(BGM from Maison Ikkoku "A Bell Rings at Dawn")

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The story took place in Ikkoku-kan (Maison Ikkoku). Yusaku Godai, a student who's hopeless and is a ronin trying to study hard and pass his college exams was staying in one of the room. The time came when he decided to move out because of all the weird and funny tenants who kept disturbing his studies when suddenly a beautiful young woman Kyoko Otonashi moved in as the new manager of Ikkoku-kan. Yusaku fall for her at first sight, but later he knew that Kyoko was actually a widow whose husband (Soichiro) died just half year after their marriage. She has been living under Soichiro's shadow throughout the most part of the story, and with the coming up of Yusaku's major rival Mitaka as well as some other characters, Yusaku's path to win her love was NEVER easy! The Anime revolves around the daily lives of the residents of Ikkoku-kan while still strongly progressing with Kyoko's and Yusaku's relationship. You can witness how Yusaku overcame all the difficulties and obstacles and finally won Kyoko over through this 96-episode Anime.

Story:9.8 Characters:10 Art:9.7 Overall:9.8

My review: Maison Ikkoku is an old but GREAT romantic comedy originally produced (in Manga) by Rumiko Takahashi, the author of other popular series like Ranma 1/2. I watched it for the first time soon after it was released but I was still a child at that time and even though this series was still attractive to me, it didn't become my favorite as I was not mature enough for this kind of love story. However, recently when I had a chance to watch this series again, I quickly LOVED it and it became one of my most favorite Anime series!

Kyoko is a VERY well-designed character (and is one of my most favorite female characters). Being witnesses of the evolution of her feelings, of her fears, of her heart's wavering, sharing her joys, her angers and her sorrows, we can only get attached to such human a character and I ended up feeling a deep empathy with what Rumiko Takahashi tried to express through her. Kyoko is very human and of a happy nature. Although she hasn't always been lucky in her life, she knew how to remain warm and caring. Of course, Yusaku as well as other characters in this series are all great and have their own unique and charming personalities. After all, it's the interaction between Kyoko, Yusaku and other characters which makes this Anime live and heart-touching.

I strongly recommend this series to everyone, especially to those who may be new to Anime and have missed some old but great Anime series like this one!