Maison Ikkoku Collector's Edition Manga Volume 1

Maison Ikkoku is an amazing romance comedy. I have always loved this series since I first watched the anime a couple years ago. This new edition is beautiful and perfectly captures the atmosphere of Maison Ikkoku and all the characters. It would have been even better to get a hardcover edition, but this is great too! It even has full color drawings at the beginning by Takahashi.

I have the full run of the old Viz Editor's Choice editions of this series from back in the mid-2000s - I can remember buying them as they came out so many years ago. Those are great memories. It is one of my all time favorite manga - a nice, relatively short 15 volumes (in the original run), with a clear beginning and end to the story. And the end was the end. What a concept.

Even though I treasure those old Editor's Choice volumes, this first volume is superior in every respect. The print quality is better, the volume is larger, and the cover is much nicer -- the same cover image as volume 1 of my Editor's Choice volume, but much better, more subtle color (Kyoko isn't glaringly pink), and the cover paper stock itself is much nicer. All in all, it's just a great upgrade over my treasured set.

This is such a heartwarming, lovely story, that I have no reservations recommending it on content grounds either.

Way, way back in the day I had most of the VHS copies of this series. Sadly I wasn't able to get all of them. It was one of my favorite comedies back then. I was happy to see at least the manga is getting a re-release. I hope they re-release the anime soon as well. I would love a nice blu-ray of it.
The Manga though is great. I look forward to getting them all!

I had never read/seen (or even heard of!) Maison Ikkoku when this was announced, but I was so taken by the cover that I ended preordering anyway. I’m so glad it has lived up to everyone’s hype as the book itself is nice quality with French flaps that give it a real elegant feel without the weight of a hardback. The story itself had been charming with chaotic characters who each add their own flavor to the series. I have enjoyed taking my time to get to know them and look forward to the future releases.

Unfortunately, I missed the boat on buying and reading this when it came out in the early 2000s. So glad it FINALLY got reprinted- with larger, thicker paper- and a more accurate translation.

This edition also has a few color pages in the front- a lovely bonus.

Overall, I'm super happy with this purchase, and I can finally understand WHY this story is so beloved. Despite all the years that have passed, I was pleasantly surprised at how hilarious all the jokes and scenarios were. I definitely chuckled out loud more than a few times.

TLDR: larger size, nice paper quality, series really is sweet and hilarious. It's worth the money.

I just got done reading this today, it was hard to put it down. I always wanted to go "just one more chapter". Surprisingly better than expected, I ended up rooting for Kyoko rather than the Godai. It's a romantic comedy written quite well, with plenty of quirks and spins. Not as much slapstick or action as Urusei Yatsura or Ranma, but it does more with less. It is nice to read about the story that is not in a modern day "hook-up" culture.

This is worth checking out, even though it is over 4 cents a page (rather expensive for an omnibus) the front cover is a soft paper and not a plastic feeling one.

Paperback - Soft paper-like feel
Reads: Right to Left
Language: English