Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
: Maison Ikkoku vols 1 & 2 by Rumiko Takahashi :
by William the Bloody
Yusaku Godai is a one year ronin (he failed to pass his college entrance exams and has to wait until next year to take them again) living in the city in Maison Ikkoku, a boarding house. He studies hard but doesn't get anywhere he feels because of the nosey, interfering, and troublesome other tenants in the building. Finally he's had enough and is going to move out for good when right at that moment, the new building manager shows up, and boy howdy is she ever a babe! In light of the gorgeous new building manager, Yusaku drops all plans to move out and decides to buckle down double hard to study for his exams in order to impress her. The other tenants, Akemi a good looking cocktail waitress, Mr Yotsuya a pesky peeping tom whose job is unknown, and the Ichinose family (mother, young boy Kentaro and a father no one ever sees), have a grand ol' time picking on Godai and his more than obvious attraction to Kyoko, the building manager. Kyoko though, unfortunately has built an emotional wall around herself due to the fact that she has recently become a widow and wants to be true to her late husband, her first love. Just when Godai thinks he may have a foot in the door to a romantic relationship with Kyoko, enter Shun Mitaka, the unbelievably handsome tennis instructor, who's not only slightly older and more mature than Godai, but also already making a great living. What can Godai do to compete with a guy like that? Will he ever win Kyoko's love?
The Good: The overall writing of this comic (characters, their individual dialogue, situations, etc) are just awesome. Each one of the characters is definitely uniquely their own person; Kyoko is beautiful but modest and uptight, but Akemi is good looking and has no qualms about walking around the halls in her negligee. Ms. Takahashi also definitely knows how to write a 20 year old male as Godai struggles to control his lusty thoughts and desires, without making him sound dirty and trashy, and even achieving slightly romantic. The rivalry between Godai and the tennis coach is superbly written. The way they passive aggressively compete with each other over Kyoko is spot on. Of course, romantic triangles and sexual tensions are the author's forte, but I find that this one stands out over some of her other works like, oh say, Ranma 1/2 where the characters don't know how the others feel about them and waffle with uncertainty, here, in part nine, Godai gets drunk and shouts to the whole neighborhood his love for Kyoko, which pretty much puts it out there in the open and they all have to deal with it up front. The art is also terrific, looking great in the black and white medium. Everyone's faces and body language are superbly rendered so that you know EXACTLY what they're doing or thinking even without any text.
The Bad: I'm worried about where this book will be able to from here. This series has more than a dozen collected volumes and I'm nervous that it will wind up like Ramna did and get more than a little tired and repetitive. Also, this story lacks the martial arts mayhem of Ranma and the supernatural action/adventure of Inuyasha, so being a flat out "real life" drama, may come off as a wee bit "girly." There is a tad bit of nudity. Not a lot by any stretch, but it's there, in case that bothers you.
All in all, this series kicks of wonderfully, The characters are well rounded and full bodied, and their situations and antics are quite funny and also touching. All I have to say is, be sure to get the "Editor's Choice" editions which read "back to front" like traditional manga books, because some of the other releases are lacking more than a few of the stories. If you're looking for a comic that's a true to life romantic comedy, well, you won't find any better than this.
A+
