In Maison Ikkoku, both Kyoko and Godai are portrayed very skillfully and (after allowing for the inevitable exaggerations for comic effect, since this is, after all, a comedy) realistically, but it seems apparent after a while that Kyoko is the most complex character of the two, and Takahashi has put so much thought into her, fleshed her out to such an extent, that at some point watching her inner conflict develop actually becomes more interesting than Godai's perpetual struggle against all the external factors (rivals and neighbors, misunderstandings, poverty) that stand in the way of his true love. Interestingly, Kyoko is also given a foil in the character of Yagami (although this comes on later in the series), which helps to sharpen the focus on her own character as well.
(Here's a bit of trivia: it turns out that the same actress did the voices for Nausicaa and Kyoko in their respective "animes.")
This page is my attempt to do a bit of a character study for Kyoko, and to showcase some of my favorite moments, mostly from the first half of the story. Like Godai, she does grow and change in the course of the series, so the description that follows (written toward the beginning of Year 5) will probably have to be revised somewhat by the time the series is complete.
Navigation: Click on the links below to see the pictures described in the frame on the left; click here to restore the initial picture.
The word most often used to describe Kyoko is "kind." It was her kindness, at first, that led to her concern for poor Yusaku Godai when he was failing his college entrance exams, and this may have been what started their relationship. Kyoko generally goes out of her way to be helpful, and has been shown to feel terrible whenever her actions result in anybody (usually Godai) getting hurt.
Kyoko is also a very affectionate person. About two years after the death of her husband Soichiro, Godai showed he was sensitive enough to realize that the main reason why she kept putting off her suitors was not that she was trying to be faithful to Soichiro, but, rather, that she simply was still in love with him. Inevitably, however, Soichiro's memory is fading away. Four years after his death, Kyoko herself had this to say...
Kyoko has also been shown to be at least moderately religious in the traditional Japanese Shinto way. A contrast is set here with Ibuki Yagami, her would-be rival, who openly declares "I have never believed in God...or gods" in Part 6, issue 9.
Kyoko is a young woman with a very serious turn of mind. Extremely conscientious, reliable, and hard-working, she is one of those people who would (almost) never dream of teasing or kidding anybody. "Well, no use expecting Kyoko to come up with a joke, is there?" asks Mrs. Ichinose rhetorically. This, of course, makes her a perfect "straight man" for the incorrigible pranksters in Maison Ikkoku. "She's fun to tease, isn't she?" asks Akemi. "She takes everything so seriously," concurs Mrs. Ichinose.
This does not mean Kyoko is a "stick in the mud." Quite the contrary, her high-school yearbook shows her to have been a very popular girl involved in all sorts of activities. Since she has been at Maison Ikkoku, we have seen her take part in puppet shows, disguise herself for neighborhood festivals, play in an improvised baseball team, train for a three-legged race...and, of course, sign up for those famous tennis lessons.
When Yusaku describes her at one point as "girlish," he may have been thinking of this innate enthusiasm of Kyoko which, ultimately, seems to stem from a love of life that the death of her husband dampened only temporarily.
The other word everybody uses when describing Kyoko is "temper." She does have a rather short fuse and can be quite fearsome when provoked. Nonetheless, since most of her fits of rage fall under the category of righteous indignation, I have not listed this particular trait among her character flaws (see below). Also, personally, I think it is one of the most amusing things in the book to watch this kind and sweet girl suddenly turn into a blazing fury.
Here is a fantasy scene in which Yusaku imagines what it might be like if he married Kozue and ever should run into Kyoko again.
These two panels, from the infamous "Kyoko baby" story, are among my personal favorites--they show her at her most formidable.
As Kyoko gets older, she seems to have mellowed some, and has developed another cute trick: instead of flying into a rage, she can do the most terrible things to the object of her anger (usually Yusaku) while maintaining a perfectly calm, innocent appearance. Note how sweet she looks here as she chokes Yusaku with his tie...
One of the things that make Kyoko's character interesting is that she is not quite perfect. This may be a consequence of the story being written by a woman: a man might have been too tempted to make her into some sort of ideal romantic object of desire. In any event, it is certainly not a coincidence, but a very realistic touch, that, while the main male characters in the story worship Kyoko almost unconditionally (with only a few grumbles here and there about her "moodiness"), the other women (mostly Akemi and Mrs. Ichinose) have a much clearer view of her flaws and occasionally let her know about it.
"You're such a sweetheart to everybody else...why are you so hard on your parents?" asks Mrs. Ichinose at one point. And indeed, Kyoko's relationship with her parents is, to put it mildly, a tad strained at the beginning of the story. Kyoko responds that if she wasn't so harsh they would take advantage of her, and it's true that Takahashi's portrayal of Kyoko's mother as a calculating, manipulative woman (and of her father as an unreasonable, meddlesome fool) would seem to support Kyoko's position. And yet, knowing about Kyoko's temper and her stubbornness, it seems clear that she must not be entirely free from blame in this situation.
Another somewhat puzzling fact is Kyoko's apparent indecisiveness in her relationships with Mitaka and Yusaku, especially for somebody as strong-willed as she has been shown to be. As Mrs. Ichinose recently put it: "And I thought Godai was the wishy-washy one!" As I see it, the problem here is not so much that Kyoko is wishy-washy as that she lives in total denial of the fact that she is really attracted to Yusaku (probably because she might feel that she'd be betraying Soichiro's memory if she ever admitted to being attracted to another man); this makes her especially vulnerable to Mitaka's more forceful advances.
At one point, when Yusaku appeared to have gained a decisive advantage and Mitaka managed to reverse the situation, Kyoko wondered to herself "Am I that easy to win over?" and concluded "Maybe I am, maybe I am not...but I *am* weak when I am being held by someone." Such self-knowledge is rare in Kyoko, whose main shortcoming is probably the fact that--in very human fashion--she completely fails to see in herself the same faults that drive her crazy in somebody else. She blames Yusaku for "not making his feelings clear," then she flatly tells Yagami that she's not in love with Yusaku, even though a couple of issues earlier she was actually considering marrying him. And she gets--justifiably--upset over Yusaku's continued involvement with Kozue, yet she also continues to allow Mitaka to wine and dine her, apparently without realizing at all the similarity between the two situations.
Here are a couple of nice pages devoted to Kyoko. Watch out for spoilers, though!