Character Profile: Kyoko Otonashi

Kyoko is one of the two central characters Maison Ikkoku revolves around. The other being Yusaku Godai, her "love interest." Kyoko is a beautiful, intelligent young woman, who was widowed only six months after her marriage to her first love, Souchiro. This plays a large role in her reaction towards the many "suitors" that pursue her when she moves in as building manager of Maison Ikkoku.

On the whole, Kyoko is kind and even somewhat naive (she sometimes has a hard time saying "no"), but everything she does is with good intention. She's an avid tennis player and enjoys what may be considered as "stereotypical" hobbies that are directed towards women (i.e. cooking, knitting, etc.). She has a large, "ugly" white dog, who is even named after her late husband, that she is very fond of for obvious reasons.

Kyoko does have a pretty short temper, usually sparked by fits of jealously, something very evident in her relationship with Godai. While it's more than obvious that she is taken by Godai and his unusual charm (if that's what you want to call it...), she is still very cautious about moving on with life. Regardless, she remains the "conscience" of the tenants of Maison Ikkoku and brings a refreshing level of "life" and "youth" to the otherwise run-down apartment building.