Maison Ikkoku, by Rumiko Takahashi
Volume 3:
Alright this was not what I meant. And I don't know how to feel about that. Because, as I've said, the main two problems I have with these long-form romcom stories are a: the unending devotion to the status quo above any type of actual character development and b: the absolute refusal of all persons depicted to take their foot out of their mouth and even attempt to explain how they feel. And the more I read into Maison Ikkoku, the more I realize that it's endeavoring to fix problem a by taking problem b to its absolute logical extreme. Since the first volume, the misunderstandings have become so zany and so over the top that they are starting to forcibly wrench the typical dynamics wildly away from their starting positions. And, again, I do find the characters' absolutely abysmal communication skills to be irritating, but I have to say that I do enjoy the arcs and development that each of them have been having throughout all three volumes so far.
The main plot development in this volume (again the VIZ signature, containing chapters 32 to 47 of the original Manga) is that Godai realizes that things will never work out between them, and moves out of Maison Ikkoku. He finds a nice apartment above a gambling parlor, and the next few chapters are devoted to wacky antics between him and his new roommates, a gambling thug and his wife. It’s super interesting, seeing him actually go out and live somewhere else, finding a job and struggling to settle into a new daily life. We get to see Godai on his own, isolated from Kyoko and the rest of the supporting cast for the first time, and it is super duper interesting.
The main point of irritation is that Godai only ever leaves because of a misunderstanding.
See, early in the volume, he mishears that Kyoko is getting married to Coach Mitaka, his main rival (who I haven’t mentioned before because he really doesn’t affect the plot that much). This is why he gives up on his prospects with Kyoko, and a series of extremely unlucky circumstances keep the two from clearing up what’s happened. Like I said, it does have the effect of putting these characters into new and interesting scenarios where we can see them grow, but it also sort of hurts to see these misunderstandings ruin people’s relationships. I know that sounds like an overstatement, and honestly it might be. The line between irritation and pain can sometimes be thin, and it may just be that in my experience as an autistic person, the dilemma of not being able to communicate how you feel to someone important to you is one that hits a bit too close to home. It’s true that seeing these characters work so hard to make each other understand what they’re thinking and failing again and again does make me sort of upset, but I do understand how this sort of shenanigan can be entertaining to read.
For better or worse, these misunderstandings are tied completely to the center of this story, as with a lot of Takahashi’s works, and it’s worth examining as such a core part of the plot. My thoughts overall in this volume were much shorter, but as I said before, a lot of these early parts of such long stories are mainly about exploring and developing these characters, and as such there isn’t as much to mention after the initial description. In any case, I’m thoroughly invested in this story now, enough to see it through to the next volume.