOUSLY?! OMOtterun desu ka_!! Kyoko: jaa JOUDAN dattan So, it was a joke?? You mean it was just desu ka? a joke?! JOUDAN de SUkida nante You said you loved me, You said you as a JOKE?! loved me... as a JOKE?! Ittan desu ka!! anmari dawa!! It's too much!! How could you?! `bachi---n' (presumably, the sound of Kyoko having slapped Godai) Godai: e_? Eh? Huh? Godai: so... sonna... Th-That's... B... But... HADA'ODOri ja... W-Wasn't dancing You mean I wasn't naked...? dancing naked...? Kyoko: baka baka baka!! Idiot, idiot, idiot! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! atashi wa baka da_!! I'm an idiot!! I'm such a fool! SOUICHIRO-san I'm sorry, Souichiro. gomennasai. mou hokano OTOKO I'll never even LOOK at another man again. nanka MImasen. Outside, the disconsolate Godai crouches by Mr. Souichiro's doghouse and wails, Godai: kyouko sa---n Kyoooko! Kyoooko! Souchiro-dog: oo----n The dog matches his wail with a mournful howl. Mrs. Ichinose, just leaving the house, snorts Ichinose: anta mada YOttenno? Are you still drunk? End of chapter. =================================================================== @v1c10 == v1c10 VW1c10: == == KANAAMI wa KOerarenai == == or == == Don't Fence Me Out! == ========================================================================== Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau. Based on the English translation: [Part 1], Number 3, Part 6 Viz Comics, 1993 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn Cover price: $2.95 US, $4.00 Canada [ 94.05.15 ; 55 lines ] Kyoko is tending the lawn of Ikkoku-kan while Mrs. Ichinose observes. "Are you two fighting?" the older woman asks. Kyoko feigns ignorance, but when Godai comes down the walk, she ignores him. After he's gone, Mrs. Ichinose scolds Kyoko for her attitude toward Godai. Two neighbor ladies on the sidewalk overhear and join the conversation. Kyoko apologizes for their having been disturbed, but they brush off her apologies, one of them laughing, "Why, if a young man liked me that much, I'd run straight into his arms!" "Well, too bad this gal isn't as eager as you!" responds Mrs. Ichinose. The women begin to badger Kyoko. "I'm just remaining faithful to my dear departed husband!" she protests. The women gasp and chide her that her attitude is unhealthy. "You'll dry up into a bitter old maid!" The women invite Kyoko and Mrs. Ichinose to join their housewives' tennis club. Mrs. Ichinose scoffs at the idea until one of the women advises, "Don't say no until you get a look at the coach!" Kyoko and Mrs. Ichinose let the women sign them up. That Sunday, Kyoko and Mrs. Ichinose show up at the tennis courts and are greeted by the coach, the handsome Shun Mitaka. While the women in the club ooh and aah over his looks, he tells the two he'll give them a test to assign them to ability-level classes. Mrs. Ichinose goes first, and ends up in the "C" level. Just then, Godai happens by on his bicycle, making a delivery. He is hailed by two men who are at the fence, watching the women play. "You're just in time to watch Kyoko play," one tells him, and he gapes through the chain-link fence. Kyoko darts around the court, playing energetically. Her tiny tennis skirt whips about her. "See them? White as snow!" one of the men asks his friend, obviously referring to Kyoko's panties. Shun places Kyoko in the "A" class, and Mrs. Ichinose chides her for having worried about her playing. Kyoko admits she had been in the tennis club in high school -- "a long time ago." Mitaka approaches and compliments Kyoko on her game, but says she could stand to adjust her form a bit. He puts his hand on her hip as he guides her arm through a swing. Godai is rabid, pressing up against the fence as he growls at Kyoko's handling by the "pervert." One of the men points out to him that the ice in the parcel he had been delivering has melted. He growls and peddles furiously off down the street. As Kyoko and Mrs. Ichinose walk home, Mitaka pulls up beside them in his car and offers them a ride, which they accept. He asks Kyoko if she's a newlywed, commenting that she looks younger than anyone else in the club. She tells him she's "single... basically." He looks very pleased. Meanwhile, Godai is walking home, having been fired for fouling up the delivery -- for which, of course, he blames Mitaka. As he reaches Ikkoku-kan, he sees the women getting out of Mitaka's car and hears Mitaka invite Kyoko to dinner sometime soon. Godai coughs to attract Kyoko's attention as Mitaka drives off. He chats desultorily with the women for a minute, then excuses himself and heads for the house. His face is covered with cross-hatch impressions from the chain-link fence. "Judging from the marks on his face," Mrs. Ichinose says, "the idiot must have been plastered to that fence for the whole practice." Kyoko gazes thoughtfully at his retreating figure. Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau, May 1994 =================================================================== @v2c01 == v2c01 VW1c11: == == Mitaka, Godai!! == ================================================================== @viz1_4 Footnotes: ---------- The price of Mitaka's car: Here are the original lines from the manga v2c1 page13: Yotsuya: ii KURUMA desu naa, - Nice car. CHUUKU desu ka. Is it used? Mitaka: ha_ha_ha_ SHINSHA desu yo. - Ha ha ha, it's new. Ichinose: TAKAin darou ne--? - Was it expensive? Mitaka: ie, KOKUSAN desu kara, - No, it's Japanese made. HYAKU GO, ROKU JUU MAN 1.5 or 1.6 million yen. te toko desu yo. Ichinose (to Godai): anta mo gambatte - Someday you'll be able JITENSHA kurai KAina yo. to afford a bicycle! Mitaka entered the story in 1981, so at 1981 exchange rates: 1 500 000 yen = $6801 US = $8175 CAN 1 600 000 yen = $7255 US = $8720 CAN Here's how Viz translated the same passage: (data-entry by Gary Kacmarcik) Yotsuya: A fine vehicle. Bought used? Mitaka: Ha! No, I got it new. --- Mrs. Ichinose: New? Must have cost a lot! Mitaka: No, not really. Only about fourteen thousand. --- Mrs. Ichinose: Say, Godai, if you work hard enough, maybe you can at least buy a bicycle! =================================================================== @v2c05 == v2c5 VW1c15: == == FUKU'ZATSU'YA...... == == or == == One Entangled Evening == ================================================================== @viz1_6 Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau. Based on the English translation: [Part 1], Number 6, Part 11 Viz Comics, 1993 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn Cover price: $2.95 US, $4.00 Canada [ 94.05.15 ; 111 lines ] The story opens with Godai rushing breathlessly toward Maison Ikkoku. He stops short as he sees Mitaka waiting by his car in front of the house. Then Kyoko appears, dressed for an evening out, and gets into the car as Mitaka chivalrously opens the door. With a typically nonplussed expression, Godai stammers, "A... A date?" As Kyoko and Mitaka drive off, Godai sighs and stares at two movie tickets in his hand. He sighs, "And these were expensive, too..," then angrily starts to rip up the tickets. But he stops. "After all, they WERE expensive." Godai calls someone and asks if they'd like to join him at the movie -- Dutch treat. Whoever it is on the other end of the phone declines and suggests Godai take his girlfriend. Godai retorts, "If I had a girlfriend, would I be calling YOU?!" Godai notices a young girl has stopped by the phone and is watching him. He finishes his conversation and the girl approaches. "Yusaku Godai, right?" She realizes Godai doesn't recognize her, and puts on a pair of big, round glasses. Godai remembers her -- Kozue Nanao. "We both worked at that liquor store." She comments she guesses she's "not very memorable," and he politely objects that his lack of recognition came from having been out of the store on deliveries most of the time and from seeing her without her glasses. She tells him she had bought her contact lenses with the money from her part-time job at the store, even though she had "been planning to buy something else." As Godai wonders what she means by that, Kozue spots the movie tickets in his shirt pocket and asks what they are. Godai shows Kozue the tickets, and she remarks that it's "supposed to be a great film... lucky you!" Impulsively, Godai asks her to go to the movie with him. She is delighted. "Can I?! Really?!" As they walk to the theater, Kozue says: "I feel like I kinda forced you to invite me." Godai gallantly replies that he had been looking for someone to go with, but as they walk his mind is on Kyoko and Mitaka, wondering where they were going. As Godai and Kozue round a corner, they happen on Kyoko and Mitaka standing by his car, which has obviously broken down. Godai tries to steer Kozue back around the corner, but Mitaka spots them. "Out on a date too? You rascal, you!" he calls. As Kozue and Godai walk up to Kyoko, Kozue clutches his arm and says "Hi, there!" Kyoko responds with a hesitant "Umm...hello" and a rather blank expression. Still clutching Godai's arm, Kozue says, "C'mon... we'll be late for the movie," and the pair walks off, Godai looking back over his shoulder at Kyoko. Kyoko muses: "He... he said he was in love with ME... but he's got a cute young girlfriend. He was just leading me on. How COULD he... playing with my heart like that?" Clenching her fists, she bursts out: "MEN!!" Mitaka, still working on the car, apologizes. Kyoko tells him she wasn't referring to him, and he mutters, "Women!" We now see Kozue and Godai at the theater, watching a blood-drenched horror film. Godai stares at the screen open-mouthed. Kozue munches a snack. Finished with her snack, she looks around and notices several girls clutching their dates' arms and burying their faces in their shoulders. She hooks her arm through Godai's and cuddles close to him, her head on his shoulder. Godai looks down at her, then goes back to staring entranced at the movie. Godai and Kozue leave the movie with her still clutching his arm and commenting, "Gee! That was scary!" She asks if he wants to grab something to eat. Others leaving the movie are saying, "How gross!" and "I feel sick." Amazed that Kozue is unfazed by the gory film, Godai stammers, "Y-you want to EAT?!" Meanwhile, Kyoko and Mitaka are dining in a seemingly classy restaurant. As they touch glasses in a toast, Mitaka asks, "Say, do you mind if I ask you a question?" He goes on: "Did you come with me today because you wanted to go to that concert? Just for that?" Kyoko replies, "I don't think so. I enjoy being with you." Mitaka is pleased, but then she continues: "You're a friend who has no connection with my work, so it's a nice break." "Friend?" he replies, "How about as a man?" "You probably have a sweetheart too, don't you?" she asks. He is taken aback. "'Too?'... You mean you have one, Kyoko?" "No, not me... No, I most certainly do NOT have a boyfriend." As she says this, we see what is in her mind -- a picture of a grinning Godai and a contented Kozue labeled, "Yusaku is a jerk." Kozue and Godai are eating in an obviously less "upscale" restaurant. Kozue asks, slurping her noodles, if Godai had really been planning to see the movie with her. He hesitates. She says, "Aw. It doesn't really matter. I just got lucky. After all, it was free. But you must feel kinda unlucky, right?" "No way!" he replies. "Besides, you're really cute." She brightens. "You think so?!! I KNEW I was right to get contacts!" Kozue and Godai walk home through a park. She tells him she usually walks home through the mall, but she feels safe going this way since she's with him. He mumbles, "Maybe you ought to be more afraid...." She stops and faces him. "You like me?" "Uh... sure!" We see a jumble of thoughts and emotions in Godai's mind: yes/no, want/can't, good/bad, mind/lust, confusion. He warns himself not to lose control in the heat of the moment, then concludes, "But hell... what's one little kiss?!" By the time he sorts all this out and reaches to embrace Kozue, she's moved on down the path and is waiting for him to catch up. As Godai reaches Ikkoku-kan, he's still debating whether Kozue is interested in him. He recalls her asking whether they could see each other again. "Kozue, huh?" he muses with a smile. Then his reverie is interrupted by a bark from Mr. Souichiro. Godai stops to pet the dog, and Mrs. Ichinose appears, telling him she thought he was Kyoko returning from her date. It's already 11:30. Mrs. Ichinose wonders, "Maybe she's spending the night." "No way!" Godai retorts, without a whole lot of confidence. Kyoko and Mitaka pull up in his car. She tells him she had a great time, and he asks if she'd like to go out again sometime. "Sure" is her reply. Meanwhile, Godai is stewing in his room. "That damn Mitaka probably moves pretty fast.... No way! Kyoko would never...." He is relieved to hear the sound of brakes and the car door closing. Suddenly, Godai hears Kyoko crying out. "No!" "Stop!" "Get Away!" "Don't!" "Stop!" Godai rushes to rescue her from the evil clutches of Mitaka and -- as we might have expected -- ends up tumbling headlong down the stairs. As he crawls out the door, still intent on rescuing the damsel in distress, the other tenants come out to see what the commotion is about. Turns out Kyoko's cries are directed at Mr. Souichiro, who has leaped on Mitaka with his muddy paws, tail wagging furiously. Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau, May 1994 =================================================================== @v2c06 == v2c6 VW1c16: == == MOMO'IRO DENWA == == or == == Pink Telephone == ========================================================================== Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau. Based on the English translation: [Part 1], Number 6, Part 12 Viz Comics, 1993 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn Cover price: $2.95 US, $4.00 Canada [ 94.05.15 ; 101 lines ] One afternoon, as Godai is eating in the college cafeteria, he finds himself alone with a beautiful and sexy classmate, Sayoko Kuroki. She asks, "How about spending a little time with me? I've had my eye on you for quite a while." Surprised, Godai thinks, "Seems like I'm pretty popular with girls these days. I wonder if my luck has finally changed." He tells Sayoko he has a couple of hours, and she leads him out. Asked where they're going, she merely says, "Follow me and you'll find out." As they walk through the campus, Godai thinks, "Nobody around. She wants to get me alone. That must mean...." He slips into a fantasy. His fantasy Sayoko asks if he's heard of love at first sight. He replies he's already in love with someone else. She dismisses that, asking "Have you no heart? Think about my feelings!" As the fantasy Godai reaches to embrace the fantasy Sayoko, the real Godai ends up bumping his face into a paint-filled brush, held by Sayoko. Two girls are kneeling on the floor, painting on a large canvas. Sayoko tells Godai they're a little short on manpower, and need his help to get ready for the school festival. With three cute girls at hand, Godai readily agrees to help, even though he has no idea what they're involved in. Suddenly, as he crouches with Sayoko over the canvas, a girl puppet grabs his shoulder. "Gotcha!" Godai turns to find himself nose-to-nose with a fierce-looking, hulking giant of a man whom Sayoko tells him is the club president. "The Prez" asks Godai to join their puppet theater club. "I'd be grateful if you joined. I'm the only man, so I've felt a bit outnumbered." Godai hesitates, but the two girls who were painting the canvas backdrop plead sweetly with him, and he agrees. Later, Kyoko answers the phone in her apartment. It's Sayoko, calling for Godai. Kyoko is curious that Godai is getting a call from a girl, and even more so when she overhears him agree to meet her at five the next day. Almost immediately, the phone rings again and Kyoko answers. It's Megumi Kamizaka, another puppet club member, asking for Godai. Kyoko keeps working at her knitting, but the phone rings again. It's Kozue. Forcing a smile onto her face and into her voice, Kyoko tells Godai, "It's HER." Kyoko frowns, knitting furiously, as she hears him tell Kozue, "I can't really talk on this phone." Godai apologizes for the bother, and Kyoko smiles that it's just her job. As he leaves, though, she hurls the yarn furiously at the door, growling, "Who does that little playboy think he is?" Godai, just outside the door, muses, "Wouldn't it be funny if I heard that?" Next we see Mrs. Ichinose out shopping with Kentaro. They stop in a restaurant for a snack, and Mrs. Ichinose sees Godai sitting at a nearby table with Kozue. "So that's his new girlfriend. He finally gave up on the manager, eh?" Kozue asks Godai who the woman was who answered the phone. He tells her it was the manager, and reminds her she had met Kyoko on the way to the movie. "But she's so beautiful!" Kozue exclaims, as Mrs. Ichinose shushes Kentaro so she can eavesdrop better. Kozue asks Godai if -- living in the same house with Kyoko -- he isn't tempted sometimes. "More like all the time," he thinks. Kozue continues: "I guess you would be. She's very... pretty. And... and...." Suddenly, Kozue buries her face in her hands and begins to cry. Godai is his usual nonplussed self as two girls at a nearby table watch and comment, "What a jerk." Kozue rummages in her purse. "I can't find...." Godai presses a handkerchief on her and leads her, still in tears, from the restaurant. Mrs. Ichinose thinks, "What a terrible thing. Heh!" As Godai stands in the street with the still-crying Kozue, he ponders: "She started crying when I talked about Kyoko. Which means she figured out I'm in love with Kyoko, and.... Does she already like me that much?" Meanwhile, Kozue is still fishing in her purse, and finally finds what she's looking for. Apologizing to Godai for embarrassing him, she pops out her contacts and puts on her glasses. Her tears were from the pain of something lodged under a contact lens. Godai grits his teeth. Mrs. Ichinose gives Kyoko a complete run-down on the incident as Kyoko sits peeling an apple. Kyoko feigns disinterest. Mrs. Ichinose scolds her: "You can be pretty twisted, can't you?" and warns her that keeping up "too strong a guard" will make men give up. Kyoko protests that she has no concern with Godai's dating, but Mrs. Ichinose notices she's been so distracted and upset, she's peeled the apple right down to its core. That night, Godai learns from Kentaro that he and his mother had observed the scene in the restaurant, which his mother had described as a lover's quarrel. Godai realizes that Kyoko is bound to have heard about the incident and will probably consider him "a total jerk." Just then, Kyoko comes to tell him he has another call. He cautiously probes to see if she has heard anything from Mrs. Ichinose. She denies she has, but when he's finished his phone call and tries to explain about the calls he's been getting, she cuts him off with a brittle smile: "If you're done using the phone, would you mind leaving?" The next day, Kyoko has a pay phone installed in the hall of Ikkoku-kan and asks Godai to have his friends call on that phone instead of hers. She says she's been meaning to do that for a while, then adds: "Besides, I'm sure there are conversations you'd rather not have me listening to, anyway." He protests he has nothing to hide. He tells her there's nothing going on between him and those girls; she retorts, "Why should I care...." The conversation heats up, with him telling her, "I just don't understand you at ALL." She fires back, "That's right! I'm just a stubborn old lady!" and stomps into her room, slamming the door. Kyoko sits at her table and the phone rings. She listens to it ring, thinking, "It's probably just for him, anyway!" The phone keeps on ringing, though, and finally she answers. It's Godai, calling from the pay phone in the hall. He hurriedly blurts out his explanation: "I joined this club at school. All those calls were just from the girls in the club. And Kozue was crying because of her contact lenses. Are you listening...?" A silence, then "Yes!" Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau, May 1994 Footnotes: ---------- Glenn: I admit that Viz's version of the title in Issue #6 part 12, "1-900-Trouble", was an interesting way of translating the original title, which was "Pink Telephone". They managed to give something related to the punned idiom of the original, while still avoiding the use of a footnote: A "pink telephone" call is another name for an obscene phone call, which, I would assume, are often made from public telephones. The phrase comes from the fact that pink is one of the typical colors for public telephones in Japan (this is also the color of the payphone that Kyoko finally installs in this chapter--well, it's pink in the anime version...). So the English version of the title gave the first meaning (obscene phone call) by giving us the 1-900 number, but it couldn't convey the multiple meanings of the original title (Sheesh, as if anyone could do it in English?). As you may know, 1-900 is a common prefix for phone-sex services in North America, which many would consider to be obscene. =================================================================== @v2c07 == v2c7 VW2c1: == == [gingiragin] ni sarigenaku == == or == == With a Little Nonchalance == ================================================================== @viz1_7 Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau. Based on the English translation: [Part 1], Number 7, Part 13 Viz Comics, 1993 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn Cover price: $2.95 US, $4.00 Canada [ 94.03.27 16:20 Added to Guidebook; rec'd on 94.03.24 ] = 76 lines Kyoko is sitting on the bench by the washing machine in back of Ikkoku-kan. Godai peers around the corner, steeling his nerves to ask Kyoko a question. Kyoko muses that a year has passed since she came to Ikkoku-kan and that only one thing has changed -- Godai passed last year's classes. She leans back, eyes closed, and her short skirt rides up her thighs. Godai finally finds enough nerve to approach Kyoko, but stops short at the sight of her bare legs. "Is... Is she asleep?" he wonders. His hand reaches out to touch her leg, but he stops himself with an effort just as Kyoko's eyes pop open. Both are flustered -- Godai protesting, "I didn't do anything!" and Kyoko wondering how exposed she really had been. As Kyoko putters with her wash, Godai makes the supreme effort and asks her out to dinner. It takes three tries for her to get the befuddled Godai to understand that she'll go, at which point he exclaims, "You want to?!" Babbling and stammering, he manages to arrange to meet her at the Ma Maison restaurant at six. They confirm the arrangements, but neither notices that, while he is saying "Ma Maison," she is saying "Mama-San." As Godai hurries into the house, he is waylaid by Mrs. Ichinose, who invites him to join the tenants for a drink that night. Naturally, he declines. Later, at the tennis court, Mrs. Ichinose invites Kyoko to the get-together. Kyoko says she has a date at six, but Mrs. Ichinose tells her that the party is in her honor (celebrating her anniversary as manager) and asks her to drop by for a little while. They'll be gathering at 5:30 at Mama-San, she advises. Since Kyoko thinks that's where she's to meet Godai anyway, she accepts. Mitaka overhears the conversation and Mrs. Ichinose invites him to come along. While Godai waits alone at Ma Maison, the gang converges on Mama-San. As six o'clock passes, Kyoko woners where Godai can be. Mitaka, Akemi draped on his shoulder, asks where Godai is, and Mrs. Ichinose replies, "Aw, he's got a girlfriend now. So he's got better things to do!" Mitaka comments to Kyoko that her date "must sure be a strange one, [meeting her] in a dump like this." Mrs. Ichinose tells Kyoko that it's now 6:30, and her date must have stood her up. Kyoko blurts, "No! Yusaku would never do that!" The whole gang does a double-take at finding out who her date is. Akemi asks Kyoko if she's sure Godai said "Mama-San," or might it have been "Ma Maison"? Kyoko rushes off to Ma Maison as Akemi promises to keep Mitaka from getting bored. Meanwhile, Godai is drinking his third cup of coffee and drawing pitying looks from the waitresses, who realize he has been waiting in vain for someone. He muses, "It's like a scene from a sad movie. What a tragic figure I make!" He decides that if Kyoko doesn't show up by seven... he'll have another coffee and wait until eight. Just then Kyoko hurries in, apologizes, and dissolves in tears. A girl at another table comments that she has seen Yusaku before -- at another restaurant where he was making some other girl cry. [A reference to Yusaku's earlier meeting with Kozue.] Kyoko and Godai decide to leave and, as they walk out, he puts his arm around her shoulders. "I did it!" he thinks with a shocked expression on his face. Kyoko explains that she had gone to Mama-San by mistake, adding that she left in such a hurry she forgot her bag and coat. They decide to go to Mama-San to get them. As they walk along, Godai's arm still draped on her shoulder, he is thinking, "Now I get it! You just drop your arm there nonchalantly and she doesn't even notice." At the same time, Kyoko is thinking, "Well, I guess since I was so late... I'd better let him get away with this." As they reach Mama-San and hear the noise of the party inside -- particularly the raucous laughter of Mrs. Ichinose -- Kyoko and Godai decide to skip retrieving her things. Too late; Mrs. Ichinose has heard them. She throws open the door and drags Godai inside. Yotsuya drags Godai to a seat at his table while Mrs Ichinose commandeers Kyoko. Akemi, comfortably ensconced on Mitaka's lap, is none to pleased at Kyoko's return. Mitaka is relieved at the excuse to get the tipsy girl off his lap. When they return to Ikkoku-kan, Kyoko apologizes to Godai for the spoiled evening, but he continues to walk on in a huff. She stops him, standing close as he assures her he's not angry at her. He bends to kiss her, and gets a resounding slap on the cheek. "I can't believe you! Taking advantage of my feelings like that!" she scolds, stalking into the house. "Not the type to get carried away by the moment, are you?" he says, watching her retreating figure. Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau, February 1994. Footnotes: ---------- Tarigan: Here are some of the differences between Viz's adaptation and the original Japanese version: > They confirm the arrangements, but neither notices that, > while he is saying "Ma Maison," she is saying "Mama-San." They confirm the arrangements, but neither notices that, while he is saying "Ma Maison," she is saying "Mamezou." ^^^^^^^ > Mrs. Ichinose tells Kyoko that it's now 6:30, and her > date must have stood her up. Kyoko blurts, "No! Yusaku > would never do that!" In the original, Kyoko said, "GODAI-san wa ZETTAI KImasu!" Sylvain-san translates: Literally => Godai-san will necessarily come! Yes, translations are sometimes quite odd. That's why I prefer to read the mangas in their original language. =================================================================== @v2c08 == v2c8 VW2c2: == == [kyanpasu do--ru] == == or == == Campus Doll == ========================================================================== Synopsized by Joseph A. Grau, based on the English translation: [Part 1], Number 7, Part 14 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn Viz Comics, 1993 [ 94.03.27 16:20 Added to Guidebook; rec'd on 94.03.24 ] = 88 lines The story opens with Godai at the college, working with his friends in the puppeteering club to finish puppets for the upcoming college arts festival. The girls are impressed with his skill. When he gets home, Kyoko meets him in the hall and asks if he would mind if she went to the festival. She assures him she'll take care of herself and won't be any trouble. He insists he'll show her around. Akemi walks in and teases the two about "playing house in the foyer".... "Aren't you two the cozy couple!" Kyoko protests, "Akemi, we are not a couple!!" When Godai gets two his room, he shouts for joy: "Yahoo! All right! All right!!" Akemi, negligee-clad as usual, enters with some beer and offers to toast whatever it is he's so excited about. Yotsuya pops through the crack in the wall to join them. The three discuss Kyoko's decision to attend the festival, with Yotsuya pondering, "Now... What is the meaning of this most peculiar event?" Godai happily siezes on Yotsuya's suggestion that there's more to Kyoko's going to the festival than meets the eye. Yotsuya and Akemi begin to slosh cold water on Godai's ebullience. Yotsuya suggests Kyoko might be going just to make up for their ruined evening of the week before. Akemi suggests it may be just be a whim. Then Yotsuya suggests she might not be going alone. Akemi wonders if Mitaka will be going with her. By now, Godai's balloon is completely deflated, and he decides it is wisest not to get his hopes up. The next morning, Kyoko is sweeping the walk in front of Ikkoku-kan as Godai leaves for school. He stops to ask her if she plans to come to the festival alone. She says she does, and he hurries off, relieved, leaving her with a whimsical smile on her lips. Soon the day of the festival arrives and Kyoko goes to the college. She is enthralled by the bustling campus. Godai's friend, Sakamoto, recognizes her and offers to buy her a bowl of soup. As they sit for a moment on a bench, he comments that she almost looks younger than the college girls. Kyoko frets that "once you get married, you do tend to start looking a little dowdy." Sakamoto protests that's not true of her. In the room where the puppet theater has been set up, the audience of young children is fussing and carrying on and Godai is fretting that Kyoko is late and has probably stood him up again. He figures he should have joined "a cooler group," perhaps the drama club. Kyoko arrives and takes a seat just as the puppet play starts. When the short play ends, Kyoko comes up to say hello to Godai. Sayuko notices that the princess puppet -- which Godai made -- looks like Kyoko. The girls in the club begin to tease that Godai made the puppet look "just like his girlfriend." He introduces Kyoko as his apartment-house manager as she protests, "Yes! I am certainly not his girlfriend!" Kyoko tells him she figures she'll look around a bit more, then head for home. Of course, he protests she just got there. One of the girls -- the one playing the princess opposite Godai's prince -- suggests that Kyoko try her hand at being a puppeteer. She confides to Sayuko that this would give her a chance to keep a date with her boyfriend. Despite her protestations, Kyoko finds herself taking the role of the princess for the next show. Sayuko gives her a script with her lines underlined and tells her to just relax and have fun. The show starts and Kyoko throws herself into the role. Godai thinks, "She's more into this than any of us," while Sayuko muses, "Man, she's great!" As the action heats up, with puppet monsters attacking the puppet princess, Kyoko ends up pressed tightly against Godai. He becomes distracted, thinking, "She's so... warm," and misses the cue for his puppet's entrance. One of the girls breaks into his reverie and he rushes his puppet on stage. His mind is still on Kyoko, though, and when her puppet chides his for being late, Godai responds with "I wasn't touching you! I didn't do anything!" His flustered state continues while Kyoko plows ahead, caught up in her role. As they move the puppets around the stage, her breast presses against his chest. Her puppet says, "I love thee, sweet prince!" and the words echo through Godai's brain. His puppet rushes to embrace hers, as he cries, "Oh, Kyoko!" The play dissolves into chaos, with his puppet repeatedly calling hers "Kyoko" and hers pushing his off the stage toward the upcoming battle. The kids in the audience roar with laughter. Walking home, Kyoko says she feels awful that the puppet play turned into a farce. Godai consoles her with the fact that the kids "ate it up." She thanks him for "a wonderful experience," explaining that she hadn't had a chance to go to college and had always wondered what it was like. She holds up the prince and princess puppets, which she had brought along. Kyoko and Godai slip into their puppeteering roles. "I thank thee for today," she says. Kyoko tells Godai he should feel as badly as she does, since he was the one who made a mess of the play. He protests that it was because she moved up against him and demonstrates with the prince puppet. "There you go again!" cries the princess puppet, treating the prince to a resounding slap. "Alas, poor prince!" Godai sighs, as he and Kyoko part. She wishes him a good night with a smile. Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau, February 1994. Footnotes: ---------- Tarigan: For the benefit of those who have seen the Viz version but not the original, I'll continue with my "difference" paragraphs. > Soon the day of the festival arrives and Kyoko goes to the > college. She is enthralled by the bustling campus. Godai's > friend, Sakamoto, recognizes her and offers to buy her a > bowl of soup. More specifically, Kyoko's eating a bowl of "oshiruko". Sylvain-san: Oshiruko is a soup made from "azuki" (red beans). Note that in the anime version, Sakamoto was running an "oden" booth (oden is a type of stew). > His puppet rushes to embrace hers, as he cries, "Oh, Kyoko!" > The play dissolves into chaos, with his puppet repeatedly > calling hers "Kyoko" and hers pushing his off the stage > toward the upcoming battle. In the original, Godai would never say "Kyoko". But he didn't say "Kyoko-san" either-- he said "Kanrinin-san!!" Now, I think it sounds a bit bad for Godai to be so obvious and cry out Kyoko's name in front of everyone else. I liked it better when he was a bit more indirect and calling her by her official title, "kanrinin-san". Carragher-san: I agree. This was one of the main reasons I posted concerning the quality of Viz translations. It's really difficult to translate the above sequence. Having the puppet prince calling the puppet princess "Kyoko" might be a breach of court etiquette, but no more. However, calling her "kanrinin-san" lowers her station a *lot*, I think; hence the reason the play turned into a laugh riot. (Cal-Animage Beta roared when this was shown at the public showing. B-) Also, as Glenn says, calling her "Kyoko" in public is really bad, since it shows a lot of intimacy between them (or at least from him to her), but in English the impact is completely lost. Or, worse, if you know something about Japanese forms of address, the impact would be far worse, though I suspect most people just wouldn't understand why this scene was so damn funny. =================================================================== @v2c09 == v2c9 VW2c3: == == == == or == == A Lucky Hit == ================================================================== @viz2_1 Synopsized by Joseph A. Grau, based on the English translation: [Part 2], Number 1, Part 1 Viz Comics, 1994 [ 94.04.26 10:50 Added to Guidebook; rec'd on 94.04.23 ] = 56 lines Kyoko and Shun Mitaka are playing tennis when Kyoko trips while stretching to return a hard drive. Kyoko's ankle is sprained, and Mitaka hovers over her, apologizing -- over her protests -- for hitting the ball so hard. Mitaka sweeps her up in his arms to carry her off to the hospital, while Mrs. Ichinose chides, "Don't you think you're pushing it?" Later, Mitaka shows up at Kyoko's room as Mrs. Ichinose and Kentaro are helping Kyoko ready her bed. He carries her to the bed, though she protests that it's only a few steps. Mrs. Ichinose grumps, "Not if he takes the scenic route!" Akemi and Yotsuya poke their heads in to see how Kyoko is doing and, with Mrs. Ichinose there, a "get-well" party naturally ensues. Godai comes home to find the party in full swing, and is distraught that Kyoko is hurt and he was not there to care for her (especially since Mitaka WAS). The party is moved to Mrs. Ichinose's room as Mitaka turns down Akemi's suggestion to stay the night and Godai is dragged from the room by Mrs. Ichinose and Yotsuya. The next morning, Godai shows up bright and early at Kyoko's quarters, offering to skip classes to care for her. She warns him that he can't afford skipping class, and Mrs. Ichinose arrives with breakfast and shoos him out. In the afternoon, Mitaka arrives with a bag of groceries and proceeds to cook Kyoko an excellent dinner. A bit later, as Kyoko is resting and realizing she ate too much, Akemi and Yotsuya arrive with a take-out meal for her. Not wanting to hurt their feelings, she eats the meal and ends up feeling even more stuffed. Then Godai shows up with a large bowl of ramen noodles. Kyoko pales at the thought of more food, but thinks, "He looks so pathetic. How can I say no?" She manages to eat the ramen. The next morning, Godai finds out from Yotsuya about the meals and rushes off to find his antacid. Meanwhile, Kyoko is preparing for a sponge bath. Godai runs to her room and enters, not heeding her call, "Wait!" He screeches to a stop as he sees Kyoko sitting on the floor, stripped to the waist. With his accustomed quick thinking, our hero can only stutter, "Kyuh... kyuh...." Embarrassed and angry, Kyoko yells, "You idiot!" and heaves her wash basin, striking Godai in the face and knocking him back out of the room. Akemi, Yotsuya, Mrs. Ichinose and Kentaro arrive as the door slams behind Godai. Mrs. Ichinose and Akemi rush into the room to comfort Kyoko as Godai sticks the basin over Yotsuya's head, yelling "Don't Look!" Akemi and Mrs. Ichinose badger Godai for attacking Kyoko while she is defenseless as he tries vainly to explain. As the crowd leaves Kyoko alone, she finds the antacid Godai had dropped and realizes the purpose of his frantic visit. She pops two of the tablets into her mouth. Later, Mitaka shows up with more groceries only to find Kyoko still recovering from the effects of her overeating. Godai arrives with his forehead bandaged and Kyoko apologizes for throwing the basin so hard. Mitaka offers to cook dinner for Godai since Kyoko doesn't feel like eating. Godai accepts grudgingly, obviously to avoid leaving Kyoko and Mitaka alone. Godai is forced to admit that the meal Mitaka has cooked is good. Kyoko exclaims, "Mitaka, whoever marries you will be a happy woman!" Godai scowls, Mitaka grins, and Kyoko realizes what she said. Embarrassed, she explains, "I mean... hypothetically! Only hypothetically!" Too late. Mitaka chuckles and Godai seethes. Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau, February 1994. Footnotes: ---------- Tarigan: (94.04.24) Actually, I think Viz did a pretty good job on this issue (#2.1). There don't seem to be any parts that would potentially annoy someone who hasn't seen the original. I'd say the translation doesn't get in the way of enjoying it. I won't exactly be flaming Viz. The translation is slightly altered from the original in places. That doesn't mean it's bad; it's just different. > Not wanting to hurt their feelings, she eats the meal and > ends up feeling even more stuffed. Then Godai shows up with > a large bowl of ramen noodles. Kyoko pales at the thought of > more food, but thinks, "He looks so pathetic. How can I say > no?" She manages to eat the ramen. That translation sounds "pathetic". It doesn't sound right for Kyoko to think of Godai like that. Oops, looks like I broke my promise and flamed Viz anyway. Here's the original version (with my own slightly-less-pathetic attempt at a translation): Kyoko: (How can I turn (konna KAO sarecha KOTOware naiwa......) it down with him this face refuse can't looking like that?) Okay, I might be wrong because I don't know that much Japanese. Could it be that "sarecha" translates to "pathetic" ? ---------------- Sylvain answers: > Kyoko: > (How can I turn (konna KAO sarecha KOTOware naiwa......) > it down with him this face refuse can't > looking like that?) > > Okay, I might be wrong because I don't know that much Japanese. > Could it be that "sarecha" translates to "pathetic" ? ["sarecha" is the contraction of "sarete shimattara"] [konna KAO ga suru = to make / present/ show such a face] [Literal: If he's showing me such a face, I can't refuse.] Pathetic is probably for "konna". But you can almost use any adjectives as you wish to replace "konna", depending on the context, of course. Your translation, Glenn, is closer to the original japanese. =================================================================== @v2c10 == v2c10 VW2c4: == == == == or == == Burdened by a Shadow == ========================================================================== Synopsized by Joseph A. Grau, February 1994. based on the English translation: [Part 2], Number 1, Part 2 Viz Comics, 1994 [ 94.04.26 10:51 Added to Guidebook; rec'd on 94.03.23 ] = 101 lines Kyoko emerges from a store with a bag of groceries to find that it's raining. A passing girl with an umbrella stops and offers to walk Kyoko home. It's Kozue. As they walk, Kozue asks if Godai is at school. Kyoko replies that he should be home by dusk. Kozue asks if he's always home so early, and Kyoko lays out his schedule, day by day. Kozue remarks that Kyoko seems to know Godai's schedule awfully well and Kyoko, somewhat flustered, says it's because she's the apartment house manager. As the girls near Ikkoku-kan, Mr. Soichiro brushes against Kozue's skirt, muddying it. Kyoko insists she come in to have the skirt washed before it is stained. The girls have tea while the skirt dries. The conversation over tea starts with Kozue asking, "Say... what do you think of Yusaku?" Kyoko is again non-plussed. Kozue asks if Godai goes out with other girls, and Kyoko responds that Kozue seems to be the only one (much to Kozue's delight). Kozue remarks that Kyoko's boyfriend is "pretty handsome." Asked who she means, she indicates Mitaka. Kyoko protests he's "just a friend." Kozue exclaims, "You don't have a boyfriend?!" then is embarrassed to realize that Kyoko is a widow. The rain falling outside the window leads Kyoko to recall an incident from her high school days. [Flashback.] Kyoko is leaving school in the rain when a friend tells her she saw Mr. Otonashi in the lobby. Kyoko asks if he has an umbrella and is told he does. She closes her umbrella and waits beside the school steps until Mr. Otonashi comes out. As he does, she realizes she has the umbrella in her hands and quickly stuffs it down the back of her jacket. She catches up to Otonashi and he offers to share his umbrella. He recognizes her as one of his students. As they walk, he spies the handle of the umbrella sticking out of Kyoko's jacket. He pulls it out, saying "Isn't this chilly? You'll catch a cold." Kozue comments that that seems "a pretty weird stunt" and is surprised that Otonashi was a teacher. Kyoko responds that he was "just a guest lecturer. And my first love." Kozue is enthralled that Kyoko married her first love and tells her that Godai looks a lot like her own first love. She sighs that it "was one of those one-way things," and exclaims, "He was wonderful!" Kyoko thinks to herself, "Except... he looked like Yusaku!" Kozue asks, "You still love your husband, don't you?" Kyoko answers, "Hm? Oh. Yes." When Godai arrives home, Kyoko tells him that Kozue was there and Godai is upset that Kozue had come to Ikkoku-kan. Kyoko suggests he call her since she had waited quite a while for him. He is flustered (as usual) and retreats to his room. "I don't need to call her! We aren't like that!" Mrs. Ichinose pops out of her room to ask if "the flunkout's girlfriend was here?" Kyoko reminds her that Godai is not flunking anymore. Mrs. Ichinose asks what the girls talked about and whether they were fighting. Kyoko replies, "What would we fight about?" Meanwhile, Godai sneaks down the hall to the communal pay phone and calls Kozue. He tells her he heard she was at Ikkoku-kan and asks if she wants "to get together tomorrow. School? I'll skip it." Of course, this is overheard by Kyoko and Mrs. Ichinose, who asks Kyoko if she's jealous. Kyoko sniffs, "Not me" while thinking, "He's such a fool." The next day, Kyoko stops Godai as he's leaving the house and asks if he'll return Kozue's umbrella, forgotten the day before. Godai says he's on his way to school, and Kyoko replies that she thought he was skipping school to see Kozue. Godai is taken aback and asks how she knows that, to which Kyoko responds, "Because I'm the manager." Godai begins to protest, "But... but she and I... we aren't...." Kyoko interrupts to lecture him: "You shouldn't sneak around like this. You'll disappoint Kozue. You're going to ruin her image of her first love." Godai is startled, and Kyoko reluctantly shares what Kozue had told her. Godai muses, "Meaning I'm not her first love, huh?" Kyoko finishes by telling him her should be "more honest for Kozue." As Godai goes off to meet Kozue, he is (as usual) puzzled. He ponders: "It's not like Kyoko doesn't know my feelings. At least, she should know. What's going on, anyway? A little while ago she was jealous." Over dessert, Godai tells Kozue what Kyoko told him about looking like Kozue's first love. Kozue asks if he minds "being seen as another man's image." He protests he doesn't, but continues, "But I wish you could see me as me." Kozue tells him Kyoko told her about her late husband and relates the story of the umbrella incident. Kozue says, "She must really have loved him. It must be wonderful to marry someone you love so much." Godai replies, "But he's dead now." Kozue answers, "Yeah," gazing steadily at Godai. She places her hands on his. "Yusaku, please don't die! Okay? I don't want you to die." Godai laughs, "What are you saying?" but they end up with hands clasped across the table. On the way home, Godai's thoughts are churning. He bemoans the fact that Soichiro Otonashi is "still there." "Kyoko's a fool! Tying herself to a dead man like that! What's wrong with me?!" A hard rain has started, and along comes Kyoko with an umbrella, which she offers to share with Godai. He refuses, telling her he wants to be alone. She protests he'll catch a cold, and he stalks off, saying he doesn't care. She wonders what he's upset about. He worries, "Damn! She doesn't know how I feel! But she has to!" A heavy sneeze interrupts his mental grumbling. He waits for Kyoko to catch up and asks if her offer is still good. They walk off together under the umbrella, with him sneezing violently and her chiding, "See? I told you you'd catch a cold." Synopsis by Joseph A. Grau, February 1994 Footnotes: ---------- Tarigan: > Kozue comments that that seems "a pretty weird stunt" and > is surprised that Otonashi was a teacher. Kyoko responds > that he was "just a guest lecturer. And my first love." > Kozue is enthralled that Kyoko married her first love and > tells her that Godai looks a lot like her own first love. > She sighs that it "was one of those one-way things," and > exclaims, "He was wonderful!" Kyoko thinks to herself, > "Except... he looked like Yusaku!" [....] I don't quite like that last line (as Viz rendered it). What Kyoko originally said was: But... datte, Didn't she say he GODAI-san ni sokkuri tte... resembled Godai-san? Maybe Mr.Jones thought the original line was too subtle, so he decided to rewrite it? > Mrs. Ichinose pops out of her room to ask if "the > flunkout's girlfriend was here?" Kyoko reminds her that > Godai is not flunking anymore. We all know that in the original version, Godai was a ronin. For reference, here are the lines: Ichinose: The ronin's girlfriend RONIN no KANO'JO ga KItano? came over, didn't she? she/her came Kyoko: Godai-san is a GODAI-san, DAI'GAKU'SEI desu yo. college student now. Isn't it good how Kyoko avoids saying anything about the KANOJO part? > On the way home, Godai's thoughts are churning. He > bemoans the fact that Soichiro Otonashi is "still there." > "Kyoko's a fool! Tying herself to a dead man like that! > What's wrong with me?!" Another alteration (not necessarily bad, mind you). The last line was originally: Godai: Why can't she even doushite ore wo MIte kurenainda. look at me? why me look =================================================================== @v2c11 == v2c11 VW2c5 == == == == or == == Knit-Picking == ================================================================== @viz2_2 Synopsized by Joseph A. Grau, May 1994. based on the English translation: [Part 2], Number 2, Part 3 Viz Comics, 1994 [ 94.05.22 12:48 Added to Guidebook ] = 87 lines The chapter opens with Godai sitting in his room, pondering his lack of cash and debating whether to buy Kyoko a Christmas present. He thinks, "Christmas is the only time I can do anything nice for her... openly." He decides that buying her something cheap would be alright, since it's the thought that counts, and recalls that he never gave her the present he bought for her the Christmas before. He wonders "what's going on with her anyway?" since he hasn't seen her for several days. Kyoko's voice is heard calling Godai to the phone, and he charges noisily down the hall, rounding the corner just in time to see the door of her room close. It's Kozue on the phone, and Godai agrees to meet her the next day, when he plans to do some shopping. Mrs. Ichinose, eavesdropping as usual, scolds him. "Just because your girlfriend calls doesn't mean you can stampede like a herd of elephants!" Staring at Kyoko's door, he replies that he "wasn't worried about the phone." Mrs. Ichinose suggests he just knock, but he says he has no reason to. She tells him to make up a reason. "You have to be bolder! Like Mitaka!" Godai grumbles, "I guess I'm just not that slick!" The next day, Godai buys Kyoko a pair of earrings. Walking down the street, he daydreams of presenting them to her and receiving in return a scarf she's knitted for him. She's been holed up toiling over her knitting -- just for him! "KLONG!" He walks straight into a pole. When Godai walks into the restaurant where he's to meet Kozue, she notices his forehead is bleeding and offers him a hankie. He digs in his pocket for his own handkerchief and, when he pulls it out, the wrapped jewelry box with Kyoko's present falls onto the seat. He stuffs it hurriedly into his pocket, but of course Kozue's already seen it. She holds out a bag to him -- "Merry Christmas!" It's a hat. She tells him she knitted it herself and urges him to try it on. He does, and while she gleefully chuckles, "It's so cute!" he frets that he didn't even THINK about getting a present for her. Forcing a smile, he hands over the earrings. She is overjoyed. "Oh, my! Earrings!... They're so sophisticated!... Thank you! I'm SO happy!" Godai trudges home, hands jammed into his jacket pockets. "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! The only thing that'll cure my waffling is death!" Then he begins having second thoughts. He notices the hat Kozue made him is nice and warm. "She really is sweet. So excited by my gift. Maybe it's better this way...." As he reaches Ikkoku-kan, Kyoko calls to him. She apologizes for having "been such a stranger lately" and places a knitted scarf around his neck. "Merry Christmas!" She tells him she's been knitting for days and excuses herself to get some rest -- needed after her late nights of knitting. Godai is ecstatic, but then realizes he now has to get Kyoko a present -- even though he's flat broke. Later, Akemi and Yotsuya are drinking in Godai's room while he tears the place apart, searching for something. He finds his college ID (which he thought he'd lost) and the two "guests" make predictably snide comments while he keeps on with his search. In the wee hours, Yotsuya retreats through the hole in the wall and Akemi beds down in Godai's bed. He tells her to go sleep in her own room, but she replies it's too much trouble. "I'll take advantage of you!" he threatens. "Just try it." "I'm glad you feel so safe," he grumbles, while she begins to snore. He finds a hundred yen -- not nearly enough for a present. Akemi tosses in her sleep, kicking off the covers and whomping Godai in the chest with her bare leg. He stares at the sleeping girl, clad only in her short, flimsy negligee. "Aargh! Don't sleep like that!" he cries, throwing the covers back on her. She snores on. Then -- success! Godai finds what he's been looking for: the brooch he intended to give Kyoko the previous Christmas. He gives it to her later that day. "What a cute brooch." Kyoko notices Godai's eyes are red and he explains he was up the night before, reading. That evening, Kyoko and Godai begin to walk to Cha Cha Maru for a party. He is wearing Kozue's hat and Kyoko's scarf. He remarks that the brooch looks good on her, and she replies, "Does it really? I was wondering if I could still wear something as young as this." He protests that she is still young, and she agrees, saying, "I'm only 22." This is obviously the first time Godai has heard her age, and he muses: "22... Two years older. Only two. That's no obstacle to marriage. Just two years...." They meet up with Mitaka, also heading for the party. He comments that Godai must be sensitive to the cold, bundled up in a hat and scarf. Godai takes the opportunity to rub it in that the scarf was a hand-made gift from Kyoko. Mitaka pulls a scarf from his pocket and puts it on. "You know, you're right! Kyoko really does knit a warm scarf!" The scarves are identical except for the colors used. Godai and Mitaka glare at each other, each wondering what the identical gifts mean about Kyoko's feelings about them. When they reach the bar, they discover Kyoko has knitted another scarf of the same pattern for Kentaro... and one for Akemi... and for Yotsuya... and for Mrs. Ichinose. "You all took such good care of me when I sprained my ankle," she explains, "this is just my way of saying 'thank you' and 'Merry Christmas' at the same time." "Yeah. Swell," Godai sulks. -- Joseph Grau =================================================================== @v3c01 == v3c1 VW2c6: == == anata no [soba] de == == or == == "By Your Side" or "By Your Soba" == ========================================================================== ( see the Deluxe Manga Translation that we've created for this chapter ) Synopsized by Glenn Tarigan, based on the original Japanese manga. [ 93.09.09 9:35 - 9:50 started. Synopsized v3,1 ] = 37 lines It's night-time in Tokyo. Akemi and Yotsuya are with Godai in his room as usual. Akemi invites Godai to join her and Kyoko to watch TV on New Year's Eve. Next day, Godai goes out for part time. Yotsuya also leaves to go somewhere. Later, Ichinose and her family go home. The phone rings for Akemi and she's invited to go skiing. Kyoko tells her that it's okay for her to leave, even though that means she'll be alone with Godai that night. Kyoko leaves from the public bath worrying about what to do tonight. Godai happens to see meet her on the street, but she doesn't tell him why Akemi didn't go to the bath with her. Later, Godai arrives at Kyoko's room. He wonders where Akemi is. Kyoko avoids answering by asking him if he wants tea. The phone rings and Akemi asks Kyoko if she'll be okay. Finishing the phone call, Kyoko finally tells Godai that Akemi won't be with them. Godai tries to hold her hand, but grabs a mandarin instead. Then he reaches under the table, only to grab a bag of rice crackers. Kyoko goes to turn up the volume on the TV, and Godai charges in, and misses. Kyoko starts to cook the soba. Later the phone rings and she goes out to check on Ichinose's room. When she comes back, she happens to hear Godai screaming, `I want to do it!!' He turns around startled that she heard him, but manages to give a reasonable excuse. The TV show ends while they finish off their soba. Godai excuses himself and leaves. Kyoko feels relieved that nothing apparently happened. She decides to invite him for something and starts taking off her clothes. Lying in bed, Godai hears Kyoko knocking on the door. He opens the door and Kyoko is standing there wearing a colorful kimono. She invites him to visit the shrine with her and they go walking down the street, their breaths fogging up in the cold night. -- Glenn Tarigan --------------------------------------------- Alternate synopsis by Joseph Grau: Synopsized by Joseph A. Grau, May 1994. based on the English translation: [Part 2], Number 2, Part 4 Viz Comics, 1994 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn [ 94.05.22 12:50 Added to Guidebook ] = 78 lines It's December 30, and Godai, Akemi and Yotsuya are in Godai's room discussing plans for New Year's Eve. Akemi and Yotsuya chide Godai about not going home for the holiday until New Year's Day. They lament that it will be "so lo-o-o-onely" for him, all alone on New Year's Eve without even a TV for company. Then Godai recalls that Akemi won't be going home either. She tells him she'll be spending the evening watching TV with Kyoko. The two begin to tease Godai about being jealous. Then Akemi invites him to join them. Of course, he eagerly accepts. The next day, Akemi tells Kyoko she invited Godai, and Kyoko seems pleased. "The more the merrier!" Godai promises to come by about nine and bring some noodles from the "noodle joint" where he's working. Yotsuya leaves for his holiday, and soon the Ichinose clan heads off for their vacation. Kyoko finishes her house work, then spends a moment in meditation. "And another year comes to a close, Soichiro. Please keep watching over me." The phone rings. Akemi answers and is invited to join some friends on a ski trip. She quickly accepts. When she tells Kyoko, though, she has second thoughts. "I guess it wouldn't be so good leaving you with Yusaku." She decides to cancel out, but Kyoko urges her to go. "But Yusaku, he's a...." Kyoko interrupts: "Oh, please! You think too much, Akemi!" Akemi asks if she's sure she'll be OK, and Kyoko replies, "You have to trust Yusaku more!" Akemi decides to go. Alone, Kyoko prays, "Soichiro... PLEASE watch over me!" Later, Kyoko is out shopping and meets Godai. She avoids telling him Akemi won't be joining them that evening. Godai comments that her hair, freshly-washed, smells great. As they part, she thinks, "I'm sure I'm worrying about nothing," while he muses, "God, but the smell of fresh-washed hair turns me on!" He daydreams of what the evening would be if Akemi wasn't there. "Did you ever dream we would spend New Year's Eve alone together, Kyoko?" "It HAD to happen, Yusaku! Why do you think I washed my hair?" As he dreams of them lying down together, he walks into a wall. That evening, Godai arrives at Kyoko's room with three orders of soba noodles. He asks a couple of times where Akemi is. Kyoko evades the question, looking uncomfortable. The phone rings, and it's Akemi. She's calling to warn Yusaku to behave himself. Kyoko refuses to put him on the line, and Akemi advises, "If he pulls anything, scream as loud as you can." Kyoko tells her she should trust Yusaku more, but she seems unsure of it herself. "Yes. Yes. Trust him," she repeats to herself as she hangs up. Kyoko tells Godai that the call was from Akemi, and he realizes she won't be joining them. The silence is thick for a minute, then he says cheerfully, "Lonely, isn't it? Just the two of us?" "Yes, isn't it." The tension is broken as Kyoko notices the New Year's Eve singing contest has begun on the TV. Godai thinks, "This is my chance! She could yell and nobody would hear!" His hand steals toward hers as she watches the TV. She turns quickly, and he grabs an orange. Some small talk about the TV ensues. Kyoko turns back to the TV and Godai stealthily reaches to embrace her. She moves to turn up the volume and he does a pratfall, jumping back to his seat as she turns back. Now he reaches under the table for her hand, and ends up bumping a package of rice crackers, which crackles loudly. The two munch crackers. The scene continues, with Godai repeatedly making covert moves toward Kyoko but never quite getting there. Then the phone rings again. Mrs. Ichinose asks Kyoko to check whether she turned off her gas valve before she left. Kyoko leaves to check the Ichinose apartment. Godai's frustration is at a peak. "It's no good. I just can't do it!" he thinks. Then he bursts out, "Damn it, I want to do it!" And of course, Kyoko returns just in time to hear his outburst. He casts about for an explanation, telling her he meant he'd like to be skiing, like Akemi. Kyoko muses, "And to think that I thought...." The TV show is over, the meal is finished, and Godai gets up to leave. "He left! Just like that!" Kyoko thinks, surprised. "He didn't try a thing. He really is a perfect gentleman." Meanwhile Godai is chiding himself for being a coward and missing out on his "one and only chance." Now we see Kyoko, still in her apartment, pulling off her clothes. "I'm going to do it," she decides. "I'm going to see if he wants to." Godai is in bed as Kyoko taps on his door. "Yusaku? Are you awake?" Godai throws open the door to find Kyoko clad in a formal kimono. "Do you want to come to the temple with me to ring in the New Year?" she asks. They head off down the street toward the temple. "For a second there, I actually expected to open the door and find her in a negligee. But Kyoko just isn't that kind of girl." Kyoko says she hopes he has a good year. He thinks, "Oh, I will. THIS year, I'm really gonna DO it!" -- Joseph Grau Footnotes: ---------- Tarigan says: 94.02.16 to Jeff Williamson re: Viz Maison Did you get your copy of Issue 2? It was interesting seeing what Viz did to the second chapter ("Ring in the Nude" ? Not bad...). I tachiyomi'ed it in the store and tried to compare their translation with our own translation. Viz's version looks fine. They only dumbed it down. For examples: - they eliminated the references to Ameya Yokochou, Toshikoshi soba, and mentsuyu. - the signboard for Katou's store was changed from a long sentence into a short phrase: "Closed 1-3 Jan" Jeff Williamson says: To: tarigan@sfu.ca (Glenn Singgalang Tarigan) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 23:54:16 -0600 (CST) > Apart from that, Viz's version looks fine. They only dumbed > it down. For examples: > > - they eliminated the references to Ameya Yokochou, > Toshikoshi soba, and mentsuyu. > - the signboard for Katou's store was changed from a > long sentence into a short phrase: "Closed 1-3 Jan" I was rather impressed. You'd almost think they'd taken our translation, word for word in some cases. But they wouldn't do *anything* like that, would they? ^_^ I was not so impressed with Viz-MI 2.1, but 2.2 seems to make up for it, in general. <.5. .6.> =================================================================== @v3c02 == v3c2 VW2c7: == == KAErazaru KARE == == or == == He Who Does Not Return == ================================================================== @viz2_3 Synopsized by Joseph A. Grau, May 1994. based on the English translation: [Part 2], Number 3, Part 3 Viz Comics, 1994 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn [ 94.06.05 20:13 Added to Guidebook ] = 80 lines The story opens with Kyoko on the phone. Godai has called to tell her he'll be extending his visit with his parents for another two or three days. Akemi and Mrs. Ichinose drop in, and Kyoko tells them the news. Mrs. Ichinose sympathizes, "You must be lonely, poor girl." Then she changes the subject. "I hear you two were all alone on New Year's Eve." Kyoko protests that nothing happened, which Mrs. Ichinose obviously doubts. Akemi asks, "You didn't even hold hands?" and Kyoko replies that Godai was a "perfect gentleman." Akemi is relieved. "Whew... If anything had happened, it would have been half my fault." "Whaddaya mean, 'Whew'...? It would've been GREAT!" Mrs. Ichinose grins. The three women wonder why Godai is staying longer than planned with his parents. "Maybe he prefers mommy to his girlfriend," Mrs. Ichinose teases. Kyoko defends Godai, saying he's just being a good son. Mrs. Ichinose asks Akemi, "Compared to last year, he's a bit more of a man, isn't he?" "His BODY is anyway!" Akemi replies. "Isn't twenty the peak of a man's sexual drive?" Mrs. Ichinose prods. "And she still says nothing happened." "Not even a kiss at midnight?" Mrs. Ichinose and Akemi ask. "No, we did NOT!" The scene changes to Godai's home town, as he explains the events of the past few days. Godai and some of his old high school rugby teammates were scrimmaging against the current high school varsity. He ended up with a black eye, and is ashamed to let Kyoko see him with it. His grandmother chides him, "Think you're a real 'pretty boy,' don't you?" His mother tries to convince him to stay longer, saying she had hoped he'd help out in the family restaurant. He says he'll be going back to Tokyo as soon as his eye looks better. "Don't you mean 'I'm heading back to KYOKO'...?" Granny teases. Meanwhile, Kyoko goes to her tennis class, and Mitaka invites her for coffee afterward. Mrs. Ichinose urges her to go, telling Mitaka, "She's been moping around because Godai hasn't come back yet." Over coffee, Kyoko learns Mitaka is a native of Tokyo. She tells him that her family moved around a lot because of her father's job, and that she doesn't feel there is anywhere she can call her home town. Mitaka asks if it's true that she's lonely for Godai. She dismisses the idea, and he is pleased. Kyoko returns to Ikkoku-kan and is disappointed Godai hasn't returned. Meanwhile, Godai is badgered into making a delivery for his father's restaurant. Bicycling down the street, he daydreams about seeing Kyoko the next day, imagining them flying into each other's arms as she cries, "Yusaku, I missed you so much!" SHRANGGG! He slams into a light pole. At home, his mother applies some first aid while Granny chides him for whining. His mother bursts out laughing as she looks at his face. The phone rings in Ikkoku-kan. It's Godai, calling to tell Kyoko he'll be staying another three or four days. When she asks if something is the matter, he says it's just that his parents want him to stay. "Vain little brat, isn't he?" mumbles Granny. Out shopping, Kyoko meets Kozue, who asks if she knows why Godai is staying away so long. Kozue tells her she and Godai had a date for a movie and that he had called her to say he wouldn't be back in time. "I sure miss him...." Kyoko goes about her routine, starting at every noise, wondering if it's Godai returning. At tea in Kyoko's room, Akemi and Mrs. Ichinose tease her unmercifully. "He's probably just homesick," Kyoko sniffs. "After all, he IS just a kid." The two guests make a big deal out of Kyoko's changed attitude from a few days before, when she defended Godai as a dutiful son. The door of Ikkoku-kan slams, and Akemi and Mrs. Ichinose go out to see if it's Godai. Kyoko refuses to join them. It IS Godai, and Kyoko rises to go meet him. A raucous laugh -- obviously Mrs. Ichinose's -- erupts from the hall. Akemi calls to Kyoko, but Godai says, "Don't bother her -- I have to put my luggage away anyhow." One of the women chides him: "What kinda talk is that? You haven't seen her for weeks!" "So what difference will a while longer make?" Godai retorts. Kyoko is stung by that, and goes to the kitchen to wash dishes. Mrs. Ichinose fetches her and drags her down the hall by the arm. Godai is trapped by Akemi and can't escape Kyoko. Wearing a pair of sunglasses and a sick grin, he greets her, "Hey." "What in the..." she thinks, "Does he think those are cool? Just who does he think he...." Just then, Akemi reaches up and whips off the sunglasses. We see the result of Godai's encounter with the light pole: TWO black eyes! Kyoko struggles mightily, trembling with the effort of holding back her laughter. "Well, dear," says Mrs. Ichinose, "I'm certainly glad you're back. We haven't seen her laugh like that for ages." Kyoko stands, still shaking with suppressed mirth, as Godai stomps off down the hall. "Damn it.... I knew I shoulda stayed for a few more days." -- Joseph Grau =================================================================== @v3c04 == v3c4 VW2c9: == == KYOUKO to SOUICHIROU == == or == == Kyoko & Souichiro == ========================================================================== Synopsized by Joseph A. Grau, May 1994. based on the English translation: [Part 2], Number 3, Part 4 Viz Comics, 1994 Translation by Gerard Jones and Matt Thorn [ 94.06.05 20:17 Added to Guidebook ] = 94 lines Final exams are over, and Godai and some of his friends are celebrating with a drinking bout at a local establishment. His friend Sakamoto seems unusually curious about Godai's plans over the school break, and pleased when Godai says he'll be staying home and working. Sakamoto keeps the beer flowing into Godai's glass. "Tonight, the booze is on me!" The next morning in Sakamoto's room, Godai discovers what was behind Sakamoto's generosity. Sakamoto tells him that, the night before, he promised to take care of Sakamoto's cat over the break. Godai can't remember promising to do it, but does remember "you were really pouring the booze into me last night, weren't you?" "Do you remember that I had to pay for it all, you lush?" Just then the kitten appears at the window and Sakamoto brings her in. Godai protests that he's not allowed to have pets in his apartment. Sakamoto nudges the cat toward him. "Okay, Kyoko Baby, go say hello to Uncle Godai." "Kyoko Baby?!" Godai exclaims. Sakamoto says that as soon as he told him the cat's name the night before, Godai said, "What! Why didn't you say so in the first place?! Leave her with me!" Sakamoto explains the cat is named after his favorite star, Kyoko Mano. When Godai arrives at Ikkoku-kan with Kyoko Baby hidden in a paper sack, Kyoko meets him on the walk. She scolds him for staying out all night without letting her know. "I was up half the night waiting with the front door unlocked!" As Godai apologizes, the kitten begins to meow. Godai mumbles an apolgy and hurries to his room. Godai starts to make the kitten comfortable in her temporary home. He has canned and dry cat food, and begins to tear up newspaper to line a cat box. Then he turns to see the kitten standing in a fresh puddle of.... "KYOKO BABY!" he roars, grabbing for the cat. Now we see Kyoko hurrying down the hall as Godai's voice is heard from his room: "Kyoko Baby! Come here! Don't bother trying to hide out there! Get out!" Kyoko knocks on the door. "Is something wrong, Yusaku?" He answers the door with "Er... Hi. What's up?" Kyoko is naturally puzzled. "You just called me, didn't you?" She can't understand what he meant by saying she was hiding, and says she clearly heard him call "Kyoko Baby." He protests he would never call her that and claims she must be hearing things. She leaves, thoroughly puzzled. Godai goes back to his task of trying to coax Kyoko Baby from the back of his closet, where she's taken refuge. Suddenly, Yotsuya peers over his shoulder. Yotsuya leans into the closet and meows. The kitten answers. "Kyoko Baby, come to my arms," he coaxes. Godai mutters, "I don't like the way you say that!" "Why? The cat's name is 'Kyoko Baby,' is it not?" "Yeah, but your voice didn't sound like it was calling a cat." Yotsuya coaxes the cat from the closet. He checks its underside and decides it's a female. "Don't look at that!" Godai protests. Yotsuya suggests Godai shouldn't be keeping the cat since it's a violation of the Ikkoku-kan rules, and wonders out loud if he should inform the manager. He allows himself to be bribed into silence with a free meal. "It is merely that I find myself temporarily short of funds." Later, Akemi shows up in Godai's room. "Hey, I wanna see the kitty-cat!" Yotsuya explains he thought only the manager need be kept in the dark. Akemi tries to coax the cat out from under the desk, and finally asks Godai its name. "Kyoko Baby?!" she screams. In her apartment, Kyoko hears the yell and rushes to Godai's room, knocking on the door and calling for Akemi. Godai begs Akemi to go tell Kyoko something -- "something she'll believe!" Akemi pops out of the room. "Ohh... Ms. Otonashi... Thank God you're h-here... It... It's all right... It's just... Yusaku suddenly jumped on me!" Godai collapses on the floor as Kyoko bursts into his room, fuming. "Yusaku, how could you?!" Godai protests that it was a lie, and Akemi admits, "I warned you I was lousy at lying, didn't I?" Kyoko can't understand why Akemi would lie about something like that. "Do you get some sort of sick thrill out of teasing me?" she asks Godai. He protests his innocence as Akemi wanders off to bed. Things were quiet for the next three or four days, with Godai becoming rather attached to the kitten. Then Sakamoto called, and Godai -- not knowing Mrs. Ichinose was eavesdropping as usual -- gave him a report on the kitten. "Kyoko Baby? She's fine. She sleeps in my arms every night. Yeah. She just slips into my bed without me even realizing it." It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out what conclusion Mrs. Ichinose draws. Later, Mrs. Ichinose runs into Kyoko while they're out shopping. Kyoko comments that she looks "like the cat that ate the canary." Kyoko presses her to tell her what's up. "Oh, I just heard something interesting.... I have to admit it's a relief. I mean knowing you're a normal, healthy woman." She whispers what she thinks she learned from Godai's half of the phone conversation. Kyoko is naturally shocked, and bursts out with a loud "I am NOT sleeping with Yusaku Godai!" Mrs. Ichinose shushes her as the passersby on the busy street stop to stare. Next we see Godai on hands and knees, searching his room for the kitten. "C'mon, Kyoko Baby, where are you?!" "I'm right here" say an ice-cold voice from behind him. Kyoko's face is dark with anger. "Now tell me about how I sneak into your bed." As Godai tries to find a way out of this one, Kyoko finds the cat's bowl, and he is forced to admit the truth. Godai remembers suddenly that the kitten is missing, and the search resumes. Kyoko goes outside, and Kentaro calls to her from the doghouse. The kitten is curled up beside Mr. Soichiro. "'Kyoko Baby' and 'Mr. Soichiro,' how perfect!" Kyoko thinks with a smile as she looks at the animals peacefully resting. Meanwhile, Godai continues the search, calling "Kyoko Baby!" Kentaro calls to him: "Hey, Yusaku, if you're lookin' for the manager, she's right here!" -- Joseph Grau Footnotes: ---------- Glenn: (94.06.04) A month or two ago when we were talking about this chapter some people had the mistaken impression that the cat was originally called "Kyoko-chan", and that the Viz translators chose "Kyoko Baby" as a "cute" counterpart to the honorific. Actually, the original manga had Godai calling the cat "Kyoko", while Ms.Otonashi gets to be called either "Kyoko-SAN" or "kanrinin-san". Instead of being cute, the lack of an honorific would be downgrading if applied to the human Kyoko. The phrase "Kyoko-chan" appeared only twice in the entire chapter: the first time is when Sakamoto gives the cat to Godai, and the last time is on the final page when Kyoko-san finds the cat in the doghouse. Harold Ancell: Actually, there's a third use, on the second panel on the third from the last page. > When Godai arrives at Ikkoku-kan with Kyoko Baby hidden in a > paper sack, Kyoko meets him on the walk. She scolds him for > staying out all night without letting her know. "I was up > half the night waiting with the front door unlocked!" As > Godai apologizes, the kitten begins to meow. Godai mumbles > an apolgy and hurries to his room. How did they translate those lines? The original version had Godai starting to say the cat's name, "Kora! KYOU--", and then cutting short. In order to get out of that predicament, he continues by saying "*KYOU* wa ii hiyori desu ne." C. T. Wilkes (94.06.05) replies: Unfortunately, Gerard Jones has punted on the translation of these lines. Using Tarigan-san's translation in the left-hand column: Wideban v2c9, bottom panel p. 170: Viz p2#3, bottom panel p. 26: ---------------------------------- ----------------------------- Godai: Kora! KYOU-- No! Don't--! top two panels, p. 171: top two panels, p. 27: ----------------------- ---------------------- Godai: ...... ....! *KYOU* wa ii hiyori desu ne. Er... don't worry... I'll be [The last line of the Viz refers to Kyoko having chided Godai in an earlier panel for having stayed out all night without letting her know.] On the previous page in the wideban volume, Sakamoto is wearing a jacket with the English words "Seven Bridge Adventure;" in the Viz version, this becomes "Ranma 1/2." Can anyone fill me in on the "Seven Bridge Adventure"? A note about Viz's chapter (mis)numbering here: the two chapters in Part Two, no. 3 should have been numbered 5 and 6, respectively -- Part Two, no. 2 already had chapters numbered 3 and 4. In Part Two, no. 4, the two chapters are numbered 7 and 8, so Viz is back on track by then. =================================================================== @v3c05 == v3c5 VW2c10: == == == == or == == Frustration of Family == ================================================================== @viz2_4 Footnotes: ---------- Tarigan writes: 94.04.19 :Subject: =MI= re: Viz 2.4 -- criticisms Okay, yesterday I stopped by one of the comics stores and spent a few more minutes browsing through Viz's Maison Ikkoku #2.4. Verdict: WORTH FLAMING. Major beefs: =========== Notice that they omitted the title pages for each chapter. This is what they look like in the original volumes: Viz Version: Original Manga: -------------------------------------------------- "A Family Affair" "Frustration of Family" Title page: none Large portraits of Kyoko's parents are in the background. In between them, Kyoko looks at you over her shoulder as she walks away from you and carries a tool box. "The Big Announcement" "Resignation Announcement" Title page: none On the top half is Godai, Yotsuya, Akemi and Ichinose with shocked expressions. Below them is Kyoko looking as if she's saying goodbye. Next problem: They didn't print the pages in the original manner. See, Viz made the first page of the chapter into an odd-numbered page. Originally, it was an even-numbered page. I think this is somewhat destructive, even if there were no two-page spreads in the chapter. I think any decent manga artist would try to lay it out so that the pages which face each other will form a pleasing arrangement. I'm not familiar with the theory of drawing a good page layout but, at the least, Viz SHOULD NOT HAVE SHIFTED THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE PAGES!! If I'm not making myself clear, here are some diagrams: (Note: "p1" refers to the first story-page in each case.) Viz printed the pages of "A Family Affair" this way: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ | | | | | | | | | | | |p1 | |p2 |p3 | |p4 |p5 | |p6 |p7 | .... | | | | | | | | | | | |___| |___|___| |___|___| |___|___| The original manga was printed out this way: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ | | | | | | | | | Title .... |p6 |p5 | |p4 |p3 | |p2 |p1 | Page| | | | | | | | | | | | |___|___| |___|___| |___|___| |___| Ignoring the fact that Viz mirror-flipped the pages, page 1 was originally *face-to-face* with page 2. Unfortunately, Viz destroyed that. AAAARRGGGHH!!! Okay, now for the less flame-worthy bits: ======================================== When Godai was first telling Kyoko that there was a strange man outside of Ikkoku-kan, he suggested that they "Call the police". In the original dialogue, he said something along the lines of "We should call 110." I think 110 is the Japanese equivalent of 911. Then in the next chapter when Yotsuya brings "cakes" to ChaChaMaru, note that those "cakes" were "takoyaki". Takoyaki is a kind of cake, right? In the original, Ichinose said: "Takoyaki...... konna mono de atashitachi no kankei wo <...blah blah I can't read this kanji...>" Interesting how Gerard Jones keeps eliminating evidence that Maison Ikkoku is set in Japan... Glenn Tarigan --------------- Jeff Williamson says: Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 08:04:51 -0500 (CDT) > Interesting how Gerard Jones keeps eliminating evidence > that Maison Ikkoku is set in Japan... Yeah, and Matt Thorn keeps trying to preserve bits of the culture. ^_^ I think he did the chapter where Godai is alone with Kyoko (v3,1 manga), and possibly the one where he finally finds the brooch (even though we lost the chapter where he *bought* the brooch! argh!). Both of these have a couple of references which were not Americanized...even though much of the rest was airbrushed out. :-P Is it any wonder, from Gerard Jones, the man who turned the bean-throwing Ataru attempting to drive off an Oni into a candy-chucking idiot who thinks he's dealing with a trick-or-treater? It's no wonder Urusei Yatsura failed as a Viz comic book series--they are unable (or unwilling!!) to footnote! AnimEigo's liner notes are *tons* more helpful. ^_^ (Sorry, a digression, but it proves the point.) I will continue to buy the Maison Ikkoku translations, just to get the story to friends who *cannot* understand Japanese, but enjoy reading them. Perhaps some incensed letters to Viz may change their translating style? --Jeff --------------- Date: Tue, 19 Apr 94 09:21:21 EDT From: Hayden Subject: Takoyaki Takoyaki are, basically, octopus balls. Wait! Not that! I mean, a bit of octopus tentacle is chopped, breaded and baked in a round mold so that is becomes a spherical, breaded, octopus , um, "ball." Like a corn dog. Too many double entendres here! They are very popular in festivals and at tourist attractions, as are squid-on-a-stick and etc. Also available in frozen food section. Ask you local Asian grocer for takoyaki today! BTW, Frito Lay started selling corn snacks flavored like takoyaki, calling it Takoyaki-kun. Chester Cheetah apparently is the spokesman, renamed Takoyaki-kun... but DO NOT ever call him Takoyaki Baby! Maybe The Takoyaki Dude would be more appropriate. -Hayden --------------- Sam Lysinger: I find it interesting how Kyoko and her parents don't get along. After reading a lot of manga and watching a lot of anime, I find this the first disfunctional family I've ever come across. I don't know what led up to it all since I'm still digging up back issues, but I was amused that there was a family that didn't get along one bit. Eugene Lee: Maybe "disfunctional" is a bit strong, although there seems to be a history of eternal arguing in the household. Something that needs to be paid attention to is the mindset of each family member. Both her father and her mother want certain goals to come about, but their methods are *ahem* rather unusual. So from Kyoko's point of view, her parents appear to be bossy or manipulative. Robert Carragher: Actually, this is a rather amusing pattern that Takahashi seems to love: very strong-willed women basically running roughshod over the men to accomplish their goals. The prime culprits: Kyoko, her mother, Yagami, and Ichinose. On the other hand, you have the less forceful personalities, Azuna and Kozue, who tend to be almost caricatures. In the middle is Akemi, although she's kind of a quirk since she usually doesn't have any goals, except for abusing Godai. B-) I will agree that their methods tend to be very out-of-the-ordinary. B-) Eugene Lee: Then there is Mitaka, the man with the silver spoon in his mouth, an apartment in a nice high-rise, his own car, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. He's the one character I dislike because of his aggressive nature compounded by a very self-serving ego. He is also, arguably, the most (perhaps "only"?) strong-willed man in the MI universe. Then again, the story becomes too two-dimensional if all men have iron wills. % I will agree that their methods tend to be very out-of-the-ordinary. % B-) Don't forget Godai's grandmother, Baachan! --------------- Robert Carragher: Eugene sez: Bob-> Then there is Mitaka, the man with the silver spoon in his mouth, an Bob-> apartment in a nice high-rise, his own car, et cetera, ad infinitum, Bob-> ad nauseum. He's the one character I dislike because of his aggressive Bob-> nature compounded by a very self-serving ego. He is also, arguably, Bob-> the most (perhaps "only"?) strong-willed man in the MI universe. Well, this went around before, but I'll state me opinion again: I really felt for Mitaka-san. Yes, he's very aggressive and he was born into luxury, but he's forever pounding his head against a brick wall. Kyoko's heart belonged to Godai before Mitaka ever entered the picture, and unfortunately for him Kyoko waited a long time to tell him, and really that occurred after Mitaka was forced into the marriage with Asuna. The character is depicted far more sympathetically in the manga, IMHO. Bob-> Don't forget Godai's grandmother, Baachan! Argh, how could I? B-) Bob --------------- Spencer C. Hastings: Eugene wrote: > Then there is Mitaka, the man with the silver spoon in his mouth, an > apartment in a nice high-rise, his own car, et cetera, ad infinitum, > ad nauseum. He's the one character I dislike because of his aggressive > nature compounded by a very self-serving ego. He is also, arguably, > the most (perhaps "only"?) strong-willed man in the MI universe. > Then again, the story becomes too two-dimensional if all men have > iron wills. Well, Yes Mitaka is the way he is.. But he really isn't a bad guy. During the middle of the series I was actually really getting to like him. I wouldn't say he's the only stong willed man.. Yagami's father comes to mind.. Bob wrote: > Actually, this is a rather amusing pattern that Takahashi seems to > love: very strong-willed women basically running roughshod over > the men to accomplish their goals. The prime culprits: Kyoko, > her mother, Yagami, and Ichinose. On the other hand, you have the > less forceful personalities, Azuna and Kozue, who tend to be almost > caricatures. In the middle is Akemi, although she's kind of a quirk > since she usually doesn't have any goals, except for abusing Godai. > B-) Oh come now. ^_^ I would have to agree fullheartedly in Ranma 1/2, and UY.. And even some in MI.. But.. To list Kyoko as A prime culprit?!? Why? She spends about 80 episodes ignoring her love for Godai. Her personality is set up to "RUN" from love. I think the few times she get's mad she runs over him.. but she is pretty much just as Run over as Godai is. I'd hate to see it even insinuated that she has "control" over Ikkoku-kan. ^_^ If anything it's the groups.. Ignoring Godai and Kyoko. Akemi doesn't seem to have any goals? In what sense? To me her goals are just as clear as Ichinose's and Yotsuya's. To have fun at Godai and Kyoko's expense. I guess I don't really see her as the middleperson. She says in the end "I'm not the type to steal a man that you have.." Just to infuriate Kyoko and show her how stupid she is being.. But also sets her up to get mad by not telling the truth. I guess to me Kyoko is just as stepped on as Godai. In different ways. Godai learns and copes as the series goes on.. Kyoko just get's used to it ----------------- Glenn: In the scene when Kyoko's father runs off and Kyoko tells Godai that it was her father, I saw that they had this big sound fx "KLONG" crashing into Godai's head. In the original, it was the hiragana word "chichi" that hit Godai. (Does "chichi" have another meaning other than "father"?) C Sue Shambaugh: Actually, chichi can also mean "breasts", but I believe the flowered word whacking Godai in the head is actually meant to be FATHER. Too bad they didn't leave it that way! Japanese use nouns in interesting ways to be sound effects. In one episode of Marionette Generation (by Mikimoto), one girl suddenly holds out another girl's bra (found in a compromising place - an artist's apartment!) at her in public to get her attention; the only sound effect is "BRA---!" :-) 'nuf said! - Sue =================================================================== @v3c07 == v3c7 VW2c12: == == NATTOKU shimashita == == or == == I Understand == ================================================================== @viz2_5 Footnotes: ---------- From: luf@tiamat.umd.umich.edu (Samuel Lysinger) Date: Sat, 7 May 1994 23:21:42 -0400 (EDT) I just read MI 2.5 en anglais aujhord'hui and I must say it was rather funny to see Kyoko fight with her parents yet again. The second chapter wasn't really funny because this kozue character should be gotten rid of in a nasty Shakespearian manner because she's so irritating. The great thing about it was Kyoko's Father in law suggesting that she stop mourning and get on with her life. I would have to agree with his reasoning, but it isn't going to happen for a long while since Kyoko is still so attached to her late husband. The part (In a buried earlier issue, sorry no direct reference) where Godai asks her if she needs help with making dinner and she looks over her shoulder and pictures Souichiro and says she's no thanks just adds beautifully to her thoughts against giving up her husband and moving on. Hopefully there will be much more of this type of imagery in the future issues. It just keeps getting better. Sam ---------------- Glenn, on 94.05.17: Yeah, I'd say there are a few other instances. Actually, in that scene you mention, it seems almost like Kyoko is equating Godai with Souichiro. You didn't mention that she also said "no thanks" to Souichiro's offer to help cook back then. There's a chapter much later on-- normal volume10c5, or wideban v7c5-- when Kyoko visits Godai at the nursery where he works. This is just after the chapter when he had found out that his soon-to-be employer had gone out of business, and Kyoko was worried that he was depressed (earlier that day, she had also visited Grandpa Otonashi, and presumably Souichiro's grave). She starts talking about Souichiro-san, causing Godai's expression to turn sour, and at that moment Godai says straight to her face: "I am not Souichiro-san." That was one of the chapters which weren't animated. It has an interesting change of pace, and is totally serious. Maybe I'll write a detailed synopsis of it someday... Glenn Tarigan ------------------- 94.05.17 subject: =MI= Viz Place-Name Changes Skimming through Issue 2.5 of Maison Ikkoku yesterday in the store, I noticed that the sign on the train station said "Clock Hill". What?! Couldn't they have left it as "Tokeizaka"? This is the first time I noticed it. Have they been doing this the whole time? There is no need to translate a place name. Do you change "Tokyo" into "East Capital"? Hell no! Speaking of place names, what ever happened to "ChaChamaru"? In Issue 2.4, I noticed that one of the outdoor signs that originally read as "ChaChaMaru" was changed into a simple block-lettered name: "BAR". Does that mean that they've changed ChaChaMaru into a nameless hangout? =================================================================== @v3c11 == v3c11 VW2c16: == == == == or == == == ================================================================== @viz3_1 Footnotes: ---------- Samuel Lysinger on 94.07.14: Hi all, back from France. Even met a big MI fan who helps run an anime/manga shop in Paris. Anyway, getting to the important stuff, I was reading MI 3.1 and I was wondering if Godai's T-shirt and the cans of Salmon were the original article or touched up? IMHO the T-shirt looks legit, but the cans don't. Can anyone clear this up? As far as the stories went, It was rather funyy to see Kyoko completely annoyed with the world and taking her agressions out on an inanimate object (Pachinko machine, I use an axe and a solid oak railroad tie ^_^ ). Of course Godai gets hurt, but that's just his special ability throughout this whole story. ------ C. T. (Tom) Wilkes replies: luf@tiamat.umd.umich.edu (Samuel Lysinger) writes: > Anyway, getting to the important stuff, I was reading MI 3.1 and I was > wondering if Godai's T-shirt and the cans of Salmon were the original > article or touched up? IMHO the T-shirt looks legit, but the cans > don't. At least with respect to Godai's T-shirt, well, yes and no. Since Viz's panels are mirror images of the originals (no, not everyone at Ikkoku-kan is left-handed! ^_^), all of the Roman-alphabet lettering from the original must be retouched. Generally, the phrases on Godai's shirts have been the same as in the original. On the other hand, I have noticed that one of Sakamoto's shirts (in Viz 2.3, the "Kyoko the cat" chapter) was advertising "Ranma 1/2" instead of the original "Seven Bridge Adventure." Sometimes Viz's retouchers will miss something -- for example, there was a street number on a building in a recent issue which was backwards. > It was rather funyy to see Kyoko completely annoyed with the world and > taking her agressions out on an inanimate object (Pachinko machine, I > use an axe and a solid oak railroad tie ^_^). Of course Godai gets > hurt, but that's just his special ability throughout this whole story. And very good at it he is.... ^_^ =================================================================== @v4c01 == v4c1 VW2c17: == == == == or == == == ========================================================================== Footnotes: ---------- Glenn (94.05.04): It seems that Kyoko's parents spend most of the series being unable to remember Godai's name, much to his dismay. So they end up calling him "student". Now how would you translate it? What do you think Viz should put in exchanges like these: (excerpted from Volume 4, Part 1 : "are ga ii" ) Kyoko's Mother: "Nee, gakusei-san." Godai: "Hai! Godai desu." Kyoko's Father: "Gakusei-san!" Godai: "Godai desu! Otousan." Sylvain: How about, Kyoko's Mother: "Hey, young man." Godai: "Yes! Godai's the name." Kyoko's Father: "Young man!" Godai: "Mister Chigusa, my name's Godai!" =================================================================== @v4c02 == v4c2 VW3c1: == == #soppo# == == or == == Turn the Other Cheek == ================================================================== @viz3_2 Discussion: ----------- Sam Lysinger on 94.08.12: For all of the non-japanese readers here, viz just put out 3.2 and it was excellent. The second chapter is noteworthy to me since this was the first I'd seen of Soichiro's silhouette. I like the fact that he's just a faceless memory. More interestingly is the detail of comparing him to godai (I would give you the equivalent manga chapter number, but I don't know it and I'm too busy to find it out). The dog is missing though.) when Godai finds Soichiro. Other than just 2 frames being drawn exactly, there are differences in clouds and the size of the sun (sun size for a different time of the year). Also I thought it was neat that Kyoko just happened to be wearing her hair the same way (minus the pony tail in the latter image) in both frames that she saw the dog. <.6. .7.> =================================================================== @v4c04 == v4c4 VW3c3: == == Shocking Mug == ================================================================== @viz3_3 Part 5 - A Bunch of Mugs ======================== Kyoko-san meets Godai's friend Sakamoto in the local supermarket and learns that he's staying at Ikkoku-kan for the week while he works at a pub (with Godai). When Kyoko rejoins Ichinose, Sakamoto's heart is all a-flutter as he contemplates what a wonderful lady Kyoko is. Godai returns and brings Sakamoto out of his re^verie with a blast of garlic and tells Godai that he just saw Kyoko. As they walk home from the supermarket, they discuss how lucky Godai is to have a babe like Kyoko around all the time. As Godai thinks of Kyoko's "heavenly scent", he hugs the groceries, which ends up not being a good thing for some of the items they just bought. Kyoko greets them as they return home and offers Sakamoto dinner since she made too much. Godai is invited along too, but as an afterthought it seems. As they wait upstairs for Kyoko to finish preparing the meal, Sakamoto comments how lucky Godai is, and Godai stews over the fact the Kyoko invited Sakamoto first, and then tacked his invitation at the end. At dinner, Godai continues his sulking about the presence of Sakamoto, while Sakamoto laughs and enjoys the meal with Kyoko. When Sakamoto invites Kyoko to stop by the pub sometime, Godai jumps in and offers to pay for her at the pub as a repayment for her making dinner. Kyoko agrees to this after Godai insists. After dinner, Sakamoto and Godai argue over Kyoko up in Godai's room. Not surprisingly (except to Sakamoto) they are soon joined by Yotsuya and Akemi who manage to acquire and finish off the beers that Godai and Sakamoto were enjoying. They eventually leave Godai's room with an ominous "See ya tomorrow". The next day, at the Rooftop pub, it's a busy night and Godai and Sakamoto are working furiously. Kyoko appears, but it seems that a few uninvited (are they _ever_ invited?) guests have tagged along: Yotsuya, Akemi and Ichinose. Kyoko looks a bit embarassed by the fact that they've come along. When Godai sees the extra guests, he tries to swap tables with Sakamoto, but is prodded by the barman to get on with his work. During the first round of drinks, Godai overhears Ichinose saying that Godai is picking up the tab for everyone, which causes Godai to demand of Yotsuya to know what's going on. Sakamoto doesn't help matters when he encourages everyone to drink up since Godai will "keep 'em coming". Godai now turns to Kyoko who also doesn't know exactly what's going on because things got so mixed up. By now, Godai's conversation has drawn the attention of the barman who yells at Godai for socializing with the customers when they're so busy. During this reprimand, the noise from the table (guess which one) has also drawn the barman's attention. Godai claims not to know who they are. During all this, Kyoko drinks and helplessly wonders what to do since she had a fear that this is what would happen. Just a little too late, she decides to stop drinking and grabs Godai to have a little talk with him. As she wobbles away with Godai, she slurs that they're taking advantage of Godai's offer to Kyoko because he's so indecisive. She offers to pay for the whole mess -- "jusht leave it t'your dear Kyoko" -- before becoming ill from the alcohol. Going home after the night out, Godai is carrying Kyoko (who is apparently still not over the effects of the beer) on his back. Godai refuses all offers for help (she ain't heavy, she's my kanrinin-san). Kyoko wakes up and asks about the check and begins choking Godai when he says that he paid it. Everyone looks on as she begins yelling incoherently as Godai tries to breathe and explain himself. -- by Gary Kacmarcik VIZ Notes Part 5: the first frame of the story shows the supermarket. in this frame, everything is written in Japanese (except for the word "Fresh" in the background. all the prices are in Yen. some of the signs in the back read: mirin (sweet sake used as seasoning) furikake (dried seasonings that you sprinkle on rice.) [ Yutaka: You couldn't just eat rice plain, could you? ^_^ Bob: Heathen. Any *true* Japanese kid would jump at the chance to eat plain rice. (Ignore the hand reaching for the soy sauce. B-) ] _____ _______ there are boxes labelled pa-ku and kebi-ku the rest is kanji, which i can't decipher this means that VIZ either: 1) carefully copied all the characters from the original after they mirrored the panel 2) mirrored everything on the page _except_ this panel 3) didn't mirror anything on this page my guess is #2, which means that they would have had to touch up the top panel since Kyoko's head sticks into it a bit. i think that they _did_ mirror the bottom part since the labels in that frame read "ramen" and "noodle". Glenn says: Hey, you're correct! Number 2 it is. (I took a look at a copy of Viz's 3.3 at a comics store.) The first panel on the first page was not mirrored. This meant that they had to snip out the top half of Kyoko's head-- you can even see a fringe of extraneous lines around her head because they weren't perfectly accurate with the exacto knife... And they did mirror the bottom part. Gary continues: so, here's a description of the panels: +-------------------+ |\ __ | | \ 1 | \ 2 3 | |\| | || | | |O | ||\ /| |\|{\ o| 4||\| o || | ||| || ||\| / || |\|( __| ||\| ) || +---/ \------------+ _| /_ -------+ / \ | | / > | o | __-- | o | / \ | | | |---------+ (OK... so i got a bit carried away) panel 1 has a large lady to the left that Kyoko's head is partially obscuring. panel 2 has a closeup of Kyoko with her handbacket panel 3 has Kyoko and Sakamoto talking in front of the Noodle products The numbers below correspond to the numbers shown in the ASCII pic above: "1" has "tofu" and "soba" written there. "2" has "mirin" (kind of sake, sort of?), "su" (vinegar), "choumiryou" (seasonings), and "shouyu" (soy sauce). Bob says: Mirin is rice wine. I think it's supposed to be a little sweet, though I've never tasted it straight from the bottle. I usually use it for cooking. "3" has 'furikake', 'ochazuke' (rice in tea and other seasonings, really good), and 'tempurako' (tempura powder, stuff you put on to make tempura), and 'nousanbutsu' (produce/vegetables). "4" has some thick sausage-like thingies on which is printed 'genmaicha'. I think it's just roasted rice, which you can drink as tea. The sign hanging just above the word "FRESH" says "SUnoMONO" = "pickled foods". at first, i was impressed that they went through the effort to copy the Japanese characters. then i wondered if they just copied the frame without modifications since it'd be easier to touch up the picture a bit than to fix all the signs in the store. in any case, i was glad to see the supermarket signs in Japanese. it made me feel like it was closer to the original. =================================================================== @v4c05 == v4c5 VW3c4: == == It Happened in a Dark Corner == == During the Festival == ========================================================================== Part 6 - The One That Got Away ============================== Godai walks past the construction workers as they prepare for the upcoming festival. He thinks about the festivals back in his hometown, but imagines that the festivals here must be better, and then launches into one of his romantic fantasies about Kyoko -- something he notes that he hasn't had in a while (yeah, right). Kyoko informs Godai about the package he just received, and he manages to get to it just in time to save it from the lurking sheers of Yotsuya. As he shifts through the package contents (and rescues containers from Yotsuya, who is still attached to the package), he finds a yukata (summer kimono) that was made by his grandmother. When the festival arrives, Godai and Kyoko go to it together. Along with Kozue, Mitaka, Akemi, Yotsuya, Ichinose and Kentaro. Since Godai has Kozue, it is only natural that Mitaka be with Kyoko (and Akemi). Mitaka emphasises this point by noticing what a perfect couple the two of them make. Godai is given the opportunity to show off his expertise, but unfortunately, this expertise is with catching little fishes with a cheap net-scoop. While everyone acknowledges that Godai is indeed skilled at the game, it is pointed out (thank you, Yotsuya) that this sort of skill has no bearing on everyday real life. In spite of this, Godai does well and splits the fish-booty with Kyoko. As everyone goes to see the lantern dance, the crowd forces the group to separate. Kozue manages to find Godai, and they walk down by the river to cool off and get away from all the people. Among all the couples walking around the riverbank, Godai sees Mitaka and Kyoko and decides to follow them. Mitaka leads Kyoko away from the romantic area and ends up in a lightly wooded area with practically no one around. As they walk, Mitaka wonders if he should do anything, and Kyoko thinks how fortunate it is that she's with Mitaka, who, unlike Godai, is a grown-up. Since Godai and Kozue are following them, they end up in the same unpopulated area. Godai is unaware that this is a romantic place (other than the fact that he doesn't want Mitaka alone here with Kyoko). Kozue, on the other hand, wonders why Godai is leading her away like this and uses the opportunity to 'beg' for a kiss. By now, Mitaka has decided that he must do something or else he'll be forced to suffer in silence forever. He puts his arm around Kyoko and asks her if she likes him. Kyoko is unable to answer and looks at the fish from Godai before she is saved by the sound of fireworks. fwheeeeeee..... >>> PKAAMMM <<< pok pok pok-pok-pok As both 'couples' step out to watch the fireworks, they notice the presence of the other. They walk back to join the others, and everyone gets ready to go home. As Mitaka leaves, he apologizes to Kyoko, who says not to worry, and offers Kozue a ride home. Kyoko mentions that Kozue would probably rather have gone home with Godai, but Godai is embarassed and blushes. As they walk back to Maison Ikkoku, Kyoko and Godai both wonder what the other person was doing alone (well, not _quite_ alone) in the woods next to the river. Yotsuya helps clear up some of the wondering when he comments that he went peeping and saw Godai and Kozue. He expresses disappointment at Godai's behavior, because he considered it a crime that he would resist a girl's advances. Akemi is disappointed with Godai, too. Kyoko, however, is relieved to learn that nothing happened, and makes plans to buy a fishbowl the next day. hmmm.... "wacky hijinks" indeed ^_^ -- Gary Kacmarcik =================================================================== @v4c06 == v4c6 VW3c5: == == Memory of Summer == ================================================================== @viz3_4 Comments: --------- Clifford Caoile on 94.10.16 says: Maison Ikkoku Part 3, Issue 4 struck me as the funniest yet, as far as (MI) English translated issues go. Part 3.4.1, or Part 7, or "Memories of You" had a pretty funny re-do of Kentaro's workbook. (For those with the wideban, it's Volume 3, Part 5, pg 89-108) I haven't laughed as hard over MI in a long time! "Just DO IT!" What bothers me about this part is when Kozue says: "I don't think he's [Godai's] got enough nerve to be anything _but_. He's so naive...." If I understand her correctly (probably not...), then if she's able to read naivety in him, can't she read his reluctance to commit to her? Turning to Part 3.4.2, Part 7, or "The Incident" (WB 3, part 6, pg 109-130), I found this sub-story to be the most touching yet. I was brought to tears when Godai ran home to pack his things. Why the anime episode chose to change the ending from the manga I can understand. Why Takahashi-sama chose to end the manga with a pun is understandable, too. Gary Kacmarcik on 94.10.17 says: Clifford Caoile (ccaoile@sdcc8.UCSD.EDU) sez: > > Turning to Part 3.4.2, Part 7, or "The Incident" (WB 3, part 6, pg > 109-130), I found this sub-story to be the most touching yet. I was > brought to tears when Godai ran home to pack his things. Why the > anime episode chose to change the ending from the manga I can > understand. Why Takahashi-sama chose to end the manga with a pun is > understandable, too. i didn't notice the difference between the anime and the manga. i saw the anime a month or two ago (before i had read the manga), and i remember it as godai running across the train tracks and then... well, i guess he went home and packed soon thereafter. of course, now that i've seen the manga, my memory is blurred. what differences between the manga and anime are you referring to? Clifford Caoile: If I am not mistaken, the anime (episode 30: Kyoko-san getting married? Tearful Godai-kun moving away) was more tragic. The final moments weren't so comedic, since Godai left without "kissing" Ikkoku-kan goodbye. (Maybe he started sliding down the hill in the anime? My memory is failing...) We'll just have to dig out the anime, won't we! ------------- Ramon Herrera on 94.11.08 said: To: Maison Ikkoku ML Subject: =MI= ML: WRT SMACKIN' UPSIDE THE HEAD WRT Viz Part 3, #4, page 12, panel 2... In this panel, Kozue is smackin' her little bro' upside the head. Question: Is that smackin' arm a redraw? The above is directed to those who own the original, non-mirrored manga. (The question, not the smack.) For those who do not own any Viz stuff, this is the episode in which Kozue feels pressured by her lady friends to show off her "boyfriend" and is titled "Memories of You" by Viz. Godai gets sage sex advice from Sakamoto & Co. This episode comes before the one in which Godai tearfully departs Ikkoku-kan, having heard all the wrong things about Kyoko's wedding plans. Gary Kacmarcik on 94.11.09 said: > WRT Viz Part 3, #4, page 12, panel 2... > > In this panel, Kozue is smackin' her little bro' upside the head. > Question: Is that smackin' arm a redraw? No. the only things that changed from the original to the VIZ: sound effect "baki_" was changed to "konk" the dialog balloon became a bit larger. the writing on the shirts is the same: Kozue's "School Boy" shirt is the same as the original (even though they had to touch it up after mirroring the page). her brother's shirt is the "same" too. although you can only read "..r Wars" in the mange and "Sta.." in VIZ's version. the bad thing is that they removed the cover page and changed the left/right ordering so that pages that faced each other in the original are now back to back. :-( =================================================================== @v4c08 == v4c8 VW3c7: == == A Small Space == ================================================================== @viz3_5 Comments: --------- Jeff D. Williamson on 94.11.12 said: Note in the latest Viz translation (3,5), in the second story, where Yotsuya-san has just stumbled across the missing Godai-kun, that the cafe they end up at is called "Cafe Trauma". I wonder if this is a good translation of the original...it certainly applies to the emotional state of Godai at the end of the story. ^_^ The cover, by the way, comes from the story in v6, where Godai gets away from it all and ends up meeting a rather loquacious young woman... <.7. .8.> =================================================================== @v5c01 == v5c1 VW3c11: == == Cold's Embrance == ================================================================== @viz4_1 Comments: --------- Sam Lysinger on 95.01.06: Rather funny seeing an MI Christmas Chapter after I've gone back to school. All in all, it was great stuff. Godai finally gets lucky and gives Kyoko a present that has absolutely [no] chance of being the wrong gift. I thought her reaction was priceless when he pulled out the star (Me, I got tires and food. Appreciated greatly, but not as neat.). She acted like a 6 year old girl which kind of went with her flashback of telling Ichinose what she was like during christmas when she was a kid. Of course in both Chapters, there was a lot of partying and Godai day dreaming and hurting himself. <.8. ______________________________________________________________________________ ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @manga_annotation Manga Annotation: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are annotations placed right next to their corresponding chapter summaries and synopses. This here section is a temporary holding place for notes. Many of these notes may eventually be shifted out into locations closer to the individual synopses. Please send additions and corrections to `tarigan@sfu.ca'. There may not be very many notes to make for each chapter, but with 15 volumes of the compilation, these things add up. Or maybe a more knowledgeable or observant contributor will be able to come up with many more footnotes. Each annotation will be marked off by the name of the contributor to show who deserves the credit. Several of the annotations here can also be found in one of the Deluxe Translations that we've written. v1,1,17,3 - The shrine of Iwato in Takachiho of Miyazaki prefecture is often called Ama-no-Iwato (heavenly Iwato; "Iwato" = rock cave). This shrine is linked with one of the most well known of Japanese myths (at least to the Japanese). At the shrine is a cave reputed to be the one where Amaterasu Omikami, the Sun God, hid thus darkening the world. This was because Susanoo, the storm god and Amaterasu's brother, had visited and maliciously destroyed her rice fields and defiled her sacred hall with excrement, among other things. Amaterasu angrily hid in the heavenly stone cave and closed the door. The Plain of High Heaven was submerged in darkness. The deities worried, and created a plan. On a tree they hanged maga-tama beads, and from the middle branches was hanged the first mirror, forged from metal. To encourage the Sun God to come out, they amassed around the entrance of the cave and one of the goddesses performed what was probably the world's first strip tease. Ama-no-Uzume flipped over a bucket and loudly stamped upon it. Then she exposed her breasts and her genitals. The 800 various deities simultaneously laughed. Interested by the sounds of mirth, Amaterasu peeked out of the cave door and asked why they were doing what they were doing. Ama-no-Uzume responded, `We celebrate because there exists a God that is greater than you.' And while she was saying that, another god showed the mirror to Amaterasu. Being the first time that she'd seen a mirror, she thought this stranger and stranger, and bit by bit came out of the door to look at the person in the mirror. A god hidden nearby grabbed Amaterasu and pulled her out, while another god extended a rope behind Amaterasu saying, `You may not go back farther than this!' This sacred rope was to prevent her from returning to the cave. She thereafter reassumed sovereignty of the Plain of High Heaven. There are several versions of the story with slight differences. I've used the reference work which happened to have the most detailed description: [KOJI69]. This legend parallels pretty closely the events of this chapter when the loon squad is luring Godai out of the closet. -- Glenn -------------------------------------------------------------------------- .5.> v3,1 These annotations have been extracted from mi-v3-1.txt.Z. Williamson-san: Is it me, or is Godai's behavior a little beyond the pale in this chapter? Sure, he's been forward with Kyoko before, but this is a far cry from the Godai who was with Kyoko on the failed date (Ma Maison/ Mamezou [from v3,9/VW2,1] ). There, he tried to take advantage of the situation, but wasn't thinking about attempting rape. (Or am I missing some of the manga nuance from that earlier chapter?) Mo... anyway, it just doesn't seem "right" for Godai. Tarigan: I concur. When I saw this story for the first time (it was the anime version) I was turned off by this strange, abrupt change in Godai's attitude. I had not gotten the impression that he was that kind of guy. Maybe the author was just pushing things for laughs. In no other chapter does Godai try anything as extreme as in this one. [ I'm missing the two normal volumes that follow volume 3, so I don't know if Godai continues with this nasty attitude any time soon. However, by looking at the anime version, Godai seems to have acquired enough sense not to try taking advantage of Kyoko like this. ] Williamson-san: That's about all I can think of, too. Early in the series; radical character shift... must've been a dry month for story ideas. :) In American comics, this is usually called "Assistant Editor's Month". *grin* Tarigan: Then again, this is the first time that he's *really* alone with Kyoko. Williamson-san: Compare this with the (admittedly later) part of the series, where Kyoko vacations after both Godai and Mitaka give her the brush-off ("Chase after me, Godai-kun!..." in the anime). When Godai and Kyoko meet at the hot spring, and he's alone in her hotel room, he's almost, well, *bashful* in his hesitancy around her... whereas Kyoko's reaction to his *not* being hesitant would probably have been less violent than usual. (I don't know if that last sentence makes any sense to you....) v3,1 - p5,5 - KOUHAKU UTA GASSEN (aka Red and White Song Contest): This annual TV show is a popular New Year's tradition. Famous pop singers group into two teams, red and white, and compete with songs and comedy acts--female singers belong to AKA-GUMI and male singers to SHIRO-GUMI . Singers go alternately from each team and a group of judges gives points to each contestant. At the end of the contest the winning team is announced. [ Red and white are the two colors used for celebratory occasions. Undoukai (sports day) is one event in which there are two teams, one representing white and the other representing red. The only appearance of Undoukai can be found in v7,3/ VW5,3. `" ] Ito-san: It's unpredictable which team will win. The contents of kouhaku-uta-gassen is one of the main topics people talk about during the new year's vacation. v3,1 - p6,7 - Toshikoshi soba: Toshikoshi means `seeing out the old year and seeing in the new'. This is eaten late on New Year's eve to see out the old year. The long strands of soba symbolize long life. [LOOK89] v3,1 - p7,4 - Ito-san: Ameya Yokochou (abbr. Ame-yoko) is a famous shopping mall in Ueno, Tokyo. People can buy various goods there at a cheap price, especially in the end of the year. I guess the name Ameya comes from that imported American goods were sold there right after WWII. v3,1 - p11,6 - Those two decorations, one for each door, are shimekazari: a traditional New Year's decoration, based on Shinto. The crops of the harvest are offered to the gods in thanks and to pray for good harvests in the coming year. Pieces of red and white paper hang from it. The prawn, also used as part of a shimekazari, is a symbol of a prayer for longevity (the Japanese word for prawn literally means `old man of the sea'). Some of the other parts of the shimekazari (which may or may not be included) are seaweed, oranges, ferns, lobster and dried persimmons, which symbolize justice, long-life, unity or wealth. [LOOK89] Shimekazari and other decorations would probably be burned during the New Year's Fire Festivals which occur between the 14th and 16th of January. v3,1 - p12,9 - A ryokan is a luxurious Japanese style inn with traditional accoutrements: the rooms' floors are covered with tatami mats, some of the walls are made out of paper and there is usually a tokonoma in one of the wooden walls. The service is quite personalized, but some ryokan aren't as good as others, of course. See v11,4/VW7,15 for an example of a good-quality ryokan (the one where Kyoko goes to); for a run-down ryokan (the one where Godai stays at), see v11,3/VW7,14. One more ryokan, a mid-quality one, is in v8,1/VW5,11 when a group of the cast goes to an `onsen' . v3,1 - p16,9 - Osembe -> sembei : wafers made out of rice flour. It's a traditional Japanese snack. The production of sembei begins with glutinous rice: grind it, steam, flatten, cut into shapes, dry, and roast. While they're being baked, they're coated with shoyu . Some crackers are wrapped in dried NORI . v3,1 - p16,8 - Chen-san: Rice crackers should be crispy. However, during storage they absorb moisture quickly and become a bit rubbery or soggy, which is why you never want to leave a bag open for very long (say a few hours) unless you plan to eat them all. Kyoko is trying to remedy this by re-baking them with the heater. v3,1 - p18,2 - Melanson-san: Japanese houses have little flash heaters for hot water instead of one central water heater--one on the kitchen wall, and one for the o-FURO . I'd assume Ichinose wanted to make sure she had turned off the gas valve to the heater, rather than let the pilot light burn while they were gone. The valve probably controls the gas stove too. In the KOR "I was a cat, I was a fish" OAV (the manga title was "Wagahaiha neko deattari osakana deattari"), Madoka goes to take a shower and turns on the heater, but the pilot has gone out and she passes out from the gas in the room. Ito-san: Gas is provided through one pipe per house and the pipe has branches to each piece of gas equipment. The pipe has a MOTOSEN (master valve) and each branch has a valve. When you sleep, or go out for a long time, you should turn the master valve off as well as branch valves, to reduce the danger of gas accident. Example: wall | +--+ | /---@--| | @ : master valve and | / +--+ individual valves gas | | pipe | | +--+ +--+ ==========@=====+----@--| | | | : gas equipment | | +--+ +--+ | | | \ +--+ | \---@--| | | +--+ Here, Ichinose-san is worried whether she's turned her valve off or not, so she asks Kyoko to check it. Chen-san: Taiwanese houses use the same flash heaters for hot water. Some buildings don't have gas service--they use propane from tanks. If you're using gas tanks, it's wise for safety and costs to shut down the water heater completely when it's not in use. v3,1 - p19,3 - Soba are served in two styles: as hot kake-soba in a bowl of broth and condiments (as you can see in this panel), or as cold mori-soba literally `piled' up on a bamboo lattice in a square frame (zaru). Besides being brownish gray, soba can also be green: cha-soba is green due to the addition of powdered green tea. [FOOD84] v3,1 - p19,4 - Ito-san: As you may know, this song "Hotaru no Hikari", which has taken its melody from "Auld Lang Syne", is a famous song and is sung at places of farewell or departure (most typically, in the graduation ceremony in schools). It's sung here in order to say farewell to the old year. The whole lyrics are as follows: 1. hotaru no hikari mado no yuki fumi yomu tsukihi kasanetsusu itsushika toshi mo sugi no to wo akete zo kesa wa wakare yuku 2. tomaru mo yuku mo kagiri to te katami ni omou chiyorozu no kokoro no hashi wo hito koto ni sakiku to bakari utou nari The lyrics are so old-fashioned and difficult that I warn you not to waste time to decipher it. It also follows heptapentameter. v3,1 - p20,3 - On TV is a view of a temple bell being struck by an acolyte pulling a suspended log by a rope. JOYA-NO-KANE is the name of the event near midnight on New Year's Eve when the 50 000 or so Buddhist temples throughout Japan each ring their temple bells 108 times to dispel the 108 deceptions or sins which were acquired throughout the past year. With each ringing of the bell, a different sin is dispelled. The ringing is slow as the striking logs (temple bells do not have clappers) hit once every five or more seconds. A Buddhist temple bell is called a BONSHOO. It has 108 knobs which represent the 108 evil desires. The point where the ringer strikes is called the TSUKIZA, a part of the bell which has a lotus-petal design. [LOOK89] Ito-san: I don't know if there is any customary rule as to what time it [joya-no-kane] starts and ends. But it must end by midnight. Basically, New Year's Eve in Japan must be a calm, solemn night. Young people might celebrate the new year by making noise outdoors, though. (I've once done it, too :) v3,1 - p21,1 - Ito-san: NINEN-MAIri are the two visits to a Shinto shrine right before and right after the midnight of New Year's Eve. Visit the shrine a little before midnight, then wait outside the shrine for midnight to pass, and visit it again. The name `ninen-mairi' comes from that the visits take place in two years, the old and the new. Tarigan: Shinto shrines are fairly plentiful throughout Japan, so it shouldn't be a long walk for Kyoko and Godai. What Kyoko and Godai are doing is an instance of HATSU-MOUDE . As soon as the new year has started, many people visit the shrines to pray for good luck for the new year. Otherwise, others make this `first visit' during the first few days of the new year. It's traditional to wear a kimono for this visit; we know that Kyoko is a traditional minded Japanese woman, so it's not surprising that she'd follow suit. Williamson-san: Way off-track side note: How traditional *is* Kyoko? Godai and Kyoko's wedding was quite traditional, but from the wedding picture in v15,9, it doesn't appear that Kyoko and Souichiro's wedding was... Hmm... seems the Otonashi family was fairly traditional (frequent visits to the grave, a room to pay respects to ancestors in the home, etc.). Maybe the original wedding photo was a gaffe on Takahashi-san's part? Maybe we analyze this stuff too much? Nah, couldn't be. :) Tarigan: Their wedding is an interesting point. While Souichiro's family was traditional, he himself wasn't quite so. The anime version gives an example of his eccentricity (re: the stone that he gave Kyoko for Christmas [from episode 39] ). Ikuko herself (in v1,8,172,1) says that Souichiro was a weird uncle. Williamson-san: There's a later chapter in the manga (v8,3--the chapter where Godai tries to get into the prayer room) where the Otonashi family is talking about Souichiro's strange behavior while Kyoko seethes about their insensitivity. Tarigan: I found a quote from Andrew Chen's translation for that volume 8 chapter. It sums it up pretty well: Narrator: It's been almost four years since Souichiro passed away. This family will always... talk and secretly make fun of him. We digress, don't we? ^_^ As for the other topic, maybe I was stretching it when I said that Kyoko's wearing a kimono is related to her traditional nature. It turns out that New Year's is the time of the year that almost everyone in Japan makes an effort to be traditional. After all, it's the most special time of the year. v3,1 - p21,4 - The Year of the Rooster will soon end and turn to 1982, the Year of the Dog. It's going to be a bad year for Mitaka, ne? [LOOK89] <.5. v3,2 - p26,3 - Comment: the faces were drawn pretty badly here, especially in the case of Akemi. p36,5 - The calendar is arranged thusly: (Kin = Friday) Nichi Getsu Ka Sui Moku Kin Do 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [...] v3,3 p46,4 - The mountain in the background is Mt. Fuji, obviously. v3,5 p92,3 - The kotatsu is still there with its quilt. On p109,1 that quilt is gone since the weather is warmer then. p96,1 - The elevator control panel gives us the information: Kyoko's parents live in a building that has nine floors--seven are aboveground and two below. v3,6 109,1 - For some reason, the calendar is missing. Usually it's just above the telephone. p121,5 - From this picture we can see that Kyoko's room has at least 10 tatami, and probably no more. Therefore, she has 10 tatami * 0.90m * 1.80m = 16.2 m2 v3,7 p126,5 - `S41' = Showa 41 = year 1966 v3,9 p169,4 - Here is the first person in this volume to show signs of being a lefty: she's holding the racquet in her left hand. p183,1 - `Vitamin C' is the logo on the poster on the wall. That phrase appears on Godai's shirt on p186,4. v3,10 p206,3 - Comment: the face of the woman that Kyoko was talking to looks pretty bad for this one panel. p210,1 - Kyoko is counting the number three on her hand: she has her hand closed except for two fingers extended (the small and the ring fingers). This is the usual Japanese method for counting on one's hand: Start with an open palm and bring down each finger to the palm in turn, starting at the thumb. When `five' is reached, you then have a closed fist. Then to count to ten, you bring up each finger in turn. When `ten' is reached, the palm is totally open once again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- .6.> v7c10 p227 94.05.23 Harold Ancell: At this point, the whole argument-accidents-hospital-catchup arc has served its purpose by knocking down Kyoko's defenses. Godai now knows that he can win her hand. Further torture would be cruel, although not unusual in the Takahashi multiverse.... <.6. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- .5.> v8,1 - These annotations have been extracted from mi-v8-1.txt.Z. As snow was falling while Godai was at the hospital, this must be a little bit after winter. In the previous episode, Godai was attending SEINENSHINRI SHIKEN (a big exam at the university), normally held in january or february. But Ito-san can probably give you more precise indications about this. In conclusion, this episode probably take place in march. But it must be before Soichirou's funeral ceremony, which is held sometime during the spring (I forgot when). -- Sylvain-san v8,1 - p3 Sylvain-san: According to Noriko (my Japanese room-mate) the case that Kyoko is carrying must be a SENMENYOUGU (dressing case, where you put your soap, shampoo, brush, etc.). Tarigan: Kyoko is also carrying a TENUGUI (is a small towel often made out of thin cotton). This towel isn't very big, being only about 75cm long, 30cm wide and not very thick. It looks more like a face towel, but it's also used as a wiper and dryer. Nevertheless, the bathwater is so warm that it isn't difficult to dry oneself with this pitifully small towel. Actually, the western style thick towel isn't terribly useful in Japan during the humid summer because such thick towels tend to become moldy instead of drying out. Liu-san: The same goes for Taiwan. Towels are thin there as well. They feel cheap, too, which probably isn't the case in Japan. Sylvain-san: About TENUGUI, Japanese men used to fold it and put it on the top of the head while bathing. Liu-san: That can be spotted in many manga. Carragher-san: I can add a bit to that based on my experience at this place called the Hotel New Palace. If you want, I can get the location, but it's on the west coast of Honshu, south of Hagi and north of Ube. As the name suggests, it's a hotel, but it also contains sentou. Admittedly this is different from an onsen, but were enough similarities between what I saw in the manga and what I saw at HNP. If you're staying at the hotel, you can go whenever you want. Otherwise, you pay per visit. Note that if you eat a sufficiently large meal at their restaurant (a bit expensive, of course, but they feed you directly from their aquarium), you can take one bath for free. Anyway, you give them everything you want them to hold and they give you a towel and tag. You enter a little genkan and take off your shoes before going through the hanging noren. Inside, they had a section with a row of benches for dressing and undressing, plus plastic bins to put your clothes and glasses/watches/etc. into. There was also a couple of sinks. N.B. there were *no* towels anywhere except for the ones you were given and the wet ones that were already used. The significance of this didn't come to me at first, but hit me fully afterwards. There was another section, enclosed almost fully by glass. The exceptions were the part adjacent to the hotel (wood/concrete) and the part (I presume) adjacent to the female section (bamboo). Yes, it was segregated by sex. There was a row of movable stools next to shower heads for bathing, plus a single stall for those who liked to stand up. I presume it was also for handicapped people, though I saw no obvious handles nearby. However, I did note that the stand-up had greater water pressure, which proved quite useful. Finally, there were two separate sentou, one that was basically a shallow pool, though very large, and one that looked more "traditional," in that its bottom and sides were wooden, and the water came through a bamboo "pipe." I had no illusions that either were onsen, but I thought that they might be adding minerals to the "traditional" sentou. It turned out they added minerals to both. I guess some of the guests just prefer pretending they're in an onsen, and they can't imagine well enough in the pool. At one of the ends of the pool was a huge window which looked out onto the Sea of Japan (and the nearby islands). Quite nice and relaxing, really. Okay, now that you have a picture of what I saw, let me tell you why I decided to put this little story here. I had been told by my mom that I should first wash off before entering the sentou. In fact, I'd also seen this procedure in anime as well, and thought it eminently logical. So imagine my surprise as I follow a bunch of ojisans into the bathing area, only to watch them each grab a plastic bowl, scoop some water out of the big sento and douse themselves, and then *step* *right* *in*. And here I was about to wash myself *before* getting in!! I figured, screw it and just followed them. I made sure to wash myself thoroughly afterwards, though! Of some curiosity was the fact that they went into the big pool first, then washed, then entered the smaller, "traditional" sentou. Hey, no one ever told me about this. I would've followed them, but, as I'm a slow bather, and because I knew everyone else would be waiting for me outside, I decided to just wash off and get dressed. Besides, by the time I finished, the ojisans were already dressed and gone anyway. Now, here's the real reason for the story: that 75cmX30cm towel *does* *not* dry you off if you follow this sequence! You see, you haven't absorbed enough heat from the sentou, or rather most of the heat you *did* absorb has already radiated. So the moisture doesn't evaporate as quickly, and, as I found out in little time, that tenugui just didn't cut it. And because I didn't know a lot of Japanese, and because I hadn't paid much attention to the layout as I came in, I didn't know how to get a new towel. So I ended up using the blow dryer that was in the dressing area. I was quite thankful that nobody was around, except for one obasan who came to check the water temperature. (She had asked me if it was fine; I was clueless and shot back a few "sumimasen"s. She eventually lost interest.) A final note, though: the water temperature was *not* in the 60-65C range. I'd say it was no more than about 40C. So even if I'd done it "by the book," I probably would've run into the same problem, though not as quickly. v8,1 - p6,2 Sylvain-san: Manjuu are a kind of Japanese delicacy. If I remember well, it often consists of a kind of red bean jelly (azuki) in a sort of bread. But I know that there are different kinds of manjuu according to the area. Some places in Japan are famous for their manjuu. Mark-san: [ more manjuu stuff ] One of the peculiarities of Gunma prefecture is a dish called _yakimanjuu_. My host told me this is something which is unique to Gunma. They were serving it all over the place at the Urabon and Summer festivals, and I got to the point that I couldn't get enough of the stuff. In the places I ate at, it was always the same - four light-colored things like dinner rolls covered with a sweet, sticky dark-brown glaze, on a stick. They cook it on a grill, just like yakitori, etc. I'm not sure if this was what was mentioned in the MI story, but yakimanjuu is really a big deal in that area. I wouldn't be surprised if there were stands that sold it in the town that the Ikkoku-kanites are visiting. Amusing digression - The first time I had _yakimanjuu_ was at a festival run for the kids at a local nursery school. My host had a five-year-old in one of the classes there, and he invited me along. Picture, if you dare, a preschool boy escorting a 30-year old, enormous _Amerikajin_ to his class party. I was even invited to do stuff like carting the kids' cardboard _o-mikoshi_ around the playground with the other kids. I hope my family will eventually send me the photos they took of this absurd spectacle - they've got to be hilarious. v8,1 - p8,6 Tarigan: A NOREN is a type of half-curtain made out of hanging pieces of cloth usually sown together at the upper part such that the hanging parts easily split apart for passing through. Noren are different from ordinary curtains in that they aren't used at windows, but are instead used as a sort of door at entrances. Noren made out of thick cotton dyed in the color indigo, dark-blue, brown, etc., are the traditional signs hung in front of the entrances of some stores, restaurants (sushi, tempura, udon, sukiyaki, yakitori, etc.) and public baths. They generally have upon them the name of the business. From what I've seen, it's more common to have the women's bath on the left, and the men's bath on the right side. The women's and men's baths weren't always separate. Before western ideas of prudery invaded the country, men and women used to bathe together without any embarrassment. They still do, in some rural areas of Japan--places where the sight of a foreigner is a rare sight indeed. Williamson-san: And to think there are those in America who are worried that "Western values" will be undermined by the Japanese. *laugh* Given the number of foreign terms which pervade Japanese culture, not to mention some of the customs, it seems to be more the other way around. v8,1 - p8,7 Sylvain-san: Note how the place is designed: At right, people are washing before going in the water. They sit on little benches and wash in front of a faucet (out of the frame, but can be seen on page 241). They use the buckets to soak their tenugui with soap, then rinse with clean water. At left is a large bath where the hot water keeps on pouring. The bath is usually at the same temperature as the natural hot springs, but they have to heat the bottom of the bath in some places. It is HOT, very HOT. So hot you don't dare to move. By the way, it is very impolite to swim in an onsen, like Kentarou. This place is commercial. There are some natural resorts, and Godai will go to such a place in a future chapter. Williamson-san: Kentaro's young, he doesn't know any better. You think his mom has drilled Miss Manners into him? ^_^ Tarigan: It seems a bit weird, but I guess if they treated this like a swimming pool, then you could say they were skinny-dipping. } Mark-san: re: What area is the Onsen in? When I was visiting Japan last August, I did my homestay in Gunma prefecture. This is supposedly THE onsen place in Japan, or in Kanto district, anyhow. There are three big ones, Kusatsu, Minakami and Ikaho. I went to Kusatsu on a road-trip, but wussed out of going into the onsen (it was a nasty, drizzly day; I was afraid of catching cold by going out into the rain after bathing. Also the pervasive smell of the sulphur in the water was a big turnoff--it was literally everywhere you went. Maybe if there's better weather next time, though...) The procedure at Kusatsu is supposed to be: You stand on the edge of the onsen (which is sex-segregated, like in the story [of this MI chapter]) and there's a kind of long board that you stir up the water with before you get in. This is supposedly to cool the water down, which probably isn't a bad idea since my old guidebook says the usual temperature is 60-67 degrees celsius! Then you get in the onsen for 3-4 minutes. The idea is to stay motionless, because the experience is trying enough on its own. There's a guy who calls out "3 minutes to go", "2 minutes", etc; then finally "please get out of the water _slowly_!". Did you mention Netsunoyu in the text? The main public bath at Kusatsu is called Netsunoyu. Tarigan: Netsunoyu? I don't think it was referred to in this translation. Sylvain-san: I went to the onsen on four occasions: Near Koumi (Nagano-ken), in Ito and Atami, both located in the Izu peninsula (Shizuoka-ken) and at Yumoto (Tochigi-ken). I would like to risk Atami in the Izu peninsula. It's a popular destination for Tokyoites, because it's easily accessible from Tokyo by Shinkan-sen. Furthermore, Atami is full of ryokans and onsen resorts. But the large glasses are exactly the same as those at the onsen I went to in Koumi, and the surrounding mountains looks alike. But we'd better ask Ms. Takahashi about this ^_^. v8,1 - p11,4 Jang-san: Those four white squares on Ichinose's back are medical plasters. Sort of like bandages, except it's all adhesive on one side with no cotton pad at all. The bandage itself is saturated with a strong smelling medication. Use is to soothe aching muscles. After a few hours of usage, it is ripped off (ow!) and tossed out. It's much more effective to speeding up pulled muscles than sitting around, eh? Carragher-san: These things, if you're not adept at using them, can be a real pain in the ass, especially if you don't have someone who can help you put them on a hard-to-reach spot. I pulled some back muscles when I was in Japan in '92, and was given these and told to use them until they were gone. Having to put four of the bastards on each morning was *not* fun. (You do find out who your friends are really quickly, though.) Plus, they tend to come off partially, and if you're wearing clothes, they tend to aggravate the situation. And if they're not directly touching the skin, they're useless. (Yes, my recovery was a little longer than the docs expected....) And yes, they are saturated with a *very* "strong smelling medication." You *cannot* miss it. I'd suggest washing your hands immediately after applying them. Eating becomes a problem, otherwise. B-) v8,1 - p11,6 Sylvain-san: The Kyoko that Godai is seeing is, in fact, a teen Kyoko. Compare with the Kyoko of the facing page (PW240) and you will see that she looks quite younger here. Carragher-san: I noticed this as well. However, the comparison used is a little deceptive. A better comparison might be with the Kyoko in panel 4 on this page. Also, I thought that the aforementioned Kyoko might be very relaxed and perhaps a little sleepy from the hot onsen. The other two women show this same "effect," and promptly lose them when they start showering. Hey wait, I just realized ...!! Tarigan: What did you realize?! Carragher-san: Okay, here's my impression of the "proper" way to take a bath at a sento or onsen: you wash the crap off your body before you get into the bath itself. So after having written that 100-line description of my experience at a sento [see Carragher's annotation on p3. Ed.], I suddenly realized that what I thought was my breach of etiquette was somewhat duplicated by the women in the above-mentioned panels. That is, they were in the onsen, and now they're washing each others' backs. But somebody recently posted that it's "okay" if you wash off, but don't SCRUB, so I guess this is proper bathing etiquette. Besides, Kyoko would *never* do something improper. B-) Sylvain-san: Maybe it is the same for men in other countries, but I know that the Lolita complex (to make love with children) is not an uncommon sexual fantasy amongst Japanese men. Some of them dream of deflowering teenagers wearing school uniforms. I read recently in the news that highschool students were selling their panties to some hentai men. They had to wear the panties at least one day and those panties sold for around 5000 yen. Anyway, let's laugh at the feeble Godai-kun who can't help it but fall into his pervert weaknesses. He's still just a young boy after all. Johnson-san: I'm surprised that with the mention of 'lolicon' that there was not a footnoted reference to the novel "Lolita". Tarigan: Well, why don't you write the footnote and a little description then? I don't know anything about this novel. Ito-san: Bloomers are athletic pants. They also sell their used school uniforms (especially sailor-style uniforms) and their used underwear. The specialty shops where girls sell their clothes and men buy them are called 'burusera shops.' Tarigan: Sad, isn't it? ^_^; v8,1 - p13,3 re: Was any sake used in this chapter, or is it all beer? Sylvain-san: If you look only at the bottles, it's hard to tell, because I remember that many bottles of sake have about the same shape and size as the big bottles of beer. Now, the best hints are the glasses. The little glasses used for sake (Argh!, forgot the name, must call Fumiko, answer next week) are very easy to recognize, and the glasses used in this story are not. But Akemi (PW246,1) is holding a tokkuri designed for sake. Tarigan: By the way, sake was used in the anime version. I remember that Ichinose and Akemi mixed sake and beer into Godai's glass. re: The little glasses used for sake. I know what it is: "chokko" or "sakazuki". I'm not sure which word is more appropriate, though. Sylvain-san: [comes back a week later...] Fumiko says the proper term is "O-chokko", also known as "guimono" in a slangier tone. "Sakazuki" refers to the same object, but when given as a wedding gift. Note that in Japan it's the marrying couple who must give some gifts, not the guests. Be we should talk about this when we will translate Kyouko & Godai's wedding ^_^. v8,1 - p13,6 Sylvain-san (with help from Fumiko): The square plates are called "kakuzara" . The small and slim fish is "sanma" and the stick that is placed over it is called "myouga". The large leaf under the fish is "sasanoha". Just beside it there is "daikon oroshi" . The rounded blackish bowls contain "misoshiru shijimi". How do I know it is shijimi? Check in the next frame. The big grey bowl in the middle is called "ohitsu" and contains the rice "gohan". At the extreme left, there is a small bowl of "osoba". There is also a pack of cigarettes ("Mild Seven" is an actual brand of cigarettes you can find in Japan) and a lighter. Tarigan: Note that SEVEN is the number of people in our party here: Godai, Kyoko, Mitaka, Kentaro, Ichinose, Yotsuya and Akemi. I love how Takahashi-san manages to put in a joke even for a tiny detail as the label on a cigarette package. v8,1 - p13,7 Sylvain, with Fumiko's help: This kind of "misoshiru" is called "misoshiru shijimi" and it is usually full of little clams. But in this case, the dinner is so scarce that there is only ONE little clam in the soup. } v8,1 - p14,1 Tarigan: The yukata that they're wearing have a pattern of hexagons. This is the same design as what they had in that chapter when Godai is alone with Kyoko at a ryokan. Are there any other instances of this type of yukata showing up in the series? Sylvain-san: Mitaka has a different pattern. Considering he is very rich, I suppose he prefers to bring his own yukata. Ahh, I want to go to the onsen again. Tarigan: Whoa, wait a sec. Mitaka is NOT wearing a yukata. He is wearing a sweater and pants. As for the rest of the cast, we know they are wearing yukata, and in the case of Akemi, she's only got panties underneath--otherwise, she's nude. I imagine the same goes for Kyoko, since she's not wearing a bra (this becomes obvious in the later pages when they're sleeping). Johnson-san: With regards to why Mitaka doesn't wear a yukata, I wonder if it might not be to help differentiate him from Godai. I know there are several places in the comics where I have to check to make sure who is being shown in the closeups. Everyone else in the cast is fairly unique-looking except for Godai and Mitaka, especially when their faces are distorted by emotion. Carragher-san: Don't forget hairstyles! Mitaka's hair has been styled. Godai's, obviously, hasn't. Williamson-san: My guess: He's trying to look as "cool" as possible. Even when in a casual setting, Mitaka accentuates his affluence subconsciously. He is the only one dressed in a nice sweater and other clothing, thus he stands out among them. Side note: Mitaka does this a lot (accentuating his "obvious" benefits)--he's not very secure with his position with Kyoko if he has to continuously underscore his rival's (Godai's) shortcomings. Carragher-san: For bloody good reasons! I was in a similar situation, so I really feel for Mitaka. (I just wish I were as rich. B-) v8,1 - p22,5 re: Godai trying to kiss Kyoko while she's asleep. Tarigan: Is this a cliche? I seem to recall other anime shows with similar actions. Doesn't Madoka try this with Kyousuke in one episode of KOR? Williamson-san: Godai did it himself in one of the earliest chapters (v1,2) -- tried, that is. It's a cliche for Godai, at least, throughout MI. I can think of at least one other occasion than those mentioned. Yes, Madoka did almost kiss Kyousuke while he was asleep in one of the KOR episodes. (BTW, is Madoka her family or given name, and if it's her given name, why does Kyousuke *always* call her "Ayukawa"? --this is not at all relevant to the MI translation, I was just confused after watching the AnimEigo-subtitled KOR movie, with their AWFUL handling of the name translations.) Melanson-san: Ayukawa [trout stream] is her family name, and Madoka is her given name. I guess Kyosuke doesn't feel familiar enough with her to call her by her given name - if he were being polite I'd think he'd call her "Ayukawa-san", but he can barely get out "Ayukawa" most of the time. ( Tarigan: Somehow, references to Kimagure Orange Road (KOR) keep creeping into my Maison Ikkoku documents. I really should see more anime series so I can make references to something other than KOR. ) Carragher-san: As if these weren't enough: I've often wondered about Ayukawa's first name, Madoka. It's always written in hiragana, so that means we can arbitrarily pick the appropriate kanji. My dictionary gives me three possibilities, including the all-kana writing. The second uses just the symbol for yen (also meaning circle and round). The third uses the kanjis "true/reality" and "excellent/beautiful/ good/pleasing/skilled." I think we know which one is correct. B-) On the other hand, given her character type, her name could be interpreted as a question, "mado ka?" (As we plunge deeper into the symbolism, "Is there a window to her soul?") Okay, I'll give up now. Besides, this probably belongs in a KOR mailing list. B-) Williamson-san: re: The "cliche" of attempting to kiss someone while they are asleep... Other such occurrences in Maison Ikkoku: v1,2: Godai attempts to kiss a sleeping Kyoko on the roof of Ikkoku-kan. v2,5: Before getting the nerve to ask her on a date, Godai contemplates groping an apparently sleeping Kyoko. v7,5: After Godai breaks his leg at Ikkoku-kan, Kyoko (feeling awfully sympathetic) visits him in the hospital room... and hugs him while he's asleep. "Gomen nasai..." Then he wakes up. Tarigan: There are extra examples that happened only in the anime version: Episode 3 : After Kyoko is knocked out when she falls down in the attic, Godai attempts to kiss her. When Kyoko wakes up, she responds with a few rights (and lefts) to the kisser. Episode 62: When Godai and Kyoko are at a ryokan, Kyoko almost hugs him while he's asleep at the table... but the phone rings. v8,1 - p22,9 Sylvain-san: He he, Mitaka is having nightmares with dogs. I hate him so much, he deserves it. Tarigan: Hmm, while I'm not particularly fond of Mitaka, I don't exactly hate him either. Johnson-san: With regards to hating Mitaka. One of the things I really like about Maison was how I liked all the characters including Mitaka ... after all Mitaka is only doing what Godai doesn't have the guts to try. Admittedly Mitaka is a bit of a slime, but then Godai isn't perfect either. Actually I must say I have a lot of sympathy for Mitaka given what happens to him with regards to Asuna. I mean he doesn't even get to fall unconscious when she tells him who is pregnant. And given his reactions both before and after the wedding, I can't judge him too harshly early on in the series. Sylvain-san: I do not hate Mitaka as a character. He is interesting, funny AND necessary. But it is common knowledge that you tend to identify with the main character when you read a book or watch a movie. In my enthusiasm, I was happy with Godai as he was taking revenge over Mitaka by making him have a silly nightmare. } <.5. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- v15,10,202,1 - Those box-like things on the table behind the priest are called `sanbo' (see the glossary). ______________________________________________________________________________ ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @manga_commentary Manga Notes and Comments ======================== This section is for miscellaneous manga discussion that didn't seem to belong anywhere else in the Guidebook. .5.> Q: When was the first time Godai ever called Kyoko "Kyoko-san" rather than "kanrinin-san"? A: Harold Ancell says: That honor goes to the last page of the sixth story (v1c6), when he learns that he has passed his entrance exam. Truly beautiful expressions on both their faces.... <.5. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- .6.> Glenn on 94.06.06: "Harold Ancell" on June 5 wrote: > For some reason I seem to note and remember the names.... > > Here's the list of usages I'm now interested in: > > When Kyoko is imagining things or dreaming, when does she > (or does she at all) switch from having Godai call her > kanrinin-san to Kyoko-(whatever)? > > When is the last time Godai calls her kanrinin-san (it's > sometime in W10)? I'll answer the first question. It's rare that we see Kyoko's imaginings. In the anime version it's even rarer. Offhand, I can remember two chapters that have it: v4c11 / VW3c10 : When Godai is still missing from Ikkoku-kan (he had run away because he thought Kyoko and Mitaka were going to get married), Kyoko imagines that he gets stabbed in a dark alleyway, or he dies of a severe illness. In both daydreams, she imagines Godai's last words as he slumps dead: "Ka- kanrinin-san..." v5c4 / VW3c14 : After Akemi had been dumped, she came back to Ikkoku-kan in a drunken stupor. In the ensuing chaos, she kisses Godai and Kyoko (Godai gets a nose-bleed -- once again the anime version omitted this amusing tidbit). That night, after lying in bed and fuming over the fact that Akemi kissed Godai, Kyoko dreams about him: She calls after him but he looks at her strangely and says, "I'm not Godai. I'm Hiroshi." Kyoko: "You are Godai!" She runs after him, and as they embrace, she cries out, "Godai-san!" and he responds, "Kanrinin-san!" They kiss... Going back to the anime version, it's interesting to note how the anime focused more on Godai's thoughts and feelings, while reducing the emphasis on what goes on in Kyoko's mind. The anime Kyoko is more of a mysterious and unpredictable force than she is in the manga. For instance, those two dreams of hers (which I described above) were omitted from the anime. A bigger example is Kyoko's monologue in v7c5 when she's pouring out her thoughts for Godai in the hospital room. All over the place there were scenes in the manga in which Kyoko said or thought something, but which ended up as silence in the anime. At least, that's my impression. Anyone care to back me up on this? --------- Bob Carragher continues: Oh, I'll definitely agree with this. Perhaps the producers thought it would be too confusing for the audience? (Gee, how low an intelligence level do they credit the audience with, anyway?) While there were a few good anime-only episodes (not based on any manga chapter), it seems the various ways they adapted the manga chapters changed the story, sometimes rather drastically. (E.g. the whole Godai-breaks-his-leg storyline; the love hotel scene.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Williamson Subject: =MI= Godai's four kisses Date: Mon, 6 Jun 1994 22:57:49 -0500 (CDT) I realized late last night after posting that Godai's first "on-screen" kiss was with neither Kozue-chan or Kyoko-san that that statement is explicitly true, but the first such kiss is not the one I was thinking of. In fact, before volume 15 of the manga, Godai experiences *FOUR* separate kisses, from *four* different women, none of which he initiates, and all of which take him by different levels of surprise. So, a list: (1) Akemi, who mistakes Godai for ex-lover Hiroshi in v5c?, snags and kisses first Godai, then Kyoko. (2) We'll come back to this one... (3) Kozue-chan tricks Godai into a kiss by the train tracks, as a stunned Kyoko looks on. (v14c?) (4) Kyoko-san pulls a similar trick and kisses Godai. (v14c(?+1)) Okay, back to #2, above. In volume 6 of the manga, there is a brief, silly interlude, wherein Baachan has returned to Tokyo to oversee Yusaku's life. At one point, Godai ends up crashing at Sakamoto's place, and mistaken for Sakamoto's girlfriend by his sonorous pal, ends up getting a bite/"kiss mark" from him. The next day at a pool, Kyoko notices the mark, and bites Godai in return, thinking he had been amorously engaged with, say, Kozue. The following chapter, Godai has gone on a country hike (short trip?) to get away from everyone, and to compose an explanatory note to Kyoko. (Here's where my translation skills fail, and my context-driven interpretation kicks in.) While on this hike, he meets Okuchi Konatsu, a young woman also "getting away from it all". At some point (WARNING! this may be very wrong!), she hints that she's like him to kiss her, and the somewhat shocked Godai gives her a gentle brush-off, after which she kisses him, accepting his explanation. All in all, it's a very interesting side chapter, and one I'll probably work to translate in the future to sharpen (*ahem*--begin to develop) my translating skills. That's not the most amusing bit, though... I actually went to my pictorial kanji guide to translate Okuchi Konatsu's name, and got the following: O - KUCHI KO - NATSU big mouth small summer "Big mouth, small (short?) summer", a name all the more humorous because of her loquacious manner. "Pera pera", the sound effect for continuous speaking... ^_^ Any thoughts or corrections offhand? --Jeff ----------------- Bob Carragher: You're missing at least *one* that I'm aware of. I believe it occurs in the same ep as the one where Akemi kisses both of them. They're both actually thinking about the kisses, and at the moment Kyoko's replacing a bulb or somesuch on the light outside Ikkoku-kan. She slips off the ladder, dropping the bulb, into Godai's (eager) hands, and their lips connect. Okay, maybe not technically a kiss, but they sure thought about it for a long time afterwards.... B-) ------------------- Glenn Tarigan: And you are missing another one from that same chapter: After having been kissed by Akemi, Godai sits in his room and thinks back to his first kiss in high-school. We see him wearing school uniform and standing under a tree with another girl (who's wearing the usual sailor suit). Their faces are hidden from view, but you can hear what's going on: "GACHI" is the sound effect of their teeth banging together and one of them says "ite" . ^_^ That makes kiss #6. <.6. .8.> From: "leon chen" Subject: MI - Kyoko + Godai Date: Fri, 21 Apr 95 15:47:01 PDT IMO, if you could divide Kyoko and Godai's relationship up into manga parts: (BTW, all manga vol. #'s are wide ban ones) The end of each vol. x to vol. x is a turning point in their realationship. Vol.1, Chp.1 - Vol.1 to Chp. 6? (The Alcohol love call one - turning point) Kyoko doesn't even know Godai likes her (for sure, at least). Vol.1 Chp.6 to Vol.5, Chp.? (The broken leg-hospital chapters) Kyoko likes Godai (she gets jealous), but won't even admit it to herself) Vol 5, Chp. ? (broken leg episodes) to Vol. 7, Chp. 11 (Godai sees Mitaka on top of Kyoko and misunerstands - Kyoko runs after him and tries to explain, and then goes on a trip to clear up her feelings) Kyoko finally admits to herself at least, that she likes Godai but won't admit to anyone else. Vol 7, Chp. 11 to Vol 10, Chap. 6 (the part where she and Godai are in a love hotel and do the.. Kyoko has chosen Godai to remarry over Mitaka, but hasn't admitted to anyone. Vol 10, chap.6 to end Kyoko and Godai finally have a relationship where they admitted their feelings for each other to themselves, each other, and to other people. After this, its just a matter of Godai getting a job, proposing to an expectant Kyoko, marrying, and living a happy life together as man and wife ( I hate endings...there so sad, yet beautiful). Anyways, please comment on these. <.8. ______________________________________________________________________________ ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ===================================== @anime == The A N I M E on Television == ===================================== Basic Info on the Anime: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Total length: 96 Episodes on TV Produced by Kitty Films and broadcast by Fuji Terebi Airing times: 19:30 on Wednesdays First airdate of episode 1: 1986.03.26 Other video productions: ----------------------- Desert Island OAV: Maison Ikkoku Ikkoku-tou Nanpa Shimatsuki Maison Ikkoku: Final Movie Live Action MI Movie: Apartment Fantasy Maison Ikkoku Television series released to laserdisc as a 24 disc collection by Kitty Animation Circle. Interestingly, each half episode isn't always the same length from episode to episode: Section, Time since start, Absolute duration Episode 17 OP: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa - 1:29 min 1:29 min Start of commercial break - 14:23 12:54 End of commercial break - 14:34 0:11 (I'm quite sure) End of second half - 23:48 9:14 End of episode preview - 24:09 0:21 ED: Cinema - 25:38 1:29 Episode 20 OP: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa - 1:28 min (88 s) 1:28 min Start of commercial break - 12:30 (750 s) 11:02 End of commercial break - 12:43 (763 s) 0:13 (inaccurate) End of second half - 23:47 (1427 s) 11:04 End of episode preview - 24:08 (1448 s) 0:21 end of ED: Cinema - 25:38 (1538 s) 1:30 Episode 42 OP: Suki sa - 1:28 min 1:28 min Start of commercial break - 11:58 10:30 End of commercial break - 12:10 0:12 End of second half - 23:47 11:37 End of episode preview - 24:08 0:21 end of ED: Fantasy - 25:38 1:30 times are accurate to +/- 2 secs or better ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ .5.> Songs: @songs ~~~~~ This is just a section of a few comments. If you want more meaty information, you should look up an outside source. Jay Ongg: Hey, does anyone know anything about the artists who wrote the music for the MI series? Like is their other stuff good or similar? -------------- Jack Dietz: That depends on which music you're refering to. The background music was mostly written by Kawai Kenji, who has also done the same for Patlabor, Ranma, and most recently Tylor. If you're referring to the opening and closing songs, here's a list: kanashimi yo konnichiwa (Saitou Yuki) ashita hareru ka (Kisugi Takao) Ci-ne-ma (Picasso) Alone Again (Naturally) (Gilbert O'Sullivan) Get Down (Gilbert O'Sullivan) Fantasy (Picasso) sukisa (Anzen Chitai) Sunny Shiny Morning (Kiyonori Matsuo) sayonara no Dessin (soubyou) (Picasso) hidamari (Murashita Kouzou) Begin The Night (Picasso) I'm afraid I haven't heard much of anything by these singers/groups except their Maison Ikkoku music. Hopefully (cross fingers) I'll have an Anzen Chitai album soon. Oh -- Gilbert O'Sullivan is a real live English singer; I've seen a 'Best of' album at Tower Records and heard Alone Again (Naturally) over the grocery store muzak system two weeks ago. I was surprised. -------------- Roy Kamimura: Yuki Saito was pretty popular when she debuted about 8 years in '86? but haven't heard much about her lately. As to Anzen Chitai, they are a more popular group but they've had ups and downs lately. You should be able to get a hold of Anzen Chitai at your local Chinatown music store. In fact for those of you who don't know, I've found that the Chinese stores often sell Japanese music CDs at a far lower price than in any Japanese store. Only hitch is that the CDs are HK releases. But for all practical purposes they're identical. Some stores I've seen even sell anime soundtracks. ------------- Pascal on April 7: Jay wrote: >Hey, does anyone know anything about the artists who wrote the music for the MI >series? Like is their other stuff good or similar? Well.. having written most of the MI CD entries in Steve Pearl's wonderful Anime CD List, I should remember :) The MI BGMs have been written, chronologically, first by Sugiyama Takuo, then Kawai Kanji, and finally Mori Eiji for the movie Kanketsuhen ("final chapter") and a few of the TV Series episodes. If you want to "feel" the difference between the first 2, take a look at the Music Shake CD : tracks 1..37 have been composed by Sugiyama Takuo and 38..55 by Kawai Kenji. Mori Eiji's musics can be found on the Kanketsuhen BGM CD. Each of them has his own "ambiance", but Sugiyama Takuo's and Kawai Kenji's melodies are very close to each other (listen to the Music Shake CD and you can hardly tell who wrote what). Mori Eiji and Kawai Kenji met again for the composing of the Ranma 1/2 BGM. Mori Eiji was the composer of the very first BGM CD : Ongaku doujou, then Kawai Kenji took over from him on everything, from TV BGM to songs (no OP/ED though, except "Lambada Ranma" and remixes of other OP/ED) and the BGM of the 1st movie, but the BGM of the 2nd movie and the Saikyuu Ongaku-en BGM CD 3 were written by someone else (can't remember his name right now). I don't know much about the other 2, but other famous compositions of Kawai Kenji include : - Hime-chan no Ribbon (TV Series - BGM) - Ningyo no Mori (Rumic World OAV - BGM) - Kyuuketsuki Miyu (OAV - BGM) - Pat Labor (TV Series - BGM) - etc.. Except Hisaishi Joe (Miyazaki-sensei's favourite composer for all his movies), I would dare saying that Kawai Kenji is the most "asked for" anime composer these days :) and I *love* his stuff : it's soooo GOOD !!!! Hope this helps. P-chan. --------------------- Steve Krietz: Here's a translation for the first ending song (TV version) "Ashita Hareru Ka". This is the version used on TV, not the original song used on CDs. This song is very different from the CD song (at least the last half or so...) (So on the Chow subs, the translations for 'Ashita' are absolutely totally wrong.) If somebody can get a better translation of these lines, let me know... ----------- ---------- "doushite anata wa suzushige deirareru" ---> How can you appear so cool? "mabataki hitotsu ga tokimeki karitate" ---> One blink makes my heart beat so fast "konna ni mo boku o kiken ni sasetoku" ---> (A situation) like this makes me a dangerous man. "aishite mo ii hazu soredemo toki ga jukusanai" ---> I am supposed to love you but that time has not yet come tamaranaku oroka-na otoko ni natte ikisou de ---> I feel like I'm becoming a very foolish man. setsuna sukiru ---> I feel too distressed. <.5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @cast_list Cast List: --------- Character: Voice actor: ------------------------------------------------ GODAI Yusaku FUTAMATA Issei GODAI Yukari KYODA Naoko OTONASHI Kyoko SHIMAMOTO Sumi OTONASHI Ikuko SHO Mayumi OTONASHI ojiisan SAIKACHI Ryuuji Soichiro-san (dog) CHIBA Shigeru (!) YOTSUYA CHIBA Shigeru ROPPONGI Akemi MITA Yuuko ICHINOSE Hanae AOKI Kazuyo ICHINOSE Kentaro SAKAMOTO Chika MITAKA Shun KAMIYA Akira KUJOU Asuna TSURU Hiromi NANAO Kozue TOMINAGA Miina YAGAMI Ibuki HUCHIZAKI Yuriko NIKAIDO Nozomu HORIKAWA Ryo (movie version) CHIGUSA Ritsuko MATSUSHIMA Minori CHIGUSA otousan TOMITA Kousei SAKAMOTO FURUKAWA Toshio Chachamaru's Master WAKAMOTO Norio IIOKA TOYAMA Kei KUROKI Sayoko SHIMAZU Saeko - Sources: Daisuke Suzuki's "MI: Kanketsuhen" script Alan Takahashi's "Anime Pocket Guide" C.H.Yung says: .7.> GODAI Yuusaku's should be FUTAMATA Issei OTONASHI Ojiisan's should be SAIKACHI Ryuuji CHIGUSA Ritsuko's should be MATSUSHIMA Minori Reference: Illustrated Who's Who of Voice Actors & Actress Ver.1.0 Published by Kinema Junbousai, Japan First Edition 22NOV1994 re Yuusaku's voice actor: according to Hitoshi DOI's Seiyuu Reference, is FUTAMATA Kasunari; while according to the above reference, is FUTAMATA Issei. Hitoshi said Kasunari is the pseudonym and Issei is the real name. The above ref. said both pseudonym and real name is Issei. Personally I believed in the above ref. as the publisher is famous and specialized in Films/Video/TV critics. Actually Kasunari and Issei uses the same Kanji. <.7. Voice Notes: .6.> ============ Taken from discussion in the MI Mailing List From: "Harold Ancell" Date: Sat, 18 Jun 94 22:15:24 -0400 Joseph Grau wrote: >What's mendo.gif? A first generation Mitaka (in more than one way :-) ? Seriously, Mendo is the poor little rich boy in Urusei Yatsura, who's family's army is bigger than the SDF, and who *never* wins a conflict with Ataru, the protagonist. Appropriately, Mitaka and Mendo have the same seiyuu. In fact, they did a good job of picking voices for the anime from the UY veterans (not to mention that early MI was clearly made by UY staff): Megane -> Yotsuya (superb, perfect, what more can I say) (also Soichiro-san the dog!) Ataru -> Sakamoto (not bad at all) Chibi -> Godai (well, Chibi hasn't made much of an impression on me, but this voice actor seems to have what it takes for Godai) Benton -> Akemi (I did't have to listen to her in MI to know she was perfect) Ginger -> Kentaro (I haven't Ginger yet, but Kentaro has turned out to be a strong character in the anime, not suprising given that the voice actress did Kazuya in KOR) Shinobu -> Sayoko (we always knew she could do seductive) Asuna/Ten's Mom/Rara (3rd movie) -> Kyoko (a real star, and very good at *cute*, although for once I've wished for a lower pitched female voice, something I predicted before watching the anime; unfortunately the biggest dissapointment in MI so far; more details later) (Side note: interesting that two of the richest women in UY and MI share a name). Let me start with following, which is not a considered opinion, but somewhere between first impressions and a working hypothesis: The creators of the anime made a fundemental decision to make Kyoko a "nicer," or at least much less angry person, especially the more irrational anger. This required them to rewrite a lot of the most emotional parts, and they weren't very good writers (compare to the deft improvements in Ranma Classic, or what the KOR anime team did with the not hardly as good manga). And it requires a fundamental change in the character, who is after all clearly an Akane (of Ranma) prototype, and not a change I find for the better. Bob Carragher: Well, as long-time readers of this ML know, there were changes between anime episodes from their corresponding chapters that I found very nearly offensive, because they clearly changed the character. Thus, I would tend to agree with this assessment, though I hadn't really looked at the manga Kyoko as an "Akane prototype" before. Kinda gives a new insight into the character.... Harold: My working title for a future message on these changes is "SHINE!", so you can guess how offensive I find them. Perhaps worse, certainly about as bad, are the changes in the emotional peaks; latest I've noticed is when Soichiro-san (the dog) gives the mourning Kyoko Soichiro's geta (or sandals). In the anime, they just have him sniff them, which doesn't provide hardly as much of a trigger for her outburst of grief. As for the seiyuu herself, it's probably more a question of voice direction and overall creative direction (see above). The voice actress definately can do angry, and overall has enough range for the part. (Shimamoto Sumi is quite good; she's behind Ginrei of Giant Robo, Sumire-chan from Greenwood, Clarisse from Cagliostro, Nausicaa, and Suzu from Firetripper, in addition to the UY roles I mentioned). Bob: Hm, I never even thought of it as an issue of whether the voice actress had the range. Certainly, I would think that sounding "angry" can't be that difficult. Harold: I have to watch a lot more of the anime (I'm up to 9 and bits of 10-48) before taking this much further. It'll probably be fall before I see all of it.... Bob: Well, I hope you won't be disappointed. But I wouldn't have high expectations, if I were you.... Harold: I don't. Fortunately, there's always the manga. And since I don't have subtitled MI, I can at least sometimes pretend they're saying the right things.... Harold: Bob wrote: >Thus, I would tend to agree with this assessment, though I hadn't really >looked at the manga Kyoko as an "Akane prototype" before. >Kinda gives a new insight into the character.... The angry expressions are what led me to this idea. Add to them her anger and its style, the stubborness and difficulty in communicationing, and lots of Kyoko's nice features, and you see a good part of Akane. Hmmm, they're both even atheletic.... Bob: Of course, what threw me off was the lack of outbursts of GODAI NO BAKA!!!! Harold: Yep, Kyoko went straight to "GODAI NO AHO!" in the double date chapter :-) BTW, just what does SHInjimae mean? But she does say (at least to herself) "Godai no baka" fairly often. Bob: And Kyoko can actually do housework without destroying the house! B-) Harold: An exception to the normal Takahashi female lead stereotype. Harold continues with the main discussion thread: I haven't seen very much of the UY manga (just most of VIZ's output), but I get the impression from it and the anime AnimEigo has done so far that Lum is fairly different from Kyoko and Akane. Not a basicly angry character, and much more communicative. Then again, I seem to remember someone saying they made the Lum nicer in the anime than in the manga. ------------- Glenn on 94.06.25: : Harold Ancell on June 21 wrote: : The angry expressions are what led me to this idea. Add to them : her anger and its style, the stubborness and difficulty in : communicationing, and lots of Kyoko's nice features, and you see : a good part of Akane. Hmmm, they're both even athletic.... : : Bob wrote: Of course, what threw me off was the lack of outbursts of : GODAI NO BAKA!!!! : Harold re-replied: : Yep, Kyoko went straight to "GODAI NO AHO!" in the double : date chapter :-) But she does say (at least to herself) : "Godai no baka" fairly often. This reminds me of a very thrilling and suspenseful scene in Volume 14... Japanese English Esperanto p201 -------- ------- --------- Kyoko: ikujinashi. Wimp. Malfortikulo. HI'KYOU'MONO. Coward. Timulo. ONNA tarashi. Masher. Dando. UWAKI'MONO. Philanderer. Koketulo. SAITEI OTOKO. Lowlife. Kanajlo. Godai: "pachi..." "slap..." "frapo..." Heh heh, now you know how to insult an unfaithful lover in three languages... Can anyone translate Kyoko's lines into any other languages? <.6. .8.> Kozue's Voice: -------------- Sam Chung on Tue, 7 Mar 1995 Since we're on the topic of Kozue-chan and how cute she is... I thought I should bring in Patlabor... Though this isn't the Patlabor Mailing list.. it may be significant... as Patlabor had a Concert Tour that actually featured the voice actress (seiyuu) of Kozue-chan singing the theme and insert songs for Patlabor... Quite a differnet flavor from Sunny Shining Morning... but quite cute. So for those MI fans who just can't get enough of Kozue... she sings again in PatLabor... ^_^ As Noa Izumi, of course. --- Ta Niu on Wed, 8 Mar 1995: Hey, don't forget Tominaga Miina's leading role in DNA^2 as Karin- chan [another K-chan ^_^]. Her voice acting there is absolutely to die for, compared to the early days of Kozue-chan [but I've only seen bits and pieces of Kozue in MI so I'm not really qualified to make a valid comparison ^_^] <.8. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @airdates Episode Airdates: ---------------- Provided by Andy Johnson 1 Mar 26 '86 11 Jun 4 '86 2 Apr 2 '86 12 Jun 11 '86 3 Apr 9 '86 13 Jun 18 '86 4 Apr 16 '86 14 Jun 25 '86 5 Apr 23 '86 15 Jul 2 '86 6 Apr 30 '86 16 Jul 9 '86 7 May 7 '86 17 Jul 16 '86 8 May 14 '86 18 Jul 23 '86 9 May 21 '86 19 Jul 30 '86 10 May 28 '86 20 Aug 6 '86 21 Aug 13 '86 31 Oct 22 '86 22 Aug 20 '86 32 Oct 29 '86 23 Aug 27 '86 33 Nov 5 '86 24 Sep 3 '86 34 Nov 12 '86 25 Sep 10 '86 35 Nov 19 '86 26 Sep 17 '86 36 Nov 26 '86 27 Sep 24 '86 37 Dec 3 '86 28 Oct 1 '86 38 Dec 10 '86 29 Oct 8 '86 39 Dec 17 '86 30 Oct 15 '86 40 Dec 24 '86 41 Jan 7 '87 51 Mar 18 '87 42 Jan 14 '87 52 Mar 25 '87 43 Jan 21 '87 53 Apr 8 '87 44 Jan 28 '87 54 Apr 15 '87 45 Feb 4 '87 55 Apr 22 '87 46 Feb 11 '87 56 Apr 29 '87 47 Feb 18 '87 57 May 6 '87 48 Feb 25 '87 58 May 13 '87 49 Mar 4 '87 59 May 20 '87 50 Mar 11 '87 60 May 27 '87 61 Jun 10 '87 71 Aug 19 '87 62 Jun 17 '87 72 Aug 26 '87 63 Jun 24 '87 73 Sep 2 '87 64 Jul 1 '87 74 Sep 9 '87 65 Jul 8 '87 75 Sep 16 '87 66 Jul 15 '87 76 Sep 23 '87 67 Jul 22 '87 77 Oct 14 '87 68 Jul 29 '87 78 Oct 21 '87 69 Aug 5 '87 79 Oct 28 '87 70 Aug 12 '87 80 Nov 4 '87 81 Nov 11 '87 91 Jan 27 '88 82 Nov 18 '87 92 Feb 3 '88 83 Nov 25 '87 93 Feb 10 '88 84 Dec 2 '87 94 Feb 17 '88 85 Dec 9 '87 95 Feb 24 '88 86 Dec 16 '87 96 Mar 2 '88 87 Dec 23 '87 88 Jan 6 '87 89 Jan 13 '88 90 Jan 20 '88 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- @episode_titles List of TV Episode Titles: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .5.> Basic list: ---------- 1: Sorry to keep you waiting! I'm Otonashi Kyoko 2: Love spark flying around. Who does Kyoko-san love? 3: Hearts beating in the darkness! Alone with Kyoko-san 4: Kyoko-san's worried?! Godai-kun in the middle of juken! 5: Kyoko-san worried! Godai-kun ran away 6: Spring is shocking! Kyoko-san's Secret 7: Tormented Godai-kun! The man Kyoko loves 8: Godai-kun mustn't shout. The time to do it has come 9: The mysterious tennis coach is the rival of love! 10: Panic at the beach-side. The rival doesn't like dogs 11: Kentaro's first love. If there's love, age difference is nothing! 12: Love scramble. I thought you said you loved me... 13: Popular Godai-kun, watch out for pink calls 14: Alright Godai-kun! The first date with Kyoko-san 15: Dangerous two's puppet play! Can't stand it anymore 16: Get-Well Visit Panic! Injured but Beloved. 17: Kyoko-san's first love story. The rainy day is always... 18: Kyoko-san's gift. Oh, this's for me!? 19: Godai and Kyoko. Two's night is full of danger 20: Frustrated Kyoko-san!? Mystery of the unreturning Godai-kun 21: Godai-kun in panic. Ikkoku-kan's kitten tale 22: Shocked Godai-kun. Kyoko-san's resignation 23: Kyoko-san in jeopardy. Mother's plot 24: Godai-kun in a flurry. First kiss with Kozue?! 25: Crash! Godai vs. Mitaka proposal battle 26: Stunned Godai. Kyoko's jealousy exploding 27: Disappeared Souichiro-san. Scent of yakitori is the memory 28: Kyoko surprised. I'm Kentaro's father 29: Slapstick autumn fest. Inside a well with Kyoko-san 30: Kyoko-san getting married? Tearful Godai-kun moving away 31: Ikkoku-kan scandal. Godai-kun living with a woman? 32: Egg is mystery. Yotsuya's dangerous gift 33: Shock in diary! Souichiro had a lover!? 34: Be pushy for love! Grandma Yukari with gold teeth 35: Operation chase! After Kyoko and Godai's date 36: Sudden storm of kiss! Story of broken hearted Akemi-san 37: Dangerous costume party! Kyoko's radical change 38: Godai-kun's lost love? Kozue approaching Mitaka? 39: Guts for love! Godai's operation part time 40: Tenderness warm heart. X-mas is feeling of love 41: Heart thump with Kyoko out of bath. Open bath peeping wars 42: Godai-kun broken bone! Chance of love in hospital room 43: Sparks of love! Hospital feud of Godai and Mitaka 44: Kentaro-kun in shock. Who really is Yotsuya? 45: Big announcement!!! Kyoko tells of her love to Godai?! 46: Fight over Kyoko! Skating rink is love's battleground 47: Kyoko in a mess. Drunk and crazy 48: Godai's revelation. I wish you understood how I feel 49: Mitaka's training! No love is achieved if I'm scared of dogs 50: Kyoko in love at first sight?! A strange fellow moves into Ikkoku-kan 51: Even Yotsuya is shocked. The day Ikkoku-kan disappears 52: Forgive me, Souichiro-san! Kyoko's announcement of marrying again!! 53: Female high school student explodes into a passion! Declaration of war against Kyoko's love! 54: Attack with nudity! Seduction plan for Godai! 55: Pajama girl charging in! Ikkoku-kan love panic! 56: Yagami decides! I won't give up my first love! 57: Here comes a lady. Love at first sight with Mitaka-coach 58: Godai or Mitaka? Tonight is her heart's moment of truth 59: Asuna Kujou's first time 60: Saw them! Kyoko and Mitaka's "B". Out of the blue?! 61: Chase after me, Godai-san. Kyoko's lone trip 62: Alright! In bath with Kyoko! Just two in open bath 63: Yagami's back by the time she's forgotten 64: Godai-kun on the edge! Sweet trap of high school girl 65: Yagami's scream! Yotsuya's Dangerous tutoring! 66: Yagami's challenge! I musn't lose against the widow! 67: Even Yagami is confused! Grandma Yukari returns with golden teeth!! 68: Grandma Yukari's Fighting Spirit. Hot Baseball Match! 69: Underwater battle. Suspicious kiss mark on Godai 70: Goodbye Grandma! Ueno station is party panic 71: A Midsummer night's dream. Godai already found a job? 72: Child is born? Godai's life of joy and cry! 73: Ikkoku-kan hostage crisis. Yagami's big nuisance! 74: Change in employment front. Godai's last come back. 75: Love all the way. Yagami and Asuna never give up. 76: I'll wait. Kyoko's sudden announcement 77: Bravo Godai! The Pride of a Man 78: It's a secret! Godai's work diary 79: I'm sorry Kyoko-san. Guilt trip homemade lunch 80: Godai in Panic! Yagami the Bunny Girl!! 81: Devotion of love. Asuna never gives up after all 82: Perfect dad! Godai-kun's child care story 83: Yokohama chaser. Kyoko-san's going away?! 84: 1000% suspicion. Kyoko's scandal night 85: This is the Critical point! Godai and Mitaka's duel of fate! 86: Shocking one night! Asuna's Salad day. 87: Asuna's pregnant? Mitaka's surprise marriage announcement!! 88: Love again?! Taste of a kiss that Kozue left! 89: Unrequited love! Godai and Kyoko, it's over today? 90: Kyoko-san quitting! Ikkoku-kan's memory far away? 91: Kyoko in shock! Akemi and Godai's unexpected relation! 92: Kozue-chan's wedding! Godai's love is forever?! 93: Sight of spring? The two's hearts are in warm feeling!! 94: Alright! Godai-kun's courageous proposal! 95: Ah, Excitement! Grandma's love embosomed in the ring 96: As long as this love lasts! Ikkoku-kan is forever...!! Maison Ikkoku OAV: Record of the Shipwreck at Ikkoku Island The Live-Action Movie The Anime Movie: Kanketsuhen "Prelude Maison Ikkoku - meguru haru no sakura no you ni..." (from the CD Sound Theater Extra Version) A video showing clips of Kyoko's past. See Appendix T for an explanation of the OAV's title. Annotated List: -------------- /= = two part story; / = some sort of story arc; \= has a cliffhanger \ has a continuing theme General ratings: F = frenetic, crazy, or weird laughs R = rather funny or happy mood I = in-between sad and funny: mostly serious V = virtually heart-warming M = melancholy P = poro poro, tear-jerker vvv character designs by Yuuji Moriyama R 1: Sorry to keep you waiting! I'm Otonashi Kyoko R 2: Love spark flying around. Who does Kyoko-san love? R 3: Hearts beating in the darkness! Alone with Kyoko-san R 4: Kyoko-san's worried?! Godai-kun in the middle of juken! R 5: Kyoko-san worried! Godai-kun ran away I 6: Spring is shocking! Kyoko-san's Secret R 7: Tormented Godai-kun! The man Kyoko loves R / 8: Godai-kun mustn't shout. The time to do it has come RI | 9: The mysterious tennis coach is the rival of love! R \ 10: Panic at the beach-side. The rival doesn't like dogs R 11: Kentaro's first love. If there's love, age difference is nothing! R / 12: Love scramble. I thought you said you loved me... R \ 13: Popular Godai-kun, watch out for pink calls RI / 14: Alright Godai-kun! The first date with Kyoko-san R \ 15: Dangerous two's puppet play! Can't stand it anymore ^^^ new ED: "Cinema" R 16: Get-Well Visit Panic! Injured but Beloved. I 17: Kyoko-san's first love story. The rainy day is always... R 18: Kyoko-san's gift. Oh, this's for me!? R 19: Godai and Kyoko. Two's night is full of danger R 20: Frustrated Kyoko-san!? Mystery of the unreturning Godai-kun R 21: Godai-kun in panic. Ikkoku-kan's kitten tale I /=22: Shocked Godai-kun. Kyoko-san's resignation I \=23: Kyoko-san in jeopardy. Mother's plot vvv one-shot OP and ED IR 24: Godai-kun in a flurry. First kiss with Kozue?! R 25: Crash! Godai vs. Mitaka proposal battle R 26: Stunned Godai. Kyoko's jealousy exploding vvv introduction of the new character designs by TAKADA Akemi PMV 27: Disappeared Souichiro-san. Scent of yakitori is the memory I 28: Kyoko surprised. I'm Kentaro's father F 29: Slapstick autumn fest. Inside a well with Kyoko-san I /=30: Kyoko-san getting married? Tearful Godai-kun moving away IP \=31: Ikkoku-kan scandal. Godai-kun living with a woman? F 32: Egg is mystery. Yotsuya's dangerous gift IP 33: Shock in diary! Souichiro had a lover!? vvv new ED: "Fantasy" R / 34: Be pushy for love! Grandma Yukari with gold teeth F \ 35: Operation chase! After Kyoko and Godai's date I 36: Sudden storm of kiss! Story of broken hearted Akemi-san F 37: Dangerous costume party! Kyoko's radical change I 38: Godai-kun's lost love? Kozue approaching Mitaka? ^^^ new OP: "Suki Sa" I /=39: Guts for love! Godai's operation part time IV \=40: Tenderness warm heart. X-mas is feeling of love RI 41: Heart thump with Kyoko out of bath. Open bath peeping wars IV /=42: Godai-kun broken bone! Chance of love in hospital room RV \=43: Sparks of love! Hospital feud of Godai and Mitaka F 44: Kentaro-kun in shock. Who really is Yotsuya? I 45: Big announcement!!! Kyoko tells of her love to Godai?! R 46: Fight over Kyoko! Skating rink is love's battleground I 47: Kyoko in a mess. Drunk and crazy I 48: Godai's revelation. I wish you understood how I feel R 49: Mitaka's training! No love is achieved if I'm scared of dogs I /=50: Kyoko in love at first sight?! A strange fellow moves into Ikkoku-kan I \=51: Even Yotsuya is shocked. The day Ikkoku-kan disappears VM 52: Forgive me, Souichiro-san! Kyoko's announcement of marrying again!! vvv new OP: "Sunny Shiny Morning". new ED: "Sayonara no Dessin" R / 53: Female high school student explodes into a passion! | Declaration of war against Kyoko's love! R | 54: Attack with nudity! Seduction plan for Godai! R | 55: Pajama girl charging in! Ikkoku-kan love panic! R \ 56: Yagami decides! I won't give up my first love! I /=57: Here comes a lady. Love at first sight with Mitaka-coach I \=58: Godai or Mitaka? Tonight is her heart's moment of truth I 59: Asuna Kujou's first time IM / 60: Saw them! Kyoko and Mitaka's "B". Out of the blue?! IR | 61: Chase after me, Godai-san. Kyoko's lone trip IR \ 62: Alright! In bath with Kyoko! Just two in open bath R / 63: Yagami's back by the time she's forgotten R | 64: Godai-kun on the edge! Sweet trap of high school girl RI | 65: Yagami's scream! Yotsuya's Dangerous tutoring! I | 66: Yagami's challenge! I musn't lose against the widow! 67: Even Yagami is confused! Grandma Yukari returns with golden teeth!! 68: Grandma Yukari's Fighting Spirit. Hot Baseball Match! R | 69: Underwater battle. Suspicious kiss mark on Godai R \ 70: Goodbye Grandma! Ueno station is party panic IR / 71: A Midsummer night's dream. Godai already found a job? IR | 72: Child is born? Godai's life of joy and cry! 73: Ikkoku-kan hostage crisis. Yagami's big nuisance! 74: Change in employment front. Godai's last come back. 75: Love all the way. Yagami and Asuna never give up. 76: I'll wait. Kyoko's sudden announcement 77: Bravo Godai! The Pride of a Man 78: It's a secret! Godai's work diary 79: I'm sorry Kyoko-san. Guilt trip homemade lunch 80: Godai in Panic! Yagami the Bunny Girl!! I / 81: Devotion of love. Asuna never gives up after all I | 82: Perfect dad! Godai-kun's child care story I | 83: Yokohama chaser. Kyoko-san's going away?! I \ 84: 1000% suspicion. Kyoko's scandal night 85: This is the Critical point! Godai and Mitaka's duel of fate! 86: Shocking one night! Asuna's Salad day. 87: Asuna's pregnant? Mitaka's surprise marriage announcement!! 88: Love again?! Taste of a kiss that Kozue left! I /=89: Unrequited love! Godai and Kyoko, it's over today? I \=90: Kyoko-san quitting! Ikkoku-kan's memory far away? I /=91: Kyoko in shock! Akemi and Godai's unexpected relation! P \=92: Kozue-chan's wedding! Godai's love is forever?! IV | 93: Sight of spring? The two's hearts are in warm feeling!! PV | 94: Alright! Godai-kun's courageous proposal! RV | 95: Ah, Excitement! Grandma's love embosomed in the ring V \ 96: As long as this love lasts! Ikkoku-kan is forever...!! R Desert Island OAV: Maison Ikkoku Ikkoku-tou Nanpa Shimatsuki F The Live-Action Movie I The Anime Movie: Kanketsuhen OAV: "Prelude Maison Ikkoku - meguru haru no sakura no you ni..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @anime_timeline Time Line: ~~~~~~~~~ Williamson: What is the actual Maison Ikkoku timeline? (anime, not manga) Specifically, I am looking for mentions in the episodes of character birthdays, real dates, or calendars in the background which can be used to pin down when an episode took place, or the time span between episodes. Hagmaier: That's a difficult problem, in that the date indicators are usually referring rather to the year that the anime was coming out, ie, the handpuppet episode (15?), where the school fair is dated "1986", than any cohesive internal time scale. Also, the internal time scale isn't exactly integral, either. Through out the series, we always wait until spring for the yearly visit to Souchiro-san's grave, but the last year, the visit comes in the fall. No comment is made about it, it just seems to be a continuity error. Jay Ongg: Wait a minute, about that comment about the last visit to Soichiro's grave, That last visit did not necessarily mean that it was an anniversary of his death. I don't remember exactly, but I think the reason why there was a visit to his grave was simply because Kyoko was getting married. They wanted to independently pay their respects. Tarigan: Even discounting the lack of consistency in the stated years the anime seems to have changed up the order of several events, as well as tossed in some things which never happened in the manga, and finally left out some chapters. The numbers one to twelve, embedded in each line, indicate the month of the year. The amount of space on the year-line given for each month is roughly proportional to the length of that month. That's why February, for instance, has only four dashes after it, while March with 31 days has five dashes following it. The numbers above each line indicate the episodes which occur at that time of the year. The single digit number of the year indicates the number of the anniversary (of the arrival of Kyoko to Ikkoku-kan) which occurs in that year. Under that number is the year in terms of the Gregorian calendar. To calculate the year in terms of Showa, subtract 25. Ex. 1980 - 25 = Showa 55 Luckily, Showa ended in 1989: one year after Maison Ikkoku ends. So you don't have to worry about Heisei. (1993 = Heisei 5) `*' indicates dates that I'm pretty certain about. The positions of the other episodes are more like estimates. The number at the end of each line shows how many episodes happened in that year. Episode appearances: ------------------- Revised by Andy Johnson year ---- 1 2 0 1-----2----3-----4----5-----6----7-----8-----9----10----11---12----| 2 '84 * 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 1-----2----3-----4----5-----6----7-----8-----9----10----11---12----| 17 '85 * * * 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ... 40 2 1-----2----3-----4----5-----6----7-----8-----9----10----11---12----| 21 '86 * * * 41 42 ... 51 52 53-56 57-62 63-70 3 1-----2----3-----4----5-----6----7-----8-----9----10----11---12----| 30 '87 * 71-74 75 76-78 79-80 81-84 85-92 93-94 4 1-----2----3-----4----5-----6----7-----8-----9----10----11---12----| 24 '88 * 95 5 1-----2----3-----4----5-----6----7-----8-----9----10----11---12----| 1 '89 96a 6 1-----2----3-----4----5-----6----7-----8-----9----10----11---12----| 7/8 '90 96b 7 1-----2----3-----4----5-----6----7-----8-----9----10----11---12----| 1/8 '91 Andy Johnson: The above is my version of the chronology. Near the end of the series they started trying to be a bit more consistant with the dates so I think the years are about right. The major shift was moving episode 52 back a year. Listing to the `4 years' quote it seems vague enough that it could mean 4 years since they've met (ie. before the wedding.) There just seems to be too big a jump in the timeline putting episode 52 four years after Soichiro's death. I think this version also works out a bit better with the clothing being worn. I've always been bothered by the gap between 95 and 96, and especially now since it means there is only one anniversary of Soichiro's death that is not chronicled, but I guess I have to live with that. [ Glenn Tarigan: Such blasphemy! The anime version deviates too much from the original manga. Such is life. At least you can still refer to the manga timeline to see the way Maison Ikkoku was meant to be. ] Notes on Milestones (or other clues about the date): Episode, Anniversary Year, Occasion. ------- ---------------- -------- x 0, spring Souichiro passes away. 1 0, October Kyoko becomes kanrinin of Ikkoku-kan. 2 0, December The first Christmas episode. 6 1, spring First anniversary of Souichiro's death. 14 1, October First anniversary of Kyoko becoming kanrinin. 18 1, December The second Christmas episode. Kyoko is 22 years old. 24 2, spring Second anniversary of Souichiro's death. 40 3, December The third Christmas episode. 52 4, spring Fourth anniversary of Souichiro's death. 83 ????, summer Kyoko will be 27 years old in the autumn. (Gyaa! This throws off the timeline...) 96 7, April Godai marries Kyoko. More Detailed Clues: Episode 15: In the scenes when Kyoko and the others are first walking through the Campus Fest, the camera cuts to some other scenes at the college. Here, there is a bird's eye view of the front of one of the buildings (the camera is just above the roof of another building). If you look at the various banners on the building in view, you can see a sign that reads "WELCOME" (in English) and below that is a large square banner that reads "61" (Showa 61). To convert from Showa to Gregorian, simply add 1925. That means that this episode took place in 1986 (61 + 25). As Mitch said, this episode used the year in which it was aired (it was broadcast on TV in 1986). Episode 20: If you look at Kyoko's wall-calendar, the first day in January is a Wednesday. According to my computer calendar program: Jan. 1st, '80 = Tuesday Jan. 1st, '81 = Thursday Jan. 1st, '82 = Friday Jan. 1st, '83 = Saturday Jan. 1st, '84 = Sunday Jan. 1st, '85 = Tuesday January 1st, 1986 = WEDNESDAY <--- Jan. 1st, '87 = Thursday Jan. 1st, '88 = Friday Jan. 1st, '89 = Sunday Therefore, episode 20 took place in 1986. Conclusive proof that the year did NOT change in a logical manner! Yes, Godai didn't change in the past year, his relationship with Kyoko didn't change in the past year, and neither did the past year change... In the corresponding manga chapter for this episode, the year was 1982. In other words, it is a *futile* exercise trying to construct a timeline for the anime version. How can you, when New Year's Eve comes and goes, and the year is still 1986? Still... it would be amusing to find any other clues about the date for each anime episode. -- Tarigan In episode 89, Kozue-chan pulls out a daytimer which is labelled "1988". Since the episode takes place in December (there's a New Year's party going on), and since she is asking about a date which will come at the end of the next month (January), we can assumer the book covers January 1988; thus, episode 89 takes place in December 1987. -- Williamson Episode 62: The calendar on Kyoko's wall reads: S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Throughout the years 1982 to 1988, the only months that could match up with the above signature are: 1982 - Feb, Mar, Nov 83 - Aug 84 - Oct 85 - Apr, Jul 86 - Sep, Dec 87 - Jun 88 - Feb, Aug Based on our best guesses on the timeline, we can eliminate 1982, 1983, and 1988. That leaves behind: 84 - Oct 85 - Apr, Jul 86 - Sep, Dec 87 - Jun Episode 62 takes place in the summer. That narrows the possibilities down to: 85 - Apr, Jul 86 - Sep 87 - Jun So my best guess is June 1987. <.5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Character Appearances: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Provided by Andy Johnson The first visual appearance of each sufficiently important character. Godai Yuhsaku 1 Otonashi Kyoko 1 Souichiro the dog 1 Ichinose Hanae 1 Yotsuya 1 Roppongi Akemi 1 Ichinose Kentaro 1 Grandpa Otonashi 1 (in flashback) 6 (in reality) Ikuko's mother 1 (in flashback) 7 (in reality) Master of ChaChaMaru 2 Sakamoto 3 Grandma Yukari 5 Otonashi Ikuko 6 Otonashi Souichiro 7 (in Godai's dream) 11 (in Kyoko's memories) Kyoko's 2 tennis friends 8 Mitaka Shun 9 Nanao Kozue 10 Koizumi (dark haired puppet girl) 13 Kuroki 13 Kamisaki 13 Saotome 13 Mr. & Mrs. Godai 20 Kyoko the cat 21 Mr. & Mrs. Chigusa 22 Mr. & Mrs. Nanao and Yousuke 24 Mr. Ichinose 28 Mitsukoshi Zenzaburo 50 Yagami Ibuki 53 Kamiogi-sensei 53 Yagami's friends 53 Kujou Asuna 56 Uncle of Mitaka Shun 56 another strange dude 57 2 girls at the kindergarten 57 Asuna's driver 57 Mackenroe 61 Cabalet bunny people 78 Kasumi and Taro and Hanako 79 Godai Haruka 96 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- @anime_summaries Short Episode Summaries: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Note: A string you could use as a keyword is "xx:". For instance, to locate the summary for Episode 44, search for "44:". 15: DANGEROUS TWO'S PUPPET PLAY! CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE Maybe as an apology, Kyoko goes to Godai's college's fest. But all the other residents of Ikkoku-kan also go with her. Godai takes part in a puppet play. One of the club members decides to leave early, forcing Kyoko to replace her part as the princess puppet. The play gets messed up by Godai. Nevertheless Kyoko enjoyed her day seeing what college is like, as she never got to attend it. -- GST 16: A FIGHT FOR DISTINCTION BY ACCIDENT Godai experiences a bit of bad luck (not any more than usual, I would say) because of a broken chopstick. And because of that, he believes that it was his fault that Kyoko hurt her ankle. Mitaka competes against Godai to help her while she's resting in bed for the next few days. Becomes evident that Mitaka has one talent that Godai doesn't have. -- GST 17: KYOKO-SAN'S FIRST LOVE STORY. THE RAINY DAY IS ALWAYS... Godai remembers about the bad days in the rain. At Ikkoku-kan Kyoko invites Kozue in from the rain, and they talk about their past loves. Kyoko tells about Souichiro. The next day, Kozue is with Godai at a cafe. Going home in the rain, Godai happens to run into Kyoko. At first, he's annoyed at her and tries to avoid her. But he changes his mind after a splash of water, and asks to walk with her under the umbrella. -- GST 18: KYOKO-SAN'S GIFT. OH, THIS'S FOR ME!? Godai tries to think of what to give to Kyoko for a present, but forgets about one for Kozue. On returning home, having given Kyoko's present to Kozue, he gets further depressed when Kyoko gives him a muffler for present, which she had apparently spent the past three days making. However, Godai manages to find something to give her. At the ChaChaMaru party, Mitaka and Godai find out that everybody got a present from Kyoko. -- GST 19: GODAI AND KYOKO. TWO'S NIGHT IS FULL OF DANGER .5.> 37: DANGEROUS COSTUME PARTY! KYOKO'S RADICAL CHANGE It's a lazy sunday at Ikkoku-kan. Even the party posse is bored. Kyoko receives a dressing table and tries on her old school uniform. The posse find her and the seishun starts. Kyoko's a schoolgirl. Ichinose's a student life correction member. Yotsuya's weird. Akemi is a nurse. Godai mangages to find his old school uniform. "Pair, desu ne?" Mitaka arrives, but Godai shoos him away. Mitaka returns and acts as a doctor. Kentaro arrives home after a day of playing ball. He finds the seishun party and runs away. The episode ends with Kentaro's announcement to leave Ikkoku-kan. -- Clifford Caoile 40: TENDERNESS WARM HEART. X-MAS IS FEELING OF LOVE Everybody is set for the party at Chachamaru's, except for Godai. He's waiting for Sakamoto to appear with Kyoko's stone, in the cafe. But Sakamoto lost the stone on the train. They try to find it with the help of the train manager. Meanwhile, Kyoko worriedly waits for Godai. Akemi keeps Mitaka occupied. Godai finds the stone in the trash, but loses his bag on the train with Kyoko's gift. "Cheek time?" Godai decides to show up at Chachamaru, but leaves early to search for something he dropped along the way. Kyoko follows. She catches up, then they walk home. -- Clifford Caoile <.5. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- End of part 3 of 8 Maison Ikkoku Guidebook Release 8 Copyright 1995 by the Misery Loves Company