I guess I'm just a softie for these romantic comedies, but then again I AM a jellyfish. Being a softie is what I do best. Still, there's no denying that this is great series. Even the Naruto and Dragonball Z fanboys will probably like this.

Maison Ikkoku is one of those anime series that's difficult to describe. It's predictable because you know what's going to happen in the end as soon as you see the first episode, quite a few major characters lack any development at all, and some characters just disappear off the face of the Earth only to appear in the ending. But then, you have to think: does any of that actually matter? Nothing could stop Maison Ikkoku from being the most enjoyable series I've ever seen. Well, except for the fact that it eventually ended. I was so depressed that of all of Rumiko Takahashi's, this had to be one of the shortest. Ranma 1/2 is over 170 episodes long, Urusei Yatsura is almost 200 episodes, and Inuyasha is over 128 and shows no signs of stopping. Why did Maison Ikkoku have to be the one to only be 96 episodes long?

It's just one of those series. You will laugh, you will cry, you will question your life - all in one episode. The parts where you laugh will cause your sides to ache from the usual humor of Rumiko Takahashi. The times where you cry will be from either happiness or sadness over what's happening. Maison Ikkoku is certainly a predictable anime, but it's not the originality of the ending that matters: it's how you get there. From the beginning to the memorable ending, I was glued to this series. It was just that good.

Oh yeah, there's also that pesky problem I like to call "old anime music". If you've watched a lot of anime then you'd notice how crummy some of the music was from anime in the 1980s. Some of Maison Ikkoku's music is pretty good, but it starts to lose a lot of its energy halfway through the series. I could barely even listen to the last opening and ending themes (roughly episodes 76-96). There is one piece I particularly remember though. The opening theme for episode 24: Alone Again by Gilbert O'Sullivan. This episode was a huge turning point in the series, and the song (which was played in key moments in the episode) portrayed the mood of the episode perfectly.

There's also an OVA that was created for Maison Ikkoku entitled "Yuusaku's Island". It tells the story of the gang getting stranded on a deserted island. It's certainly worth watching, but it doesn't contribute anything to any of the relationships.