History YMMV / MaisonIkkoku

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: There is Godai's "not-quite" relationship with Kozue. Does Godai genuinely like Kozue and probably would've been content with her if it wasn't for the fact that he was trying to romantically pursue Kyoko first? (In which even the show occasionally deems Kozue to be Godai's "back-up" girl.) Or are Godai's feelings for her merely mildly platonic at best and treats her [[LikeBrotherAndSister more like a little sister than a girlfriend]] and the only reason why he doesn't break things off with her becaise he is too scared to make her sad. While the earlier half of the series does play a bit more with the former over the course of the series it really seems to be more of the latter for the most part.
** And on that point there is the subplot that occurs over the course of the series of Godai trying to break things off with Kozue so he can fully focus on pining for Kyoko. Are Godai's feelings for Kozue strictly platonic and the only reason why he hesitates in breaking up with her is because he is scared that she will guilt-trip by crying about it. Or is the real reason why Godai hesitates is because deep down he tries to keep Kozue around since he knows that there is a very real chance that his chances with Kyoko can be broken beyond repair. So Godai keeps Kozue around just in case if Kyoko truly flat out rejects him. So to make a long story short Godai is either too spineless to dump Kozue or does he keep her around as a [[RomanticRunnerUp "Back-up Girl"]] even if he doesn't fully realize it.
* AuthorsSavingThrow: For those who are bothered by the show's premise of "poor College boy gets frequently harassed by his apartment neighbors" should be pleased that over the course of the series Kyoko does try to put her foot down and get them to stop harassing Godai so much. Oh yes and on a more serious note both Godai and Kyoko have been called for their apparent relationship issues later on in the series (especially Kyoko).
* DesignatedHero: Some have accused of Kyoko being this, while she is normally rather pleasant and friendly especially at first but over the course of the series her Tsundere tendencies become a bit more apparent. This is also especially the case regarding how she sometimes gets TheUnfairSex treatment in her favor in the series especially around Episode 12 (see the series' main page for more details).

* In the West, Yotsuya's behavior would probably qualify him (at least in the minds of others) as a candidate for the sex offender registry. He takes it upon himself to be Ibuki's tutor and this concerns many of the other characters, especially given that he insists on privacy while tutoring her in his room. In the West, this would simply not be allowed.

* FanPreferredCouple: While not as prominent as other RumikoTakahashi shows, Godai/Kozue does have a pretty big following. (Though unlike other examples of this trope in other RumikoTakahashi shows fans still generally like Kyoko though.)

** Yotsuya occasionally gives off this vibe as well.

** Western viewers might be surprised regarding the cast's opinions on adult/teenager relationships. The problem everyone has with Godai's relationship with Ibuki, is that Godai doesn't really love her... ''not'' that she's a teenage student and he's an adult ''and her teacher''. In fact, everyone acts like he just may hook up with Ibuki anyway, and they don't particularly comment about the morality of it aside from breaking Kyoko's heart. Even more, Kyoko had married ''her'' teacher years earlier, when the age difference was even ''bigger'', and it's viewed as a perfect relationship. Kyoko and Soichiro were clearly deeply in love, but in the West, certain parts of this are nearly illegal (Ibuki deciding to ''live with'' Godai especially), or at least frowned upon (though it's likely nobody had sex until adulthood).

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: I haven't gotten through very much of the series, but does it seem like Kyoko's really frigid? Goes out on dates with two different guys, plays them against each other, and doesn't even show either any affection. Then she has the nerve to get jealous about Kozue!
** Two things. She never really had any "fun student time", she got married right out of high school, she's having her belated dating phase. Two, she has some major issues with losing her husband and tends to get weepy or guilty when people bring up getting re-married. And anyway, Godai is in no condition to think about marriage until he leaves college, so there's time. It's complicated, that's what makes this series good.
** Also, she does get called out on it ''very'' late in the series by Akemi.
** It's made clear that she's quite attracted by Mitaka and Godai. Kyoko can't act on her feelings because of her own issues (with her past) but it's shown she has urges. For example, after Godai confess to her for the first time while he's drunk and took her to her room, she shows she would have not stopped him. She shows the same reaction when Mitaka takes some aggresive action when he broke his leg to be at the hospital Godai is.
** There is also Godai's "not-quite" relationship with Kozue. Does Godai genuinely like Kozue and probably would've been content with her if it wasn't for the fact that he was trying to romantically pursue Kyoko first? (In which even the show occasionally deems Kozue to be Godai's "back-up" girl.) Or are Godai's feelings for her merely mildly platonic at best and treats her [[LikeBrotherAndSister more like a little sister than a girlfriend]] and the only reason why he doesn't break things off with her becaise he is too scared to make her sad. While the earlier half of the series does play a bit more with the former over the course of the series it really seems to be more of the latter for the most part.

** Kyoko also has a lot of Woobie moments, mainly involving her memories of Soichiro and her trouble at moving on.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Some viewers have considered Kozue to be a case of this due to how she was practically DemotedToExtra over the course of the 2nd half of the series when Ibuki showed up. [[spoiler: (That and on how during the ending of the series she has a fairly blatant LastMinuteHookUp in which her ending in the story is a bit more of a BittersweetEnding than anything else.)]]

* FanPreferredCouple: While not as prominent as other RumikoTakahashi shows, Yusaku/Kozue does have a pretty big following. (Though unlike other examples of this trope in other RumikoTakahashi shows fans still generally like Kyoko though.)

** Also Yagami. [[spoiler:While props must be given to her because she eventually backed off, after Godai and Kyoko get married, Yagami, now a college student, still refuses to move on with her life. She carries a picture of Godai and vows to herself she will "forever be true" to Godai, and even calls herself "tragic."]]

** Also Yagami. [[spoiler:After Godai and Kyoko get married, Yagami, now a college student, still refuses to move on with her life. She carries a picture of Godai and vows to herself she will "forever be true" to Godai, and even calls herself "tragic."]]

* BetterByADifferentName: Indirect TropeNamer; "it was better when it was called MaisonIkkoku" has reached MemeticMutation status when applied to romance anime.

** Yotsuya occasionally gives off this vibe as well.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation - I haven't gotten through very much of the series, but does it seem like Kyoko's really frigid? Goes out on dates with two different guys, plays them against each other, and doesn't even show either any affection. Then she has the nerve to get jealous about Kozue!

* BetterByADifferentName - Indirect TropeNamer; "it was better when it was called MaisonIkkoku" has reached MemeticMutation status when applied to romance anime.
* EpilepticTrees - Yotsuya, heck the show sometimes even tries to encourage this especially during the episode where Kentaro has found Yotsuya's old album and where Yotsuya got Godai to do some EggSitting for him.
* FanPreferredCouple- While not as prominent as other RumikoTakahashi shows, Yusaku/Kozue does have a pretty big following. (Though unlike other examples of this trope in other RumikoTakahashi shows fans still generally like Kyoko though.)

* LesYay - Occasionally played around with, such as in episode 36 when a drunk, horny Akemi tries to make out with Godai and, when Kyoko tries to interfere, briefly makes out with ''her''. Moments later both Godai and Kyoko have to remove Akemi's lipstick.
* MemeticMolester - The show occasionally plays around with the concept for Kyoko's father in which when he tries to disguise himself in a hat and trench coat it makes him look like a rapist. (He even gets arrested later on in the series in which Kyoko's father is waiting for Godai nearby the kindergarten where Godai works; there is a scene later where Kyoko's father is at the Police station trying to tell the police that he is not a pedophile.)

* ToyShip - Kentaro and Ikuko, it starts in episode 11 in which its revealed that Kentaro develops a crush on her. Its played around with as Ikuko claims that she has a boyfriend at the end of episode 11 (but this is never mentioned again and its possible that she was lying). This gets some more play in the middle of the series though as there is a little bit of ShipTease.

* WhatAnIdiot - Godai is often accused of this on a VERY regular basis, in which there certainly have been times in which he does not deserve this at all [[DisproportionateRetribution (or at least not as much).]] But to be fair there have been times in which he really does deserve it.
* [[TheWoobie Woobie]] - Kozue [[spoiler:when Godai does eventually dump her for Kyoko.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter - Some viewers have considered Kozue to be a case of this due to how she was practically DemotedToExtra over the course of the 2nd half of the series when Ibuki showed up. [[spoiler: (That and on how during the ending of the series she has a fairly blatant LastMinuteHookUp in which her ending in the story is a bit more of a BittersweetEnding than anything else.)]]

** Kyoko also has a lot of Woobie moments, mainly involving her memories of Soichiro and her trouble at moving on.

** While it's a lot subtler than the above example, the series definitely reflects the more traditional, rigid gender roles in Japanese society (especially 30 years ago, when the story was set/written) which may be off-putting to Westerners. For example, the expectation that women will leave their jobs upon marriage (plenty of Western women still do this, but it's not assumed anymore) and with it, that a man should not propose/a woman should not encourage him to propose unless he's in a good financial state (which is one thing that turns a lot of Western fans off Kyoko, since in the West, women with such expectations are stigmatized as "gold diggers" who are too lazy to work themselves). And there are also a few suggestions that Kyoko is approaching ChristmasCake age, though mainly it comes from her MyBelovedSmother.

** While it's a lot subtler than the above example, the series definitely reflects the more traditional, rigid gender roles in Japanese society (especially 30 years ago, when the story was set/written) which may be off-putting to Westerners. For example, the expectation that women will leave their jobs upon marriage (plenty of Western women still do this, but it's not assumed anymore) and with it, that a man should not propose/a woman should not encourage him to propose unless he's in a good financial state (which is one thing that turns a lot of Western fans off Kyoko, since in the West, women with such expectations are stigmatized as "gold diggers" who are too lazy to work themselves).

** And how about Asuna? She falls desperately in love with Mitaka, who only has eyes for Kyoko. [[spoiler:Even when I knew she would win Mitaka in the end, I still couldn't help but root for her and was ''very'' happy when she did.]]

* MemeticMolester - The show occasionally plays around with the concept for Kyoko's father in which when he tries to disguise himself in a hat and trench coat it makes him look like a rapist. (He even gets arrested later on in the series in which Kyoko's father is waiting for Godai nearby the kindergarten Godai works at, there is a scene later where Kyoko's father is at the Police station trying to tell the police that he is not going to molest any of the children.

** While it's a lot subtler than the above example, the series definitely reflects the more traditional, rigid gender roles in Japanese society (especially 30 years ago, when the story was set/written) which may be off-putting to Westerners. For example, the expectation that women will leave their jobs upon marriage (plenty of Western women still do this, but it's not assumed anymore) or that a guy should always be the breadwinner in the family (which is why many Western viewers find it off-putting that Kyoko expects Godai to have a regular job or be on the road to getting one before she will admit her feelings for him).

* ValuesDissonance - Western viewers might be surprised regarding the cast's opinions on adult/teenager relationships. The problem everyone has with Godai's relationship with Ibuki, is that Godai doesn't really love her... ''not'' that she's a teenage student and he's an adult ''and her teacher''. In fact, everyone acts like he just may hook up with Ibuki anyway, and they don't particularly comment about the morality of it aside from breaking Kyoko's heart. Even more, Kyoko had married ''her'' teacher years earlier, when the age difference was even ''bigger'', and it's viewed as a perfect relationship. Kyoko and Soichiro were clearly deeply in love, but in the West, certain parts of this are nearly illegal (Ibuki deciding to ''live with'' Godai especially), or at least frowned upon (though it's likely nobody had sex until adulthood).

* FanPreferredCouple- While not as prominent as other RumikoTakahashi shows Yusaku/Kozue does have a pretty big following. (Though unlike other examples of this trope in other RumikoTakahashi shows fans still generally like Kyoko though.)

* [[TheWoobie Woobie]] - YourMileageMayVary but there are those whom felt this way about Kozue [[spoiler:when Godai does eventually dump her for Kyoko.]]