--- Maison Ikkoku Guidebook Release 8: Part 5 of 8 Copyright 1995 by the Misery Loves Company (see the full copyright notice in part 1 of this guidebook) .5.> ==================================================================== @ep21 == Episode 21: == == GODAI-kun panikku! == == IKKOKU-KAN no KONEKO MONOGATARI == == or == == Godai-kun Panic! == == Ikkoku-kan's kitten tale. == ========================================================================== [ 94.02.25 18:51 added Studte's synopsis (rec'd today) ] = 104 lines Well, here you go. My synopsis for episode 21. As for story elements that relate directly to dialogue I can't be too certain since my japanese skills really aren't up to the antics the gang get up to. - Michael Studte ^_^ Synopsis: -------- Godai and Sakamoto are out on a drinking binge. Sakamoto is determined to get Godai completely drunk and refills his glass all the time. The following morning, with the victims of the party still strewn about the floor in Sakamoto's apartment, he presents Godai with a little white kitten, which he has named Kyouko. Godai wonders about this, but it turns out that the name was Godai's idea the previous night's proceedings. Godai, in his still slightly inebriated state is worried about the problem with pets at Ikkoku-kan. But in the end he takes the kitten. When Godai gets back to Ikkoku-kan, Kyouko is sweeping the walk. He apologises for not calling the previous evening that he was spending the night at Sakamoto's. As he walks inside, the kitten makes a valiant attempt to escape from his jacket, causing him to exclaim "Kyou..." but he catches himself in time saying that today is a nice day instead. In his room, Godai deposits the little kitten on his futon and starts thinking about what to feed the kitten. In the two seconds of not watching the kitten, however, it has shown its affection for the furniture in the least favourable way. Godai unthinkingly yells out "KYOUKO!" in such a loud voice that the other Kyouko out the front of the house hears it. As he applies a little punishment, the kitten races off and hides in his wardrobe. Kyouko has walked up to Godai's room and knocks on his door, wondering how he dare yell out her name that way. Godai comes out saying that it wasn't anything he said. After Kyouko leaves a little puzzled, Godai tries to retrieve the kitten from its hiding place when Yotsuya turns up It turns out that Yotsuya is quite good with animals, and Godai asks him not to reveal the kitten's presence. Later in the afternoon as Yotsuya is eating, Akemi walks in, wanting to see the kitten. Godai is upset that Yotsuya told her, but it can't be helped. The kitten has hidden under Godai's table and Akemi tries to coax it out, calling it "Whitey" and "Snowy". She is a little disappointed when the kitten refuses and drags it out saying it's quite a stupid animal. As Akemi cuddles the kitten, she wonders what the kitten's name should be. Godai tries to explain... Kyouko is in her room relaxing when Akemi's cry of "KYOUKO???" echoes through the house. She races up to Godai's room where Godai is begging Akemi to pretend she yelled it out accidentally. Akemi puts on her drunk act, and staggers out to a very worried Kyouko. However, she decides to improvise and tells Kyouko that Godai was trying to get fresh with her. Kyouko storms into the room demanding an explanation. Godai tries to explain that Akemi is just playing a joke on him, when he notices that the kitten has disappeared, but Yotsuya has it in his arms, through the hole in his room. Later that night, Godai goes to bed. The kitten, feeling a little lonely walks up to him and he allows it to slip under the covers. In the morning, Godai prepares his usual student breakfast and shares some of it with the kitten. Smiling at it, he asks if it wants to come along to the University. This turns out to be a less than perfect plan, as the kitten disappears to one lecture only to end up on the teacher's podium who is none too happy about it, telling Godai he will fail if he keeps playing these sorts of joke. When Godai returns home, Souichiro attacks him, smelling the kitten hidden in his jacket. Godai apologises about the previous evening and hurries inside. Later, the phone rings, it's Sakamoto. Ichinose is just about to return to her room when she overhears the conversation. "Kyouko? She's fine. She slept in my bed last night.". Shortly later, Godai takes a nap in his room, when the kitten decides it wants to play. With Godai incommunicado, it plays with one of the cans of cat food, until it runs into the room's door, which opens. Carefully the kitten wanders off down the hall. Ichinose sees Kyouko as she's going shopping and decides to tackle this problem head-first. She approaches Kyouko and confronts her with what she overheard Godai say. Kyouko naturally blows up, yelling that she would never do such a shameful thing (it's a shame that the street is so crowded, however). Back at Ikkoku-kan, Godai has discovered the kitten's disappearance and is frantically searching the room for it, asking "Kyouko, where are you?". He is answered by a very strained "I AM OVER HERE!", and discovers a very angry Kyouko standing in the door. She confronts him with the accusations of what she has been told by Ichinose, who notices that something smells strange. Kyouko discovers the cat food on a plate and worries that Godai might have been living on cat food, not able to afford better. Soon she guesses, however, that the food must be for a cat, finally getting to the conclusion that the cat must be "Kyouko". Ichinose is somewhat disappointed by this very boring turn of events. The kitten, meanwhile, is playing in the garden until it runs into the back of Souichiro's dog house. Everyone is looking for the kitten, and Godai apologises for causing so much confusion. Kentaro comes home and spots something in Souichiro's dog house. He yells to the rest of the household and they all gather to see that Kyouko is sleeping peacefully curled up against the dog. Kyouko is quite happy about this, since the scene somewhat reflects her life with her husband. - Michael Studte =============================================================== @ep22 == Episode 22: == == DAI shokku GODAI-kun. == == KYOUKO-san no INTAI SENGEN == == or == == Shocked Godai-kun! == == Kyouko-san's resignation. == ===================================================================== [ 94.01.10 22:52 - 22:59 added one footnote ] = 11 lines [ 94.02.25 18:35 added Studte's synopsis (rec'd today) ] = 116 lines [ 94.03.01 added some more footnotes ] = 200 lines Here's episode 22. Please note that spelling is checked against "English" spelling, not American. There may be a couple of discrepancies, but I prefer Shakespeare's language. :) - Michael Studte Synopsis: -------- The episode opens with Godai at the local laundromat. On his way home, he passes a man who then appears to be following him. Entering Ikkoku-kan, the man seems to hide out on the street. Kyouko is just making some coffee when Godai tells her about the man. They both look out the window, and sure enough he is still hiding out there. Kyouko decides to find out what he wants and walks out to the street. Upon getting there, the man seems to have disappeared until Godai spots him hiding behind a lamp post. As he yells out to him, the man makes a run for it. Kyouko is left somewhat speechless, as she has recognised the man. It's her father. Godai is very surprised by this, and she explains that her parents aren't very happy about her being a "janitor". Godai mulls this over when he takes Kozue-chan out for a date later. Over an ice cream parfait he asks her about her father. Kozue-chan misinterprets this as his wanting to become familiar with her parents (does this girl think of nothing but marriage?) but Godai quickly backpedals when he realises his mistake. Kyouko has decided to ring her parents and confront her father about his spying, but falters in the execution. As she sits down again, the phone rings. It's her Mother (an impressive woman, she deserves to have a capital "M" in her name). Kyouko observes what her father has been up to, but her Mother ignores her. She demands to know when Kyouko will finally give up her silly position and settle down with a man as a woman should. She manages to talk Kyouko into visiting to talk about this. Kyouko approaches her parents' apartment building and enters the elevator. Guessing her father's routine, she pre-emptively greets him as the elevator doors slide open. They all take a seat in the apartment and the argument almost immediately commences, with her Mother accusing her that it's no job for a woman to run a building like that, the people who are around her are a bad influence on her and she needs to find a man. Kyouko counters that she likes the work, the people are actually quite nice and that she can do without her Mother interfering in her love life. The argument escalates with Kyouko telling her parents to stop trying to run her life for her. Later, Kyouko walks home, reflecting on the state of affairs. As she approaches Ikkoku-kan, she becomes pensive, but then cheers up, saying, "Yes, this is my home. Tomorrow will be a good day." The next day starts with a lot of noise, with Ichinose and Godai discovering Kyouko busily fixing a loose board on the upper balcony. Godai offers to help, but Kyouko is quite adamant about being able to do her job. She fixes the board and admires her handiwork, leaning back on the railing. Knowing how rotted it is, Ichinose and Godai yell out a warning just as the whole section of the balcony gives way and crumbles to the ground. As the dust clears, we see Godai hugging Kyouko right on the edge. Kyouko is a bit upset by this, and as she brushes the footpath she reflects about this, but comes to the conclusion that things could be worse. Ichinose telling Akemi about Godai and Kyouko's encounter doesn't help things, however. Yotsuya has to add his opinion and Kyouko gets more upset. Souichiro discovers something near the front door, and everyone gathers to see what it is. Yotsuya concludes that it's termites and indeed it appears to be. Kyouko has had enough and has called in an exterminator and some workmen to fix the balcony. All the noise wakes Akemi, who walks out undressed in her usual outfit. The workmen don't mind this at all. Yotsuya is making up stories again just to rile Godai and it works as usual. He then yells out to the world that Godai and Kyouko are getting very friendly. Kyouko is at the foot of the stairs and has trouble keeping her composure. The workers are finished and leave, and Kyouko breathes a sigh of relief. As she tries to relax, however, the phone rings, with her Mother at the other end (again). She again tries to persuade Kyouko to resign, but Kyouko shouts back at her to stop it and slams down the phone. At the other end, however, we see that her Mother is determined. Ichinose and Godai are walking back (1) to Ikkoku-kan and talk about Kyouko's position. (2) As they get back, Souichiro barks at them, and they notice he hasn't been fed. (3) Ichinose tosses him something to keep him going for a while. (4) A short while later, we see a woman approaching Ikkoku-kan. (5) Souichiro recognises who it is, and tries to be very small (this woman is really intimidating). (6) The woman enters, and we see it is Kyouko's Mother. (7) She calls, and Ichinose comes out of her apartment. (8) Kyouko's Mother says she has an announcement for everyone, so Ichinose assembles the residents. (9) (10) Kyouko's Mother thanks them all for their patience in putting up with Kyouko and for looking after her, but it will not be necessary any more, SINCE SHE'S RESIGNING AS MANAGER! The gang is stunned by this. As the sun sets, we see Souichiro barking up a storm, clearly not happy about this development either. - To be continued - - Michael Studte Preview: Kyoko narrates: "Everybody, thank you for worrying about me. I'd never quit, but... Next week: `Kyoko-san in jeopardy. Mother's plot' I'll always be kanrinin." [ Ankle-note: The footnotes below represent my latest achievement in over-the-top analysis. And I'm not even finished yet. -- Glenn Tarigan ] Footnotes: ---------- (1) Tarigan: In the scene when Godai is walking in the shopping area of town and Ichinose greets him, note that while they're talking, they're passing by various stores. One of those stores has the name "KYUUJUUKYU SHUTEN", or " `Ninety-nine bottles of beer' store" (liberally translated). What do you think? Am I overreaching here? ^_^; (2) Tarigan: In this scene, Ichinose remarks that something unusual has been going on with Kyoko. Godai is surprised at this revelation. There is a trend here that Godai tends not to notice things that are going on around him, even concerning someone he pays so much attention to (i.e., Kyoko). In reality, he isn't quite so thick headed, but the people around him do draw it to our attention or suggest that he is. For instance, in episode 44, when Kentaro becomes scared of Yotsuya, Kyoko remarks to Ichinose that "Godai noticed Kentaro was acting strangely". Ichinose's reply insinuates that if even Godai was able to notice it, it must really be serious. And then in episode 52, when Kyoko went "missing" (she was visiting Souichiro's grave), there was a scene at ChaChaMaru with everyone searching for Kyoko--Mitaka was railing away at Godai's insensitiveness: "Living under the same roof, how come he didn't notice she was being depressed?!!" Or how about episode 61, after he had "dumped" Kyoko, when Sakamoto explained to Godai that the only possible reason Kyoko was crying was that she was in love with him? In most cases, Godai *did* notice the problem. It's just that he immediately ignores his intuitive guess, shunting it to the back of his mind (this merely repeats what I said in the first quarter of this sentence, but I felt it was so important that it was worth saying it almost twice). Lack of common-sense like this gets him into trouble... a lot! (3) Tarigan: In the manga version, Souichiro had gone out to accompany Kyoko during her shopping trip. So he wasn't around when Kyoko's Mother came. Besides that, there is no indication in the manga that the dog was scared of Kyoko's Mother. (4) Tarigan: Can anyone guess what it was that Ichinose gave to Souichiro? I think it was something like a curry-pan, or some sort of meat-pan. ("pan" is the Japanese word for "bread"; in this case, it is filled with some food-stuffs.) (5) Tarigan: Kyoko's mother is carrying a farewell-gift wrapped in a cloth. This cloth is a common type of wrapping called a FUROSHIKI, whose name is derived from FURO . At one time, it was used in the bath as a towel, or robe. It also became used for wrapping up objects for carrying (to the bath), and eventually became used as giftwrap. The most common size is a 75cm square. When used for wrapping up gifts, it is expected that the receiver give back the FUROSHIKI. Many a gaijin have, to the dismay of some gift-givers, kept the furoshiki that came with their oMIYAGE. ^_^ (6) Tarigan: I wonder what Kyoko's Mother did in the past that would make Souichiro frightened of her? Or maybe he hasn't met her before (an unlikely possibility, to be sure), and simply has a dog's intuition that there's something formidable in this woman. Probably it's more obvious than that; it seems that Kyoko's Mother arrived with a don't-get-in-my-way-or-you're- dog-meat look. :) (7) Tarigan: I only put in this footnote so that every single sentence in the paragraph has a footnote. ^_^ Actually, there is something I want to say here: How did Kyoko's Mother know to come at just the time of the day in which Kyoko would be out of the house? Could it be mere coincidence? I think it's because Kyoko has a predictable schedule and her Mother knows Kyoko well enough to know her habits (i.e., shopping in the afternoon). (8) Tarigan: Notice the surprise on Ichinose's face. In fact, this is the first time that she has seen Kyoko's Mother. Same goes for Yotsuya and Godai. (9) Tarigan: Missing from this cozy get-together are: Kyoko (gone shopping), Kentaro (probably at school), Mr.Ichinose (he doesn't exist until episode 28 :) and Akemi (working at ChaChaMaru). Not exactly a full tenant congregation when half of the residents are missing. (10) Tarigan: This has got to be one of the most heavily footnoted paragraphs I have ever seen. In fact, it seems that this footnote section is as long as the synopsis... Commentary: ---------- Jeff Williamson writes on 94.03.08: > The episode opens with Godai at the local laundromat. On his way > home, he passes a man who then appears to be following him. I don't remember, is Chigusa-san wearing a mask at this point? It wouldn't be the last time he behaved in so suspicious a manner -- see episode 94. [ Tarigan: No, but he was wearing a trench-coat and shades. ] > As he yells out to him, the man makes a run for it. Kyouko is > left somewhat speechless, as she has recognised the man. It's her > father. Godai is very surprised by this, and she explains that > her parents aren't very happy about her being a "janitor". Godai's reversal at this point is really amusing: "He looks like a child molester or a panty thief." "Err... he's my father." "Really? Like I said, he's a good-looking fellow. He's got the quiet looks of middle age." [ Tarigan: To expand further: "He looks like a child molester or a panty thief." "Ano..." "Yes?" "Actually... he's my father." [blushes deeply] "Father?!..." [almost falls over backwards] ".... [bows] Sorry to bother you." [turns around to go inside] "Ah, er.. Like I said, he's a good-looking fellow. He's got the quiet looks of middle age." ] > Kozue-chan misinterprets this as his wanting to become familiar > with her parents (does this girl think of nothing but marriage?) And only a couple of episodes later (#24), Kozue-chan herds Godai to her home for dinner and to meet her parents. > Kyouko approaches her parents' apartment building and enters the > elevator. Guessing her father's routine, she pre-emptively greets > him as the elevator doors slide open. That's not quite it... she's not sure how she should approach her parents considering the current animosity running between daughter and parents. "Smiling is probably best..." So she practices what she's going to say to her dad out loud, happening to say it just as her father arrives at the elevator to pick her up. Another scene that's humorous in its timing. > Ichinose and Godai yell out a warning just as the whole section > of the balcony gives way and crumbles to the ground. As the dust > clears, we see Godai hugging Kyouko right on the edge. *Another* close save! Godai has saved Kyoko's life (or at least saved her from multiple broken bones) a number of times during the series: episode 6 or 7 (she wakes up on the roof and forgets where she is, starting to run off to get the laundry) and in the 40s/50s (the episode which corresponds to manga v7,4 ^_^). > Kyouko is a bit upset by this, and as she brushes the footpath > she reflects about this, but comes to the conclusion that things > could be worse. Ichinose telling Akemi about Godai and Kyouko's > encounter doesn't help things, however. Yotsuya has to add his > opinion and Kyouko gets more upset. Souichiro discovers something > near the front door, and everyone gathers to see what it is. > Yotsuya concludes that it's termites and indeed it appears to be. This scene's dialogue absolutely *must* go in the synopsis. A hilarious example of timing: (I don't have the episode available right now, so bear with my faulty memory). Kyoko attempts to justify staying at Ikkoku-kan. Kyoko: (The residents here are nice enough people...) Akemi: Really? Kanrinin-san was hugging Godai-kun on the clothes platform? Ichinose: Yup, I saw the whole thing! Kyoko (seething): (At least the rent is paid promptly....) Yotsuya: Kanrinin-san... I am broke right now. Can you wait a little longer for this month's rent? Kyoko: All right... (glaring) but only for a LITTLE while. Souichiro-san is digging at something near the entrance to Ikkoku-kan. Akemi and Ichinose wave Yotsuya over, and Godai comes out and starts looking, too. Kyoko (resolved): (As long as Ikkoku-kan stands, I'm going to stay here as manager!) Godai: Aaaagh! That's a termite! Kyoko drops the broom onto the front walk in exasperated shock. > Kyouko has had enough and has called in an exterminator and some > workmen to fix the balcony. All the noise wakes Akemi, who walks > out undressed in her usual outfit. The workmen don't mind this at > all. Again, more scenes that need further explanation to convey their comedic impact... Ichinose: (to Akemi and Godai, who have come out dressed only in bedclothes) Have you no sense of shame? Akemi: Come on, it's the usual... ...as the workmen drool and try to snap themselves out of it. > Yotsuya is making up stories again just to rile Godai and it > works as usual. He then yells out to the world that Godai and > Kyouko are getting very friendly. Kyouko is at the foot of the > stairs and has trouble keeping her composure. Godai: I'm going to ask kanrinin-san to fix the hole. Yotsuya stands atop the stairs, arms and legs spread in a warding gesture. Yotsuya: Godai-kun! That hole is for interchange between you and me! Godai: I can do without that! Ichinose: (to the workers, who are watching the show) Hey you, this isn't a comedy club, you know? Worker: This is better than a comedy club. Yotsuya: (clears throat) Last night, I hear Godai-kun's voice. Oh, what could he be saying? "Kyoko-saaan," then heavy breathing, "haah haah haah haah". I look in from the hole,... Godai: GYAAAAAAAAAHHH! Yotsuya: ...and I couldn't see anything because it was too dark. Yotsuya threatens to tell Kyoko, and Godai says "Go ahead." As Yotsuya shouts(X), a jet passes overhead -- *mostly* drowning his words out. Godai: (smirking) Kanrinin-san won't hear that way out in the front yard. Ichinose: (looking downstairs) No, but she can probably hear it from the bottom of the stairs. [ Tarigan: Yotsuya's line wasn't really drowned out; you could still hear every syllable. Yotsuya said the same line in the manga as in the anime: (in the AA subtitles, they neglected to translate it) Godai-kun wa kanrinin-san wo onappetoni shiteiru--_. Would someone translate the above line? (If I transcribed the Japanese incorrectly, you might have to look it up in manga v3,6/ VW2,11) ] (X) The implication, of course, is that Godai was using Kyoko as masturbation material. Hardly a respectful treatment of her. Judging from Godai's reaction to Yotsuya's words, this story is probably true. Kyoko: Godai-san, I'll fix the hole. Yotsuya: Kanrinin-san! Kyoko: If I fix the hole, then you won't be troubled by strange noises anymore, will you?! Godai: (I can hardly refuse...) Judging from Kyoko's reaction, she obviously heard Yotsuya's shout. > At the other end, however, we see that her Mother is determined. "Don't underestimate the power of a mother!" The way Ritsuko's eyes snap open after Kyoko slams the phone down is positively eerie. > Kyouko's Mother thanks them all for their patience in putting up > with Kyouko and for looking after her, but it will not be > necessary any more, SINCE SHE'S RESIGNING AS MANAGER! The gang is > stunned by this. As the sun sets, we see Souichiro barking up a > storm, clearly not happy about this development either. Godai, of course, is more stunned than anyone else. (And, as we will see, he does NOT take her leaving well.) > (6) [ Tarigan: I wonder what Kyoko's Mother did in the past that would > make Souichiro frightened of her? Or maybe he hasn't met her > before (an unlikely possibility, to be sure), and simply has > a dog's intuition that there's something formidable in this > woman. Probably it's more obvious than that; it seems that > Kyoko's Mother arrived with a don't-get-in-my-way-or-you're- > dog-meat look. :) ] Ritsuko looking out for her daughter's best interests is indeed a VERY intimidating woman. She has to have met Souichiro-dog in the past; she could hardly help but do so. When Kyoko goes home in episode 90, Ritsuko says "You even brought the dog with you," when there is nothing in the series that shows Ritsuko being surprised at Kyoko's owning the dog. > Actually, there is something I want to say here: > How did Kyoko's Mother know to come at just the time of the > day in which Kyoko would be out of the house? Could it be > mere coincidence? I think it's because Kyoko has a > predictable schedule and her Mother knows Kyoko well enough > to know her habits (i.e., shopping in the afternoon). ] Then again, she has shown a talent for spying (see the next? episode where she approaches Ichinose). So it's possible she did an intelligence-gathering mission beforehand. That should increase the length of the synopsis a bit... ^_^ Hope you don't have too tough a time of cut/pasting, Glenn! Tarigan: Perhaps. But I think it would be better to use the script-like dialogue in a totally new synopsis. Trying to fit it into a medium-sized synopsis like Michael's would turn it into an ugly patchwork -- low detail mixed in with high detail description. If we're going to go for high detail, we should really expand the rest of the synopsis. I have tried expanding one of my short synopses into a heavily detailed one, and I've found that I end up throwing away all the old sentences; the old, un-detailed prose just doesn't fit with the new. So, I'll just put your dialogue additions into a separate pile for future use. <.5. ==================================================================== @ep24 == Episode 24: == == GODAI-KUN IN A FLURRY. == == FIRST KISS WITH KOZUE?! == ========================================================================== [ 93.12.23 20:17 added Williamson's footnote (from 93.12.13) ] = 20 lines [94.01.04 9:09 added Williamson's footnote which I received today ] = 38 lines [ 94.03.21 21:42 Added note from Liu-san ] = 52 lines Footnotes: ---------- (x) Jeff Williamson: The OP and ED for this episode are both one-shots, with songs by Gilbert O'Sullivan. The opening song is "Alone Again (Naturally)", and the closing song is "Get Down". Some of the animation in the OP and ED is the standard style seen in other OP/ED, but other pieces of the OP/ED animation for this episode are highly reminiscent of "Urusei Yatsura". Note 1: "Alone Again (Naturally)" can be found on several American compilation albums highlighting the year 1972. Note 2: Does anyone know *WHY* they had the one-shot OP/ED for this particular episode? Don't get me wrong, I rather like them. .5.> Michael Liu: Does anyone know the exact reason for their removal? Was there a legal problem? The first two verses of the song "Alone Again" fit Kyoko's situation quite well, I thought, though the sequence did not match the lyrics in any way. Although I consider those sequences to be the worst-drawn of the bunch, I've a feeling they were purposely done that way. Many of the frames were aping the art style Takahashi had earlier in the run of the manga, and indeed many of those frames were copied from the manga, including some whose stories were never adapted for television. (Kyoko in a leotard, for example) In any case, I would've enjoyed seeing them in more than one episode. <.5. .6.> C.H.Yung says: The OP/ED is used just in this episode because of the low TV ratings during the time and Kitty's producer Matsushita Youko had some argument with the chief director Yamazaki Kazuo. Yamazaki decide to use this OP/ED but Matsushita rejected it and use the old one instead in the next episode. The chief director and many chief staff were changed starting from episode 26. Also, Matsushita introduced Takada Akemi, the most famed character designer, who has designed characters for UY, MI, KOR, PATLABOR, Creamy Mami, etc. <.6. .8.> From: "J. Smith" Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 11:19:00 -0400 (EDT) I've wondered about this question myself. Did anyone actually like the changes made to the opening and closing of this episode? (#20, right?) I thought the changes were awful. While listening to the new songs, all I could think of was the Beatles, and I'm not exactly their biggest fan. As for the animation sequence itself, I thought it was cheesy, with alot of completely out of character flirtatous poses of Kyoko, put in for the fanboy, presumably. Someone recently wrote that Kitty felt the show was trying to appeal to a teenage UY audience, and this one-shot change of the intro and closing would seem to support this theory. I think they were right to try to refocus on a mature audience, and canned these changes after one episode. I would like to know what others think about this; I hope I didn't offend anyone who happened to like the changes. <.8. (x) Jeff Williamson: Related to what has turned into a rather lengthy discussion between a couple of us MI otaku ("How traditional *is* Kyoko?"): [ Tarigan: You can see part of that discussion in the v3,1 manga footnotes--see p21,1. ] DYN: In the hallucination that Godai experiences in this episode, wherein he and Kozue-chan are being forced to marry (at gunpoint!), the wedding garb in which he and Kozue appear is the traditional Shinto wedding dress, exactly as in episode #96, where Godai marries Kyoko. Conversely, the flip side of this hallucination has Mitaka marrying Kyoko, and the two are dressed in Western wedding garb. This is consistent in Mitaka's case, as can be seen in episode #95, where the wedding of Mitaka Shun and Kujou Asuna takes place according to Western tradition. Kyoko, on the other hand, seems to be a little harder to qualify: the wedding photo of her and Souichiro is of a Western-style wedding, whereas (as noted above) her wedding to Godai is performed by Shinto rites. The general consensus is that Souichiro was a non-traditionalist compared to the rest of the Otonashi family, and that Kyoko went along with his desires. .5.> ==================================================================== @ep25 == Episode 25: == == Crash! Godai vs. Mitaka proposal battle. == =====================================================================small Background info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #25. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history - "summary only / total" lines CEC-940429Fri 2235-2324 Small synopsis CEC-..0516Mon 2204-2206 Small checkup and standardized format. 35/88 CEC-....22Sun 1544-1547 Sent to MI Guide 5! 35/87 Air date : 1986.09.10 Wed (according to Andy Johnson's Episode Airdates) Date of story: May 1986 (according to Andy Johnson's Time Line) Duration: 1 day for the first half. 2 days for the second half. The halves are probably not continuous or contiguous. Cast in order of appearance: Kyoko, Godai, Ichinose, the lady tennis neighbors, Mitaka, Souichiro (dog), Sakamoto, Kozue, Nanao family, Kentaro. Episodes, before and after: IR 24: Godai-kun in a flurry. First kiss with Kozue?! R ... (present episode) R 26: Stunned Godai. Kyoko's jealousy exploding... Based on: (Japanese/English title unavailable.) Vol. 3, parts 9-10 - Normal; Vol. 2, parts 14-15 - Wideban. Synopsis: -------- [ Opening Theme: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa (Hello Sadness), Saito Yuki ] [ As the tennis ball flies into the sun, Kyoko voices the title text. ] Godai and Ichinose look on as Kyoko plays tennis. They discuss Kyoko's family problems. Mitaka becomes concerned for Kyoko's condition. The tennis club invite Godai to play tennis. As Kyoko and Godai pair up, Mitaka is stuck with Ichinose. They play tennis and soon, Mitaka motions Kyoko to the net. He says, "I'd like to pair with you for the rest of my life." Godai, in the cafe, explains to Mitaka and Ichinose that Kyoko should not be stressed, because she's still thinks of Souichiro-san. He's also still angered that he's overshadowed by her dead husband. Finally, outside, Kyoko explains that she can't pair with Mitaka because she doesn't have the confidence to be a professional tennis player. Mitaka slumps over. [ Standard commercial break. ] Mitaka invites Kyoko to a date by the beach. The lady neighbor shows up and discusses Mitaka's background. Godai meets Sakamoto and asks for 300 yen. He also meets Kozue while looking for food. Meanwhile, Kyoko enjoys the beach, while Mitaka avoids dogs. Mitaka makes his proposal clear, but Kyoko declines. "I can wait 1 or 2 years," he says. Back at the Nanao house, Godai is pigging out. Godai relates his dream of a warm family. The Nanao's quickly fill themselves into the picture. Godai says that he only has 3 years to go. Ichinose pressures Kyoko to answer a question about Mitaka. She avoids it by running away with Godai. Kentaro asks his mom who proposed. She said, she pressured his father to propose. Godai and Kyoko pass the time on a swing. "If 3 years pass, then Souichiro might flow away with time," Godai says to himself. Back at the apartment, Yotsuya and Akemi laugh at his hope. In the morning, he asks Kyoko to wait 5 years, then runs off. Kyoko stands, uncomprehendingly as Souichiro barks. [ Kyoko narrates the preview for next episode. ] [ Ending theme: Shi-Ne-Ma (Cinema), Picasso. ] Clarifications: -------------- CEC: What is that car driver in the background saying as Ichinose explains that she doesn't know how to play tennis? It contributes to Mitaka's shock! ==================================================================== @ep26 == Episode 26: == == __ == == GODAI bo--ZEN! == == KYOUKO no [yakimochi] DAI'BAKU'HATSU == == or == == Stunned Godai. == == Kyoko's jealousy exploding... == =====================================================================small Background info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #26. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history - "summary only / total" lines CEC-940429Fri 2355-.... Small synopsis. 91 lines CEC-..0514Sat 0940-1010 Corrections from Tarigan and Dietz. 57/139 CEC-....16Mon 2207-2211 Little corrections and standardized format. 56/143 CEC-....22Sun 1549-1555 Uploaded to MI guide 5! 56/137 Air date : 1986.09.17 Wed (according to Andy Johnson's Episode Airdates) Date of story: end of May 1986 (according to Andy Johnson's Time Line) Duration: At least 1 day, but if Mitaka had his nightmare another day... Cast in order of appearance: Mitaka, Kyoko, Souichiro (dog), those kids, Godai, Kyoko, woman with child, Ichinose, Kozue. Episodes, before and after: R 25: Crash! Godai vs. Mitaka proposal battle. R ... (present episode) PMV 27: Disappeared Souichiro-san. Scent of yakitori is the memory. Based on: (Japanese/English title unavailable.) Vol. 3, part 11 - Normal; Vol. 2, part 16 - Wideban. Synopsis: -------- [ Opening Theme: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa (Hello Sadness), Saito Yuki ] [ As Kyoko runs inside her room, Kyoko voices the title text. ] Mitaka dreams of Kyoko, but she turns into a dog. He wakes up, sweaty, vowing to rid himself of his dog-phobia. (1) Godai sleeps, hugging his blanket. Kids run down the street. Kyoko hangs her wash and answers the phone. She meets her lady friend and her child at a restaurant. They discuss Kyoko's reluctance to re-marry. As Kyoko walks home, she sees the two important men in her life float amongst the clouds. Godai says, "I love you." Mitaka says, "I can wait 3 years." Kyoko returns home and Godai greets her, as he is crouched over the public phone. Kyoko regards him a moment then runs to her room. Inside, Kyoko debates whether to marry Godai or Mitaka, but chides herself. Godai cleans his futon over his windowsill. While Kyoko hangs the wash, Ichinose tells her that he's bringing over his girlfriend. Kyoko becomes jealous, so much so that Ichinose notices that Kyoko was eavesdropping too. In an effort to calm herself, she grinds coffee then paints her nails. She receives a telephone call from Mitaka. [ Standard commercial break. ] Godai stands outside waiting for Kozue. Kozue shows up and meets Ichinose, much to Godai's reluctance. Godai brings Ichinose off to the side. Kyoko overhears. Ichinose enters her room, and Kyoko tells her about a "date" with Mitaka. Ichinose is surprised. Upstairs, Godai shows Kozue his room. She see the off-color piece of plaster on the wall and hears some noise from inside the wall. The noise stops when Godai bangs on #4's door. "Is it a rat?" "I wish it was that cute." But Yotsuya barges in through his "patented interface". He sees Kozue holding Godai and he leaves them. Kozue is comfortably hugging him. Yotsuya interrupts again. Yotsuya tells Ichinose what happened, and Ichinose relays the message to Kyoko. Kyoko simply says that she's the manager, she'll have to fix the wall again. Kyoko sets off to see Mitaka, but Kozue stops her. She drags Godai along. Mitaka goes to "Menfura", a coffee shop on top of a dog beauty salon, but he can't get past Keiko-chan, a cute dog. Keiko dirties Mitaka's pants messy. Seeing the mess, Keiko's owner (or stylist?) grabs Mitaka off the telephone pole and inside the shop to clean off the stain. Walking, Kyoko says to herself that Mitaka is much better, but she sees Mitaka hold a young lady close to his body through the window. Kyoko runs away, unaware that he was just scared stiff from the proximity of a St. Bernard. "I'm s-sorry! I'm afraid of dogs..." The woman is not offended. At a pachinko parlor, Kyoko plays a game without feeling. The players around her watch in amazement as she effortlessly wins. Godai finally leaves the Nanao residence with a doggy bag in-tow. He sees a can, which dropped from Kyoko's bag of winnings from Pachinko, and catches up to her. When Godai asks, "If the date was so much fun, why are you coming back with a bag full of canned food?", she swings around, takes a can, and throws it at Godai, hitting him squarely. Godai clutches his forehead as she continues to walk home. Mitaka is still in the coffee shop, wondering what happened to Kyoko. [ Kyoko narrates the preview for next episode. ] [ Ending theme: Shi-Ne-Ma (Cinema), Picasso. ] Notes: ----- CEC's comments: Kyoko is scariest when she's jealous or angry! Glenn: Note: After this story, the manga spent two chapters dealing with Mitaka and Godai's attempts to get back on good terms with Kyoko. The anime version passed over those two chapters and jumped ahead to the Lost Souichiro-san story. Please refer to v4c01 for some brief synopses of those chapters. (1) Dietz, Jack: He doesn't do this for a loooong time. ^_^ (x) Carragher: Does Kyoko know about gambling at pachinko parlors? Would she have gone to exchange the token prizes for money? [Answer: probably not.] B-) --------------------------------------------- Alternate synopsis by Michael Studte: [ received on 94.05.03 ] = 99 lines Maison Ikkoku Episode 26 "Stunned Godai! Kyouko's jealousy explodes." It's night, and Mitaka is sleeping and dreaming of a date with Kyouko where he promises her the world... until Souichiro interrupts. He wakes up in a cold sweat thinking that a "car date" might not be such a good idea. Kyouko is out the back of Ikkoku-kan doing the laundry, marveling at how beautiful the day is, when the phone rings. She rushes inside. Kyouko is meeting a friend and her young child. They get to talking about kids, men and relationships. Kyouko is quite taken in by the little child. On her way home, she reflects on the conversation, and her friend who told her not to wait too long to find someone. Pondering this, she faces the images of Godai and Mitaka vying for her love. It is not a choice she wants to face, right now. She returns to Ikkoku-kan to find Godai about to use the phone. She passes him on her way to her room but hesitates. Godai appears very nervous about the phone call (and so he should be, he's about to invite Kozue-chan on a date). Kyouko sits down in her room again pondering her friends' words, almost starting to believe what her friend said until she tells herself she is foolish to suddenly rush this kind of decision. She turns to the TV to distract herself. Later, Godai is seen busy cleaning his room. Kyouko comments to Ichinose that he is becoming quite responsible, but Ichinose replies that it must be because he has a girlfriend coming over. Kyouko somewhat runs amok with her train of thought even leaving the quick-witted Ichinose behind. Grinding some coffee later, Kyouko is still annoyed at Godai's action. She decides to pick up her looks a bit and gets out some nail polish. Kyouko does her nails, while Godai finishes cleaning his room. He looks proudly at the neat piles of books, commenting on it looking good. These words are echoed by Kyouko, who looks at her finished nails in her room. She receives a phone call from Mitaka asking her out for a date and she accepts. Godai is waiting nervously outside Ikkoku-kan for Kozue-chan. She is happy to see him and they walk inside, Souichiro barking at her. Godai asks Souichiro to be quiet, and he tries to sneak Kozue inside without anyone seeing, but Ichinose heard them. Godai, not realizing Kyouko heard the commotion, takes Ichinose aside and asks her to please be nice for a change. Ichinose make a big deal out of the fact what a cute girl Kozue is. Kyouko is mad at Godai getting such a blatant date, and she sits back down to get ready for her own date. Ichinose wanders in, asking if she heard everything. Kyouko tries to ignore Ichinose who makes sure she got all of the conversation. Ichinose notices Kyouko's polished nails, and Kyouko informs her that she's going on a date with Mitaka. Upstairs, Kozue-chan is marveling at Godai's room, saying she's never been in a bachelor's room before. She notices the plugged up hole in the wall (Godai has been busy) and asks about it. Suddenly, scratching can be heard from the covered hole. Godai races over to Yotsuya's door yelling at him to stop his silly antics. He returns to his room and sits down with Kozue-chan. A crack appears in the plugged hole, followed a split-second later by battering ram which re-opens the hole. A sinister cackle erupts from the hole, followed shortly thereafter by Yotsuya himself. Kozue is clinging to Godai, and Yotsuya makes a remark about "the couple". As Yotsuya retreats back to his room, Godai tries to disentangle himself from Kozue, but she is quite content in this embrace, stating that she is still a little scared. Yotsuya discusses the situation with Ichinose at the foot of the stairs who relays the info to Kyouko in her room. A short while later, Kyouko, all dressed up, leaves Ikkoku-kan for her date. Just as she gets to the street, Kozue and Godai also emerge from Ikkoku-kan. Kozue compliments Kyouko on her dress and looks and Kyouko replies she's off on a date with Mitaka. This shocks Godai, to say the least. As the three of them wander down the street, Godai wonders aloud why Mitaka didn't pick her up in his car. Kyouko replies that she would meet him in town. Mitaka is already at the shopping mall waiting for her, when he gets attacked by (what else) a dog. The woman owner comes running out of a shop and scoops the little dog up, when she sees the damage the dog made to Mitaka's trousers. She insists on fixing his trousers. Unfortunately, she drags him into a pet shop filled with dogs and starts fixing his pants. Kyouko has arrived at the mall, mad at Godai's brashness with his date in front of her. She strides down the street when she spots Mitaka in a shop window tightly embracing another woman. She explodes and runs off, not seeing that Mitaka was merely trying to get the woman to get in between him and a rather large dog who wanted to get closer to Mitaka. Kyouko is later seen in a Pachinko parlor, playing mindlessly, and somewhat appropriately, winning a huge amount (seeing as winning Pachinko doesn't involve any particular skills). Godai, meanwhile, has again partaken a meal at Kozue's place, and he is leaving for home. As he walks up a hill, a can of food rolls towards him. He looks up to see Kyouko up ahead, having converted her winnings into canned food. He runs up to her, but she is unresponsive. He tries to strike up a conversation but is met with flat replies until he enquires how her date went. Kyouko takes a can and aims it at his head. Meanwhile, Mitaka is still waiting for Kyouko. Switching back to Godai, we see that the can hit him square in the face. Kyouko is walking away from him, up the hill, cans spilling freely from her bag. Next episode: Souichiro's disappearance sparks memories of Kyouko's dead husband. -- Michael Studte Some comments ------------- by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile (Init: CEC) CEC940508 0958-1028 >It's night, and Mitaka is sleeping and dreaming of a date with Kyouko >where he promises her the world... until Souichiro interrupts. Her dog, right? Imagine if the silhouette came to haunt Mitaka? It already haunts Godai, of course! I'm surprised they didn't have an episode that highlights this fact. >Kyouko is mad at Godai getting such a blatant date, and she sits back I thought she was mad because he was sneaking behind her back with his date? She tries to hide her jealousy by being mad. Yes, no? >and Kyouko informs her that she's going on a date with Mitaka. Ichinose also comments that Kyoko never called it a "date" whenever she went out with him. >As Yotsuya retreats back to his room, Godai tries >to disentangle himself from Kozue, but she is quite content in this >embrace, stating that she is still a little scared. Yotsuya interrupts again! ^_^ >Yotsuya discusses the situation with Ichinose at the foot of the stairs >who relays the info to Kyouko in her room. She avoids talking about Godai, which only clues Ichinose into her jealousy. >starts fixing his pants. Kyouko has arrived at the mall, mad at Godai's >brashness with his date in front of her. She strides down the street Atta! He was trying to avoid showing her but Kozue always seems to promote confusion. Not knowingly, of course! > [..] Godai, meanwhile, has >again partaken a meal at Kozue's place, and he is leaving for home. In DS and WC's subtitled version, both Kyoko and Godai mention "Pimp" when referring to Godai. Anyone want to explain this use of the word? I don't see how Kozue is a street maiden. (No!! Kozue's mine!!! She was looking at me the whole time!) ==================================================================== @ep27 == Episode 27: == == Disappeared Souichiro-san. Scent of yakitori is the memory. == =====================================================================small Background info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #27. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history - "summary only / total" lines CEC-940430Sat 1630-1728 Small synopsis + background info. 106 lines CEC-..0516Mon 1012-1020 Checkup and standardized format. 45/109 CEC-....22Sun 1556-1559 Uploaded to the MI Guide 5! 45/108 Air date : 1986.09.24 Wed (according to Andy Johnson's Episode Airdates) Date of story: middle of August 1986 (according to Andy Johnson's Timeline) Duration: 3 or more days: afternoon send-off, morning at the kids' park, rainy night, afternoon "Boke"/Yatta! and conclusion Cast in order of appearance: Kyoko, Souichiro (dog), Ikuko, Souichiro (silhouette), Kentaro, Yotsuya, Akemi, Godai, Ichinose, Master, another dog, Youko, a dog doll, Grandfather Otonashi (in flashback). Episodes, before and after: R 26: Stunned Godai. Kyoko's jealousy exploding... PMV ... (present episode) I 28: Kyoko surprised. I'm Kentaro's father. Based on: (Japanese/English title unavailable) Vol. 4, part 3 - Normal; Vol. 3, part 2 - Wideban. Synopsis: -------- [ Opening Theme: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa (Hello Sadness), Saito Yuki ] Ikuko, Kyoko and Souichiro walk down the hill. Ikuko takes Souichiro's leash as Kyoko relives a flashback. (1) Otonashi-sensei and Shiro walk up the hill, into the sun. Kyoko calls after him. [ As Souichiro and his dog walk into the sun, Kyoko voices the title text. ] At the train station, Ikuko bids goodbye to her auntie and her dog. Kyoko relives another flashback. Otonashi calls the dog "Shiro". Shiro eats a yakitori and tries to take the other one. Kentaro meets Kyoko and asks her who "Shiro" is. Kentaro takes "Shiro". Kyoko continues to shop. Kentaro comes home and tells Kyoko that he lost him at a train crossing. She tells him that he'll come home, that he's strong. "He must have been lured by the scent of yakitori." Later, Kentaro meets with the Yotsuya, Akemi, and Godai. (2) The first two contemplate his disappearance while Godai stares at Kentaro. Late at night, Godai passes the window by his room and stares at the empty dog house. (3) Kyoko tosses and turns in her bed. The next day, Godai asks some kids if they've seen a dog. Kyoko, in the street, mistakes "Taro" for "Shiro." Kyoko sees Kentaro put a "Missing Dog" sign. Over a bridge, she talks about how Kentaro described her dog. "Souichiro, you're so greedy..." [ Standard commercial break. ] Godai and Yotsuya sit in his room and discuss Souichiro's disappearance. "Don't forget the owe of being fed for three days." It starts to rain outside. Kyoko stops knitting and stares out of her window. The next day, at Chachamaru, the party posse with a big lean, white scruffy dog talk about their manager. The master suggests looking in the pounds. Yotsuya explains that he wouldn't be there, but Master takes away a big slab of meat. Godai and Kentaro ask a little girl if they've seen the dog. She nods her head and they dance. Kentaro starts to get nervous. He starts to run away, but Godai grabs him. The girl grabs their attention, but her dog isn't "Shiro". Back at Ikkoku-kan, Kyoko experiences another flashback. (4) While Grandfather Otonashi leaves her, Kyoko, drabbed in black garb, hugs "Shiro." The noise of the running water wakes her from her reverie. She runs outside to search for him. Both Kentaro and Godai continue to search for the dog, but Godai finds him. "Boke!" Kyoko walks home after looking for her dog. She looks up the hill, sees two silhouetted figures and yells, "Souichiro-san," but stops in midstride. The street lighting reveal Godai and Souichiro. (5) At home, the party posse begin the night thing. Godai looks out the window. Kyoko smiles and feeds her dog. [ Kyoko narrates the preview for next episode. ] [ Ending theme: Shi-Ne-Ma (Cinema), Picasso. ] Notes: ----- CEC's notes: If ever I was going to get a MI Sound Theater CD, I'd get this episode!!! The music is everything!!! Enough said. I think its the music that make the mood. (1) The music is the one from Souichiro's diary episode, instrumental only. (2) Yotsuya says, "I don't have the confidence to explain it to you correctly so that you'd understand." (3) The episode is just chock full of music!!! (4) Instrumental of the ending theme from eps 1-15: Ashita Hareruka. (5) Alone Again (Naturally), Gilbert O'Sullivan. --------------------------------------------- Alternate synopsis by Michael Studte: [ received May 1994 ] = 97 lines Maison Ikkoku Ep 27: Souichiro-san Disappears! Scent of yakitori revives old memories. Synopsis by Michael Studte Internet Address: NOTE: Yakitori - small, grilled chicken pieces on bamboo skewers For clarity in this episode's synopsis, uses of "Souichiro-san" refer to Kyouko's husband, and "Souichiro" by itself refers to the dog. This is the first episode with character designs by Akemi Takada (Kimagure Orange Road, Urusei Yatsura TV series). It is late August, and Ikuko-chan and Kyouko are walking to the station when Souichiro gets a little out of hand. Ikuko takes over holding him, but he soon becomes playful again and Kyouko asks him to stop. In a flashback, we see a young Kyouko walking up a hill, seeing a man and a young dog up ahead, silhouetted against the sun. She calls out to the man, "Souichiro-san," and both he and the dog turn. Ikuko is at the station buying a ticket for the ride home. Kyouko tells her to be careful and to give her regards to Ikuko's father. Ikuko-chan runs off. [Flashback] Souichiro explains to Kyouko that Shiro ("White") the dog likes yakitori a lot, which the dog demonstrates by going after the packet Souichiro-san is holding. Kyouko laughs at the memory and calls Souichiro "Shiro" several times without response. Suddenly, Kentaro appears behind her and asks her why she's calling the dog by that name. Kentaro then offers to look after Souichiro for a while so Kyouko can do her shopping unimpeded. Later, Kyouko is walking home, greeting a neighbour along the way. Back home, she prepares the yakitori she purchased when Kentaro comes back, yelling for her. He explains to Kyouko that Souichiro ran away as they were crossing a railroad track, chasing a man carrying a bag of yakitori. Kyouko tries to reassure that it wasn't Kentaro's fault and that he shouldn't worry too much, Souichiro'll be okay. That evening, Kentaro relays the day's events to Akemi, Yotsuya and Godai. They are enjoying the spare yakitori Kyouko gave them. Later, as Godai is about to turn in, he takes a last look down at Souichiro's dog house, with the plate of yakitori in front of it. Kyouko, despite reassuring Kentaro, has trouble sleeping that night. At a playground the following morning, Godai tries to ask some kids about Souichiro but they are afraid he's some sort of weirdo. Eventually he does quiz some kids, but the response is less than hopeful. Kyouko is also scouring the neighbourhood looking for Souichiro. As she passes a yakitori shop, she sees a dog that looks like Souichiro, but it turns out to be another dog. Crossing a street a short while later, she sees Kentaro posting signs asking for information about Souichiro's whereabouts. [Flashback] Souichiro-san is trying to teach the dog to respond to "Shiro" as his name. He's not having too much luck, but the dog responds immediately when Kyouko calls for "Souichiro-san". That evening, back at Ikkoku-kan, both Godai and Yotsuya are both a little somber, even Yotsuya isn't quite his quick-witted self. As they discuss Souichiro's disappearance, it starts to rain. We see that the yakitori is still on the plate outside Souichiro's dog house. The following morning, the loon squad meets at the ChaCha Maru to discuss what they can do. One of the plans is to replace Souichiro with a dog they have found, although Ichinose doesn't think this will work (the dog does look different). Meanwhile, Godai and Kentaro have met a girl who claims Souichiro is back at her home. They give her a full questioning about the dog, and she confirms all facts. Godai and Kentaro are ecstatic. Back at Ikkoku-kan, Kyouko is cleaning the floor absent-mindedly, with still no sign of Souichiro. The girl leads Godai and Kentaro back to her house and asks them to wait outside. They wait patiently, but Kentaro can't stand the suspense and panics. Godai desperately tries to calm him down when the girl re-emerges with the dog, who is not quite as described. Kyouko is still distracted and while filling a bucket recalls the time just after Souichiro-san's death when she was grieving, but still keeping his sandals at the door in the futile hope he would return. Shiro approaches and sniffs the sandals. Kyouko takes Shiro up as a replacement to her dead husband and calls him "Souichiro". At this point the water spills over the bucket, shaking Kyouko out of her reverie, and she runs off in anguish. Godai and Kentaro are sitting at the banks of one of the canals and decide to split up. Godai has nearly given up, when he hears a child and mother arguing in a backyard, which is punctuated by a very familiar bark. Kyouko is once again walking up the hill towards the setting sun when she suddenly sees Souichiro-san and a dog silhouetted as she had, a long time ago. She calls out to Souichiro-san, and both figures turn. Time freezes, Kyouko not quite believing what is happening. The sun shifts and she can see that it is in fact Godai who has found Souichiro. As Kyouko whispers Godai's name, he leans down to Souichiro and tells him to "go to her". Souichiro enthusiastically runs to Kyouko who is still stunned but recovers and hugs Souichiro. That evening, another party is taking place in Godai's room, but Kyouko is out on the back porch watching Souichiro wolf down the yakitori, while Godai is feeling a little rejected, with "Souichiro" (both husband and dog) once again coming between Kyouko and him. -- Michael Studte ==================================================================== @ep28 == Episode 28: == == Kyoko surprised. I'm Kentaro's father. == =====================================================================small Background info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #28. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history - "summary only / total" lines CEC-940430Sat 1734-1820 Small synopsis + background info. 88 lines CEC-..0516Mon 2221-2228 Standardized format. 42/88 CEC-....22Sun 1600-1602 Uploaded to the MI Guide 5! 42/87 Air date : 1986.10.1 Wed (according to Andy Johnson's Episode Airdates) Date of story: Sept 1986 (according to Andy Johnson's Time Line) Duration: The first half is one day, a few scenes of the second half are in between days, and the rest is from one day. Cast in order of appearance: Kyoko, Souichiro, Kentaro, Ichinose's husband, Ichinose, Godai, Yotsuya, Akemi, Master. Episodes, before and after: PMV 27: Disappeared Souichiro-san. Scent of yakitori is the memory. I ... (present episode) F 29: Slapstick autumn fest. Inside a well with Kyoko-san. Based on: (Japanese/English title unavailable) Vol. 7, part 3 - Normal; Vol. 5, part 3 - Wideban; Synopsis: -------- [ Opening Theme: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa (Hello Sadness), Saito Yuki. ] Kyoko sweeps the leaves onto sidewalk. Souichiro eats his food. Kentaro bids his goodbye. An old man also exits Ikkoku-kan and bids her goodbye. Ichinose follows him with a food bag. Kyoko bends down to watch Ichinose fix his tie. [ As the title text fades onto Kyoko's face, Kyoko voices the title text. ] Kentaro runs home after school. He finds his mom passed out from booze. He shows her a parent's participating race. She hopes there's alcohol as a prize. Kentaro waits outside. Godai shows up, then Kentaro's father shows up. Over dinner, Ichinose and her husband talk about his job. Later, Kentaro asks Kyoko to run in the race with Godai, as a sister-brother pair, instead of asking his parents. Godai happily accepts, as Yotsuya and Akemi look on. Kentaro's father goes to Godai's room. Kentaro leads his father downstairs. His father asks him about the race, but Kentaro tells him not to worry about it. Ichinose discusses the race with her husband, but tells him that Kentaro's not the type of kid to get hurt by missing a race. Kentaro responds by moving in his sleep. [ Standard commercial break. ] Yotsuya walks with Kentaro's father, to work. They bump into Kyoko who is running. Kentaro's father finds out that Kentaro asked Kyoko to run instead of him. At the day of the race, Kentaro runs in first, but slows as he finds his parents cheering him on. He tells them not to bother everybody. Off to the side, Kentaro persuades Kyoko and Godai to run. Godai and Kyoko try to practice, but they fall. The kids toss balls into a basket. Godai and Kyoko continue, but a volleyball crosses their path. They fall and Godai twists his left ankle. Godai gets it ankle bandaged, while Kentaro's parents tie their ankles together, in preparation for the race. Kentaro asks them to blow up balloons, just to make sure they aren't drunk. He smells them, but finds no trace of sake in their system. He can't believe that they aren't drunk. Ichinose stresses during the race. Kentaro just looks at the two balloons in his hands. Kentaro stares wide eyed, clutching the two flaccid balloons. Later, at Chachamaru's, Ichinose yells, "First price!" Kentaro tells her to stop embarrassing him. Kyoko tells Ichinose's husband that she really envies them. Ichinose motions her husband to drink. Godai starts to drink but coughs. Feeling Kyoko's hands massage his back, Godai goes right back to coughing. [ Kyoko narrates the preview for next episode. ] [ Ending theme: Shi-Ne-Ma (Cinema), Picasso. ] Clarifications: -------------- CEC: What does Godai say to himself while Kyoko tells him to synchronize? <.5. ---------------------------- Alternate synopsis by Michael Studte: .6.> Maison Ikkoku Episode 28 - Kyouko's Surprised! I'm Kentaro's Father. Synopsis by Michael Studte [ 94.07.01 Added this synopsis to Guidebook. Rec'd on June25. ] = 121 lines Cultural notes for this episode: The type of school festival portrayed in this episode, with children participating with their parents, takes place annually in autumn in Japan. It is a late autumn day, Kyouko sweeping the brown leaves up, with Souichiro eating contentedly. A gust of wind blows up, causing the leaves to scatter, and Kyouko redoubles her efforts to scoop them up. Suddenly, Kentaro comes running out the front door, and saying good morning to Souichiro and Kyouko, proceeds to school. He is followed shortly after by a man. He says good morning to both of them and shuffles off to work. Kyouko is hard pressed trying to think who he is, she doesn't remember seeing him before. The door opens yet again, and Ichinose emerges, carrying a bento box, yelling for "Dad" to stop. She runs off after him, and Kyouko crouches down to peer around the front wall. Ichinose is handing the man the bento and straightens his tie. It suddenly dawns on Kyouko, this is Ichinose's husband? Later in the day, Kentaro is running home, welcomed by Souichiro. Kentaro races inside excitedly only to find his mother asleep, apparently passed out again from drinking. He wakes her, and has to remind her that it's NOT time for him to run off to school, but that it is indeed afternoon. He reluctantly hands over a notice from the school to parents inviting them to a sports day. As usual, Ichinose's first instinct is to ask whether they can take something to drink along. Kentaro gives up and goes outside, skipping along the sidewalk. Godai returns home, and the two exchange the customary insults. He is followed closely by Kentaro's dad, whom Kentaro enthusiastically welcomes. Both walk inside. At dinner, the news comes out that Ichinose's husband has lost his job -- his company went bankrupt. Later, Kentaro talks to Kyouko about how he can't depend on his parents to take part in the parent's three-legged race at the sports day. Kyouko is surprised when Kentaro asks her to take their place. He says Godai can pretend to be her brother so he can also participate. When Kentaro presents this idea to Godai, he is quite enthusiastic and mature about it. Yotsuya immediately tries to go for the sake to celebrate this, and Godai has to restrain him. A knock at the door announces Kentaro's dad, who has come to take Kentaro down to their own room. After he and Kentaro leave, everyone wonders "Was that....?" Kentaro's dad talks to Kentaro on their way downstairs, saying that now he's unemployed he has time to take part in the three-legged race. Kentaro says it'll be alright without his help and walks ahead, leaving his father at the foot of the stairs. Later, Ichinose and her husband are discussing the situation, Ichinose once again drinking. She disagrees with her husband that they should take part in the race, saying that Kentaro won't be bothered by it. In annoyance, Kentaro moans as he throws off his bed cover. Ichinose re-arranges his position, before everyone goes to sleep. The following morning, Ichinose's husband walks out the front of Ikkoku-kan, followed by a suited Yotsuya. As they set off to work, they are met by Kyouko, returning from a morning jog with Souichiro. After greeting her, they set off, Yotsuya remarking that Kyouko is exercising like this because Kentaro asked her to take part in the sports day race. The day of the sports carnival has arrived and the kids' race is on. As Kentaro runs, and doing very well indeed, he spots his mother, yelling her encouragement waving a bottle over her head. Kentaro can't take it any more and gives up the race. He runs over to her, complaining, but she replies that as a mother she has to be here. Kentaro asks Kyouko and Godai to participate in his parents' place to avoid the inevitable embarrassment they would cause him. Godai stupidly agrees that he and Kyouko would doubtless be better than his parents before catching himself. The outing has turned into a full party by the Ikkoku-kan clan, even Akemi and Yotsuya turning up. Godai and Kyouko, meanwhile, tie their legs together for the race. Godai excuses himself before putting his arm around Kyouko. However, he fades a bit from reality as Kyouko outlines their strategy and when it comes time to take the first step he doesn't know which foot to start on, sending both him and Kyouko to the ground. A short while later, they are practising running around, and doing quite well, keeping in step of each other until a volleyball rolls into Godai's path and he slips, twisting his ankle. Godai is bandaged up in the first aid area, his foot badly sprained, as the call for the race competitors is made over the PA system. Kentaro is running around frantically looking for Kyouko and Godai. Yotsuya says he's not the manager's manager, so it's no use asking him. His parents get up, and tie their legs up, saying they'll be fine. Kentaro tries to stop them, saying they'll embarrass him in the state they are in. They deny this, and Kentaro offers them balloons to blow into. They do, and he discovers that there is no alcohol on either breath. Kentaro can't believe it. The race starts, and Kentaro's parents are off to a slow start. Kyouko cheers them on enthusiastically, Kentaro still stunned. Emerging from the first obstacle (a net) Kentaro's parents are getting slightly out of breath. They reach the second obstacle, a set of parallel bars they have to negotiate, and this is where they pass the first of the other couples. Kentaro, meanwhile, is still stunned. At the hurdles, his parents encounter another couple hopelessly entangled, and they pass the hurdles in the most practical way. The next test is to drag a ball backwards by rope without losing it. And while Kentaro's parents aren't very fast at this, it is made up by their persistence, when another couple loses their ball and, while running to get it, fall over. The race is really coming alive now, with Kentaro STILL looking on shocked. At this stage, his parents are really out of breath, yet they pass two more entangled couples as Kentaro finally notices how well his parents are doing. Later, in the evening, everyone is at the ChaCha Maru partying it up. Kentaro as always is trying to calm his mother's wild behaviour, who is celebrating how well they did. Yotsuya is stuffing himself madly, and Akemi breathes smoke in Godai's face as he's drinking. Yotsuya complains that Godai shouldn't cough all over the place like that as Kyouko gets up and walks over to rub his back to make it better. Next week: All sorts of weirdness happens as a Halloween dress-up gets out of hand with Kyouko ending up down a well. -- Michael Studte Glenn says: Here's an excellent (and huge) piece of trivia from soc.culture.japan. (Unfortunately, s.c.j has a terrible signal to noise ratio, so I rarely read it these days.) It was posted on May 18, 1992 by Hiro Takeda . Anyway, this report/essay/whatever will help you greatly by providing background information for what happens in the episode when Kentaro's parents show up for the three-legged race. For reference, look at Episode 28, v7c3 or VW5c3. Are sports festivals all the same all over Japan? I keep getting the impression that the education system in Japan is one single monolithic structure in which everything is uniform. Why, back when I was in elementary school in Canada, we had sports days, but I doubt that every school did it in the same way. Well, I'll save that description for another day... Would anyone like to volunteer a description of their own sports days? ----------------->8---- Begin: cut here ---->8------------------------------ Japanese School: Undoukai (sports festival) by Hiro Takeda 1991 This is probably one of the most awaited events of the year for the students. It's a sports day in which you get to compete to win recognition and pride in various events. The Undoukai usually takes place in October (fall) going along with the saying 'Undou no Aki' ('Fall is for sports'--don't ask me why). Lately (since the early 80's) there have been schools who have this festival during the spring semester, but traditionally it's done during the fall semester. The events building up until the festival are choosing people to do different tasks, choosing representatives for the relay, making hachimaki, making otedama, practicing some dance, practicing some events, and getting excited. Kakari - There are various tasks that have to be done and the Kakari are usually chosen and performed by the upper classmen (4th, 5th, 6th graders). The various kakari are: yougu(Dougu) Gakari - people who take care of objects for events. They get the stuff out of the storage room and take them out for various events. Very tiring and hard. Needs power work so boys usually got this task. Tokuten Gakari - People who keep score. I really don't know how they work. Housou Gakari - People who announce stuff through the speakers, such as events coming up and scores etc. hoken gakari - basically the first aid people. Ouendan - This really isn't a kakari but it's a pep squad or cheering squad for the 2 teams. If you get onto this you have to wear a uniform and lead the cheering for your team. These people would usually practice every day after school for about 2-3 weeks. It is mostly vocal cheering though. Sometimes with a big taiko(drum) too. There are probably some others that I overlooked. But about 2 weeks prior to the event we pick these kakari. Representatives for the relay - We usually picked 4 representatives for the relay race from each class (remember each grade is divided into classes of about 40 students called kurasu or class, so I don't mean the whole grade): 2 boys, 2 girls. About 2 weeks prior to the event, in gym class we would all race and pick these representatives. It was kinda like an honor to represent your class in this way. Making hachimaki, otedama - The whole school is divided into 2 teams for this event. The Akagumi(Red) and Shirogumi(White). If the school has kouhakuboushi(red-white hats that are interchangeable) then there is no need to make the Hachimaki(Headband). Usually again about 2 weeks prior to the event we are assigned which team we are on and we have our mothers make us a hachimaki of that colour. The otedama is a small bean bag made of cloth with uncooked beans or rice in it. It is used for the Tamaire which I'll explain later. Praticing a dance - Each grade has some kind of folk dance like presentation that they do at this event. We may do acrobatic stuff like making a human tower, or make human formations on the field, or do some folk dance. This event was always lame and I think everyone hated it. I still think they should eliminate it. But I guess it builds character. You see we all practiced this presentation for about 3 weeks in taiku(gym) class and it was very boring. Practicing an event - some events we practiced. The Kibasen(which I'll explain later) is considered very dangerous and needed some practice. Well then after a lot of anticipating this event occurs at most schools on some Sunday in October. At 6:00 AM the school will shoot up 2 fire crackers that just make a BOOM type noise. This means that there will be the undoukai. If nature doesn't permit there will be no boom and we'll all have to go to school even though it's a Sunday. The next day (Monday) is a temporary holiday though and they'll reschedule the event. Mom is usually up making obento(picnic lunch) for the whole family. The kids leave for school at the regular time, except for the kakari people who have to get there a little early. The event starts at 9:00 AM and the whole family will be there to see their sons and daughters. Around 8 AM the ceremony takes place. There's the opening ceremony which includes the traditionally boring speech by the principal, the commitment by one student representing everyone to play fair under sportsmanship, the singing of the school song(not the national anthem), the return of the flag by last years winner, the preparatory exercises (in which the audience also participates), and then the students disperse to their respective seats. Then there are the events. Each event is competed by a different grade. The first event may be tsunahiki(tug of war) done by the 4th grade for example and then the 2nd grade will get the next event such as the 100m dash. Here are some of the traditional events. 100 m dash - every grade (1-6) will compete in this event at some point of the day. The first grade may be at 11 AM, 5th grade at 2 PM and so on. Tamaire - Some of you probably have seen this. It's kinda like basketball. A teacher for each team holds a basket on a stick that is about 12 feet tall. The kids try to make as many into the basket in a time frame. The winner is the team with the most in the basket. Usually done by 1st, 2nd, or 3rd graders. This was sometimes a good opportunity to get back at the teacher holding the basket. We'd sometimes douse him/her with the otedama. Karimono Kyousou - This is a race in which you borrow something. You run to the middle of the field and pick up an envelope. The envelope would say something like 'cup' and you'd have to run to the audience and borrow a cup and go to the finish line. Shougaibutsu kyousou - basically an obstacle course race. You have to jump over bars, eat doughnuts on a string, dive under nettings, etc. Kibasen - an event where each team has groups of 4. Each 4 man team builds a horse in which there is one man in front, two in the back right behind the front man's shoulders. The rear right man would put his left hand on the front man's right shoulder. The same for the left man but with the other hand. The right hand of the front guy and the right hand of the right rear guy are connected in a cup, and the same with the left guy. The 4th guy gets on top. The feet go into the cups, and he sits between the shoulders of the guy in the back. The object is to knock the other teams guy off, or get his hachimaki(hat), or destroy the horse by bumping into them. Gets really confusing and dangerous. 5th and 6th graders participate. Boys and girls are separated. Race for the Kids: There was always some race for kids that are about to get into the school. Generally these were 2-5 year olds that would be entering school in the following few months. They would line up at one end and race to the goal line that was maybe 50 m away. In the middle there would be some kind of prize waiting for them. They would start, run to the prize and pick it up and run towards the goal line. It didn't always work this way though. only 20% of the kids would finish. Most just stood where the prize was and hold it in excitement. Or they would run back to their parents. You could understand our dislike for this event. It was stupid to watch, they were spending more on their prizes, and it was soo easy to do. At least from the grade schoolers point of view. Obviously this didn't affect the scores of the outcome of the Undoukai. Bootaoshi - This is an event used with 2 long bamboo poles. They are generally colored in red and white. The two groups (white and red) generally have about 20-50 people as a team. They will break up into defense and offense. The defense is basically holding up the pole perpendicular to the ground when it starts. When the whistle sounds the offense will run across the field and "attack" the other teams pole and try to pull it down beneath the shoulders. When both ends of the pole are below the shoulders then the game has ended. The quicker one is the winner. The defense will try to prevent this. The key for winning is to distribute your team appropriately (if you had 1 on D then he'd probably won't be able to support the pole by himself), and each part work in a team work manner. On defense there is no point to have everyone at the base of the pole. It's too hard for 20 people to support a pole at the base. (some physics) The offense has to penetrate the base and part of the offense has to wait for the top to fall so they can pull it down. It's easier this way (again some more physics) There is no pushing, or body contact, but at the base there are sooo many people that little things may not be seen. Basically no one has punched anyone or hit anyone intentionally but you can get bumped and fallen upon, therefore the chances of getting hurt is pretty high on this event IMO. Hyakushoo Ikki - The translation of this means "farmer's revolt." What it is is a recreation of people scramming for a ^Hyo^ of rice. It's what rice came in centuries ago (maybe recently too but I've seen it only for commercial purposes in my life). What they do is line up about 15 sand bags in the middle of the field. Sometimes old tires are used. Each team has about 20-50 people. Then the teams line up on both ends of the field. One side white and the other red. When the first whistle blows we all run up to get one sand bag. And we try to pull it to our side. There is a line at each end where if you pull your sand bag over it's considered secure and the other team can't touch it. The team with the most sand bags secured after the 2nd whistle blows, is the winner. What happens is a lot of times a whole bunch of kids go to one bag. Some are untouched for over 30 seconds. If you can get to one that isn't popular fast and have one person run it back you have secured one and more people can go to the aid of other bags that may be turning into small tug of war's. Towards the end there is usually 1-2 bags that are being pulled at in the middle. Oh BTW there is no body contact. No taking out someone, or punching or nothing. Marason - Yes it's the dreaded Marathon. Ususally at the most about 10 km long. Usually the 5th and 6th graders participate in this. We go outside campus and return after one or so events. Tamaire (#2) - This is a little different in that a teacher is actually going to carry a basket like a backpack. The object is to throw the otedama into the basket the teacher is running around trying to avoid the shots. It is done is a certain time frame and the team that gets the most wins. Each teacher out there (2 one for white and other for red) stays basically in his/her half of the field. There is much more going on here though. If you may have noticed it's a chance for the students to throw an object at a teacher. :) Depending on the teacher and students it can make for a very spectacular time for the students. But usually they set it up so hated teachers aren't used. Then also the students used are from 1-2nd grades. So they don't bean the teacher. Relay - There are 4 teams: Red-white-yellow-blue. The white and yellow run for the white, and the red and blue for the red. The relay is run by the representatives from each class, boys and girls. usually the ankaa (anchor: last guy) runs a whole lap and the rest a half lap. So with 4 classes/grade. 3 grades. 4 people/class. 4 X 4 X 3 = 48 / 4 teams = 12 runners. So it's about 7 laps. The first graders that can do the baton tochi (baton passing) good usually lead most of the way. They always frustrated me since they couldn't hold on or make that smooth transition. I know I've forgotten some events and there may be some "not so well heard" events. If so send them in....I may be able to put more together. Usually the morning events end with the 1-3rd grade relay and then it's lunch. We all break up and go to our parents and eat lunch (obentoo) with our family. This hour is probably the best. The food's great and it's like a family picnic. Then the afternoon events take place and the whole Undoukai ends around 3-4 pm with the 4-6th grade relay. This is always exciting. The best part is if someone falls and take's another team with them, then you may see a quick change in order. Well after this event the scoreboard is changed for the last time (all through the day the scoreboard is updated) and one team prevails. The winner is awarded the Championship flag. The team leader or the Ooendancho (Lead cheerleader) is given the flag. We all sing the school song and we disperse. But the upper grade level students usually stay to clean up and stuff. The way the score is kept is always a secret and we always suspect that there is a lot of planning done ahead so that the outcome is always exciting. I've never seen an Undoukai that was a blowout. Actually it's always decided by the final relay. The best part is that the following Monday is a holiday since we attended school on a Sunday. I always saw a lot of fathers there. I think it's one of the most important events of the year for parents and children alike. The worst thing is that when it rains we get to go to school on a Sunday and attend regular classes. Even though we get the next day off. See ya later HIRO ----------------->8---- End: cut here---->8------------------------------ Hmm, after re-reading this, I think I might start hanging around on soc.culture.japan again... ==================================================================== @ep29 == Episode 29: == == MADCAP AUTUMN FESTIVITIES. == == KYOUKO'S IN A WELL. == ========================================================================== [ 94.07.01 Added Michael's synopsis. Rec'd on June 25 ] And here is episode 29. I changed the translation of the episode name from the one usually given in the Guide (ie. in the title list). Madcap seemed more appropriate than slapstick. -- Michael Studte Notes for this episode: - Kyouko is dressed up as Okiku-san of Sarayashiki. `Okiku', meaning chrysanthemum (this design appears on Kyouko's kimono), married a proud man of a good family. He had inherited ten antique plates. One day, while she was washing the plates, Okiku accidentally broke one, and from shame she killed herself by drowning in a well. Her ghost can be heard repeatedly counting the plates, but never reaching ten. (thanks to C. Sue Shambaugh) - "Urameshii" - what Japanese ghosts are said to exclaim. Synopsis: --------- It's evening, and Kentaro, all dressed up, runs out the front door of Ikkoku-kan and takes Souichiro with him. He runs up to where the entire gang is preparing for some Halloweenish fun. Kyouko, wearing a kimono and made up as Okiku-san, is complimenting Kentaro on his kimono. Godai's university friend walks in shortly later, Kyouko as usual having forgotten that his name is Sakamoto. He recognizes who she is dressed up as. Kyouko tries to act her dressed up self and tries to frighten him, but Sakamoto isn't the least bit scared. Akemi and Yotsuya are using make-up to prepare Godai's disguise. When he turns around we see that he is made up as a cat, with insults scribbled all over his face. Kyouko argues with Akemi and Yotsuya about the scribbling as Godai practices his scary cat act. It takes him a while to realise what is written on his face. Kyouko takes a cloth and wipes his face clean, then applies new make-up. Godai doesn't mind all the close personal contact and complies when Kyouko asks him to hold still and close his eyes so she can do a better job. She is called away for a second without Godai noticing. Ichinose takes over and it takes him a while to realise that the hand holding his face is not Kyouko's. Kyouko is searching the park for the well. She stops as she passes a scary-looking graveyard, complete with upturned coffin. Suddenly, Frankenstein's monster bursts forth from the bushes. To his horror, Kyouko isn't at all shocked, although she tries to reassure him that he looks very scary. She wanders on, and the monster is looking very dejected. His friend, a wolfman, comes into view and tries to encourage him. Meanwhile a mummy is scaring the daylights out of Godai until he realises it is ChaCha Maru's Master. Godai chides him for being annoying. Kyouko, meanwhile, is waiting next to the well, looking it over. She decides to climb down into it. Master explains to Godai that this entire park is made up for just such a scary occasion, everything being fake. Godai asks him who came up with the idea for this get together. When Godai finds out it was Yotsuya, he fears the worst. Godai is running around looking for Kyouko when he too comes across the monster and wolfman. In his hurry, however, he just yells at them to leave him alone while running on. This time the monster is devastated and loses his screws. The wolfman desperately tries to cheer him up. Godai calls down the well, and receives an "Urameshiiii" in reply. He tells her that this is not right, and asks her if she is okay down her. He tries to help her get out, but, trying to get a grip on her hand, overbalances and ends up down the well like her. Outside the well, we see ghostly spectres floating past to the sound of young girls' laughter. Godai offers Kyouko his back to climb up onto to get out, but just as she reaches the edge and he tries to raise her higher, he slips. He is ashamed it didn't work, but trying to put a brave face on it doesn't work, as Kyouko bursts out laughing at the combination of his expression and the make-up. Suddenly Yotsuya turns up and asks to climb down onto Godai's back. He climbs onto his shoulders and remains there. He is merely hiding to sneak a peek at a young couple kissing in the park. A minute later, he climbs up again and is gone before Kyouko and Godai can stop him. Frankenstein's monster, meanwhile, has found new prey. Mitaka is walking through the park debating with himself the merits of being afraid. He is so self-involved that he does not even notice the double assault by the monster and the wolf. He is, however, scared out of his wits when Yotsuya surprises him. Shortly later, both are seen running to the well. Kozue, however, proves a much more viable target for our two scary friends, except that at this point the wolfman is so intent on consoling his friend they completely miss their chance to scare her. Kozue is scared out of her wits anyway, just by seeing them beside the path, and runs off screaming for Godai. Both the monster and his friend regain their confidence. Mitaka and Yotsuya, meanwhile have arrived at the well, and Mitaka tries to help them out of the well. Godai lifts Kyouko up to make it easier. Suddenly, Godai and Kyouko see Yotsuya coming up behind Mitaka and yell to warn him. As Mitaka looks behind him, though, Yotsuya manages to mislead him. As soon as Mitaka leans forward again, however, Yotsuya pushes him over the edge into the well. Satisfied, he walks off to find new prey. Kozue is wondering where Godai is, still being chased by other scary figures, when she comes across Yotsuya, who offers to take her to where Godai is. Mitaka and Godai are trying to come up with a plan over how to get them out of there, and they have to decide on who gets the honour of rescuing them. They settle on playing jyanken to decide the fact, since neither trusts the other. As they prepare to play, Kozue's voice interrupts them. She is hanging half-way down the well, so they help her down. She is happy to be down here, but Kyouko points out that it would have been wiser if she had climbed UP instead of down. A scared Kentaro runs around the park with Souichiro, looking for everyone. He stops near the well, but walks off again. Godai and Mitaka are arguing again furiously when Yotsuya drops in on them. Godai and Mitaka almost immediately go back to their bickering, not noticing that Yotsuya has vanished again. Just as they are about to get back to using jyanken again, Godai notices that Yotsuya is gone, and Kozue explains that he simply shimmied up the side of the well. Kentaro again approaches the well, but turns away again. Godai and Mitaka try climb up the side of the well, in the end Godai decides to offer his back to Mitaka. Just as Mitaka reaches the top, however, Akemi walks past, and seeing him, launches herself at Mitaka. All of them end up at the bottom of the well. Godai and Kyouko are mad at Akemi's irresponsibility, Kozue being more worried about Godai who got crushed at the bottom of the pile. In short succession, they are joined by Sakamoto and Yotsuya. Kentaro is back again, Souichiro sensing something: Kozue's FOOD! Kentaro hears the voices coming from the well and looks down carefully. He runs off screaming to his mother. Both of them run back to the well, Ichinose being well armed for another party. Frankenstein's monster tries to scare them but gets the fright of his life at the sight of Ichinose in full flight. The wolfman and monster decide to quit. Ichinose has arrived at the well, and throws down the food and drinks to the others before launching herself. Souichiro also joins in (to Mitaka's great dismay), and by this point everyone is squeezed in tight, Kyouko ending up squashed against Godai. Next episode: Kyouko is getting married and Godai leaves Ikkoku-kan!!! -- Michael Studte <.6. Footnotes: ---------- Pascal Janin: Here's a reply from my Japanese friend Tatsuo to a question I had about the masquerade which takes place in MI episode 29: ---being quote--- In an episode, there is a festival taking place at a nearby shrine, with everybody wearing supposed-to-be-scary costumes. Kyouko herself wears a dark- blue kimono with a red belt and a red ribbon in her hair. She is supposed to play "Okiku-san" of Sarayashiki, and scare people by murmuring "urameshii..." with a scary voice from within a well. Godai-kun is wearing cat gloves, cat ears and has a cat make-up, he is supposed to scare people too. Is that part of a traditional festival in Japan ? Tatsuo: It is "KIMODAMESHI", to evaluate how a person is brave or not. I think it's a children's play, more than a regular traditional festival. Okiku-san is a famous and traditional ghost character appears in KIMODAMESHI. (Oiwa-san is another famous character.) KIMODAMESHI usually takes place in summer, because it is said you will feel very cool when you see those ghosts. BTW many Japanese amusement parks have temporary "Obakeyashiki" (haunted house?) in summer. ---end quote--- Glenn writes: Kyoko is dressed up as Okiku-san of Sarayashiki. O-kiku means chrysanthemum; check the flower design on her kimono--those are chrysanthemums; `Mums' to us. Okiku was a servant of a samurai who had inherited 10 precious antique plates. One day the samurai's wife accidentally broke one of the plates. She hid the pieces by throwing them into a well on her husband's estate, and then to avoid his wrath, she accused Okiku of stealing the plate. In vain Okiku pleaded innocence and finally, in total despair, she drowned herself in the well which, unknown to her, was where the plate pieces had been hidden. After that, the ghost of Okiku appeared every night, counting from one to nine, but instead of saying `ten' broke into a fearful wail. Finally, the samurai and his wife were saved from the ghostly nuisance when a courageous friend waited next to the well for the punctual appearance of the ghost: when Okiku said `nine', he interjected the word `ten'. Thus the ghost was laid to rest. In the MI manga, Okiku also says "How mortifying" in a ghostly voice. --Tarigan, with help from Shambaugh. Reference: [MYTH75,p77] .8.> From: "J. Smith" Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 21:46:54 -0400 (EDT) I just saw this episode and think it was the most amusing one I've seen. Did anyone else particularly like this one? I do have a semi-serious question, namely what was that Yutsoya painted on Godai's face at the beginning of the show? It looked like it included writing along his forehead, could anyone read this, or was I just seeing things? Anyway, I thought it was a nice touch at the end when Souichiiro-san dove into the well with Mikita. Paolo Valladolid on Thu, 20 Apr 1995: I saw it last Saturday as part of a 9-hour MI viewing marathon sponsored by Cal-animage UCSD. I enjoyed that one too. What I don't understand is how Yotsuya got in and out of the well so quickly while the others had to struggle so much. I am also wondering about the writing on Godai's face as well. From: John Jones Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 15:48:24 -0600 (CDT) Yotsuya is an expert at anything which would enable him to improve his skills as a Hentai, including such things as free-climbing smooth walls, which is not generally included in the training of a college student, a kanrinin, or a tennis pro. In addition, it has been rumored that Yotsuya is not human (see eps. 32 and 44), so he could well have special powers that no one is aware of. Then again, he could just have remembered something to make his hands and feet stick, much like he "remembered" to bring a lighter in the Desert Island OAV ^_^ Paolo Valladolid: What is a "Hentai"? Secret Agent? Is it just me or does Yotsuya look a lot like Lupin? If so, is the resemblance deliberate? Sometimes he reminds me of Ambassador Kosh from Babylon 5, what with the odd phrases and mysterious aura. From: "J. Smith" Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 20:56:35 -0400 (EDT) My theory is that he learned some of those "Ninja tricks" that Aturu is always using to escape from Lum. Then again, Aturu is a bit of a hentai, so maybe it's just instinctual. Pavallado@waynesworld.ucsd.edu writes: >What is a "Hentai"? Secret Agent? Is it just me or does... Ah, something like that. Hentai has come into common Japanese usage to mean "pervert" or "perverted". Yotsuya is something of one, with his constant peeping, lurking, etc... One of the best parts of episode 30 was his standing on Godai's shoulders watching the young lovers, saying something like "The Autumn Festival, I WILL attend". Wes Shull: >What is a "Hentai"? Secret Agent? Is it just me or does Yotsuya look >a lot like Lupin? If so, is the resemblance deliberate? Ooh, ooh! I just can't let this one slip! Yes, you could call a Hentai a Secret Agent. However, the word means 'pervert' so they're not exactly the kind of secret agent you're thinking of. More like sneaking around, taking covert photographs, purloining undergarments, that kind of thing. You shouldn't have *any* trouble picturing Yotsuya in this role. Think of the early episode where he and Godai peek through Godai's closet-hole at Akemi. Hentai... Secret Agent... I like that. For some reason I'm remarkably reminded of the Hentai Club from Kimagure Orange Road... From: "Tony C. Luu" As I and my friends have concluded, Yotsuya must be a professional ninja. No doubt about it, that's what his "job" is =) I mean, scaling walls with ease, appearing and disappearing at will, balancing sake bottles and whatnot on his head, that haircut, the eyes! All you need is ninja garb! =) But this episode was pretty good. BTW, did Kyoko fall asleep on Godai's shoulders at the end? Or did she just look resigned? From: redwolf@raz.csc.ncsu.edu (Doug Eckhart) Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 10:02:22 -0400 (EDT) > >What is a "Hentai"? Secret Agent? Is it just me or does Yotsuya look > >a lot like Lupin? If so, is the resemblance deliberate? Actually, there was an article on ghosts in an issue of MangaJin magazine, and they had a picture of a ghost called Hokkaido Yotsuya (or something like that)... The picture looked a lot like the MI character... Or should I say the MI Yotsuya looked a lot like the ghost. > Yes, you could call a Hentai a Secret Agent. However, the word means > 'pervert' so they're not exactly the kind of secret agent you're thinking > of. More like sneaking around, taking covert photographs, purloining > undergarments, that kind of thing. You shouldn't have *any* trouble > picturing Yotsuya in this role. Think of the early episode where he and > Godai peek through Godai's closet-hole at Akemi. Really? You'd think that Yotsuya would do that sort of thing? I don't think I ever really considered Yotsuya to be that much of a pervert. Although he likes to spy on people, it is as much because he is simply nosy as it is to catch them in some perverted act... I can't really see Yotsuya stealing underwear or anything like that... Godai on the other hand... :-) Doesn't he get caught stealing a pair of underwear in one of the episodes... Even though it is his own underwear he was stealing.... > Hentai... Secret Agent... I like that. For some reason I'm remarkably > reminded of the Hentai Club from Kimagure Orange Road... Hentai Club from Kimagure Orange Road? From: pvallado@waynesworld.ucsd.edu (Paolo Valladolid) Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 12:50:14 -0700 (PDT) > > Sometimes he reminds me of Ambassador Kosh from Babylon 5, what with > > the odd phrases and mysterious aura. > > > So THAT'S where he went after MI ended! ^_- With that in mind, here's a missing scene from MI (Kosh as Yotsuya and Captain Sheridan as Godai): (Godai is suddenly awakened in the middle of the night by Yotsuya, who hands him an egg) Godai: What are you doing here? Yotsuya: We were never away. It is only now your mind has been quiet enough for me to reach you. Godai: What am I doing here? Yotsuya: You have always been here. (The next day...) Godai: Why were you in my room last night giving me that egg? Yotsuya: I listened to the song. Your thoughts became the song. I sought understanding. Godai: I don't understand. Yotsuya: Understanding is a three-edged sword. [Sorry, couldn't resist] <.8. .6.> ==================================================================== @ep30 == Episode 30: == == EH? KYOUKO-SAN GETTING MARRIED? == == TEARFUL GODAI MOVES OUT. == ========================================================================== Synopsis: --------- It is early November, and Kyouko is walking alongside Mitaka's car as the rest of the tennis gang come up behind them. They overhear the end of the (no longer) private conversation, dealing with marriage, and Kyouko saying she'd be happy to oblige. As Mitaka drives off, Kyouko looks happy and content. Later, Kyouko sees Godai outside a real estate agents browsing through the apartment listings. She says hi, and enquires if he is looking for a place. He reassures her he is only looking through them for a friend. They walk home together, and discuss how far he has come, especially how he is no longer the hopeless ronin he started out as. They both laugh at this, and Godai offers to take her groceries. That evening, Yotsuya and Akemi are in Godai's room. They mention that Ichinose overheard something about Kyouko and he asks them if something has happened that he doesn't know about. They break it to him that she is getting married to Coach Mitaka. He dismisses this, but it does start him worrying. Kyouko opens her door to find Ichinose wanting talk to her. Just as Kyouko asks her to come in, the phone rings, with Mitaka at the other end. Ichinose excuses herself and closes the door as she leaves. She stops outside Kyouko's room, lost deep in thought. She decides to think about the situation by sitting out on the balcony with the sake bottle. Godai happens past and notices her. He asks her what she's up to, and if she isn't cold. She says that Kyouko seems very happy about what is happening. As Godai sits down, she asks him if he is going to tell her (Kyouko) his feelings and offers him a drink. The next day, Mitaka and Kyouko have coffee. He thanks her for her help. Godai, walking in a daze comes to a railway crossing. As he is waiting, Kyouko sees him and walks up. He asks if she's going to get married. She replies "You heard?", but the rest of her response is drowned out as the train passes. As soon as the boom gate opens, he runs off, telling her good-bye. She is left standing, somewhat stunned. Godai spends some time by himself, standing on a bridge, then walks up the hill towards Ikkoku-kan. He reaches a decision, crouches down, then runs off, getting a little reckless. He returns to Ikkoku-kan, and Akemi and Yotsuya watch him pack his things. They try to talk him out of this silly idea, but he ignores them and walks downstairs with his stuff. Just as he reaches the front door, however, Kyouko returns home. After an awkward moment, he tries to say something to her, but can't bring himself to say the words. Ichinose comes out of her room and asks what is going. Kyouko says she doesn't know. Finally Godai is able to speak, and briefly thanks her for putting up with all the trouble he has put her through during his stay. She is somewhat perplexed as he grabs his things and runs off. After Kyouko is briefed about the events by the others, she explodes at them. It's not her that is getting married, it's Mitaka's SISTER that is getting married. She is seriously upset at the others for having had such active imaginations and believing this rumour. Godai is walking up to a pachinko parlour and mounts the stairs to the apartments above. He walks up to a door and tries the key. He's surprised to find the door unlocked. He opens the door and enters... until he sees the half-dressed woman in the room. He backs out, apologising for his mistake. He checks the info he was given by the real estate agent, and it confirms that this is where he is staying. He knocks on the door and enters when the woman replies. She is surprised it is him again. He explains that he was told he was renting this place. The woman says that he is correct, he is to board here, in a share arrangement. He is slightly taken aback by this. Back at Ikkoku-kan, Kyouko is staring into the sky as Ichinose returns. She asks if Godai has come back yet. Kyouko replies that he hasn't and continues sweeping absent-mindedly. Later that night, the woman turns off the TV and says it's probably time to go to sleep. Godai is folding up the legs of the table to make room for the futon. The woman's dress sense somewhat resembles Akemi's and Godai gets lost in the view as she bends over in front of him. Suddenly the door flies open with a burly man standing in the frame. The following morning, a parcel arrives at Ikkoku-kan for Godai and Kyouko takes it, not quite sure what to do with it. Yotsuya comes up and asks what she is holding. After finding out what it is, he offers to take it off her hands, but she doesn't trust him. Ichinose also comes out and Yotsuya tells her about the parcel. They discuss the options they have to deal with the parcel. The woman looks after the man (her husband), while Godai is made to do the dishes (as part of the sharing agreement). They abuse him quite a bit, and he puts up with it for a while, but his patience is starting to run a bit thin. Kyouko is sitting on the back porch, looking at the parcel when Souichiro barks. Her hopes are short-lived when it's a strange man's voice calling out: Some removalists have come to take Godai's stuff. As they carry out all of his stuff, everyone finally realises that this is it, he's not coming back. Kyouko runs out after them and asks the men for Godai's address, because of the parcel. They pass her his address, and she is surprised that it isn't in the local part of town. Later, she is vacuuming out Godai's room, unable to shake the reminders of his presence. The little touches of the room (a lonely clothes hanger, the boarded up hole to Yotsuya's room) bring back memories for her. She finally tells herself to get back to it and continues cleaning. The following cold morning, Kyouko and Akemi are walking into town, Akemi laughing lightly as Kyouko's intentions, saying she understands. Godai is playing pachinko, with his usual lack of money forcing him to scour for any dropped balls. He comes across one, but as he bends down, Yotsuya is suddenly before him and picks the ball up first. Kyouko arrives at the local train station, while Godai and Yotsuya have a drink at a small cafe. Godai says he can't return because of the wedding. Yotsuya admits that it was a rumour that turned out to be false. Kyouko arrives at Godai's apartment and is surprised when a woman's voice answers her knock. The woman opens the door, and Kyouko asks her if Godai is living here. The woman replies she is sharing the apartment with her. Kyouko is completely shocked "Ah.... is.... that.... so...?" and as the implications sink in, it starts to rain.... - to be continued - Next: Godai and Kyouko avoid each other. Is this the end of the love story of Ikkoku-kan? Synopsis by Michael Studte ==================================================================== @ep31 == Episode 31: == == IKKOKU-KAN SCANDAL. == == GODAI-KUN LIVING WITH A WOMAN? == ========================================================================== Synopsis: --------- Kyouko is outside the room where Godai's staying. Enquiring who the woman is, she tells Kyouko she's living with Godai. Kyouko is stunned, "I... see..." she barely manages to say as it starts raining. Kentaro has fallen asleep in Godai's room working on his homework. His mother tells him to come downstairs. She has no answer to his question of when "Big Brother" Godai is coming back. Later, she is in Kyouko's room when the phone rings. She calls out for Kyouko, who comes running in. She answers the phone. It is Godai, but as he asks her to listen to his explanation she hangs up on him. She tells Ichinose that it was a wrong number. Ichinose thinks that she has been getting a lot of those recently. She says that she could tell it was Godai by the look on her face. She asks Kyouko why she is so cold to Godai all of a sudden, and didn't she talk to him when she delivered the parcel? Kyouko says that Godai chose to live with a woman instead of coming back to them. Ichinose finds this hard to believe. Godai returns to the apartment. His co-habitants have cooked a rather extravagant sukiyaki, as it turns out from the proceeds of pawning off all his stuff. The man has spent the rest of the money on the horses. Godai goes off the deep end, fishing out all the meat, wolfing it down and then running off. He muses that if he can't get through to Kyouko over the phone he'll have to talk to her in person. He runs up to ChaCha Maru. It turns out all the gang (minus Kyouko) are there already. They tease him about living with a woman, but just as he is about to walk away, Yotsuya sums tells him he is sober and willing to listen to his story, if he buys him a drink. Godai tries to explain it all, that she's a married woman (Akemi says he must prefer other people's wives since Kyouko is also nearly a married woman). Ichinose thinks he just prefers older women. Godai desperately turns to a (by now rather intoxicated) Yotsuya and asks him to pass this info on to Kyouko. After Yotsuya shakily promises to do so, Godai leaves. Immediately the gang confers. Nobody, in their drunken state, seems to have gathered quite the right information, however. Later, they relate the by now completely garbled information to Kyouko, that Godai's leading an illicit affair with a married woman because he has a taste for older women. Ichinose vaguely recalls that Godai wasn't happy about staying with her, but Yotsuya says that it's just Godai's just been spoiled. Kyouko's had enough. As the gang walk back to their room they wonder if they relayed the right information, none of them is too sure. Kyouko hangs up her washing, talking to herself that Godai is the one who deserted Ikkoku-kan when the phone rings. Godai is once again attempting to talk to Kyouko. He asks her if the others relayed his story to her. After she says yes, he asks for his room back, but she says it's already been taken. When he says he'll take either of the other two rooms, she says they too have been filled. She hangs up upset at him, but she somehow feels that something is not right. Almost immediately the phone rings again and she hesitantly picks it up. It is ChaCha Maru's master, whom she later meets in town. He finally sets the record straight and tells her that Godai looked pretty miserable. Later that night, the gang join Kyouko in cleaning up Godai's room when everyone has been clued in about what Godai really said. Unfortunately, Godai is choosing that time to pay an uninvited visit and believes that they are having a party in his room for the new resident. The situation isn't helped when Akemi empties a bucket out the window on him. He runs back to the apartment but can't get in because the other residents are asleep and he left his key inside. A few days later, Kyouko drops in to the apartment to ask Godai to come back, but the woman says he hasn't been there in a week. Walking past a shop, a ringing phone brings back memories of his earlier call to try to explain things. When she meets Ichinose, she is asked if there's been any word from Godai. She says no, and Ichinose asks her exactly what happened the last time Godai called since there is no reason for him not to return. Kyouko finally is forced to admit that she told Godai that all rooms were full. Kyouko calls her father-in-law to enquire if Godai has turned up there, since he was supposed to tutor Ikuko-chan. Her father says that he didn't turn up because he phoned saying he had a cold. He is somewhat surprised that Godai is not at Ikkoku-kan and asked if something has happened. Godai is, in fact, staying at Sakamoto's place, nursing a cold. He says he can't return to the apartment but he also can't come back to Ikkoku-kan since there's no room empty. Godai promises he'll find a room and stop being a nuisance to Sakamoto. Kyouko is feeding Souichiro-san when Kentaro returns home and asks if Godai has come back. When told that he hasn't, he walks inside dejectedly. His mother scolds him for being so late, but Kentaro says he was in charge of the clean-up that day. Kyouko suddenly gets an idea where she might find Godai. Godai is out looking for a place to rent, but comes up empty. He returns to Sakamoto's place but soon discovers that the latter has company and tells Sakamoto he will be fine. Sakamoto apologises after Godai leaves. Kyouko is out looking for Godai, visiting the university and all the people he may have had contact with. At the same time Godai is calling all his friends, but comes up empty, the same as Kyouko who has asked almost everyone on campus, from his puppet-play partners to the canteen's cook. Godai spends the rest of the day in a cafe until it closes, then wanders the streets, finally ending up at Ikkoku-kan's front door. The gang are returning from ChaCha Maru, where Kyouko has overindulged a bit and is being helped home. As they near Ikkoku-kan, they hear Souichiro's excited bark, and see a figure backing out the front, shushing the dog. The gang yell out "thief" as the figure turns to run, but Kyouko recognises it for who it is, Godai. She chases after him, but he runs away saying he'll be okay, and his room's already being used. She finally catches his jacket but stumbles and both of them fall over on top of each other. Kyouko's eyes fill with tears as she apologises, asking him to come back, since his room is still empty. Yotsuya makes an unusually insightful remark, saying that maybe crying over spilled milk can make it all better again. Akemi sighs, saying that all's back to its normal state. Next Week: Yotsuya leaves a mysterious egg in Godai's care. But is it really an egg or a spy's secret weapon? Non-stop confusion as everyone tries to find out what's in the egg. Synopsis by Michael Studte ==================================================================== @ep32 == Episode 32: == == THE EGG OF MYSTERY. == == YOTSUYA'S DANGEROUS GIFT == ========================================================================== Synopsis: --------- Night-time, and Godai is sleeping uneasily. A figure looms over him, and Yotsuya's voice gently draws him awake. Yotsuya is waiting for Godai to wake, then shows him....an egg? As the sun rises, we suddenly hear Godai screaming as if being skinned alive. Akemi wakes up, knocking over her clock. Kyouko is frantically knocking on Godai's door. Akemi comes out of her room and takes charge, opening the door to his room. Godai is facing the window, holding the egg. The gang don't know what to make of this mysterious gift. After *VERY* gently putting down the egg on the table, everyone breathes a sigh of relief and Akemi wonders if Godai had a fight with Yotsuya. Godai emphatically shakes his head, and Ichinose says that it is indeed not like Yotsuya to give someone a gift, unless there's an ulterior motive. Suddenly everyone gets uneasy, and as the egg moves slightly, they all back off in panic. Ichinose reckons it's not likely to be something that will blow up, so they move back to the middle of the room. Akemi ponders (using Yotsuya's voice) the two dilemma Godai is in: "Godai-kun ate the egg I gave him. Oh my poor little egg." and "Godai-kun, are you not willing to eat this egg I gave you? Oh my poor little egg." Kyouko wonders if the egg is raw or boiled, to check if it's perishable. They decide that it's best kept refrigerated and turn to deal with the egg only to discover it having disappeared. After a frantic search, Kyouko suddenly notices that Akemi is also missing. At this point, Souichiro lets out a bark, and Kyouko comes to the right conclusion, Akemi wants to give the egg to Souichiro (it's one way to find out about the egg). She tosses the egg to Souichiro, but Kyouko arrives in the nick of time to snatch it out of the air. Later, Godai is walking through town with Kozue-chan, who notices that Godai is keeping his hands in his pockets and is hiding something. She jumps to the conclusion that he has got a present for her. He denies it, just as they arrive at the cinema showing the movie Kozue wanted to see. Sadly this turns out to be an Alien-like movie with eggs. Later at a restaurant, they discuss the egg. Kozue thinks that Godai should maybe incubate it, since that might be what Yotsuya wants him to do. Kozue has some strange ideas about what might hatch out of it. It could be a lizard or a small Yotsuya (this is a STRANGE girl). Back at Ikkoku-kan, Godai decides to return the egg to Yotsuya as he got it, not doing anything with it. He hears a noise downstairs, but it's only Kyouko returning from a shopping trip. Yotsuya, meanwhile, is having something to eat. He makes a very poetic remark (don't ask me what it means). Godai has joined Kyouko in her room. Kyouko insists they should find out if it's raw or boiled. She remembers reading about a way to check this without breaking it, but can't remember it off-hand. Kentaro comes in to check out this mystery egg. Distracting Godai, Kentaro runs off with the egg, but Godai catches up with him at the front door, and they both fall over, Kentaro letting go off the egg. The egg rolls to the edge of the stair, and tumbles down when Souichiro sniffs it. Godai screams again. Kyouko comes out saying she couldn't find the reference in the book. Godai says it doesn't matter, the egg is raw and points to Souichiro lapping at the broken egg. Godai is devastated, but Kyouko promises to explain the situation to Yotsuya when he returns. Ichinose says that Yotsuya might not be the sort who will listen to explanations like that. Kentaro jumps up, claiming victory. He produces the real egg, saying he made a switch. Godai doesn't find this funny at all. Godai is returning from the bath house and is met by Kyouko in the hall. She notices he took the egg with him. Godai says he felt safer that way than leaving it unguarded in his room. Kyouko says that maybe Yotsuya has been watching him all this time, but Godai doesn't pick this up as the joke she meant it to be. Yotsuya is also having a bath, meanwhile, again expounding more poetry to no-one in particular. The following morning begins as before, Godai screaming incessantly again. Everyone hurries to see what happened. Godai is now faced with a whole pile of eggs. Kyouko asks if Yotsuya paid Godai another visit, and Akemi wonders if the egg gave birth. Ichinose, however, guesses what has happened. It is Kentaro's work. Ichinose always marks all her eggs (with an "ichi/1" in a circle). Godai says that he marked THE egg, too, with a hiragana "yo" (for Yotsuya) in a circle. Kyouko asks Ichinose if it's normal to mark ones eggs. All of the eggs turn out to be Ichinose's. Kyouko realises what has happened. As she races out of the room, she sees that Akemi is once again approaching Souichiro with an egg. Akemi breaks the egg into the dog's bowl. And Kyouko is only barely able to grab the bowl before Souichiro descends on it. Godai checks the broken shell, but it turns out to be one of Ichinose's eggs. While Ichinose wants to be paid back for the egg, Godai decides to find Kentaro. Godai is chasing Kentaro. When he threatens to never help him with his homework, Kentaro throws the egg towards him. It smashes on the pavement however. After a quick inspection, Godai sees it's another fake and continues the chase. Kentaro has hidden, however, and gives Godai the slip. Over at the tennis courts, Kyouko is asking Mitaka if he knows how to find out whether an egg is raw, since Mitaka is so good at cooking. Mitaka is a bit perplexed until the situation is explained to him. When he hears that Godai is in charge of the egg, he immediately proposes that destruction of the egg is safest. Ichinose says he is very predictable when it comes to Godai. The latter is at the Cha-cha Maru consulting Master. Godai says substituting another egg is out, as Yotsuya will be able to spot the difference. Master isn't so sure, but when Godai asks him if he would try it, Master has to admit that he wouldn't have the courage. Godai sees Kentaro outside the door teasing him, and runs after him again. Kentaro runs past Akemi in town and manages to pass her the egg on the fly. Akemi gets an evil grin. She returns to Ikkoku-kan and cautions Souichiro-san to be quiet. As she bends down to give him the egg...when Kyouko's cold voice stops her in her tracks. Akemi laments that she got SO close. Kyouko is asking Kentaro for a favour but he refuses. So Kyouko decides to call a children's "Help-Line" herself, pretending to be a little girl, she asks if there's a way to find out whether an egg is raw or cooked. Godai, meanwhile, is checking out the hole connecting his room to Yotsuya's. It seems to lead into a dead-end wall cavity, however, Godai is mystified how Yotsuya can get through there. As he backs out of the hole, he hears laughter. It turns out to be Sakamoto who turns to face Godai, revealing that he's got the egg in his mouth (obviously cooked). Godai panics as Kyouko walks in, saying she knows the technique now. At this point, however, Sakamoto swallows the egg. Kyouko and Godai wonder what's going to happen Sakamoto, who's getting a bit worried by the things they say. Godai says it's sometimes better for someone NOT to know what's going on, but this only gets Sakamoto REALLY upset. Yotsuya is on the phone, calling up the electronic clock. The gang, meanwhile, are cooking one of Ichinose's eggs in an attempt to fool Yotsuya. Kyouko says that even if it doesn't work, boiling an egg is a good idea. Sakamoto is lying down, still wondering what it is that he has eaten. The door opens behind Godai just as he says he hopes they can trick Yotsuya. Everyone laughs in embarrassment, and Kyouko slams the lid on the boiling pot. She tries to hold the lid shut, but eventually the boiling water forces her to let go. Yotsuya lifts the lid and inspects the pot. He turns to Godai and tells him he should turn down the heat a bit, then leaves. Ichinose also leaves, wanting to get paid back for the egg and Godai and Kyouko let out a sigh of relief. Much later, we hear Sakamoto throwing up and complaining to Godai about the pain in his stomach, but Godai dismisses him saying it's his own fault. Yotsuya is sitting on his window-sill looking at the moon. He mutters yet another poetic line, saying he's glad he didn't eat the egg that he found. Next episode: A shock discovery in a diary leads to the belief that Kyouko's former husband may have had a lover. Synopsis by Michael Studte <.6. Footnotes: ---------- Glenn: How to tell if an egg is hardboiled or raw, without breaking the shell: 1) Sound test: Just repeatedly shake it in your hand while holding it close to your ear. There is a pocket of air between the shell and the egg's first membrane. At first, you may not hear any sloshing sound. Just shake vigorously and soon that membrane will break, allowing the insides to freely slosh about. When you hear that sound, then the egg is obviously raw. It doesn't seem to affect the yolk that much. I shook an egg vigorously for a while and the yolk turned out to be unharmed when I opened the egg. 2) Sight test: Spin the egg. Etc... 3) Trial by fire: Boil the egg. Now you know for sure that it's boiled! .6.> Discussion: ----------- Doug Eckhart on 94.08.02: Perhaps I'm going insane, but episode #32 seemed REALLY weird. Am I imagining things or did they devote a whole episode to an egg? I am just guessing, but I figure I missed a great deal of the comedy. It's not that I did not find episode #32 to be funny, it was hillarious, but judging from the messages at the end my tape, I am beginning to suspect that there is more to it. You see, although Arctic didn't interpret them, they were nice enough to put a message at the end of the tape saying how much they hate Yotsuya's use of puns. From this I suspect that I may be missing a great deal of what was going on by not being able to interpret Yotsuya's speech directly. Especially since at strategic points the camera would momentarily cut to Yotsuya eating, or taking a bath, or something, and he would mutter a cryptic quote of some sort (which of course is not unusual for him), the action would then resume... Although I don't stand much of a chance of catching the puns, I'm definately going to go back and listen to what Yotsuya said. However, I was wondering if anyone who actually understood japanese could possibly help me out... Also, in episode 32, Godai crawls though the hole in the wall and ends up in some sort of crawl-space. Is this supposed to be Yotsuya's room? ------- Ito Takayuki: Sorry I can't remember well, but anyway this "Yotsuya's Egg" episode is just junk, like the final movie, IMO. I hate dull original scenarios depending only on a single item. <.6. .5.> ==================================================================== @ep33 == Episode 33: == == ______ == == NIKKI ni shokku! == == SOUICHIROU ni KOIBITO ga ita!? == == or == == Shock in Diary! == == Souichiro Had a lover? == ========================================================================== Background info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #33. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history - "summary only / total" lines CEC-940409Sat 2347-0213 finished with preliminary synopsis. 259 lines CEC-....10Sun 0213-0356 fixes and comments. 311 lines CEC-....10Sun 1350-1824 final fixes and comments to proof... 340 lines CEC-....22Fri 1750-//// Bug fixes pointed by criticisms CEC-....23Sat ////-1555 by Glenn. CEC-formatted.. 344 lines CEC-....29Fri 2050-2101 a little format change. 344 lines CEC-..0509Mon 2324-2345 Quotation corrections. Might have to go back.. 361 lines CEC-....15Sun 1955-2130 Changed a lot of tenses to active... 259/371 CEC-....19Thu 2309-2325 Final send off for MI guide 5! 259/375 Air date : 1986.11.05 Wed (according to Andy Johnson) Date of story: maybe in the autumn? Kyoko's sweeping leaves! December 1986 (according to Andy Johnson's Timeline) Duration: 4 days night of first day to morning of third day (See Note a) Day 1: late night, (Godai + train), Day 2: early morning, (give the diary), late night, (Call to Otonashi-sama) Day 3: morning, (Is it in Godai's bag?) late night, (atta!) Day 4: morning. ("I hope you're doing...") Cast in order of appearance: Godai, Otonashi, Ikuko, Kyoko, Ichinose, Akemi, Yotsuya, Souichiro (dog), Souichiro (husband, voice only), Sakamoto. Episodes, before and after: F 32: Egg is mystery. Yotsuya's dangerous gift. IP ... (present episode) R / 34: Be pushy for love! Grandma Yukari with gold teeth. References to: #17 - Godai's schedule is mentioned in note A. Based on: (Japanese title unavailable.) "The Postcard that was delivered". (According to AA) Vol. 5, part 9 - Normal; Vol. 4, part 4 - Wideban. Synopsis: -------- [ Opening Theme: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa (Hello Sadness), Saito Yuki. ] Wire cabling sparks as the noisy train passes by. It's night time in the city. Gripping the ring to steady his balance, Godai is travelling home on the train. He's lost in thought. Facing the window, he stares at his own reflection and the speeding scenery outside. He glances at a brown bag in his hand. Studying it, he remembers just moments before... (Flashback) At Otonashi household, Grandfather Otonashi hands Godai a brown bag, asking him if he'd give the package to Kyoko. Ikuko-chan is standing right next to Grandfather. "It's Souichiro's diary", Otonashi says as Godai glances at it. Back in the train, Godai puts the package in a tray above his head. He asks himself, "Why do I have to give this thing to Kyoko?" He looks away. "If she receives it, then she'd start remembering her dead husband again. Why should I deliver it?" [ The train passes a bridge over the river as the story title fades into the picture. Read by Kyoko. ] Godai leaves the train station. As he sighs, he looks at the brown package in his left hand and puts it under his right shoulder. The pedestrian light across the street turns green. Godai stares at it. He starts to walk away, but he looks at the light again. It blinks back at him, then turns red. A cup of coffee sits on a table. Godai, seated in a coffee shop, takes a sip, and looks out the window, lost in thought. (The background music is lighthearted instrumental of Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa) The scene abruptly changes to a noisy pachinko parlor. Godai stuff out one of his cigarettes. Staring at his game, none of his metal game balls fall into the goal. The warning light for the train flashes. Godai slowly walks home. He sits on the public swing and passes the time by looking into the sky. He departs. Later, Godai opens the door to Ikkoku-kan and sighs. "Welcome home!" Kyoko says. Kyoko is wearing a red jacket over yellow pajamas. Surprised, Godai asks, "You're up." "Fixing the shoe box," she replies. She stares at some weird looking shoes made of straw. "Are these Yotsuya-san's?" she asks. Kyoko continues, "You're out late." Godai replies, "Well..I was at the pachinko parlor by the station." Placing his baby-blue slippers for him, Kyoko says, "Would you call me if you'll be late?" Godai looks up, with interest. "I can't lock till then..." (1) Turning, Kyoko runs towards her room. "Good night!" she yells. As if pushing through molasses, Godai reaches into his bag and takes out the package, but she's already in her room. Godai sighs, turns around and sits. Carefully stashing the package, Godai hugs his book bag. Ichinose-san parades in front of the camera. (Party music) Yotsuya-san, on the left, Akemi-san, in the middle, and Ichinose-san, clutching fans, on the right, party at Godai's expense. Godai is lying on his stomach, clutching a can. Akemi asks him why he's down. Godai sighs. Yotsuya-san sides up to him and tells him not to sigh so depressingly. "It's depressing ordinary people." Staring at Akemi and Ichinose, Godai says, "You call this depressed?" as his anger rises. "What kind of ordinary people party in somebody else's room?" Yotsuya says, "You're a bad drinker." He asks him, "Godai-kun, did you do something to kanrinin-san?" (Party music stops). Godai yells, "No." Akemi jumps on his back. "Then you're going to." Godai coughs, "No!" "You can't hide anything from us," Ichinose says. Godai replies, "What can I do for her?" Ichinose returns, "That's true. Good-for-nothing!" Akemi calls out, "Loser!" "Dropout," Yotsuya contributes. "Hey!" Godai yells, but Ichinose rouses the party posse to more dancing. Godai sighs again and drinks his can. They sing their special words of encouragement to Godai. "Let's fall to the bottom of the pit, let's fall searching for happiness. Hand yourself and go to hell!" (2) Outside, Souichiro sleeps quietly. A bright sun shines in the sky. Godai picks up his key and caresses his book bag. Outside, Kyoko is hanging a yellow sweater. Ichinose, sitting on her patio, is looking at Kyoko. While Kyoko brings the clothes basket to the sliding door, Ichinose downs her glass. Ichinose says, "Its a nice day today. Perfect for laundry." Kyoko asks, "Aren't you going to do your laundry?" Ichinose replies, laughing, "I'm going to do it all tomorrow!" A cool breeze flows across the backyard. Looking up, Kyoko says, "What a nice wind." Kyoko hears a knock on the door. "Hai!" She opens the door and recognizes Godai. "Ah, Godai-san. Good morning." Godai has a tired face. He reaches into his bag, as he says, "Actually, I was supposed to give this to you." A card falls out of the package into his book bag. Kyoko looks at the package, curious. "Is this from my father-in-law?" Godai nods his head. She opens it slowly, and reads it. Recognizing the book, her eyes fly wide and she gasps. Godai also reacts. She clutches the package tightly as she stares into the hallway. Godai is taken aback. Ichinose comes from behind Kyoko and grabs Godai's hand. She takes him away. A moment passes as Kyoko slowly closes the door. Outside, at the porch, Ichinose demands Godai explain himself. "What are you doing, obasan?" Godai yells. "What did you do to kanrinin-san?!?" Godai makes a startled gasp, but recovers and turns away. "Nothing." Ichinose makes a face. "You want to hide things from me?" Godai returns her gaze and stands, arms folded. "Why are you staring at me? I didn't do anything bad." "Then, what is it?" she asks. He replies, "I gave her the diary grandfather Otonashi asked me to give to her." She repeats his words mindlessly. "A diary?" "I didn't know that Souichiro kept a diary," Kyoko says to herself, seated at her table. She opens the book and starts to leaf through it. "This is about when he met me. Did he write anything about me? When did he become aware of me?" Looking at a particular page, she reads: "July 8th. There hasn't been such an unexpected day like today in my whole life." Souichiro's voice cuts in. "I had a stewed mackerel for breakfast. The school principal invited me to a lunch with stewed mackerel. When I went home, there were still more mackerel, though I thought I had it all. Stewed mackerel for all three meals is rather hard to believe even for a coincidence." Reacting, Kyoko asks, "What is this?" She reads the next page: "July 9th: Sliced dried mackerel, shredded radish. Miso soup with sea cucumber." The washing machine has one piece of laundry soaking. "July 12th: Tempura, the shrimp was rather small...July 15th: Sliced salmon. Spinach." Souichiro sits, sleeping in the dog house. "July 16th: Curry rice. I prefer the mild strength." Souichiro yawns. "July 18th: Mixed rice. Term finals." Kyoko asks in amazement, "Is this really a diary? Not only does he not talk me, he doesn't mention a lot about school, either." Flipping back and forth, she comes to a particular page. She reads, "I have received such postcard from her, I do not understand. Her?" she asks. Kyoko's eyes lower slightly. "What postcard?" as her hand touches the empty spot on the page for the postcard. She reads aloud some more. "I've been thinking about it since yesterday, but I still do not understand. Should I write her back or not? But such an incident is the first time for me." Kyoko remarks, "He feels troubled. He doesn't even talk about meals. Who is it?" She rests her face on her hand. Otonashi's disembodied voice speaks again. A cloud's silhouette shadows the roof of Kyoko's room. (Trouble music begins.) "August 2nd. I am still wondering. I have been concentrating on my study without paying any attention to women. Even I have trouble dealing with it when I receive such a thing." The cloud passes. "I can not enjoy meals at all." Kyoko says, "I would never send him anything that would cause him trouble!" Her eyes widen at the idea. "Could it be that Souichiro-san knew somebody else?" The wind outside blows the white laundry as the screen fades to black. [Standard commercial break.] It is evening over Ikkoku-kan. The lighted train moves in the distance. Kyoko's room is brightly lighted. Kyoko brushes her teeth. She pauses and stares at the diary. (Melancholy music starts playing) Outside, Souichiro shivers in the cold and withdraws into his house. Inside, a drop almost escapes Kyoko's faucet. Her red alarm clock reads 10:50. (and about 24 seconds) Kyoko sits in front of the diary, and sighs. Touching her cheek, she says, "Souichiro-san was 27 years old then..It's too strange that he didn't know any women." Taking a sip from her cup, she continues. "Where did the postcard go?" Cupping her drink with both hands, she laughs lightly. As she sips again, she thinks, "Maybe grandfather Otonashi has it." The clock reads 10:55 (and 14 seconds) She decides not to call him. "It's a thing of the past," she says to herself. Standing with her tray, she suddenly stops. She stares at her black rotary phone. She picks it up and dials his number mechanically. "If anybody doesn't pick up after five calls, I'll hang up," as she begins to finger the cord. As the fifth ring is heard, Kyoko lowers the phone, but Otonashi answers. Otonashi answers the phone. "Hai. Otonashi residence." He is wearing a brown garb. Recognizing Kyoko, he asks "Oh, Kyoko-san, did you get the diary? I thought it's about time you should get it. You can probably read it calmly now." She asks, "Did you read it?" Laughing, he answers, "I gave up halfway." "Then you didn't see a postcard?" "Postcard?" "Yes, a postcard." Otonashi repeats. "What about a postcard?" "No, it's nothing. I'm sorry." She bids him good bye and slowly lowers the phone with both hands. The scene fades to black. The sunlight glints off a window of Ikkoku-kan. Kyoko, broom in hand, is busy sweeping the front walkway with a leaf-catcher at her feet. "Could it be that the postcard is in Godai-san's bag?" she asks herself. As she pauses, off to the side, Ichinose asks, "What's wrong? You look kind of depressed." Kyoko denies it. "I'm not depressed. I'm fine. Fine, fine!" as she absentmindedly disturbs her leaf pile. Ichinose makes a face. Her broom stops when Godai yells, "See ya later!" Ichinose teases him. "Going to school to nap again?" Godai, irritated, says, "I go to study." To himself: "She must've read the diary and remembered her husband." Kyoko rises out of her reverie and tells Godai, "Please don't worry about it." Godai strokes his head and turns around. "Of course not. I'm not worried about it. Do I look like that? Did I?" He laughs nervously. "Come on, I'm not worried about it at all. See you later!" He walks away. Kyoko gestures with her hand. "No, I mean the postcard!" as he runs down the road. Souichiro barks. The clock bell rings 2 o'clock. Godai is in the cafeteria, coffee in hand, staring out the window. "Yo, Godai!" Sakamoto sits, with a full tray of food. "You're running that low with money that you can't buy any lunch?" "It's not that kind of worldly problem, Sakamoto-kun." "What is it, then?" He starts to eat his food. "For instance... Listen... Let's say your beloved woman passed away. And afterwards, you find her diary. There you find the record of your happy days. How would you feel if you read that? " Sakamoto, done with his plate, says, "I see. Kanrinin-san's husband's diary came out, right? And?" Godai reacts, amazed at his perceptiveness. Sakamoto takes advantage of the situation by taking the coffee from Godai's hand and finishing it. Godai, angry at Sakamoto, says, "I'm not gonna talk to you!!" He smashes his empty cup on the table. Ikkoku-kan's sky is alight with orange in the afternoon. Souichiro laps his water. Kyoko tastes her cooking. "That's it," she says to herself. She washes her utensils and wipes her hand when she is surprised by the open diary. "I should ask," she thinks. Upstairs, Kyoko walks slowly towards Godai's room. Clutching her hand close, she raises her hand to knock on the door. Before she contacts it, the door swings open and Yotsuya says in a deep voice, "Godai-kun is not back yet." Surprised, Kyoko covers her mouth with her right hand. Recovering, she asks, "Yotsuya-san, what are you doing here?!" Yotsuya responds, "Looking after the room," and closes the door. She sighs. Night time, looking at the familiar bridge from afar, as the train crosses the river. Dark clouds litter the bright night sky. (Music starts: Yokan by Shimamoto Sumi (Kyoko).) Kyoko sits at her table, looking at the diary once again, thumbs twiddling. Suddenly, head to the table, she hugs the book. Godai's darken room lightens as Godai switches the light on. He tosses the book bag right next to the desk. He hangs his light green jacket on the wall. Godai kicks the bag as he sits down. Opening it and removing a blue book, a postcard falls out. Curious, Godai picks it up and reads it. Recognizing it, he says, "This is..." He closes his eyes and stands up. Outside, Souichiro is sleeping. At Kyoko's room entrance, Kyoko says, "It was in your bag?" Godai replies, "I'm sorry. I didn't notice." He hands her the postcard. (The music fades out) Kyoko takes it lightly and reads, "Kyoko Chigusa." Surprised, she says to herself, "This is the postcard I sent!" Her hair turns purple and the scene lightens as Otonashi's voice is heard and the page in the diary floats by. "Even I have trouble dealing with it." Kyoko thinks, "But did I send that kind of meaningful postcard?" The scene returns to normal as she asks Godai, "Did you read this?" Godai answers, scratching his right temple, "Um.. Yes. It's really easy to see.." Becoming demure, he continues. "..I'm sorry." Explaining, "I didn't mean to read it though. It just came to my view..." Kyoko turns the card over and reads the other side. Her face lights up. "Thank you very much! Thank you very much! Thank you very much!" Clutching the postcard, she sighs. Godai, stares at her, unsure of how to react. The scene fades to black on Godai's face. Two trains pass over the familiar bridge over the familiar river in the daytime. Kyoko sweeps the front steps again, with Ichinose leaning on the post, with her hands at her neck. Ichinose is staring at her when Godai pops into view and yells, "See you later!" Kyoko smiling, says, "See you later! Good luck with your study!" Surprised at the extent of Kyoko's farewell.Ichinose runs after Godai. She stops him a few steps outside the wall. Godai's head is visible over the wall. Souichiro barks, beckoning Kyoko's attention. She stops her sweeping and pets him. Beyond the wall, Ichinose has her hands on Godai's jacket, harassing him for an answer. "What did you do?" Godai answers, looking away, "I just gave her back a postcard." Ichinose stares, unable to say anything. Petting Souichiro, Kyoko thinks to herself, "Souichiro-san must've been thinking about me from that long ago." Smiling and raising her face to the sky, she continues, "I mean he's troubled that much with just a postcard." In Kyoko's softly-lighted room, Souichiro's diary sit prominently on her table. The postcard is replaced in its holder. There's a flower in the left-bottom hand corner and text supplants it on its right. It reads, "I hope you're doing well in this summer heat." Fade to black. [ Kyoko narrates next episode. ] [ Ending theme: Shi-Ne-Ma (Cinema), Picasso. Last appearance! ] Notes: ----- CEC's comments: I liked this episode because Ichinose-san doesn't seem to know what's going on between Godai and Kyoko. It's funny that Ichinose needs to ask him (twice!) what's going on when she usually knows. Usually she's well-informed (or misinformed!). I feel sorry for Godai-san, since he's always picked on, but in this episode, they don't bother him after the party on the first day. Tarigan's comments: One thing I liked about this episode's story is that everybody is left in the dark as to what Kyoko is really thinking. Godai would have been even more depressed to find out that Kyoko was happy thinking about Souichiro (at the end of the episode). In a way, this is like the ending of Episode 27 when Kyoko thought Godai's silhouette was Souichiro come back to life. (x) Godai tutors on Thursday (see episode #17) and this episode is a duration of 4 days, which means it starts on Thursday, so does he go to school on Saturday and Sunday? Assuming school is out on those days, why is he going out? Of course, episode 17 and 33 are a year apart, based on Andy Johnson's chart, so maybe they both have a different schedule. (1) She says that she's going to lock the door, but she doesn't return. If she was, then maybe Godai would have waited for her. But he retired to his room, which suggests that, regularly she's done or she's got more chores to do later that night. So when does she close the door? Or does she use that excuse to see him? Or does Godai close it for her with his key? If so, then she doesn't need to wait, right? (2) What Yotsuya says is the same thing he sang when he danced with Akemi in episode 12: "Let's fall into a pit/Let's drown..." or something like that. (x) Jeff Williamson says: Souichiro's "food diary" provides more fuel for the fire when discussing Souichiro as a "strange man" (or "weird uncle", in Ikuko-chan's words). (x) Note that in this episode, Godai-kun doesn't ever pet Souichiro-san. (x) If you have a tolerance for tortured logic or pure fluff, listen to this. I know that Takahashi is famous for double meaning puns (i.e. Mitaka, Godai!). Suppose "Ichinose" could be turned around to say "first nosy" (stretch that intepretation!). Well, they're all nosy, the "party posse", but usually she's able to "overhear" Godai-kun while he's on the phone (episodes 17, 21..). And she usually treats Kyoko as a sister (remember Yotsuya's joke?). Well, I guess I make up wierd things b/c I don't understand Japanese! -- Clifford Caoile <.5. .5.> ==================================================================== @ep34 == Episode 34: == == Be pushy for love! == == Grandma Yukari with gold teeth == ========================================================================== Footnotes: ---------- Clifford "Tenchi-Kun" Caoile: (Mon, 11 Apr 1994 11:03:07 -0700) - What's the meaning of the jet noise for the eps 33-36? - Grandma Yukari looks like a duck in Godai's room when they're arguing. - Funny version of OP theme "Hello Sadness" plays during "deciding a wife". - Geez, is everybody a chronic smoker? Yukari lights one after flashback. - Really stupid (opinions!) sythesizer music plays during Mitaka-Otonashi match. - Why does Yukari bend over on the bench as if she's tired? (just before Mitaka intro's himself) - 200000 yen a month for rent at Mitaka's place. - Mitaka likes to buy dolls. He likes to play with dolls? - The jet again, b/c of Mitaka's "sister." But why does Kyoko think her teeth are shining? I *couldn't* see it... ==================================================================== @ep35 == Episode 35: == == Operation Chase! == == After Kyoko and Godai's date. == ========================================================================== Background info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #35. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history - "summary only / total" lines CEC-940507Sat 0738-1248 Synopsis + background info. 197/259 (After many irritating distractions this morning, I get 11 minutes summarized in 6 hours!) CEC-......... 2155-0103 The second half of the synopsis. 362/460 (Why am I so damn slow?) CEC-....09Mon 2258-2358 More little corrections. 362/468 CEC-....16Mon 2231-2248 Re-read, corrected, and standardized. 350/466 CEC-....22Sun 1604-1613 Added Tarigan's comment. Uploaded to MI Guide 5! 350/472 Air date : 1986.11.9 Wed (according to Andy Johnson's Episode Airdates) Date of story: late Nov. 1986 (according to Andy Johnson's Time Line) Duration: one full day. Cast in order of appearance: Godai, Baachan, Kyoko, Yotsuya, a stranger, Ichinose, Kentaro, Master, Akemi, Dempata masters. Episodes, before and after: R / 34: Be pushy for love! Grandma Yukari with gold teeth. F \ ... (present episode) I 36: Sudden storm of kiss! Story of broken heart Akemi-san. Based on: (Japanese/English title unavailable) Vol. 6, part 10 - Normal; Vol. 4, part 15 - Wideban. Continuing theme: Yusaku Godai's interfering Grandmother, addressed as Baachan, makes his mind up for him, by setting up a date. Synopsis: -------- [ Opening Theme: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa (Hello Sadness), Saito Yuki ] The whine of a high-flying jet punctures the starry night sky over Ikkoku-kan. Turning his head, Godai yells, "What? You asked kanrinin out for a date?" His grandmother sits on the floor, smiling. "Lucky you, Yusaku." Crouching above her and gazing intently into her eyes, he says, "Why did you have to do that?!? I'm already a college student! When I want to ask her out for a date, I'll ask her myself!!" "Can you?" she counters. Godai cringes. After a moment's contemplation, he recovers. "Listen, I've got what's called pride like everybody else!" "Don't worry. Kanrinin-san was pretty enthusiastic." At the words, Godai starts to smile, but his grandmother snaps her head closer to him. Godai resumes lecturing her. Turning away and standing up, he says, "Don't lie! I'll cancel it." He opens the door. Yelling from inside, Grandma "Baachan" Yukari Godai says, "Yusaku!" Holding the door, he replies, "Date isn't something you do by request of somebody else! Don't stick your nose in my life!" He slams the door. Baachan sits alone next to the dinner table, unable to say anything. Opening the door, Kyoko says, "Oh, Godai!" She smiles. Godai says, off camera, "I heard my grandma asked you something weird." Kyoko's eyes widen in surprise. "About what?" Godai strokes the back of his head with his hand. "Oh, that?" Godai, looking down, silently says to himself, "That old thing." Without hearing him, she continues. "I'm looking forward to next sunday." Godai raises his head towards her. She smiles. "Is there something about it you want to talk about?" Godai lowers his hands and starts to massage his palms. He smiles awkwardly. "Yes! I'm looking forward to it, too!" [ As the title text fades onto Godai's face, Kyoko voices the title text. Not the "dramatic" musical tone, but a light melody. ] The foreground tree desperately holds onto its last few leaves. The day's sky is remarkably light. Godai says, "Don't bother sending us off." Baachan asks, "So, will you two follow these directions?" Both Kyoko and Godai turn and look down. Baachan waves a piece of paper. "This." Godai takes the paper and opens it. His eyes widen as the screen shows a script of characters. "What's this?" "It's a schedule table." Baachan smiles. Godai's shoulders raise in exasperation. "You've got to be kidding." Turning to Kyoko, Baachan says, "Take care of him, please." Kyoko smiles. "Sure." Bowing, she continues. "Then, grandma, see you later." Baachan smiles slightly. They start to leave. Yelling to the departing couple, "Say, can you walk arm-in-arm?" They both turn to face her. Kyoko is surprised by the suggestion. Godai bends down, hands on his knees. "Grandma, aren't you being a bit too rude?" Godai turns to Kyoko. "Let's go, Kanrinin." Godai surprises Kyoko with his sudden manner by clutching her arm and leaving. Baachan stands alone, and smiles to reveal a full set of teeth. Her pearly whites glisten in the sun. Both Godai and Kyoko walk down the street, still arm-in-arm. He frowns. "There's no need to take that kind of thing seriously." Turning to Kyoko, he suddenly releases his grip. Kyoko does the same. "Oh, I'm sorry." He raises his hand to the back of his head. Kyoko turns to face him. "It's okay." She starts to walk. "Then, let's go." Godai continues to scratch his head. He sees her walk away. He stares at his hand which held her, and starts to run toward her. "Sure!" The whine of an airplane roars over the sound of Godai's footsteps. The fan turns in a black and white film. In the restaurant, a couple argue. The woman says, "It's over between us." She stands up and turns. "Wait. I'm not through with the story yet," he says. Visibly shaking with anger, she replies. "I can not endure any longer. Sayonara!" "Wait!" His hand reaches out for her, but she runs away. His hands suddenly clutches his head. He shakes. He raises his head in anguish, moans in agony, and bends down to the table. In the theater, only a couple of people fill the seats. The character on the screen cries out, "What am I supposed to do?" Godai and Kyoko stare at the screen. Behind Godai, a hand creeps towards the popcorn bag sitting near Godai's hand. The hand grabs a bunch of popcorn loudly and quietly retreats. Godai hears the crinkling but turns to Kyoko. "Sorry." Kyoko turns to him. "It's grandma's taste." He smiles. Kyoko nods her head. "I understand that real well." They turn their attention back to screen. The hand makes another attack, but this time Godai sees it. His head follows the thieving hand. Recognizing who it belongs to, he gasps. Yotsuya munches noisily on his cache. Godai stands up, drawing the attention of Kyoko. "Yotsuya!" [ I just got my Maison CD, now!!! 1010 Ya ta! Ya ta! ] Yotsuya waves his hands in surprise. "Oh, Godai! What brings you two here?" Balling his hands into fists, Godai yells back. "I could ask you the same thing!" A stranger to Yotsuya's left side grabs their attention. Hiding behind a blue jacket, he quietly says, "Excuse me. Can you be quiet?" Godai sits down and apologizes. Kyoko says, "Sorry about that." Yotsuya's attention is already on the screen. Yotsuya places his hand next to his mouth. He says, "I was surprised. I wouldn't have noticed you if you didn't talk to me." Godai looks back and counters, "Weren't you openly grabbing the popcorn?" "I always do this." Yotsuya rises and tries for the popcorn again. Godai moves the popcorn away from him. "Knock it off! This is ours!" "Come on." Yotsuya grabs Godai from behind, in a headlock. Godai's face is taut with terror. The stranger repeats himself in earnest. "Will you be quiet?" Both Godai and Yotsuya stare at him. Kyoko says, "I'm really sorry about this." Godai relaxes while Yotsuya retreats and swipes Godai's popcorn. The theater fills with the sound of a train. Godai suddenly realizes he's lost his food and turns to Yotsuya yet again. "Yotsuya, give me back the popcorn!" Yotsuya munches on his booty. "Oh. Excuse me. Would you like some? I can give you a little." Godai turns forward in frustration. "Kanrinin, let's go." "But..." Yotsuya interjects, "The story will get interesting from this point." Godai stands up and addresses Yotsuya. "Why don't you enjoy the movie to the end?!" To Kyoko, "Come on." Kyoko slowly rises and they leave. The man on the screen cries out, "Come back!" The sky shines with the radiance of the sun. (A commercial version of "Jingle Bells" echoes in the background.) The skyscraper glows with the sun. The train winds its way across the screen. People shuffle in the city. Various signs mark the season's greetings. In a department store, kids play with newest toys. A miniature, super-deformed wired Godzilla walks, stops, and sticks out its long tongue with a shrill sound. (1) Kyoko bends over the toy. "Oh, it's so cute!" She continues to play with it. She laughs. Godai stands, watching Kyoko. Kyoko says, "Godai? Watch. You push this button and it goes forward. When you push this one, look." The cute green creature waddles into the picture and screams again, displaying its flaming tongue. "See?" She laughs cutely. Godai just stares at her. Kyoko holds another toy in her hands, this time, a cat's paw. Kyoko mimics a cat's purr, in sync with the nodding paw. "Mew! .... Mew!" She begins to laugh again. Godai can't help but laugh, too. Later, Kyoko and Godai stare in awe at glittering jewels hanging onto a string. They turn their attention to a group of toy penguins, sliding on a track. (2) Godai smiles, but opens his eyes and looks around. He finds Kyoko running around, playing with every little toy. She stares at a brown, ragged cat doll, and laughs like a little girl. Godai turns his head askew and says to himself, "She's smiling so innocently." They finally turn their attention to the big flashing Christmas tree. Kyoko says, "It's already time for the Christmas decoration, isn't it?" Godai replies, "They sure are quick." Kyoko reaches out with her gloved hands to grab some ornaments, but they start to shake. The jingling bells sounds. "Hi, Godai!" A familiar voice beckons the pair's attention. They both turn around to see Ichinose's wide grin. Both stagger back. Kyoko yells, "Ichinose-san?!?!" "Obasan?!?" Ichinose asks, "What are you two doing here?" Godai recovers. "What are YOU doing here?" Ichinose responds. "Oh, I figured I should get something for Kentaro." Behind her, her son walks with a box containing a kit for a model car. "Mom! Mom! I want this one!" Ichinose stares at it and voices her approval. While she looks for her money, Kentaro looks up Godai and Kyoko. Kyoko looks down in the background. "Nichan and Kanrinin-san? What are they doing here?" Kyoko looks at Kentaro, unsure of how to react. Ichinose proffers a bill to Kentaro. "Here, pay with this." Kentaro runs to a cashier, never taking his eyes off the two. "You've been here, all the time?" Godai asks. "Of course!" Ichinose says. Godai's face contorts in muted anger. Turning toward Kyoko, then looking at his watch, he says, "We'll get going." Kyoko's eyes are wide. "Godai?" Turning to Ichinose, she says, "Well, see you later!" She runs off to catch up with Godai. Ichinose grins from ear to ear. "Sayonara!" (3) Outside, Godai and Kyoko walk down a street. He says, "Don't you feel something funny?" Kyoko shrugs a reply. Godai starts to look around. "That Ichinose didn't tease us." Kyoko agrees. "There's definitely something going on. Besides they're well timed." Kyoko dissuades him. "No way! They wouldn't waste their time like that." Godai thinks of an idea. "Sorry!" He grabs her hand and starts to run. Kyoko runs with him, but says, "Wait, Godai!" They run through an empty alley. Godai stops at the opening, looks around, then leads Kyoko to a garage of a delivery van. Godai slowly peeps outside the garage to look around. The screen pans to show normal activity in the street. Kyoko's body rises over Godai's back. She says, "Godai, it must be your feeling." Godai bends down in self-reflection. At a fancy restaurant (4), the waiter guides Godai and Kyoko to their table. A high-pitched voice sounds. "Hi, Godai-kun! Lunch here?" Godai's face is full of shock and anger. He turns to see the Master of Chachamaru and Akemi. Akemi says, "Fancy meeting you here." Kyoko is all smiles. "Fancy meeting you two here." Godai still looks at them in shock. Akemi replies, "Oh, Master treats me out pretty often." He answers. "I'm a regular customer here." Godai slowly says, "I see." His body, once tense, slackens. His coat drops off his arm and lands on the ground in a rumple. He awkwardly backs off. (5) [ Standard commercial break. ] A table holds platefuls of steaming food. Clenched fists loom into view. Across the way, Akemi and Master both stare over their sherbets desserts. Coughing as if to signal a message, Godai forces a smile. He grabs his utensils (6) and asks Kyoko, "Shall we eat?" She replies, "Sure." In "stage whisper" manner, Master says to Akemi, "How deluxe you are... Lunch at a reserved table?" Akemi replies in the same manner, with her hand cupped next to her mouth. "It's a date." Hearing the comments, Godai cringes in exasperation. Kyoko simply smiles. Imitating their manner but at a lower volume, Godai says, "Do you think it's a coincidence?" Kyoko repeats his manner. "But I don't think Master would go for this kind of practical joke." Master continues to talk, much to Godai's frustration. Kyoko stares at Godai. (7) "Date, is it? Godai, not bad." Akemi replies, "Naah. Out of grandma and kanrinin's kindness." At the words, Godai bangs his head against the table. Kyoko says Godai's name. "Godai-san..." "Kanrinin-san?" "Yes?" Godai raises his head, smiling weakly. "Why don't we get out of here?" Kyoko turns to her right to look at Akemi and Master. Both continue to stare at Godai and Kyoko single-mindedly. Kyoko slowly returns her gaze to Godai and answers, "You're right." She stands. Hands open the schedule table paper Baachan wrote. Kyoko reads, "Cafe 'Classic's' at 3 o'clock." Sitting on a park bench, Kyoko raises her head. In the distance, a red balloon wafts slowly upwards. The foreground brown trees slightly hide the base of the city's buildings. The sound of a jet reverberates in the distance. Kyoko raises her hands and stretches. Left to Kyoko is Godai. He is still, hand firmly gripping his chin, his body bent in self-reflection. Kyoko refolds the paper and turns to Godai. "Aren't you thirsty, Godai?" Godai is still frustrated. He turns to Kyoko, then stands. Reluctantly, he says, "Let's go, then." The front of the cafe is painted blue. Four windows adorn the facade. Inside, the door opens, and the cashier lady greets empty space. "Welcome..." She bends over the counter to see Godai and Kyoko crouching on the floor. She moves closer to the aisle and bends down to address Godai. "Excuse me, please, have a seat." "Sorry, we're looking for people..." Smiling, she replies, "Then, shall I call out on the PA system?" Godai raises his hand to stop her. "It's okay. Please, get back to your work." She looks unconvinced, but she stands straight and goes back to her work. Godai peeps over the side edge of the counter. Kyoko is over him, looking also. They see Ichinose, Akemi, Kentaro and Yotsuya. With their mouths and eyes wide with surprise, they quietly back away. Ichinose turns her head slightly and makes a face. Kyoko's jacket is barely visible next to the counter. She points her finger and yells out, "They're running! After them!" (cue the chase music, part 1, with violins?) Outside, the two run to their right. The party posse, with Kentaro, exit the cafe. They look around. Yotsuya points to his right and the party posse run after them. Looking behind her, Kyoko runs behind Godai. Yotsuya and Ichinose are neck and neck, followed by Kentaro and Akemi. They grab the attention of other pedestrians. Godai and Kyoko reach a corner and turn. The party posse does the same and runs down the length of the sidewalk. Kyoko and Godai reemerge from the corner's shop. They turn to each other and smile. A suited figure slowly slides toward the couple. Godai stands up straight. Kyoko does the same, but panics when she sees Yotsuya behind Godai. She points to him, but Godai seems unaware. Godai turns around, his face at point-blank range with Yotsuya, and jumps back in surprise. Feet step quickly up the staircase. At the top of the stairs, they stop behind a wall to catch their breath. Another couple emerge from the stairs, running with delight. Kyoko and Godai breath a collective sigh of relief. They turn to their right and see the party posse with Kentaro. Shocked again, Kyoko clutches her bag and Godai pulls a Takahashi-ism with his fingers. (8) The couple runs throughout the city, past the Takuya building, past colored tile, past other massive buildings. Godai continues to lead. At a rail, Godai and Kyoko catch their breaths. Both worriedly stare in every direction. Godai says, "Now we lost them for sure." Kyoko is unable to reply. They look down. A group of people sit at a table, munching food. An empty table sits nearby. Two cups of refreshments. The cashier lady says, "Then, that'll be 600 yen change out of 1000 yen. Thank you, come again." Godai picks up his goodies and walks toward Kyoko. They sit near the bridge. Godai hands her a drink. Nearby, water cascades brightly from the fountain. Kyoko and Godai stare at it intently. We stare at the water, more, though. A running figure turns around. Pointing, Ichinose yells, "There they are." To her side, Kentaro stands. Both Kyoko and Godai stand in horror. (9) Recognizing the voice, they run off. They pass through a mall. Akemi, Ichinose and Kentaro follow. Two salespersons hold wood boxes in their hands. "Come on in!! This is our new product!" At an intersection, Godai yells, "This way!" Kyoko follows. At the same intersection, the Party Posse sans Yotsuya catch their breath. Kentaro complains, "Mom, I'm exhausted!" Picking up their trail, his mom simply says, "Just put up with it." Shoppers test the wares at the Dempata stand. "Come on in!! This's our new product, Dempata!" yell the salesmen. Kyoko stops and looks toward the stand. She gets an idea. She grabs Godai and says, "Godai, this way!" The party posse are in close pursuit. Kyoko drags Godai through the median of the stands. The party posse also pass through, but slow down as they see what they're selling. "Ma'am, would you like to try our new product out?" The salesman proffers the wood box. "Well, then, let me have a sip." "Me, too!" Akemi joins in. He hands them both a sample. "Mom, I'm tired!" Kentaro yelps. "We'll go home soon." Kentaro sits down. The salesman offers him a drink. He says to Ichinose, "Would you like some juice for your son?" "Oh, thanks!" He turns around. "So, what are we going to do about them?" Akemi asks. "Don't worry, Yotsuya is with them." "Oh yeah, right." They both take a chug at the same time. The salesman hands Kentaro a drink. Addressing Ichinose, he says, "What do you think? What brand do you drink at home?" "At home? I usually drink Hazakura. But pure rice wine is pretty good, too. It's so smooth." Jabbing her with his elbow, he says, "You're a connoisseur, aren't you? Later in the day, both Kyoko and Godai run over a bridge. They hide behind the wall supporting the bridge's rail. They slowly raise their heads over the wall. They see no one. They turn to each other and smile, while catching their breath. Yotsuya pops out of the bushes behind them. In a raspy whisper, he says, "Godai-kun!" Kyoko watches Godai stand and run, but he grabs her hand. Yotsuya pops out of the bush and straightens up. At his right, Yotsuya sees another couple about to make out. (10) He crawls back into the bushes to study them further. Godai and Kyoko continue to run hand-in-hand through the park. As the setting sun envelopes the tall buildings of the city (11), the screen slowly pans down to the park. Godai and Kyoko stop in the middle of the park. Kyoko is the first to catch her breath. "Looks like we lost them." Godai starts to walk. Their hands are still interlocked. "Yes, it looks like it." He scratches the back of his head with his free left hand. "Thank you for going out with me." "But it was so fun." The brown leaves start to fall off the tree. Godai stops and looks at Kyoko, surprised. Kyoko does the same, but with a smile. (12) "It was a really fun day. It was like a game." "Yeah, it was..." Godai walks her along, but they stop. Both realize the contact between them, as Godai raises their hands. The gusty wind blows leaves off the trees. Newspaper and refuse are pushed across the park. They slowly, mechanically, disengage their hands and clutch them in retrospection. Finally, Godai breaks the silence. "Shouldn't we go home?" "Y-yes, you're right..." They start to walk, apart from each other. In front of them, a couple walk together closely. Kyoko walks normally. Godai's right hand is away from his body, unable to rest in his pocket like his left hand. His head is turned away, as if resisting temptation. They continue to walk toward the setting sun. Back at a brightly-lit Ikkoku-kan, Baachan sits in Godai's room. "What, there's no hope?" Yotsuya is the first to respond. "None. We quietly tailed them. But in the movie theater, they looked rather bored." Ichinose holds a cigarette between her fingers. "At the toy store, they were just looking at toys and not talking." Akemi adds her two bits. "They looked really awkward in the restaurant, and left right away." Ichinose looks at Akemi. "And they were running all over the town, weren't they?" Akemi says, "They must've been real bored." Ichinose responds, "It surely is regrettable news to hear just before going home, isn't it?" Yotsuya says, "Please leave things afterwards to us." Baachan only lowers her head. Later, at dusk, Godai yells, "I'm home." Baachan looks away from Godai. "What's up, grandma? You look depressed." Godai's face is as bright as the morning sun. He hangs his coat and starts to unbutton his pants. She thinks in her mind, "I was trying to play Cupid.. you good-for-nothing!" Godai sits at his study desk. He holds his head up with his hands and grins. The screen slowly pans away from the lighted Ikkoku-kan and blackens. [ Kyoko narrates the preview for next episode. ] [ Ending theme: Fantajii (Fantasy), Picasso. ] Notes: ----- CEC's comments: I'm still wondering what deep meaning the black and white movie represents to Baachan. Maybe it's what she sees Godai doing if he doesn't act soon? I loved this episode! The part where they walk hand in hand without being aware of the contact was marvelous. It was natural. Obviously, Baachan think things deteriorate from there. I wish they showed Kyoko's reaction to the date. No, that would be overkill, right? (1) Tarigan: In the manga, Kyoko is playing with a Lum character. (2) I remember these little toys. You put two AA batteries in the machine, place the small Penguins on the track, and start it up. They'd climb up the mechanized stairs, slide around on the floating track, and return to the foot of the stairs. I saw those all the time at the local Swap Meet, back in '89 and '90. I'm glad to say, I've never bought one. (3) Will Ichinose's teeth ever get sparkling white like Mitaka's or Baachan's? (4) Will someone translate the kanji on this sign, please? (5) How 'bout this piano rendition? I think it's just background music. (6) Fork in left, knife in right. Can we have a etiquette discussion, too? (7) You might as well check Kyoko's face, also. What does it look like to you? It looks like she's surprised by the comments or shocked. Maybe not? (8) Takahashi-ism: noun. An static display of fingers in a particular configuration, namely, the index, pinky, and thumb fingers are extended, while the ring and middle fingers are folded. Prevalent in other comedic Takahashi works, mainly where a character suffers an injury, physical or otherwise. Other forms of Takahashi-isms are: (1) hands flat, face contorted, feet placed in the air as if to step; (2, for males) while in the air, legs are bent like frog, but are connected at the heels or ankles, usually combined with the first Takahashi-ism; (3, for females) Spread arms as if to fly, legs together. There are a lot more Takahashi-isms, but I think the most famous is the finger thing. (9) If you pause the sequence where they stand up, Godai pulls a Takahashi again!!! I love it! (10) It seems to me that they re-use the frames for the "kissing" couple, from eps 29, when Yotsuya views a couple from the well on Godai's shoulders. (11) BGMusic: Akatsuki ni kane wa naru, (Bells ring in the dawn). Also from episode 93. I quote from Pascal Janin's (or who ever's) report on MI CD's: "THE masterpiece that brings tears to your eyes.. when the snow starts falling on Ikkoku-kan." Evidently, its found here, too. Complete with bells. Maybe this is the first appearance? Tarigan: Nope, the first appearance is in... Eps. 31: "Ikkoku-kan scandal. Godai-kun living with woman?" It's the scene when Kyoko runs after Godai and, in tears, implores him to come back to Ikkoku-kan. Actually, that particular melody was used in a few other tender scenes: Eps. 40: The Christmas Stone story ending, when Kyoko and Godai are talking on the bridge and then walk home together. Eps. 94: Just after Kyoko has accepted Godai's proposal, Kyoko's father accepts her acceptance... (12) Doesn't she look like a KOR Ayukawa? =============== More comments from Clifford: (Mon, 11 Apr 1994 11:03:07 -0700) - The jet again? - Anybody who thinks a super-deformed dragon who spouts fire is cute should be shot. Just kidding! - Why does Godai start looking the other way when hiding in the garage? - Kyoko thinks the day is a "game" at that time when they hide at the garage? - "We'll stay as friends, you and I." Lyrics to the song playing at the cafe! - Takahashi-ism: The traditional ring and middle fingers folded, pinky, thumb, and index fingers pointed. Godai's reaction when the party posse catches up to the runners. BTW, how many times does this appear in this Takahashi work? - Those are American-looking salespersons...Dempata!!! - Godai and Kyoko pass the same bridge that Akemi sits at in the next episode? ========== Replies by Glenn Tarigan: (94.04.11) Clifford Caoile had written: > Episode 34: Be pushy for love! Grandma Yukari with gold teeth. > - Geez, is everybody a chronic smoker? Yukari lights one after flashback. I think the Japanese population is in a sorry state. At least, with respect to percentage of smokers. Is it improving any? (ie. is smoking on the decline?) In that respect, it reminds me of what I've heard about France... At least Kyoko doesn't smoke! And Godai doesn't try smoking after episode 36. > - Why does Yukari bend over on the bench as if she's tired? (just before > Mitaka intro's himself) I think she's just bowing to him. That would be a common gesture to get someone's attention, wouldn't it? > - Mitaka likes to buy dolls. He likes to play with dolls? Yeah, especially human dolls. ^_^ > Episode 35: Operation chase! After Kyoko and Godai's date! > - Anybody who thinks a super-deformed dragon who spouts fire is cute should > be shot. Just kidding! In the manga, Kyoko was playing with a Urusei Yatsura devil (the one with big choppers :) ==================================================================== @ep36 == Episode 36: == == Sudden storm of kiss! == == Story of broken hearted Akemi-san == ========================================================================== More comments from Clifford: (Mon, 11 Apr 1994 11:03:07 -0700) - That's a big jet! - [ different title music ] - Yotsuya-san is a facilitator? - Kennosuke YOTSUYA? "You read Gorobe with that. People call me Honest Goro-chan." (DS sub) Can someone explain his dialogue? I read this in the FAQ 4 but it still doesn't make sense. - Yatta! vs Atta! (spoken by Godai) ==================================================================== @ep37 == Episode 37: == == Dangerous Costume Party! == == Kyoko's radical change. == ========================================================================== Background Info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #37. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history - "summary only / total" lines [94.01.04 9:14 added Williamson's footnote which I recieved today] = 11 lines CEC-940423Sat 1530-.... Small synopsis, based on MIGuide4c 17 lines ....-1939 Episode info, formatted in CEC style. 89 lines CEC-....24Sun 1640-1556 Final check and text conversion. 93 lines CEC-....29Fri 2030-2050 Added Jeff D. Williamson's comment. 99 lines CEC-..0516Mon 2132-2136 CEC standardized format. 16/101 CEC-....20Fri 0009-0032 Final send off for MI guide 5! 16/105 Air date : 1986.12.03 Wed (according to Andy Johnson) Date of story: A lazy Sunday. December 1986 (according to Andy Johnson's Timeline.) Duration: 1 day. Cast in order of appearance: Akemi, Ichinose, Yotsuya, Godai, Kyoko, Souichiro, delivery man, Kentaro, Mitaka. Episodes, before and after: I 36: Sudden storm of kiss! Story of broken heart Akemi-san. F / ... (present episode) I \ 38: Godai-Kun's Lost Love? Kozue approaching Mitaka? References to: #39, #93 - See notes. Based on: (Japanese/English title unavailable.) Vol. 5, part 8 - Normal; Vol. 4, part 3 - Wideban. Synopsis: -------- [ Opening Theme: Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa (Hello Sadness), Saito Yuki. ] [ Kyoko read the title text. ] It's a lazy sunday at Ikkoku-kan. Even the party posse is bored. Kyoko recieves 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, dese ne?" Mitaka arrives, but Godai shooes 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 in the future. [ Mitaka narrates the preview. ] [ Ending theme: Fantajii (Fantasy), Picasso. ] Notes: ----- (x) Jeff Williamson: Kyoko's flashback in this episode is the first indication we get that Souichiro was a teacher of geology. Tarigan: And here are the other indications: Episode 39: He gives Kyoko a stone for a Christmas present. I'm sure he'd have wanted a similar present for himself. Episode 93: In the flashback when Kyoko is meeting with Souichiro in a park, he points out how the cliff strata in front of them looks interesting. (x) Most characters have the crossed-eyed look. Watch for Kyoko looking at herself in the mirror and also walking back inside the appartment. Is this just this episode, or am I dreaming? (x) In the scene where Yotsuya, Godai, and Akemi fight for the canned peach, someones hand is on Godai's face. It looks like a left hand, since the thumb is on the right side. Akemi is the only one who able to grip his face. But when the screen shifts back and forth between the can and the graspers, Akemi reaches for the can with her *left* hand. If I was fighting for a can, I wouldn't switch hands that often. I was hoping I would catch a blooper, but this isn't technically one. (x) Jeff Williamson: "Seishun" is one of those lovely abstract concepts we see a lot of in non-English languages. It has been translated variously (and loosely) as "The Springtime of Youth" (AnimEigo), "The Voice of Youth" (Viz), and many other short phrases. It essentially means the period of youth in which one enjoys life, care-free, as one cannot at any other time in their life. The best short translation is a short phrase from another non-English language: "joie de vivre" (pardon my spelling, if it is bad). Caoile: My friend, Masahiro Otaki, roughly translates it to "adolescence." The explanation was harder to voice. He couldn't really clarify why... .6.> C.H.Yung: Seishun is YOUTH. There were lots of seishun TV drama series in 60's and 70's, with the main theme on how to productively pass your golden years, the youth. However, they are not playing seishun in this episode, they are just playing some acting games, except the last 2 scenes. The first one is a parody to a famous Anime 'Ace O Nerae', which is also the line Mitaka said. This anime was boardcast in 1973-74, and is about tennis. The second one is Yotsuya points to the sun and breaks into tears. These two are seishun. <.6. Clarifications: -------------- CEC: What's that crazy music playing while Kyoko reads the title? It sure fits the mood of the episode! =====================================================================@ep38 == Episode 38: == == Godai-Kun's Lost Love? == == Kozue approaching Mitaka? == ========================================================================== Background info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #38. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history: [ 93.08.04 14:33 - 14:39 translated footnote from Eo] = 24 lines [ 93.08.10 21:05 - 21:11 added footnotes ] = 39 lines [94.01.04 9:15 added Williamson's notes which I received today ] = 50 lines CEC-940423Sat 1954-0312 First synopsis, with included footnotes 524 lines CEC-....24Sun 1640-1758 Final check and text conversion 524 lines (353 lines of summary, not counting anything else! I wish I got 400. wink) CEC-....30Sat 0048-0100 Little formatting change. 526 lines CEC-..0509Mon 2345-2358 General checkup. 530 lines CEC-....10Tue 1108-1126 Tidbits of corrections from Glenn... CEC-....14Sat 1056-1141 More corrections and footnotes. 357/569 CEC-....16Mon 2146-2150 Deleted redundant info. 357/570 CEC-....20Fri 0034-0054 Uploaded to MI guide 5! 357/570 Air date: 1986.12.10 Wed (according to Andy Johnson) Date of story: Autumn, close to, but not suggesting, Christmas. December 1986 (according to Andy Johnson's Time line) Duration: at least 5 days. afternoon, day date, then a night, pondering, at school, then with Mitaka, another rendezvous, and Godai wonders, Godai's job and final confrontation. Cast in order of appearance: Kozue, brunette and blond friend, Ichinose, Godai, Akemi, Yotsuya, Souichiro, Kentaro, Kyoko, Mrs. Nanao, Yousuke, Mr. Nanao, Mitaka. Episodes, before and after: F 37: Dangerous costume party! Kyoko's radical change. I ... (present episode) I /=39: Guts for love! Godai's operation part time. References to: #24, 33, 91 - See notes. Based on: (Japanese/English title unavailable.) Vol. 5, part 7 - Normal; Vol. 4, part 2 - Wideban. Synopsis: -------- [ Opening theme: Suki sa (I Love You), Anzen Chitai (Safety Zone). First appearance! ^_^ ] The clock bell chimes in front of a bright orange afternoon sky. It's 4 o'clock. In the tower's shadow, a figure walks away. Two more figures run after her. "Wait Kozue!" Kozue stops and turns around. "Why are you in such a hurry? Got a date?" Kozue shrugs her shoulders and smiles. "No, that's not it!" A traffic light turns red. Kozue and her two friends walk across the street. "I'm so exhausted! My shoulder's so stiff!" says the tall brunette. "Really. Octopus's lecture is the only difficult part, isn't it?" Kozue answers. The shorter blond girl with glasses says, "Say, wanna go to Harajuku?" Kozue walks behind the two. "Forget it! I don't want to go to a kids' hang out," says the brunette, grasping her bag. Kozue smiles. "Say, aren't you hungry?" The two look back at her. The brunette says, "Alright, follow me!" and continues walking. Kozue and blond follow her. Kozue asks, "Oh, you're paying for us?!?" The other girl says, "I'd like a big order of parfait!" In the same breath, the brunette answers, "You idiots... Pay for yourselves." The traffic resumes. At the cafe, (1) Kozue fingers her chocolate ice cream sundae. "You're kidding. I can't believe that." Facing Kozue, the blond rests her spoon on her lips. She answers, "Come on. It's pretty common. Really, it's nothing to be surprised about." She looks to the brunette for a nod. Sitting next to the blond, the brunette waves her cigarette. "Yeah. Don't you have boyfriend, too, Kozue?" "Oh yeah, what's his name?" "Godai-san." (2) She lifts a scoopful of ice cream to her mouth. The blond continues. "Don't you go on a trip with him or something like that?" "No way!" The brunette stamps her cigarette out. The blond presses Kozue. "You've known him pretty long haven't you? How far did you go?" Kozue cocks her head. "How far.... Come on! Godai isn't that kind of man. He's a real gentleman." The blond looks back in amazement. "Wow! I can't believe that." The brunette raises her cup to her mouth. "Then, in Kozue's case, it's holding hands or shoulders." She takes a sip and places her cup onto the table. Resting her chin on her interlaced hands, she says, "You two came along with that kind of relationship." Kozue shakes her head. "No, not that either." The blond immediately replies, "Are you sure that there's nothing wrong with him?" "There's nothing wrong with him!" "To be honest, he's really weird, right?" She looks at the brunette again. The brunette lights another cigarette and agrees. Surprised at their responses, Kozue's face is dejected. "No way! You think so?" [ Kozue leaves the spoon in her glass as the title text fades in. Kyoko (Sumi Shimamoto) narrates. ] The clock at Ikkoku-kan reads the ever-familiar time of 10:25. Souichiro's dog house is empty. Ichinose hangs her blanket on the clothes-hanging porch and swats the hanging end. Godai can be seeing tying his neck tie through the window. He looks at the mirror and smiles. Forgetting something, he reaches for his comb and brushes his bangs. On the first floor, dashing Godai stares out the right window. Tiptoeing his way past the front door, he grabs his shoes. He opens the door, and feeling free, he straightens his posture and breathes a sigh of relief. While putting on his jacket, Ichinose and Akemi shout to him. "Hey, Godai!" Godai slowly turns around, teeth gritting. "Date with Kozue? Lucky you!" Akemi smiles. "Lover boy!" Godai starts to run. A dark robed Yotsuya steps in front of him and grabs Godai's right hand. "Godai!" Reflexively, Godai's left hand adjusts his necktie. "If you don't hurry, Kanrinin will be coming back." (3) Irritated, Godai yells, "Then will you let go of me?" Yotsuya leans forward. In a low voice, he says, "Will you treat me to a deluxe tendon?" Godai's face softens in submission. He slowly agrees. "Deluxe, remember." Godai breaks from his grasp and starts to run. "I said, alright!!" Souichiro barks. Godai stops, mid-stride and stares at the dog. Hypnotically, Yotsuya repeats, "Don't forget the deluxe tendon." "Why should I???" A familiar bundle of hair enters the screen. Kentaro stands next to Souichiro. "Where are you going?" Grabbing the back of his head, he sees Kyoko. He answers, "Nowhere, really..." He starts laughing. "Weird guy! Let's go, Souichiro-san." Godai turns his attention to Kyoko. He continues to laugh. Kyoko smiles. "Going on a date?" Godai tries to deny it. Kyoko steps toward him and starts to fix his tie. "Your tie is crooked. " (4) "It's nothing that important." Godai looks towards the sky, unable to control himself. "Is it too tight?" "No, not really." Clasping her hands behind her back and smiling, Kyoko says, "Okay! Done!" Looking blankly at her face, Godai thanks her. Kyoko closes her eyes and smiles. Godai walks away. "See ya later!" From the window, the party posse repeat Kyoko. "Ite irrashai!" Godai jerks in mid-step. Walking down the street methodically, he yells, "Bye!" (5) Pigeons flock along the ground. Bursting into the middle, a young boy yells, "Hey, pigeons!" The pigeons fly away. (6) A lazy gorilla sits unashamed. A lone flamingo walks across the water. An elephant waves its trunk between its tusks. Kozue yells, "Wow, a tiger! Godai, look, it's a tiger!"(7) She points with her pink handbag in her left hand. Godai turns head towards the tiger, but fingers his tie with his right hand. The tiger yawns. Godai stands unmoving, continually stroking his tie. "He isn't moving, is he?" Kozue smiles, referring to the tiger. She sees him stroke his tie and frowns. "Godai... Godai... Godai!"(8) Godai wakes from his reverie. His hand is still on his tie. Kozue looks at him worriedly. "What is it? Did you call me?" "What's wrong, Godai? You look depressed." Releasing his hold on his tie, he holds the back of his head. Godai denies it, while switching hands to play with his tie knot. He laughs. Kozue is unconvinced. "Is the neck tie to tight?" Godai notices his hands. He puts them in his pockets. Leaning forward, he says, "Do you want to have a drink?" Kozue cutely nods yes. The chef skillful fries noodles as the customers watch. An eager boy runs with his parcel of food as his mother cries out behind him, "Don't spill it!" Godai takes a sip of his coffee. (9) Sitting at a table, Godai says to Kozue, "Maybe we should have went to a movie." Kozue shakes her head quickly. "No, it's more fun here!" She looks away. "Really?" She looks towards him and smiles, "Um!" (10) Godai's face changes to one of astonishment. He smiles. (11) Outside, the orange afternoon sky is the background for the overhead monorail. A boy throws food to a flock of ducks. His father looks on. Two fish swim under lily leaves. Kozue walks toward the rail and looks down at the fish. She motions to Godai. "Godai, come quick and see this!" pointing with her hand bag in her right hand. "There's a huge carp over there... Wow! There's another!" She rests her head on her folded arms. Godai's hand creeps back up his neck tie as he looks into the distance. "Maybe these over here are a couple." Godai looks at his watch. "Say, why don't we go home?" Kozue turns to Godai. Her face is hopeful. "Let's walk a little longer." Playing with the knot of his necktie, Godai says, "But it's almost time to go." Kozue looks down, crestfallen. "Boring..." With hope, she looks up at Godai. "Why don't you come over to my house for dinner?" She grabs his arms. "Please?" "No. It's okay." "Why?" "I just had dinner a while ago." "But..." Kozue is downcast. A swan slowly swims as the wind gently ripples the pond. Godai walks in front of Kozue. Coming towards them, a young couple walk on the opposite sides of the walkway. In front of Kozue, the woman yelps, "So cold!" The man automatically puts his arm over her shoulder. "There! A human heater." Kozue looks at them in wonder. The couple walk away. Behind Kozue, Godai asks her is she's alright. Turning around, she says, "I'm okay." The lilies move with the breeze. Kozue hugs her arms closer. "Are you cold?" At the words, Kozue's face brightens. "Yes, I'm really cold!" she says happily, awaiting Godai. "Then, let's go home. You'll catch a cold." Godai turns away. Kozue stares at him. Kozue once again is downcast. (12) At the Nanao household, Mrs. Nanao scoops up some rice into a bowl. "Why didn't you invite Godai over?" "I did." Kozue trades her bowl for her mother's. Mrs. Nanao continues to spoon rice. "Why didn't he come?" Kozue laces her fingers and rests her head. She stares blankly. "I don't know." "Sis, you got dumped, right?" Yousuke makes a face and waves his hands. Kozue flicks her finger and sharply taps Yousuke's nose. "Oww! What are you doing?" "We're really close," she counters, grabbing her bowl. She looks away in disgust, hanging her head high in the air. Turning his attention to the conversation, Mr. Nanao asks, "You're behaving yourselves, I hope." Kozue asks, unknowingly, "What do you mean behave?" Flustered with the subject, Mr. Nanao retreats behind his paper. "I mean... he's a gentleman, right?" He looks worriedly over his paper. "Would stop reading the newspaper at the table?" says Mrs. Nanao, taking the paper away. He looks down, sad. Kozue places the tip of her chopsticks at her lips. Yellow flowers, swaying in the wind, bud in the sun. The moon is bright and round. Kozue, parting the drapes, stares at it through her bedroom window. Kozue looks at her darkened ceiling. She is dressed in her pajamas. She sits on her bed hands in her lap. She hugs her pillow and stares. Finally lying down, in between the blankets, Kozue fingers her pillow wither her left hand, while clutching her neck with her right. Blinking her eyes, she turns her head so that it swallows her face. She cries, "I don't get it." The yellow flowers sway in the wind once more as the screen fades. [ Standard commercial break. ] The school clock reads 1:20. The professor is busy talking about Cyrano de Bergerac.(13) While turning the page in her book, Kozue drops her pencil. Just before she grabs it, it rolls off the table. Smiling, she picks it up and playfully scratches her head with the tip, her tongue peeking from her mouth every now and then. Pressing the pencil tip to the book, she notices that it needs pencil lead. She clicks on the eraser end, to expose more lead, but no lead comes out. The river's peace is broken by the sound of two trains passing each other over the bridge. The river sparkles from the full sunshine. (14) Kozue walks pass a fence. The solid bounce of a tennis ball is heard. A man says, "That's right. Stretch out the elbow a little bit more." Recognizing the sound of the man's voice, Kozue stops and turns her attention past the fence. Mitaka is holding a woman's hand while instructing her. The woman swings the racket back and forth. Mitaka looks on. "The basic is the important part. And one more." The wind blows Kozue's bangs lightly as she slowly turns her body toward the court. A car passes behind her. Kozue samples her dessert. "Sorry! Sorry to make you pay." She smiles. (15) Mitaka sits across from her, hands folded. He gestures, hand open. "Don't hesitate. Have more." The wall picture is peaks of ice-covered mountains. "It's okay!" "Go ahead!" Unabashed, Kozue picks up the menu and orders from a passing waitress. "Can I have cheesecake and lemon tea?" Mitaka's face is all smiles, while the waitress takes the order. "One of each? Yes, right away." Laughing, Mitaka says, "You're so cheerful." (16) "Not really..." Her smile contradicting her feelings, she says, "It may not look like it, but I'm depressed right now." She looks down at her desert. Surprised, Mitaka slightly lowers his cup. With her eyes losing sparkle, she whispers, "I really don't understand how men feel." She rests her head on her hand as she sadly looks away. Concerned, Mitaka asks, "Something happened with Godai?" He puts his cup down on the plate. Kozue answers quickly, "Nothing happens." Mitaka gasps. Without stopping, she asks, "Is there somebody Godai loves?" Taken aback, Mitaka thinks, "I see." He looks down at the table, pensive. To himself, "She doesn't know that Godai loves Otonashi." Outside, the utility lines cut through the orange sun. In the park, Mitaka and Kozue walk side by side. "Love is like a gamble.... You can keep on going out like friends... But once you say, 'I love you', that might end the relationship. If you don't say that one phrase, you might have been able to..." He pauses, stopping. "But Godai is just being a coward." "Is he?" Mitaka smiles. "He is." The water playfully falls into the fountain. The wind blows leaves across the park. Kozue blows into her hands, to warm them. Looking away, Mitaka plants his hand lightly on Kozue's right shoulder. "It's getting cold. Time to go home, right?" Surprised with the physical contact, Kozue looks up at Mitaka. Her face, which is full of worry, changes to a smile. Mitaka, surprised at the reaction, takes away his hand. "Oh. Sorry." He rubs his fingers. Turning her head slightly, she says, "It's okay... I want to hear you story." "Okay. Anytime." "Really? Thank you!" She turns toward him. "Now, let's go home." She voices her approval and they start to walk again. In the foreground, a tree passes with a suited figure standing in front. The brim of his hat hides his eyes as the two pass, unaware that he's standing, monitoring their movements. His right index finger lifts the brim, and Yotsuya speaks. "I saw it." Back at Ikkoku-kan, the porch light is on. In Godai's room, Akemi says, "What? Mitaka and Kozue?" Next to her, Godai's face is contorted. "That's a combination that's hard to believe," Ichinose says, disbelievingly. "But it's a fact," Yotsuya answers. "What's going on?" she says, as she looks at Godai. "Maybe's she's changed men." Akemi says. Godai starts laughing nervously. Raising her head to look at Godai in the eye, she continues. "Are you handsome? Rich? Got a car? Cheerful?" Unable or unwilling to answer, Godai plays with his fingers. "See." "It's no contest." "Godai wins Kozue's heart!!!" After a dramatic pause, Yotsuya droops his head. "That's impossible..." Realizing the possibility, Godai lowers his head in frustration. The scene blackens.(17) The train's reflection is visible above the river, as well as the healthy sky. Mitaka bounces the tennis ball onto the ground three times. Ichinose stands in front of Mitaka. Mitaka turns to Ichinose. "How are Godai and Kozue doing?" "Why do you ask?" Bouncing the ball, he continues. "I met Kozue-san." Turning toward him, her teeth occupy half her face. Mitaka notices and his eyes widen. "You got such a bad hobby!" Ichinose bends and tickles Mitaka with her racket. (18) "After you stole his girlfriend, you were looking for a relationship that was falling apart." Every woman stares intently at Mitaka. He bends closer to Ichinose. "What are you saying?" She puts her racket in front of Mitaka's face. "Oh, come on! Pretending to be innocent?" Turning away, "As a matter of fact, somebody said that you holding Kozue." Ichinose's remark fazes Mitaka. "That's a misunderstanding! There's nothing between..." Kyoko can be seen in the foreground, slightly interested in the conversation. A woman's voice can be heard in the distance. "Mitaka!" Everybody's heads turn. Mitaka turns around and gasps. Kozue stands with her hands on the fence, waiting for Mitaka. A green car passes in front of a cafe. "Godai doesn't even smile when I see him." Kozue sits hands intertwined, starting at another sundae. Mitaka's fingers tap impatiently against his shoulder. "I wish he'd hold my shoulder when we say goodbye." Looking away, Mitaka thinks, "What am I doing here?" (19) Nighttime, with the train in the distance. Godai rests his head on his pillow, thinking. Protruding from the wall, Yotsuya utters an inconsistency. "Wind from gap. Hard labor student with no way to escape." Retreating to his room, he says, "Better hit the sack." (20) The front wheel spins quickly with the road. [ Instrumental of Ashita hareru ka with dumb synthesizer accompaniment. ] Godai pumps the bike pedals. The drinks jostle with the ride. As Godai delivers two drinks, a car passes his stationary bike. Godai rides again, puffing. Coasting down the hill, he suddenly contorts his face and starts pumping again. Mitaka turns to Kyoko. She wipes her face with a towel. (21) "Otonashi, would you like some tea on the way back?" She doesn't answer. Ichinose worms her way next to Mitaka and elbows him deathly close to his crotch. "She's here again." She laughs. Everybody starts to talk. Mitaka utters gagging noises. Picking up the receiver of the yellow public phone, Godai inserts a coin and dials a number. The phone rings six times. Godai's attention turns slowly from the phone into the distance. He sees something and lowers the phone. In the coffee shop across from the phone, Kozue and Mitaka sit. Kozue mouths some words and laughs. Mitaka is smiling as well. Godai stands, betraying no emotion. (22) Inside, Mitaka speaks. "I understand now, Kozue. Leave everything to me." "Mitaka, I'm happy." Rising, "I need to go to the washroom right now." Mitaka's composure shatters when she passes out of eyeshot. Alone, he says to himself, "The only choice I've got is to talk to Godai directly." A figure stops by Mitaka's side. Aware of another presence, Mitaka looks up. "You aren't doing this out of a whim, are you?" Godai says. Mitaka stands and grasps him. Relieved, he says, "Godai!" Godai hardens his face. "Are you serious about this?" Intently, Mitaka says, "What are you talking about?!?! This is all your fault." Mitaka turns him. "If you're a man, why can't you at least hold her shoulder when you say goodbye?" Mitaka pushes Godai down to sit. Taking the bill from the table, he says, "Okay? I better get going." He turns around. "Understand? Between a man and a woman, parting is an important time." Godai stands, yelling, "Wait!" He sits. To himself, "The time to part?" Kozue walks back to the table. "Godai-san?" The water shoots slowly above the fountain. Godai and Kozue walk in the same park as Mitaka did, last time.(23) "So, the time to part is important, isn't it?" he says to himself. Looking up, Kozue laughs. "I was so surprised! When did you switch with him?" Godai says to himself, "Right. If I have to say goodbye either way..." He turns away and says, "Hmmph." His hand floats unwaveringly behind Kozue's shoulder, almost unwilling to settle there. Finally, his fingers touch her lightly. Kozue gasps. She stops suddenly, aware of the physical contact. Her face is slack. The wind blows the leaves off a tree. Kozue looks up into the sky, then to Godai's face. Godai looks to the ground. "It's been fun, Kozue." He closes his eyes. "Sayonara." Opening his eyes, he looks towards Kozue. His face, relaxed, changes to full of surprise. Kozue gasps for air. "I'm so happy! So you finally understood me?" Breaking free from his hold, she walks back. "Sayonara! See you!" Godai stares at her receding outline. "Huh? See you?" He cocks his head, uncomprehendingly. "Huh?!?!?" The Nanao household at night. The train can be heard in the distance. A figure rests gently between the sheets. Kozue sleeps soundly in her bed, her left hand grasping her pillow. Her face is relaxed, with a hint of a smile. Familiar yellow flowers slowly fade into the picture, and the picture fades to black.(24) [ Yotsuya narrates next episode. ] [ Ending theme: Fantajii (Fantasy), Picasso. ] Notes: ----- CEC's comments: I think Kozue-chan knows full well Godai's not into the relationship as she is, but I guess the reminder of her first flame motivates her to try to keep Godai. She's the one who put herself into Godai's life. (So she lets things pass like this for 2 years or more?) I liked the interaction between Kozue and Mitaka, since we never get to see them talk to each other at all. Plus Kyoko never talks, so this is a first among firsts... Jeff Williamson's comments: Kozue-chan seems willfully blind to Godai's indifference, based on her actions in this episode. Or perhaps, as she herself admits in episode #91, she's just slow on these things. (1) The name of the restaurant is in Japanese. (Cryptic for me!) (2) Kozue is too cute!!!! Hey, someone on the ML said in their sig that they might have crush on her. "No way, dude! She was looking at me the whole time, buttmunch!" (3) Godai's face reminds me of Ranma's in Ranma 1/2 episode #2. What kind of character design is that? (4) Godai has his wish come true, at least in part, when Kyoko fixes his tie. See episode 24 for his head trip and crash into the mirror. (My look at the pun!) (5) Godai's hands look like they're in Takahashi-mode, that is, the pinky, the index finger, and the thumb are extended, the other two fingers are clenched. See episode #33, both notes and actual anime. See episode #35 for a definition. (6) Tarigan: I suppose that Godai and Kozue are in Ueno Park, which is in Taito Ward of Tokyo. DYN: at the start of the scene when they're in the zoo, the entrance sign is seen. But the kanji name shown is: | | | ### --/ |- | | | instead of |- ### _\_ | | | | | -+- |/ ----- |-|-| ----- --- | `Ueyama' `Ueno' Is joke, ne? I've seen maps of Tokyo, and nowhere is there any zoo other than Ueno's. Anyway... Ueno Park is 0.838 km2 in size. This open space originally belonged to a daimyo, but was taken away by the Shogunate in the 17th century and was opened up to the public in 1878. In the south end of the park is Lake Shinobazu, in which is a tongue of land, where the Benten Temple is situated. Godai and Kozue are walking on the bridges traversing this lake. The lake is famous for its lotus blooms in August. In the northwest corner is an aquarium, from which you can use the monorail to go to the zoo.[BAED83] (7) Tarigan: This episode aired in 1986. Coincidentally, 1986 was the year of the Tiger. This must be another one of the script writer's obscure clues to tell us when this episode took place. (8) Tarigan: At this moment in the manga version, Godai was remembering about when Kyoko helped fix his tie earlier on. Except that his memory colored it so that he was engulfed with flames as Kyoko asks "Is it too tight?" [she glares fiercely at him]. That's what I recall from reading my brand new copy of volume 5 last night Envious, Clifford? :) (The copyright date on my copy is 1994, even! And I had thought they stopped reprinting the normal width volumes.) Caoile: I thought that it was funny that Godai wasn't moving either. And yes. I am a little envious. (9) It says coffee on the cup. Sheesh! As if I can read JPNese... (10) How can you write down a affirmation which doesn't require opening the mouth? You can't say grunt because it sounds cute. Maybe I need a sound dictionary! Tarigan: Give it up. Just make Kozue say "Sure!" If you were dubbing, you could get away with "Un". But this is subtitling, and we don't have to worry about whether or not it's possible to say "sure" without opening your mouth. (11) DYN: When Godai is talking to Kozue in the zoo eating place, you can see panda dolls just behind him: a larger panda holding a baby panda. Ueno zoo is famous for successfully breeding the rare giant panda three times in a row (this info taken from the endnotes of the subtitles; I can't guarantee its accuracy). (12) Godai is unfeeling. This part actually make me feel sorry for Kozue. At this point, I think this is where Godai treats her the worst. (13) If I misspell things like the subtitler, WC, then ... (14) What is the name of this bridge or the river? I only narrate this part because I don't own the tapes. (15) Jeff Williamson: During the first cafe scene between Kozue and Mitaka, "Fantasy" is playing over the cafe's speakers. (16) We don't see her any other way, even before this episode, do we! See episode 17, footnote 10 by Tarigan and West, in MIGuide 4d, discussing Kozue. (17) Tarigan: Godai doesn't want to win Kyoko by losing Kozue to Mitaka, I suppose. (18) Is Ichinose left-handed? She tickles Mitaka with her racket in her left hand. This is in response to the left-handed tennis player comment. (19) It seems that he's not paying attention, but Kozue's words are exactly what Mitaka says to Godai when he confronts him. (20) I will always leave Yotsuya's words alone, since they seem to be directly from translation. It's always unclear what he means exactly, so I won't dilute the meaning by pre-interpreting it. As he says to Akemi, as I say to you: "I don't have the confidence to explain it to you." (21) Kyoko occupies the same position as the last time we saw her, on the left side of the screen, with her back toward Mitaka. Seems like they saved frames of animation that way. She seems aloof in that it really didn't matter that Kozue was there. (22) Tarigan: In the manga version of this scene, Godai was spying on them right from the moment Kozue meets Mitaka at the tennis courts. Then he somehow manages to hide at the adjacent table, and listen in, when the other two are in the cafe. That's almost as unbelievable as the coincidence (in the anime version) of Godai happening to use a telephone just right next to the window where Kozue and Mitaka are sitting. (23) DYN: When Godai holds Kozue's shoulder, he happens to do that at the same walkway when Mitaka held her shoulder earlier in the episode. In fact, you can see the exact same building behind both men. Remember the music that is being played in this scene with Godai, because it's almost never used again. (24) Tarigan: Manga comparison: There's one more scene-- once again at the tennis courts, Kozue calls Mitaka from the fence: "Thank you!" All the other women, including Kyoko and Ichinose, look at a dismayed Mitaka. Clarifications: -------------- CEC: What are the names of Kozue's friends, or are they as nameless as neighbor 1 and neighbor 2, in the "Love you" widow episode #12? -- Clifford Caoile ==================================================================== @ep40 == Episode 40: == == Tenderness warm heart. == == X-mas is feeling of love. == ========================================================================== Background info: --------------- Written and formatted by Clifford "Tenchi-kun" Caoile. (Init: CEC) (A lot of help from Arctic Animation's Maison Ikkoku subtitled episode #40. Thanks to Daisuke Susuki and William Chow. Thanks to Cal-Animage Beta at UCSD for providing the cassette.) Revision history - "summary only / total" lines CEC-940423Sat 1542-//// Small synopsis and formatting arrangements. CEC-....24Sun 1640-1804 Final check and text conversion 73 lines CEC-....30Sat 0010-0035 Added Williamson's notes. 90 lines CEC-..0516Mon 2149-2152 CEC Standardized format. 20/94 CEC-....22Sun 1527-1534 Final send off to the MI Guide 5! 20/90 Air date : 1986.12.24 Wed (according to Andy Johnson) Date of story: Christmas night '86 (according to Andy Johnson's Timeline). Duration: 1 day. Cast in order of appearance: Godai, Kyoko, Mitaka, Ichinose, Yotsuya, one of the merchants, Akemi, Master, Sakamoto, train manager or lost/found attendant, the other merchant. Episodes, before and after: I /=39: Guts for love! Godai's part time operation... IV \=... (present episode) RI 41: Heart thump with Kyoko out of bath. Open bath peeping wars. References to: #32 - "Don't lose or eat that stone, Sakamoto!" Sakamoto eats Yotsuya's egg without even knowing what it is. Sakamoto is now entrusted with an unfamiliar stone. Interesting parallel! Based on: Original story not found in the manga. Synopsis: -------- [ Opening theme: Suki sa (I Love You), Anzen Chitai (Safety Zone). ] [ Kyoko voices the title text. ] [ An unnamed male voice (maybe the master of the bar at Chachamaru?) narrates a few highlights from the last episode. ] 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. [ Akemi and Ichinose narrates the preview for next episode. ] [ Ending theme: Fantajii (Fantasy), Picasso. ] Notes: ----- (x) Jeff Williamson: "Cheek Time". A borrowed phrase in Japan, describing the occasion of couples dancing cheek-to-cheek to slow, romantic music. Usually the best time for a young Japanese male to cozy up to his date. Also kind of amusing, because it is more appropriate to the younger (high school or college age) crowd, rather than the twentysomethings of MI. See Kimagure Orange Road for more "Cheek Time" scenes. (x) The train managers mistake a stone ('ishi') for a chair ('isu'). That's Japanese, folks! Jeff Williamson: A joke which would be preserved in an AnimEigo subtitle. Let's hope that if Viz *does* decide to sub MI, that they preserve these sorts of jokes (also "moshi"/"koshi" from Episode 1). (x) That note that Godai picks up in the snow is the sweater gift that Kozue gave to him earlier that night. Look at the seal in episode 39 for clarification. (x) Jeff Williamson: BGM-watchers take note: as Godai wends his way from the train station to ChaChaMaru to deliver the stone to Kyoko, two separate ending themes are used as BGM. First, a variant instrumental version of "Fantasy", using more violins; second, the standard instrumental version of "Ashita Hareruka". Note: The instrumental of "Ashita Hareruka" never fails to leave me a little misty-eyed, but the variant version of "Fantasy" in this episode is absolutely beautiful! It gets used again, to rather nice effect, in one of the last episodes, though I can't remember the number offhand. <.5. Comments: .8.> --------- From: "Steven Miale" Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 01:16:57 -0500 (EST) I've been lending my MI tapes to a friend of mine. He just wrote this to me, and I'm forwarding to the list with his permission. He likes the series, although he is fairly upset at the frequent usage of misunderstandings/coincidences that permeate certain parts of the story. (He especially hated the events of the late 50s, with Godai and Asuna just happening to meet, and Salad-chan just happening to go with Kyoko, and the whole this-is-going-to-a-point-but-no-wait incident with respect to Mitaka's proposal.) As he put it, he thinks the series could have been much, much better, which is why he is disappointed. Forwarded message: From: rawlins@cs.indiana.edu (Gregory J. E. Rawlins) Date: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 23:29:08 EST Yo Miale-san, i just got through MI #40 (ishi no Chrismasu episode) and wanted to talk to someone about how great Takahashi-sensei is. This is the fourth time i've seen this episode and it's still as moving as before. Okashii to Kokoro desu. When she's good, she's *very* very good. There were so many subtle touches, but i'll only mention one. Throughout the episode Kyoko doesn't smile, even with the best attentions of the loon squad and Mitaka-san. But, we wonder, is she unhappy because the stone is missing or because Yushaku isn't there? Or is it a mixture of both? Well, Takahashi-sensei effortlessly keeps us on tenterhooks for the entire episode while Yuhsaku runs hither and yon looking for the stone. Finally, he aproaches the Cha Cha Maru and Kyoko spots his silhouette through the door. She immediately smiles---for the first time in the entire episode. Chotto mate kudasai! We're still in doubt---is it her joy at seeing the bearer of her dead lover's gift, or is it her joy at seeing someone who has come to mean more than she's aware of even after only a brief separation? But Takahasi-sensei won't tell us that openly, she's much wilier than that. She keeps us waiting (deftly---without having to use misunderstandings and other crude measures) just a little longer as the loon squad gather round Yuhsaku and Kyoko reads his card. She's looking at the stone as she does so, but when she reaches the end, she's a little surprised by the name on the end---"Godai". Nani!? Ah, we begin to see the devilish depth of Takahashi-sensei's writing. Kyoko has fallen into a spell and partly thinks of Yuhsaku as Souichiro-san. But then the lights go out and so does Yuhsaku (searching for Kozue-chan's Christmas gift, left lying in the snow along the overhead train tracks, which we only briefly saw fall from his pocket as he fell several scenes before---what a writing gift!). Immediately, Kyoko is hot on his trail. But! Before she leaves, we get one last poignant look at the rock and the candle guttering in the wind. Chotto! Kaze? Nani kaze deska? Aa so desu! The wind from the opening door as Kyoko goes searching for Yuhsaku! (which we're never shown directly---nor do we need to). We now switch to the final scene with Kyoko and Yuhsaku, which is itself touching for what they say (or rather, don't say), but the final coup de grace is that Kyoko rushed out of the Cha Cha Maru clutching, not Souichiro's gift of long ago, but YUHSAKU's gift. Thus, Takahasi-sensei makes it plain to us, finally, just who Kyoko loves. ja ne, gregory. Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 00:25:47 -0800 (PST) From: Tony Danh Cong Luu On Tue, 31 Jan 1995, Steven Miale wrote: > > Forwarded message: > > Okashii to Kokoro desu. When she's good, she's *very* very good. There were > > so many subtle touches, but i'll only mention one. Throughout the episode > > Kyoko doesn't smile, even with the best attentions of the loon squad and > > Mitaka-san. But, we wonder, is she unhappy because the stone is missing or > > because Yushaku isn't there? Or is it a mixture of both? That is the thing I love about Takahashi's writing. There are so many scenes and situations in which "a look" or action (or lack thereof) can describe to the audience what millions of words can't. I've watched about half of MI and my favorite scene was during the time Godai and Kyouko were walking in the hospital park after Godai broke his leg. Due to a "slip of the tongue" ( she was giving Godai reasons why it's alright to leave Ikkoku unattended and she says : "...and besides..."), Takahashi shows us how Kyouko is beggining to realize her feelings. I thought that was ingenuous. The scene following was also extremely touching and well done! > > ... and Kyoko reads his card. She's looking at the stone as she does > > so, but when she reaches the end, she's a little surprised by the > > name on the end---"Godai". Nani!? Ah, we begin to see the devilish depth of > > Takahashi-sensei's writing. Kyoko has fallen into a spell and partly thinks > > of Yuhsaku as Souichiro-san. Hmm, I when I was watching that part, I thought that the card was Godai's present to Kyouko since he left the bracelet on the train. And wasn't Kyouko surprised after reading the card due to the fact that Godai knew the stone was a present from Souichiro? ... > > final scene with Kyoko and Yuhsaku, which is itself touching for what they > > say (or rather, don't say), but the final coup de grace is that Kyoko rushed > > out of the Cha Cha Maru clutching, not Souichiro's gift of long ago, but > > YUHSAKU's gift. Thus, Takahasi-sensei makes it plain to us, finally, just > > who Kyoko loves. Wow, she's good. I didn't realize the point mentioned above until I read this =). My first thought when seeing it was that she ran after Godai because Godai left all of a sudden and that she wanted to talk to him about how he knew about the gift (stone). But somewhere in the back of my head, I knew she had this other reason too...I just never conciously realized it =). Bob Carragher: Not to burst anyone's bubble about the greatness of Takahashi-san, but I don't believe she wrote this episode. At least, it doesn't appear in the manga series. I think this is one that the anime series writers threw in, possibly to match the season, and is a very good one, considering how badly they butchered (my opinion, of course) other parts of the series.... <.8. ==================================================================== @ep41 == Episode 41: == == HEART THUMP WITH KYOKO OUT OF BATH. == == OPEN BATH PEEPING WARS == ========================================================================== [ 93.08.04 14:45 - 14:56 translated footnote from Eo ] = 27 lines [ 15:31 - 16:00 copied a story from a book ] = 128 lines [ 16:41 - 16:52 added to the story from another book ] = 150 lines [ 93.08.12 9:35 - 9:49 translated footnotes from Eo ] = 200 lines [ 15:10 - 15:36 added footnotes & a bit'o Eo translation ] = 230 lines [ 93.08.20 19:59 - 20:43 copied/merged tanuki story from book ] = 342 lines [ 93.09.03 18:40 - 19:20 edited tanuki story ] = 340 lines [ 93.09.06 19:20 - 20:19 shortened tanuki story & other footnotes ] = 265 lines [ 94.01.16 13:25 moved tanuki story to the appendices section ] = 93 lines ( When I finally write the actual synopsis, I'll be able to insert the reference numbers that pinpoint exactly what each footnote refers to. ) [ This episode was a pleasant change from the previous one--more humor! Also, the animation studio seems to have changed or something, because the characters look slightly different; they've been drawn using my favorite character designs with a cleaner style and more consistently this time. Unfortunately, the animation and character-design quality drops for the next episode. Then it improves greatly in the episode after that. What's going on? ] Footnotes: ---------- (1) [ Those two animals that appear in this episode have brown coloring for the fur, except for the belly (white), the eyes (surrounded by black rings), feet (black) and the last half of the tail (black). Tanuki = raccoon dog Figuratively tanuki means: 1) thick/ fat man 2) tricky one/ deceiver --Hotta Hirohiko This animal is a type of wild dog that is found only in Japan. From time to time it's been likened to a `raccoon' because of its mask-like coloring (around the eyes). [PLAC88] It's a mammal of the family of caniseds (`Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus') which can be found in Eastern Asia. The body, about 60cm long, is puffy and darkly colored with a white belly, a tail about 10cm long and small round eyes. It has a tendency to stand on its hind legs and is capable of climbing trees. It lives eating fruits like persimmons, apples, berries, pears, etc. and hibernates in the abandoned holes of other animals or in the spaces of big trees, etc. There are many fables in which this animal tricks naive people. It is so loved that from old times its statues of porcelain, stone or metal stand in many stores, restaurants and private homes. Shiga Prefecture is a famous source of statues depicting tanuki. [ENJA64] See Appendix C for a folk tale about the tanuki. ] (2) [ At this point, everybody is wearing yukata (a kind of kimono, built like a bathrobe), except for Mitaka (what a non-conformist he is). You can refer to episode 37's costume party for a similar instance of non-conformity displayed by Mitaka. Then again, most hotels provide yukata for the guests to wear--they were staying at a cheap hotel, so maybe they weren't provided with enough yukata to go around? DYN: all the yukata have three kana letters as decoration: yu, ka and ta. ) ) ) Along with those kana is the symbol: ( ( ( / ) ) )\ \______/ I've read that this represents a cauldron with three flames floating upwards. It's probably just a representation of steam floating out of a pool of hot water. It is the symbol used at all onsen. ] (3) [ On the entrance doors you can see two matsukazari (I think that's what they're called). Those are sort-of-wreaths made up of various items most of which symbolize long life among other things. ] (4) [ Up until I started writing my MI Episode Guide I was almost totally ignorant about Japanese furniture. Now after reading up a bit, I'm only somewhat ignorant. Maybe you don't already know about what I'm about to inform you about: The paper wall that Ichinose crashed into is called a fusuma. It's made out of thick opaque paper and is used for interior walls to separate rooms. This is the same kind of wall used as the door for oshiire . The paper wall that Yotsuya climbs onto (and disintegrates), is called a shoji. It has a wooden lattice and is used for outside-walls. This kind of wall is translucent so that outside light can stream in. Both kinds of walls are on sliding tracks. One further feature is that they can be lifted out of their tracks to enlarge a room's size. As was demonstrated, these kinds of walls are rather delicate. ] (5) [ DYN: When Kyoko hugs Godai, the exact same music is playing in the background as in episode 38 when Godai hugged Kozue. The interesting thing is that I've never heard that music playing in any other part of the series except for those two hugging scenes. (94.04.05) Oops, I was wrong: in Episode 53 when Godai starts his teacher training you can hear this melody in a scene when Kyoko is walking with Souichiro-dog in a park, just before we cut to Godai's introduction to his class. ] --- End of part 5 of 8 Maison Ikkoku Guidebook Release 8 Copyright 1995 by the Misery Loves Company