History YMMV / MaisonIkkoku

** Sexual harassment is generally played for laughs, and early on Godai attempts to kiss Kyoko more than once [[DudeShesLikeInAComa while she's asleep or unconscious]]; this absolutely would not fly today, especially not in western countries. Yotsuya's voyeuristic behavior in particular 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 insists on privacy while tutoring her in his room. In the West, this would simply not be allowed. When Godai tutors Ikuko, at least her parents (or Kyoko) aren't very far away and the door remains open. Plus, they trust Godai to the point that Kyoko's only mild concern is that Ikuko will pick up his [[TheSlacker slacker]] habits.

** Sexual harassment is generally played for laughs, and early on Godai attempts to kiss Kyoko more than once [[DudeShesLikeInAComa while she's asleep or unconscious]]; this absolutely would not fly today, especially not in western countries. Yotsuya's voyeuristic behavior in particular 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 insists on privacy while tutoring her in his room. In the West, this would simply not be allowed. When Godai tutors Ikuko, at least her parents (or Kyoko) aren't very far away and the door remains open. And in his case, Kyoko's only mild concern is that Ikuko will pick up Godai's [[TheSlacker slacker]] habits.

** The series definitely reflects the more traditional, rigid gender roles in Japanese society (especially during the 80s, when the story was set/written) which may be off-putting to Westerners. For example, the expectation that women will [[QuittingToGetMarried 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. This 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 at 22 years old, though mainly it comes from her [[MyBelovedSmother overbearing mother]] who is [[IWantGrandkids desperate for grandkids]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow: 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. On a more serious note, both Godai and Kyoko have been called for their apparent relationship issues later on in the series (especially Kyoko).

** Probably not, though. As the main characters live in the same building, they interact daily. Most of the conflict comes from them just not being able to communicate their feelings properly, regardless distance.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* LesYay: Occasionally played around with. One example is 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.

* FoeYay: Godai and Mitaka lightly played around with it in episode 37, where they end up wrestling each other as payback for the dirty tricks that both used against each other earlier. While it is a ItMakesSenseInContext moment, it does slightly veer into HoYay territory.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Godai is often accused of this on a regular basis. There certainly have been times in which he does not deserve this at all [[DisproportionateRetribution (or at least not as much),]] but many more which he really does.
** Yagami. [[spoiler:While she eventually backed off, after Godai and Kyoko get married, Yagami, now a college student, still refused to move on with her life. She carried around a picture of Godai and vowed to "forever be true" to Godai, and even called herself "tragic."]]

** Western viewers might be disturbed 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 setup are illegal (teacher/student relationships), nearly so (Ibuki deciding to ''live with'' Godai especially), or at least frowned upon (though it's likely nobody had sex until adulthood). Part of this is the fact that Japan's age of consent[[note]] (nationwide it's 13, but many prefectures have set it higher)[[/note]] is lower than most of the West, especially the USA[[note]] (the majority of US states set age of consent at 16, which makes the 17-year-old Ibuki perfectly legal; however, some states have a consent age of 18 – like California, which is infamously strict about it to the point that everyone assumes the rest of America is just as harsh; the federal government bans anyone under 18 from crossing state lines for sex)[[/note]].
** The series definitely reflects the more traditional, rigid gender roles in Japanese society (especially during the 80s, when the story was set/written) which may be off-putting to Westerners. For example, the expectation that women will [[QuittingToGetMarried 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. This 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 who is desperate for [[IWantGrandkids grandkids]].

** Sexual harassment is generally played for laughs, and early on Godai attempts to kiss Kyoko more than once [[DudeShesLikeInAComa while she's asleep or unconscious]]; this absolutely would not fly today, especially not in western countries. Yotsuya's behavior in particular 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 insists on privacy while tutoring her in his room. In the West, this would simply not be allowed. When Godai tutors Ikuko, at least her parents (or Kyoko) aren't very far away and the door remains open. And in his case, Kyoko's only mild concern is that Ikuko will pick up Godai's [[TheSlacker slacker]] habits.

** 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 insists on privacy while tutoring her in his room. In the West, this would simply not be allowed. When Godai tutors Ikuko, at least her parents (or Kyoko) aren't very far away and the door remains open. And in his case, Kyoko's only mild concern is that Ikuko will pick up Godai's [[TheSlacker slacker]] habits.

** 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. This 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 who is desperate for [[IWantGrandkids grandkids]].

** 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 setup are illegal (teacher/student relationships), nearly so (Ibuki deciding to ''live with'' Godai especially), or at least frowned upon (though it's likely nobody had sex until adulthood). Part of this is the fact that Japan's age of consent[[note]] (nationwide it's 13, but many prefectures have set it higher)[[/note]] is lower than most of the West, especially the USA[[note]] (the majority of US states set age of consent at 16, which makes the 17-year-old Ibuki perfectly legal; however, some states have a consent age of 18 – like California, which is infamously strict about it to the point that everyone assumes the rest of America is just as harsh; the federal government bans anyone under 18 from crossing state lines for sex)[[/note]].

** 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 because 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.

* WhatAnIdiot: Godai is often accused of this on a VERY regular basis. There certainly have been times in which he does not deserve this at all [[DisproportionateRetribution (or at least not as much),]] but many more which he really does.
** Also Yagami. [[spoiler:While she eventually backed off, after Godai and Kyoko get married, Yagami, now a college student, still refused to move on with her life. She carried around a picture of Godai and vowed to "forever be true" to Godai, and even called herself "tragic."]]

* 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 because 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.
** And on that point, there is the subplot 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 him by crying about it? Or is the real reason because deep down Godai knows there is a very real chance his relationship with Kyoko can be broken beyond repair, so he keeps Kozue around just in case?

* EarWorm: The anime's openings and endings are among the most prominent examples of the field's landscape during the late '80s:
** ''"Heiki na-mida ga kawaita ato ni-wa…"''
** The second ED, "Cinema", particularly the opening synthesized accordion riff.
** "Suki sa…", otherwise the [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece most prominently '80s]] tracks in a trope example filled with them.
** In a unique example (for its time period and genre), the 1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan hits "Alone Again, Naturally" and "Get Down" play as the [[RealSongThemeTune opening and ending]] of a single episode of the anime. They also easily qualify as torturously catchy, as one would expect.

** "Suki sa…", otherwise the [UnintentionalPeriodPiece most prominently '80s]] tracks in a trope example filled with them.
** In a unique example (for its time period and genre), the 1972 [[Creator/GilbertOSullivan Gilbert O'Sullivan]] hits "Alone Again, Naturally" and "Get Down" play as the [[RealSongThemeTune opening and ending]] of a single episode of the anime. They also easily qualify as torturously catchy, as one would expect.

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

* 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.

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

* DesignatedHero: Some have accused of Kyoko being this. She is normally rather pleasant and friendly, but over the course of the series her Tsundere tendencies become more apparent. This is 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).
** Godai is not entirely innocent in this regard either, especially considering how over the course of the series he is pining for Kyoko, despite dating Kozue, who is mostly oblivious to Godai's real feelings. The series occasionally discusses this, as both Mitaka and the Drunkard Trio occasionally tell Godai that he should be honest with Kozue.

* MemeticMolester: The show occasionally plays around with the concept for Kyoko's father. When he tries to disguise himself in a hat and trench coat, it makes him look like a rapist. He even gets arrested once when he's waiting for Godai near the kindergarten where Godai works and is mistaken for a pedophile.
** Yotsuya occasionally gives off this vibe as well. Most notably, when Ibuki and her friends show up at Godai's apartment.

** 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. This 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 who is desperate for [[IWantGrandkids grandkids]].

* TheWoobie: Kozue [[spoiler:when Godai does eventually dump her for Kyoko.]]
** And how about Asuna? She falls desperately in love with Mitaka, who only has eyes for Kyoko. [[spoiler:Even after it was clear that she would end up with Mitaka anyway.]]
** Kyoko also has a lot of Woobie moments, mainly involving her memories of Soichiro and her trouble at moving on.

** 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 setup are illegal (teacher/student relationships), nearly so (Ibuki deciding to ''live with'' Godai especially), or at least frowned upon (though it's likely nobody had sex until adulthood). Part of this is the fact that Japan's age of consent[[note]] (nationwide it's 13, but many prefectures have set it higher)[[/note]] is lower than most of the West, especially the USA[[note]] (the majority of US states set age of consent at 16, which makes the 17-year-old Ibuki perfectly legal; however, some states have a consent age of 18 – like California, which is infamously strict about it to the point that everyone assumes the rest of America is just as harsh; the federal government bans anyone under 18 from crossing state lines for sex.)[[/note]]

* MemeticMolester: The show occasionally plays around with the concept for Kyoko's father. When he tries to disguise himself in a hat and trench coat, it makes him look like a rapist. He even gets arrested once when he's waiting for Godai near the kindergarten where Godai works and is mistaken for a pedophile.)

* DesignatedHero: Some have accused of Kyoko being this. She is normally rather pleasant and friendly at first, but over the course of the series her Tsundere tendencies become a bit more apparent. This is 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).
** However Godai is not entirely innocent in this regard especially considering on how over the course of the series he is pining for a woman namely Kyoko. Despite how for a good portion of the series he has been dating a girl by the name of Kozue who is mostly oblivious that Godai has been pining for Kyoko all this time. (Not too mention on how for most of the series Kyoko has been dating another man namely Mitaka.) Though that being said the series has occasionally discussed this little issue as both Mitaka and the Drunkard Trio have occasionally told Godai that he should be honest with Kozue.
* 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 Takahashi shows, Godai/Kozue does have a pretty big following. (Though unlike other examples of this trope in other Takahashi shows fans still generally like Kyoko though.)
* FoeYay: Godai and Mitaka lightly played around with in episode 37 where they end up wrestling each-other as payback for the dirty tricks that both have used against each other earlier. While it is a ItMakesSenseInContext moment it does slightly go into HoYay territory here.
* 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.)
** Yotsuya occasionally gives off this vibe as well. Most notably when Ibuki and her friends show up at Godai's apartment.
* ReplacementScrappy: Some could arguably see Ibuki as this to Kozue as both were designed to be the RomanticFalseLead to Godai. However Kozue was an incredibly nice RomanticFalseLead and has been considered to be a RomanticRunnerUp to Godai in the past but Kyoko is supposed to be his official Love Interest. So basically in the 2nd half of the series Takahashi seemingly had Kozue DemotedToExtra and made Ibuki who is a deliberately less appealing RomanticFalseLead since she is such as bratty StalkerWithACrush.

* 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.)]]
* 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.

** 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 setup are illegal (teacher/student relationships), nearly so (Ibuki deciding to ''live with'' Godai especially), or at least frowned upon (though it's likely nobody had sex until adulthood). Part of this is the fact that Japan's age of consent[[note]] (nationwide it's 13, but many prefectures have set it higher)[[/note]] is lower than most of the West, especially the USA[[note]] (the majority of US states set age of consent at 16, which makes the 17-year-old Ibuki perfectly legal; however, some states have a consent age of 18 – like California, which is infamously strict about it to the point that everyone assumes the rest of America is just as harsh; the federal government bans anyone under 18 from crossing state lines for sex)[[/note]]
** 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 who is desperate for [[IWantGrandkids grandkids]].
** 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. When Godai tutors Ikuko, at least her parents (or Kyoko) aren't very far away and the door remains open. And in his case, Kyoko's only mild concern is that Ikuko will pick up Godai's [[TheSlacker slacker]] habits.
* 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.
** 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 around a picture of Godai and vows to herself she will "forever be true" to Godai, and even calls herself "tragic."]]