Meet the tenants of the ramshackle boarding house Maison Ikkoku, starting with a young Japanese student struggling to pass his college entrance exams, a ronin named Yusaku Godai, and the building's beautiful new manager, a woman who hides a secret sadness, Kyoko Otonashi.

As Godai prepares for his entrance exams, the other residents of Maison Ikkoku are hell-bent on preventing him from cracking the books.

Manager Kyoko is the only one who seems to believe in him, and her words of encouragement mean everything. Now if only he could keep his mind on the exams instead of her.

A panicked Godai, apprehensive about his exam announcements, disappears from Maison Ikkoku, leaving Kyoko to deal with a surprise visit from Godai's grandmother.

Then, Godai and the other tenants are about to find out what it is that's been making Kyoko so melancholy....

Godai makes a decision that will change his life forever, a decision that's going to take every ounce of courage he can muster, and every ounce of alcohol his buddy Sakamoto can pour. He's about to tell Kyoko how he really feels about her...whether she's ready to hear it or not.

It was hard enough for shy student Godai to get Kyoko's attention before, but now he's got a rival in the shape of handsome tennis coach, Shun Mitaka. He's young, he's rich, he has a nice car...what more could any single gal want from a guy?

Then again, Godai may be shy, but he doesn't give up easily either...a little game of love-love never hurt anyone...right?

It's an old axiom that people always fall in love with the ones they can't have. Now that Manager Kyoko, the object of Godai's affections, is spending her free time being romanced by handsome tennis coach Mitaka, she can't exactly complain about an innocent movie-date between Godai and his cute 'n' cuddly coworker Kozue...or can she?

When he joins a campus club, shy student Yusaku Godai's social calendar is suddenly full. But the only phone in Maison Ikkoku is in Manager Kyoko's room, and with gaggle of girls calling him every hour to coordinate activities, is it any wonder that Kyoko is seeing red every time that particular bell rings?

Godai's been putting in overtime in the college puppet club in hopes that he'll be ready to put on his best for the club's big performance at the school festival...especially because Kyoko's coming by to see the show. If only he could talk her into playing the "princess" opposite his puppet "prince"....

Desperate to scare up a Christmas gift for Kyoko, Godai luckily happens upon the gift he never gave her from that first special year she came to the boarding house. In return (and is HE ever surprised!), Kyoko gives him a lovingly handmade gift that Godai can wrap himself up in when things look like they're growing too cold...but is he the only special recipient on Kyoko's Christmas list?

As the residents of Maison Ikkoku make their plans to go on trips for the New Years holiday, Godai gets to look forward to a low-budget evening watching TV with Kyoko and Akemi in the manager's room. Wait--what do you mean Akemi's going on a ski trip? Does that mean that he'll be alone with Kyoko, with no one else in the house?!

Godai agrees to babysit his buddy Sakamoto's kitten, a job made harder by the fact that it has the same name-Kyoko-as his lovely manager. Hiding a pet in a ýno petsÁ rental is hard enough without the manager coming running everytime he calls the kitty's name! Then, Kyoko's mother makes a shocking demand.

If you think Kyoko is strong-willed, you should see her mother! Concerned that Kyoko is spending too much time dwelling on her memories, Kyoko's parents have made up her mind for her: she must quit her job

Even the most take it slow and easy of courtships reach critical mass sooner or later, and when a chance encounter with an old friend from school-now married and with baby-starts Kyoko's internal clock ticking, things are really gonna blow! Will Godai or Mitaka be the best suitor for the previously monogamous Manager?

From the number of times he's been spotted at Maison Ikkoku, you might almost think young Kentaro doesn't have a father, and yet, he does. At long last, meet Mr. Ichinose, the absentee salaryman dad yang to hard-drinkin' mama Missus Ichinose's yin! When it comes time for Kentaro's school festival, will his folks be able to shape up quickly enough to join him?

When Kyoko and Godai volunteer as ghosts in a festival haunted house, they somehow end up stranded down an old, abandoned well. If only the rest of the tenants could have left them alone down there! Then, a misunderstanding drives Godai to move out of Maison Ikkoku! Vol. 15 .

Fate leaves Godai sharing an apartment with an attractive woman, and everyone -- including Kyoko -- assumes the worst. Will Kyoko let him return to his old room? Vol. 16.

Kyoko discovers a postcard from another woman in the pages of Soichiro's diary. Was he hiding something from her? Then, Grandma Godai returns!

A game of dress-up soon turns into a full-blown Maison Ikkoku costume party, and even Kyoko's undergoing a radical transformation! Then, teased by her more sophisticated friends, Kozue longs to put the question to Godai - do you like me, or don't you? And she's got another plan, too - make Godai jealous through Mitaka!

Kyoko and Godai go on a date, only to find themselves followed by Godai's grandmother and their nosy neighbors from Maison Ikkoku. Is there no escape? Vol. 18.

With three people to buy presents for, Kozue, Kyoko and Ikkoku, and next to no money, Godai is in a pinch! His solution! Odd jobs - lots of 'em! But when Godai loses an important item that was entrusted to him by Kyoko, he must go out of his way to find it knowing that it was a gift from her former husband, Soichiro.

While waiting for things to cool down at Maison Ikkoku, Manager Kyoko heats up at an onsen (traditional Japanese hot springs resort). Why is it, though, that she thinks her privacy won't last much longer? Then, a quick slip from the building's second story sends Godai to the hospital and a contrite Kyoko stumbling after. Which one is more upset?

t's bad enough being laid up in the hospital with a broken leg. At least Godai can enjoy Manager Kyoko's undivided attention since it was her fault he fell in the first place, right? Tell that to Coach Mitaka...

and then, While rummaging in the attic one day, Kentaro finds an old photo album from 50-100 years ago. What a surprise to find within it an image of the ever-mysterious Yotsuya...looking exactly the same as he does now...

Failing to wake Godai in time for class as promised, Kyoko is overcome with guilt -- so guilty, in fact, that she finds herself saying things to a frantic Godai she might not otherwise have said.

and then, It's a day at the ice rink and, when it turns out neither Godai nor Mitaka know how to skate, both take advantage of Kyoko's offer to teach them by "accidentally" bumping into her again and again!

Godai's drunken Maison Ikkoku neighbors are determined to thwart his efforts to be alone with Kyoko! Is Prohibition the only answer, or can Godai turn the boozing busybodies against one another? Then, Kyoko goes back to her parents' house for a few days, but forgets her favorite pillow. When Godai brings it over to her, will he make a good impression on her parents, or fall all over his face?

Desperate to overcome his paralyzing fear of dogs, Mitaka enlists (or should that be, has thrust upon him) the help of Ikkoku's determined residents. Then, here comes a new Ikkoku residents! Having lost a spouse, just like the manager, a strange sympathy strikes up between the two. What will it mean for Kyoko and Goda's burgeoning relationship?

Could it be true? Will Maison Ikkoku be torn down because of urban development? (Or will the ramshackle old building fall apart by itself first?) THen, on the fourth anniversary of Soichiro's death, Kyoko solemnly reflects on her dead husband...and considers marriage to someone new?

Godai does a stint as a student teacher at an all girl's high school...and Ibuki Yagami, one of his shining bright pupils, develops a schoorlgirl crush! Will she put Godai in a compromising position?

To prevent Yagami from spending the night with Godai, Kyoko invites him to sleep in her room. But they won't get any real sleep if Yagami the other residents have anything to so with it. AND THEN: First, Kozue and then Yagami made the ever-ambiguous Godai-Kyoko- Mitaka love triangle all the more complicated, now Mitaka has a prospective arranged marriage partner! Will the mystery lover please step forward?

More Television Synopsis if VIZ puts out the rest of the series. I have seen the entire series but i dont want to spoil anything.