As mentioned elsewhere it's ok, nothing to write home about, I know this is a laser disc rip.

Very good, a little hiss can be heard if you crank the volume all the way up-but why would you?

Very good, a little hiss can be heard if you crank the volume all the way up-but why would you?

I'll just say I love this series and let it go at that cause I've reviewed the heck out of it many times. It is definetly a classic not to be missed at any cost!!

Definitely average since it wont be a crisp as a new series would be. I mean, it is from the 80's.

audio is great.

audio is great.

I love Maison Ikkoku. I own all 96 episodes and love everyone of them. I love Rumiko Takahashi too, but this one is one of the best along with Ranma 1/2. This romantic comedy does follow Godai and Kyoko. It just makes you want to just jump in the tv and say whats the problem? If you like her and she likes you. What fun would that be? We need the difficulties of hooking up and the chase is what we live for!! Great one....would recommend to anyone who likes romantic comedies

The video is not DVD quality but better than the VHS version, it's probably a Laserdisc rip. The show came out in 1986, so don't expect too much about the graphics, but it's pretty good for a 17 years old anime. I didn't see noticeable pixellation or grainyess during the episode.

No problem detected

No problem detected

This was a very good romantic comedy. There is so much stuff to talk about this anime. Firstly, poor Godai, he's very unlucky and he probably has worst 3 neighbors in Japan. They do parties in his room EVERY NIGHT, so he can't concentrate on his studies. but his neighbor are pretty interesting character's, there's Ichinose, the gossiper, she's the only one married and she has a son. She likes to dance with her fans and drink sake. She often tells fake stories to Godai because she wants to see him being badmouthed by Kyoko, the manager of the Ikkoku apartment. There's Yatsuya, he's pretty mysterious with an unknow job and always bug Godai for food and finally Akemi, who wears a see-through night gown, she always teased Godai about his girls problem. There are many relationship and love triangle in this anime. Godai is involved with Kyoko, Kozue ( a friend) and later Yagami, a high school girl. She was my favorite, she uses every tricked in the books to get Godai attention and makes Kyoko jealous because she's forcefull to Godai in FRONT of her. HAHAHAHAHA. Boy, she was something to watch, she was pretty unpredictable. Kyoko is involved with Godai and Mitaka, the tennis coach. Since Kyoko has a dog, Mitaka can't really get closed to her because he is scared to death of the dog. Everytime he sees the dog, he runs away or passed out cold. So to cure his fears of dog, he asked Ichinose, Yatsuya and Akemi for help but they maked him worse. So he decides to buy a small dog but it takes some time, before he gets rid of his fear. Poor Mitaka also, his uncle sets him up in a Omyai (arranged marriage) with Asuna, a rich girl. His uncle didn't know about his fears for dogs, she has 7 DOGS so when Mitaka's sees them, he passed out big time. He tries to end the Omyai everytime but his plans backfired. At one time, Asuna tells him about a pregnancy in her relationship with him, however Mitaka's misunderstood the whole situation thinking that she was pregnant so he had no choice to propose to her HHAHAHAHAHA that was a classic. Overall, this is an awseome show about relationship, plenty of misunderstanding, fake stories, false rumor, plans backfiring on others,deception, sadness, laughter, seducing techniques ect.. ect... ect... This anime is pretty long (96 episodes), sometimes the show goes to a slow paced until Yagami shows up on Episode 53, now things really picks up. I enjoyed the show very much, the ending is pretty predictible but the character's action are pretty unpredictable. Who will seduces who ?? How will they react ?? Some episode are funny as hell. If you like romantic anime, then this is for you. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMANDED (Big thanx to my good buddy MatthewMalay for buying me the MI version of Maison Ikkoku :-) )

I don't know the source but the video is a better than VHS. However, sometimes, bright colors tend to bleed into the background. It's an old show, so don't expect too much. this show doesn't have alot of action so no pixelation. Review equipment - 50 inch hdtv

Only one track. No problems with timing or whatnot. review equipment - 650W 5.1 system

Only one track. No problems with timing or whatnot. review equipment - 650W 5.1 system

This show took me more than 1 1/2 to finish. I bought it, watched 5 episodes and thought it was boring. then i tried it again a year later, but still couldn't get into it.. i had to make myself finish the set and even that took a couple months. The show is good but it's just not my type of show. it's like watching someone's daily life.. yes i know it's character development but i felt the show's too long. but what do you care what i think. if you like the show, this is the set to buy unless you want to wait for the R1 rip

The video is very good, its bright, sharpish, the quality is better than vhs but noway near dvd quality. As this manga doesn't rely on animation and flashy animated scenes, it stands well. The dvd menues are simple, scene selection, chinese/english subs menus.

the audio is very good. japanese original voices which are always the best. good sound.

the audio is very good. japanese original voices which are always the best. good sound.

This is an epitome of manga rom/com. its very good, though it does not pull off the humour well in comparison to the manga. Still, 10 dvds at a good price, any takahashi fan should have this. This has often been compared to love hina, but this is a lot better. Love hina copied many stuff from this series. My favourite series ever, a little biased, but I give it 9.5/10

The source is either from a Laser Disc or a videotape -- the picture looks a little grainy and some of the whites are too bright. On the other hand, maybe the source's source might've been an old film print of the series, as it shows its age. Nevertheless, it's not in the same league's as Viz's R1 DVDs, where the video is crystal clear. All openings, closings and previews are there, and each episode has one of each.

Perfect -- no noticable defects on an ordinary stereo TV.

Perfect -- no noticable defects on an ordinary stereo TV.

Other features: Extras -- none. Menu -- Practically spartan; main menu has screengrab from the after-commercial bumper, with 3 choices -- Play, Subtitle, Chapter. Subtitle menu as English, Chinese and back; the pic was from the pre-commercial bumper. The chapter menu has a round picture for each episode, with episode numbers in Japanese. If you can count to 3 in Japanese, you should have no problem here. Packaging -- Typical fold-in case with a plastic sleeve. The front of the first box features Godai; the second box has Kyoko -- put them side-by-side and you have them looking at each other. The backs of each box has screen grabs from an episode -- the Godai box has pics from the first episode; as for the Kyoko box, try not to look at the back, as it has screengrabs from the last episode, and from a pivotal moment at that. The insides have pics from, presumably, the LD jackets. While the box looks beautiful, it has its flaws -- the buttons that hold the DVDs tend to get stuck, requiring a paper clip to get it back where it was. And the glue holding the plastic portion to the paper doesn't last long -- it tends to get unstuck over time. Chapters -- One per episode, at the opening. Some episodes have 2 chapters, at the opening and the start of the first act. Despite all these shortcomings, this is a must-get series -- a poignant story of a widow who becomes a manager of a rundown boarding house, a struggling "ronin" trying to get into college, and the other tenants who are practically eligible to become poster children for Alcoholics Anonymous. Along for a ride was Godai's 2 other "girlfriends", his wacky grandmother (it seems to me that all grandparents in Rumiko's stories are midgets), and a tennis coach with an Ultra Brite smile -- but has a phobia for dogs. But, from the first chapter on, a wonderful romance between Godai and Kyoko develops, leading to that wonderful day 96 episodes later, which you got to see to believe. There's not much action in this series (unlike Rumiko's other series like Urusei Yatusra, Ranma 1/2 and Inu-Yasha), but the fine storytelling makes up for it by the truckload. Each story is original -- none of those clip shows or "specials" that are abound in other anime series. Though there are at least a couple of episodes that scream out "filler show", like one episode where the tenants play baseball (representing their local bar) with a team from another bar; and another episode rerading an Egg of Mystery. This is a good way to see all 96 episodes of Ikkoku without waiting for the official releases from Viz -- God knows when Viz will finish the series on DVD, if they do finish it (Viz chickened out on the VHS version after 60 episodes). Another DVD package, also from MI, has 12 discs, though reports say that the contents are exactly the same. But please don't get the Anime Studio version, which has the openings and closings cut out, wrong audio on one episode, missing subs galore, and the whole thing squeezed onto 8 disks -- the good news is that the AS version is probably out of print, but if you do see it, insist on the MI version. Buy this set today and enjoy -- you won't be disappointed. Just don't let the aforementioned flaws bother you.

Source video itself isn't that hot. And you've got more than 4 hours per disc, so there's quite a bit of compression. Strangely enough those errors won't multiply. You nearly won't notice the compression, because the original source isn't that good either. Strange but true.

Nothing to complain about on my simple stereo TV.

Nothing to complain about on my simple stereo TV.

OK, read all the reviews, and you'll know the faults of this set. And then forget about them and get this set immediately. This is a wonderful series and this set is good enough. My only complaint could be, that you sometimes think "why don't they get eachother" and let them end this series at episode 50 or so.

The picture shows the series? age although things become slightly ?cleaner? as the show progresses. However, watching on a standalone player with a RGB set-up I didn?t experience any glitches or ?pauses?. I dare say there are visual artefacts present, but if there were I either didn?t notice them or they didn?t hamper my viewing.

Nothing spectacular, but there weren?t any problems either. Top marks, I guess.

Nothing spectacular, but there weren?t any problems either. Top marks, I guess.

Wonderful. Maison Ikkoku is filled with laughter, sadness and anger, but also pure unalloyed joy. It's infused with such a wealth of care and detail it?s simply staggering. Not for one moment are you left to think that Maison Ikkoku exists on a different plane or reality, e.g. Love Hina. People go to work, they shop, have conversations, they eat and drink. Trains rattle along nearby tracks and planes pass overhead. Taps drip and streetlights flicker on. Day begins and night falls. Time passes. All of this is in just the background or ?empty?/incidental scenes. With such a foundation you know that the characters are going to be something special and, guess what, they are. Personality, idiosyncrasies, strengths and weaknesses the characters of Maison Ikkoku have them all; they?ll make you laugh, angry, feel sad but also make you burst with joy. The acting is spot on (I?d be interested to hear what the English dub is like) and Godai in particular is a joy to watch. The way he loses his temper; his manic declarations to ?do his best? before each of his entrance exams; his initial lecherous behaviour when near Kyoko; laughing whilst reading manga in a café; running like an aeroplane in happiness and the sheer uninhibited joy he expresses when playing with the children during his nursery job. It's a cliche, but he comes to life. Maison Ikkoku is now one of my all-time favourite series and judging from the previous reviews I?m not alone in feeling this. Essential.

A reletively old series, so you cant expect perfection. But for the most part the video is great, a little grainy at times but nothing to be worried about, above par for an HK release.

detected no problems. All is crisp as can be, considering its age.

detected no problems. All is crisp as can be, considering its age.

Quality is great, and considering there is no full R1 release, this is the best you're going to get. Is a Romance between ronin/student Godai and his land lord, kyoko. some great stuff, Id advise you to gather up some cash and buy as soon as possible. ^_^

In one episode the screen flipped. A little bit of grainy visuals. Definately it is still very good. The 80's animation is very good.

The Audio is good. The opening themes and ending themes are all there, including the Gilbert O'Sullivan ones which were taken out of the American VHS release. The songs however were not subbed. Sound is clear but at times soft.

The Audio is good. The opening themes and ending themes are all there, including the Gilbert O'Sullivan ones which were taken out of the American VHS release. The songs however were not subbed. Sound is clear but at times soft.

Maison Ikkoku Company: Manga International Number of Discs: 10 Author: Steve_the_Talking_Pie Maison Ikkoku was the first anime series that I started watching as I braced my new otaku life style. I was watching the series on dubbed VHS from VIZ Video. It cost $24.95 for two episodes. It wasn’t very practical. I first noticed the set appearing on ebay, when I was on volume 12. I decided to bid on it and a month later it graced the front door of my house. Review Note: I base all technical features on a five star system, in which one is the worst and five is the best. Video 4.5 / 5 – The video on this set was very good. Especially since the series first appeared on TV in 1986. There might be a slight grain at some points but for the most part it was very crisp, seeing as there was a Region 2 Box Set released. I remember in one episode the screen flipped for a second but there was nobody talking at the time, so it was not important (this problem never occurred again). Audio 5 / 5 – I have my DVD player hooked up to my Aiwa stereo with a sub woofer. The audio sounded very nice. I remember that upon turning the volume up to a high decibel some static could be heard, but this was undetectable when listening to the volume at a normal level. The opening and endings themes were included in each episode, and they were extremely well done. Also the background music was well done. In episode 24 they had special opening and ending themes. They were both done by American Musician Gilbert O’Sullivan (Opening: Alone Again, Ending: Get Down). Subs 5 / 5 – All right!!!! The subs were great. They definitely used fan subs (noticeable when on the commercial break it said “Subbed by fans for fans” and “Not for Sale or Rent”). I’m not sure who did the fan subs, though I believe it was Artic Animation. All of the names were correct, and they even included the addresses, like –sama, -kun, -chan, and –sensei (exactly what Animeigo did with their KOR Box Set). During the episodes 3 – 10, the set has some timing issues (fast subtitles). Though this clears up quickly. The rest of the series has great timing. There are some missing lines, but they are only a nuisance and don’t detract from the overall viewing. Sometimes they take the time to sub signs but that only blocks chance of dialogue being subbed. Thankfully it doesn’t happen too often. Cultural notes are included, and they actually help to explain a joke or two. Surprisingly, the subs get progressively better (the last episode is really well done). Packaging 5 / 5 – I loved this packaging. It comes in three gatefold cases containing 10 DVDs. The covers, when put together form a beautiful picture of Kyoko and Godai in front of Ikkoku. The inside of the cases are filled with colorful pictures, that were used by VIZ Video for their VHS covers. Synopsis - The show is about a Ronin named Yusaku Godai. He is still studying to pass the college entrance exams despite his loud partying neighbors in his apartment house, Maison Ikkoku (translation: The House of One Moment). A young woman steps onto the steps of Maison Ikkoku named Kyoko Otonashi. From that point the series deals with the on again, off again romance of the two. Though what would a great 80's love comedy show be without multiple suitors for both sides? ^_^ Content 5 / 5 – The show is extremely well done. The writing (original manga by Rumiko Takahashi), the animation (despite being on TV, it shows detail), and acting (voice actors fit the characters well; Kyoko Otonashi was voted one of the top 100 female voice actors in anime) was all top notch. Despite being a long series, the characters and situations never get stale or boring. There is never a filler episode, it will either further impending romances or provide some wacky hijinks. ^_^ Overall – This set is a great purchase. Buying from this site, it will cost you $80 + $6 shipping. That’s less than a dollar an episode. Without a doubt if you have never seen this series, then pick it up and be charmed by it’s wonderful story. I’ve calculated the cost of the VHS tapes from VIZ and it comes out to well over $1000, and they stopped on episode 60 (there were hints of an R1 box set being released in late 2003, but VIZ your gonna need to do better than that). The fan subbed tapes/VCDs are extremely hard to find (spend your time looking for the fountain of youth, or Noah’s Arc. You’ll have a much easier time). R2 sets are no easier to come by (not to mention no English subs) and they cost a pretty penny. So if you don’t want to sell your right kidney for VIZ/R2 releases or starve out in the middle of nowhere looking for fan subs, then pick up the HK set by Manga International and see what you’ve been missing. ~_^

As other people have said, this is a true classic. It's an older anime (originally aired 1986-88) but it still holds up today. One of Takashi-Sama's best works... and well, this is the only way you'll ever get the whole thing on your TV, since Viz stupidly stopped releasing the tapes halfway through and has no plans for a DVD release. Packaging-5/5 2 boxes, with 5 discs each in a very nice gatefold. Nice disc images (taken from the laserdiscs), and art throughout the gatefold. The 2 boxes together (or 3 boxes. MI seems to have chnaged to 2 boxes later, so some sets only have 2 like mine) make a cool picture. Menus-2/5 There preatty bland, but functional. Chapter numbers are in kanji. Good thing I know the kanji numbers. lol Video-4.3/5 Remember, this is an old show. That being said, the video is quite nice. It's somewaht grainy in the early episodes, but the later episodes are quite bright and better quality. The darks get muddled occaisonly. Pry an LD source. I have the 12 of the US VHS tapes (or did, I gave them away after getting this set) and the episodes look better then those overall. Full openings, closings, and previews. Chapters: Some discs have 1 chapter stop per episode, some have 2 (1 for intro, for ep). This seems to be preatty random. Sound 5/5 I couldnt hear any problem with it. Subtitles 4.9/5 Fansubs, so they're great. Names are right, no engrish, etc. Minor timing issues at points, and a very few skipped lines. but nothing too bad. Some cultural notes are thrown in even.

Very good series, one of Rumiko Takahashi's earlier works. If you like Ranma or Inuyasha you will probably like this. It is mostly geared toward character interaction though, it doesn't really have any action, so don't get it if you just want to see fights.

a bit too colorful...nothing that will make you say :oh, no!

great

great

aahh...would all hk dvds be this good. great packaging, great anime, very respectful release.

A little grainy but come on it's an 80's series. Animation is actually pretty good for a TV series.

No problems here what so ever.

No problems here what so ever.

This is my all time favorite series. This set is simply amazing. If you got tired of having VIZ video kicking it around, then pick this up. Definately worth the price of admission.

Timeless classic, nuff said Video 4/5 Old show, isn't exactly DVD quality but the show's so good that I don't really care about the video quality. It's good enough to get the job done. Sound 4/5 I found no problems with it, it may not be Dolby Digital but there clearly weren't any flaws. Subtitles 5/5 I usually watch anime in chinese subtitle but the English subtitle for MI is just so much superior compared the Chinese counterpart (There are tons of lines untranslated for the Chinese sub and only a few untranslated for English version). The sub quality for the English sub is excellent, I am surprised they kept such a high standard throughout the whole series. A series of this calibar deserves nothing less. I can't believe it took me such a long time to find out about MI and after watching it I can only say that this will remain to be one of my all-time favourites. Unlike many of the newer animes, MI doesn't rely on animation or sound to catpure a viewer's attention, the story is very emotional and touching in a sense that u'll be thinking about it many years after watching.

In one episode the screen flipped. A little bit of grainy visuals. Definately it is still very good. The 80's animation is very good.

The Audio is good. The opening themes and ending themes are all there, including the Gilbert O'Sullivan ones which were taken out of the American VHS release. The songs however were not subbed. Sound is clear but at times soft.

The Audio is good. The opening themes and ending themes are all there, including the Gilbert O'Sullivan ones which were taken out of the American VHS release. The songs however were not subbed. Sound is clear but at times soft.

This has got to be my favorite anime series of all time. Video 4/5 - Some minor problems and glitches. One episode had some screen flipping. No big deal. Overall very good. Audio 4/5 - Nothing majorly wrong with it. Sometimes it seemed a little soft. Subs 5/5 - There are some missed lines, but it is probably one of the best HK DVD subs ever. The last couple episodes become even better. Some cultural notes added during show (a big plus). Subbed some signs however interferred with dialogue. Subtitles big and easy to read. Some timing problems, but ends after the first 10 episodes. Overall : This set is perfect for any fan. If you've never heard of this series then pick it up and be charmed by it's story. I calculated the cost to buy the domestic tapes, over $1000. I don't know about other people but that can go towards a decent car. Buy this set and enjoy the show. The box art is nice too!!!!

In my opinion, this is the best anime series (well, that's what I think at least). If you haven't watched any of it then you don't know what you're missing. The DVDs are good. Audio/video are above average. As for the subtitles, they are excellent (I think they are of fan sub origin). The only problem with the subs is the faulty timing at some points. But even that will be forgotten as you are immersed in this fab series.

Everything is ok. The subs are fansub so they are good. There are some very glaring mistimings here and there but it'snot too big of a problem.

This is an LD rip so the video quality is obviously quite good :) It's a bit grainy and some slight colour bleeds but have in mind the age of the show, for being old the video quality is good

No real problems here, its not crystal clear but again, have in mind the age of the show

No real problems here, its not crystal clear but again, have in mind the age of the show

An overall great set that deserves praise. It's nice to see that you can get your hands on old classic shows (that are hard to come by) from HK ^___^