Maison Ikkoku FAQ/Walkthrough
by Rob Browning (pluvius3 @ gmail.com)
v1.01 (Written July 24, 2009)
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*TABLE OF CONTENTS*
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I. DISCLAIMER
II. VERSION HISTORY
III. INTRODUCTION
IV. INTERFACE
V. CHARACTERS
VI. LOCATIONS
VII. ITEMS
VIII. GENERAL TIPS
IX. WALKTHROUGH
1. Getting Started
2. How to Win Friends and Influence Idiot Neighbors
3. The First Snag: Ichinosiness
4. The Second Snag: The "Perfect" Rival
5. People Sure Like Pictures of Themselves
6. Endgame
X. CHEATS
XI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CLOSING WORDS
**************
I. DISCLAIMER
**************
This FAQ is copyright 2009 Rob Browning, all rights reserved. All trademarks
and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective
trademark and copyright holders. Redistribution for profit is prohibited.
Free distribution is allowed provided that this FAQ is left intact and
unchanged, with credit given to the author, and that any sites distributing
this FAQ update it regularly. Personal, private use of this FAQ is allowed
with no restrictions.
********************
II. VERSION HISTORY
********************
v1.01 (07-24-09): Changed contact email address.
v1.00 (04-19-08): First release.
******************
III. INTRODUCTION
******************
Q. What is this FAQ for?
A. This FAQ is for Maison Ikkoku for the NEC PC Engine (known as the NEC
Turbografx-16 in the West). It should also apply to the games of the same name
on various other systems including the Nintendo Famicom, but not to the sequel
which is named Maison Ikkoku Kanketsuhen. The PC Engine version has been
translated into English by fans, however, unlike the other versions.
Maison Ikkoku is based on the popular 80's manga/anime series of the same
name. It was created by legendary manga artist Rumiko Takahashi, who has been
responsible for other well-known manga/anime series such as Urusei Yatsura,
Ranma 1/2, and Inuyasha, and was a major contributor to the rise of anime in
the West. It is a romantic comedy about a struggling college student who falls
in love with the manager of a boarding house inhabited by an assortment of
colorful tenants.
Q. Why did you write this FAQ?
A. You might guess that it's because I like anime, but I'm actually not a big
fan of the artform. I wrote this FAQ because Maison Ikkoku is pretty simple
when you understand how it works, but getting to that understanding is somewhat
complicated. And of course it helps that it was recently translated and there
are no English-language FAQs for it yet.
Q. What is the game about?
A. I'm not entirely certain what the point of Maison Ikkoku is because the
manual isn't very informative on the subject, but it appears that the main
character, Yuusaku Godai, has discovered that the manager of the house has a
mysterious photograph which she doesn't want anyone to know about. Godai,
possibly afraid that the picture is of a secret lover or something of that
nature, is obsessed with finding out what's in the picture, and you have to
help him out.
Q. How does the game play?
A. Maison Ikkoku is a graphical text adventure in the vein of most Japanese
computer-style adventure games. Probably the most familiar examples of these
games to Westerners are the NES games Shadowgate and Deja Vu. One thing that
makes Maison Ikkoku distinct is the presence of a limited amount of money which
Godai needs to purchase items necessary to beat the game. Unfortunately, the
things you need to do to succeed are often arbitrary and don't seem relevant to
your quest, while some of the things that aren't still require knowledge of the
anime to understand. It's pretty easy to enter an unwinnable state, so without
help you'll be playing this game many times before you're finished.
Q. Is there a way to get Godai's grandmother to visit?
A. Yes, there is, but I don't know how to trigger it. According to Japanese
websites, it has something to do with the Ikkoku-kan's public phone, and occurs
sometime after Grandma calls you and sends you a package. If anyone figures it
out, let me know and I'll put it in the FAQ with credit.
Q. What about Mr. Ichinose?
A. According to the manual, Ichinose's seldom-seen husband is apparently a
hidden character. I personally think that the manual reference is just a joke
from the game developers, though.
Q. Who's the guy in the manual in shadow with the big question mark by his
picture?
A. Dunno. Might be a reference to the late Souichiro Otonashi, who is almost
always obscured in pictures of him.
**************
IV. INTERFACE
**************
D-Pad: Move cursor.
Select: Switches between password input modes.
Run: Enters password.
Button II: Cancels command, erases letter.
Button I: Selects command/object/letter.
The commands are pretty self-explanatory; the only thing worth noting is that
the command "Show" is often used as a synonym for the word "give." You can get
a password to continue the game after quitting by going to one of the landings
in the Ikkoku-kan, hitting the bathroom door, and opening it to go inside.
**************
V. CHARACTERS
**************
Yuusaku Godai: The character you play as. Godai is a student at a low-tier
college who can best be described as a spineless loser. Though he's kind and
not unattractive, he's weak-willed, easily manipulated, constantly broke and
reliant on his friends and family for support, and has his head in the clouds
most of the time. He is deeply infatuated with the manager of his boarding
house, but is too afraid to do anything direct. The other tenants leech off of
him and impose on him in other ways, but he never protests.
Kyouko Otonashi: The manager of the Ikkoku-kan and the love of Godai's life.
She's beautiful and polite, but can become violent at times, especially when
she's jealous. She has a lot of affection for Godai (though she objects to the
idea that this goes beyond the Platonic), but is still mourning the death of
her husband and unavailable to romantic advances. The tenants refer to her
politely by her title, Kanrinin-san ("manager").
Yotsuya: One of Godai's next-door neighbors, Yotsuya is a strange, perverted
man. Nobody knows much about him; he's very formal and comes and goes at odd
hours. He often tears holes in Godai's apartment so he can pester him, steal
his food, and peep on Akemi.
Akemi Roppongi: Godai's other next-door neighbor, Akemi is a busty hostess at
the nearby bar. She is very uninhibited, preferring to go about the Ikkoku-kan
in lingerie and making her desires well-known. She drinks all the time, often
in Godai's room, and is always tired due to her partying lifestyle. She bums
off of Godai much like Yotsuya does.
Hanae Ichinose: The last adult tenant of the Ikkoku-kan, Ichinose is a middle-
aged lush. Most of the time she lives alone with her son, as her husband is a
slave to his work. Though she often torments Godai just like the other
tenants, she genuinely likes both him and Kanrinin-san. She's also very nosy
and inserts herself into situations that don't involve her.
The Chigusas: Kanrinin-san's parents. They didn't like her choice of husband,
and often argue with her over her choice to manage the Ikkoku-kan by herself
instead of getting remarried. As for who she should get remarried to, they
unfortunately hardly realize that Godai even exists.
Kozue Nanao: Godai's ditzy "girlfriend." She often drags Godai on dates, not
realizing that he doesn't like her in that way, nor that he has a crush on
Kanrinin-san. Godai is too cowardly to break it off with her, which annoys
Kanrinin-san to no end, even though she doesn't dislike Kozue.
The Nanao family: Kozue's parents and brother are all very supportive of
Godai's relationship with her. A bit too supportive, in fact; Godai has to be
careful not to get forced into a marriage by them.
Shun Mitaka: Kanrinin-san's "boyfriend," Mitaka is everything that Godai
isn't--rich, well-educated, charming, and devastatingly handsome. He's also an
arrogant womanizer, but ladies tend to fail to notice (or fail to care).
Unsurprisingly, he and Godai strongly dislike each other and often fight over
Kanrinin-san. Kanrinin-san likes him, but his aggressive nature makes her
nervous. Mitaka also has a peculiar and crippling fear of dogs, which is a
problem since his girlfriend has a dog as a pet.
Ikuko Otonashi: Kanrinin-san's niece-in-law. She likes Godai a lot as a
playmate, and gets her family to hire him as a tutor to prepare her for high
school. Kanrinin-san doesn't like to leave them by themselves, not because
she's jealous, but because they usually don't get any work done.
Ikuko's mother: Not much to say about her in this game. She's nice and bakes
Godai a cake.
Mr. Otonashi: Kanrinin-san's father-in-law. He owns the Ikkoku-kan and loves
Kanrinin-san like a real daughter.
Kentarou Ichinose: Ichinose's grade-school son. He doesn't like Godai all
that much, but will help him out with the proper inducements.
Sakamoto: Godai's drinking buddy from college. Godai gets much of his
emotional and financial support from him.
Master: The proprietor of the Chacha Maru, the bar that Akemi works at.
There's not much else to say about him as far as the game is concerned, but he
will give you financial help if needed.
Clerk: The clerk at the market. She does nothing other than trade items for
money, but she looks a lot like a character from another Takahashi manga.
Sayaka: I dunno who this guy is supposed to be. He hangs around the Chacha
Maru and serves no useful purpose. Perhaps he's supposed to be Mr. Ichinose?
Godai's family: They don't appear in the game (well, Grandma does if you know
how to get her), but they do send Godai care packages after he talks to them on
the phone.
Souichiro: Kanrinin-san's dog. An old, mangy mutt, he's named after Kanrinin-
san's late husband.
**************
VI. LOCATIONS
**************
Ikkoku-kan: The boarding house where Godai lives.
Attic Room 4<->Closet<->Room 5<->Closet Room 6 Back Porch
\ | | | |
\ | | | |
\ | | | |
\ | | | |
Hallway<--------->Hallway<--------->Hallway<-->2nd Floor<---->Bathroom
Landing
Backyard |
| |
| |
| |
Kanrinin- |
san's Room 1 Room 2 |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
Corner<--------->Hallway<--------->Hallway<-->1st Floor<---->Bathroom
| Landing
Roof |
\ |
\ |
\ |
Front Porch
|
|
Other areas
Room 1: Ichinose
Room 2: Vacant
Room 3: Vacant (part of a running gag concerning Mitaka, you can't go here)
Room 4: Yotsuya
Room 5: Godai
Room 6: Akemi
Market: The place where you can buy a number of items, some of which are
necessary to beat the game.
Chacha Maru: The nearby bar which the Ikkoko-kan tenants frequent.
Nanao's: The Nanao family residence.
Otonashi's: Ikuko's house.
Station: A train station that Sakamoto uses to visit.
Grave: The grave of Kanrinin-san's husband.
***********
VII. ITEMS
***********
Wallet: You have this at the beginning of the game. Contains all of your
money.
Hammer: Found in Room 4. I have no clue what this is used for. It's not
needed for patching the holes.
Ladder: Found in Room 4. Needed to get on the roof.
Flashlight: Found in the Room 4 closet. Needed to see in the attic.
Nail Puller: Found in the Room 4 closet under a pillow. Yotsuya uses this to
unpatch the holes.
Log: Found in the Room 4 closet. Yotsuya uses this to knock a hole in your
wall.
Dirty Mag: Found in the Room 5 closet. Yotsuya likes to look at these.
Nails: Found on the back porch and in the market. Needed to patch holes.
Planks: Found on the back porch and in the market. Needed to patch holes.
Postcard: Found sometimes in the mailbox on the front porch. It's Kanrinin-
san's and delivering it to her will make her happy.
Bra: Found on the roof. This is also Kanrinin-san's and she'll appreciate it
if you give it to her, though not at first.
Souichiro: Kanrinin-san's dog, found in the doghouse out front. He won't go
with you unless you give him something good to eat, and he won't leave the
Ikkoku-kan.
Package: A care package you get mailed to you after talking to your family.
It contains a number of food items and you can get it by sitting with Kanrinin-
san for a chat.
Liquor: Bought at the Chacha Maru. Ichinose really likes to drink it.
Ramen: Bought at the market. An essential item to bribe your tenants with.
Canned Food: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen.
Bento: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen.
Yakitori: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen, and Souichiro's
favorite food.
Donuts: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen.
Sandwich: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen.
Flowers: Found at Nanao's and the market. Kanrinin-san loves these.
T-Shirt: Bought at the market. Never used this for anything, probably a
substitute for ramen.
Takoyaki: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen.
Egg: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen, but useful to give to
Ichinose.
Maneki Cat: Bought at the market. This is Yotsuya's, and he really wants it
back.
Hyuncle: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen.
Souichiro's Picture: Found in Ikuko's photo album. A picture of Kanrinin-san
with her husband.
Cake: Given to you by Ikuko's mother. A substitute for ramen.
High-School Picture: Given to you by Mr. Otonashi. A picture of Kanrinin-san
in high school.
Diary: Given to you by Mr. Otonashi. The diary of Kanrinin-san's dead
husband.
Yotsuya's Picture: Found in Room 2. A picture of Yotsuya in high school.
Key: Found under the mat in the hall outside Room 2. It unlocks Room 2's
door.
Ichinose's Picture: Given to you by Ichinose. A picture of Ichinose in junior
high(?)
Akemi's Picture: Given to you by Akemi. A picture of Akemi as a child.
*******************
VIII. GENERAL TIPS
*******************
The object of Maison Ikkoku is to get a look at Kanrinin-san's secret picture.
For most of the game, Godai tries to do this by stealing it outright from a
picture frame in Kanrinin-san's room, but there are a bunch of obstacles that
get in his way. By the time he gets past all of these, Kanrinin-san moves the
picture. At that point, for some reason, Godai has to collect other pictures
of the tenants in the house to show to Kanrinin-san. After this you can finish
the game.
Godai has to visit Kanrinin-san's room several times for the first part of the
game. On each visit he has to try to get the picture frame, whereupon someone
will come in and force him to give up and leave. For each visit he has to give
Kanrinin-san a present before she'll let him in; flowers are the usual present,
though there are times when you find special items you can use. After the
first three visits there will be additional things that need to be done; on the
fourth visit Ichinose has to be bribed with liquor, and on the fifth Mitaka
must be scared off by Souichiro.
This part of the game would be easy if not for the fact that you have to deal
with the other tenants. Practically every time you do something, the three
tenants will hang around you and refuse to go away until you give them
something. Ramen is usually sufficient, but it costs money, most of which you
need for flowers or other things. Fortunately, only Ichinose is nosy enough to
interfere with you visiting Kanrinin-san, so you can bribe her and ignore the
other two most of the time.
Once you've visited Kanrinin-san enough times, you'll be able to enter her room
freely, but the frame will be gone. Now you need to get the other pictures.
1. Souichiro and Kanrinin-san: Mr. Otonashi will give these to you with no
trouble.
2. Yotsuya: He'll give you his picture in exchange for the Maneki Cat.
3. Ichinose: She'll give you her picture if you give her enough liquor.
4. Akemi: She'll give you her picture if you patch up the hole that Yotsuya
made.
Once you've gotten these, you can show them to Kanrinin-san and do a couple of
other things (see the walkthrough for more details) and win the game.
The thing that makes Maison Ikkoku difficult is the fact that you don't have a
lot of money; you only start with 4580 yen. Fortunately, you can get money and
other expensive items from a few places:
1. Call Sakamoto up when you're broke and he'll give you 3000 yen.
2. Call your parents (or get called by Grandma) when you're broke and you'll
get a care package containing five ramen and five canned foods.
3. Show Master your wallet when you're broke and he'll give you 2000 yen if no
one else is in the bar.
4. Try to buy liquor without enough money and Master will give you a free
bottle if Sayaka isn't in the bar.
5. Once you've tutored Ikuko, Mr. Otonashi will give you 5000 yen.
6. If you manage to get Grandma to visit, you can find her in your room and
show her your wallet if you're broke and get 3000 yen.
Even with this help you have to be careful, since the loans are usually a one-
time thing. The best way to go through the game is to do as many things
possible at once to minimize the number of times you have to bribe people, and
bribe people with as much free stuff as possible. For example, at the
beginning you can patch up the peeping hole and get the flashlight, postcard,
and bra all at once without buying anything if you do it in the right order and
with the right items.
Of course, this all goes out the window if you actually manage to get Grandma
to come visit, as she will give you a loan as often as you need it. Good luck
figuring out how, though.
****************
IX. WALKTHROUGH
****************
-------------------
1. Getting Started
-------------------
You'll begin your quest for the secret photograph in your room, Room 5. Go
ahead and familiarize yourself with the controls and commands. There are
plenty of things to look at, but all that will be of interest here is the hole
in the wall that Yotsuya made and your closet door, which you should go ahead
and open. You can also open your window and jump out of it, but that will lead
to your incapacitation and the end of the game. This is true for any place you
can jump down, so don't do it.
Before we do anything in the hole or the closet, go outside and go right a
couple of times. After passing Room 6 (Akemi's room) you'll find yourself in
the second floor landing. If you want to enter the bathroom, hit the door then
open it. You can get a password here or in the bathroom on the first floor
that will allow you to continue the game at the point you leave off. Open the
other door in the landing and go out onto the back porch. Pick up the nails
and planks you see there, then go back inside and all the way left to Room 4.
Open the door and enter.
Yotsuya is inside, but he won't complain if you take the hammer and ladder that
are in here. Open the closet door and go inside, and Yotsuya will follow. He
now has a flashlight on his head, which we'll be getting soon. If you move the
pillow, you'll also see the nail puller that he uses to uncover his peeping
hole after someone repairs it, but we obviously can't take it while Yotsuya is
there. So continue on through the hole into your room, and on into your
closet.
Yotsuya appears again, this time peeping through a hole into Room 6. You can
look yourself to see Akemi in a pretty risque position, but this will
hypocritically get Yotsuya ticked off at you, so don't do it. Instead, take
the dirty magazine that Yotsuya has left to the side and use the planks to
patch up the hole. Then go back to Yotsuya's closet through the hole. Give
him back the magazine ("show" it to him) and he'll let you take the flashlight.
Then if you leave and come back, he'll be gone so you can take the nail puller
and log (another item he uses to make holes in walls).
With that bit of business done, we're ready to start the main quest. Go
downstairs from the landing, then left and outside. (Room 2 won't be
accessible until near the end of the game, and Room 3 is a red herring.)
Kentarou is here, and we can give him some money (show wallet) in exchange for
information, but it's about there being something on the roof, which is what
we're about to get. So don't bother bribing Kentarou, and instead use the
ladder. Now we can get on the roof, where we can daydream about Kanrinin-san
and find a bra of hers that's somehow blown up here. Get the bra and come back
down. (BTW, if we had went up here while Yotsuya was mad at us, he'd have
taken the ladder and stranded us on the roof. Same thing would have happened
if we'd went out on the back porch while he was mad.)
Now get the postcard from the mailbox, then leave the Ikkoku-kan and head for
the market.
----------------------------------------------------
2. How to Win Friends and Influence Idiot Neighbors
----------------------------------------------------
The market has a lot of items to buy, but only a few of them are necessary and
relevant. The most important item to buy here is ramen, for reasons which will
be noted later. For now, buy three packs of ramen. Also get two bouquets of
flowers, which Kanrinin-san likes. Now go back to the Ikkoku-kan.
Once there, you'll notice that the other tenants of the house follow you
around. This is because they're mad at you for taking Kanrinin-san's postcard,
or at least acting like they are to guilt or annoy you into giving them
something. This is the main obstacle of the game, since the tenants will do
this after you do practically anything, including visit Kanrinin-san.
Fortunately, the only person you need to bribe most of the time is Ichinose,
since she is the only one that hangs out right outside Kanrinin-san's door and
keeps you from visiting. Conveniently she's standing out by herself on the
front porch, so just give her some ramen to calm her down. Now we can open the
door and go inside.
Go left to the corner with the public phone (passing Ichinose's Room 1), then
forward, and you'll find yourself in front of Kanrinin-san's. Knock on the
door (hit it) and she'll appear. We can talk to her, but she won't let you
inside unless you give her a present. Flowers are the traditional gift, but
since we're trying to save money, give her the postcard instead. Then talk to
her twice and you'll be able to enter her room. Inside you can talk to her
some more, as well as sit down and talk even more. You can also try to make
romantic advances, but Godai is too cowardly to do anything more than dream
about them. There's also a backyard you can reach by opening the curtain, but
there's nothing out there.
So the only thing you need to do here is try to take the picture frame, which
is the object of your quest. However, before you're able to snatch it, Akemi
comes in and complains about the bathroom door, requesting Kanrinin-san to come
fix it. You'll be forced to leave.
Now the cycle begins again. Go to the front porch to give ramen to Ichinose.
(She's standing right in front of Kanrinin-san's, but it's quicker this way.)
If you try to visit Kanrinin-san again, she won't be there, so instead knock on
the door to Room 1 and visit Ichinose's room. (You might have to go out on the
front porch again to get Ichinose to appear in her room.) This will force the
game to advance so you can go back to Kanrinin-san. This time you should give
her a bouquet of flowers. We're saving the bra for later.
Now Kanrinin-san's parents are in the room with her, arguing over what she's
doing with her life. Everyone is too busy sniping at each other to talk to you
directly, so go ahead and try taking the picture frame. Suddenly the argument
will explode, keeping you from getting to the frame. You can try to ease
tensions, but they'll just yell at you to stay out of it. So just leave.
Do the cycle all over again, giving Kanrinin-san your other set of flowers.
She'll apologize to you about her parents after letting you in, and things are
basically like they were the first time you visited. When you try taking the
picture frame again, your "girlfriend" Kozue comes in and begs you to visit her
family. Go ahead and do so.
--------------------------------
3. The First Snag: Ichinosiness
--------------------------------
Here you'll be stuck until you've talked at length with Kozue and her family.
First go ahead and take the free flowers on the table, then talk to whoever you
want. After talking eight times, an option will appear that will allow you to
go to Kozue's room. If you do this, Kozue's parents will freak out and force
you to marry her by shotgun. So don't do this. Instead, talk a few more times
and you'll be able to leave. Go to the market first and buy two packs of ramen
and an egg (which will be needed later).
Then go to the Ikkoku-kan and give ramen to Ichinose. Kanrinin-san is gone
again, so go to Ichinose's room and you'll see her talking to Kanrinin-san's
parents. (You'll probably have to leave the Ikkoku-kan and come back to get
them to appear.) Since Kanrinin-san is gone, Ichinose has let her parents in
to her room because she's an incurable gossip and meddler. So they're talking
about Kanrinin-san and what they can do to get her on the right path. You can
talk to them if you want, but it's not necessary; just leave the Ikkoku-kan and
go to the Chacha Maru.
This is the bar where the tenants go when they're not busy drinking in your
room. Try to buy a bottle of liquor; you can't afford it, but the master of
the establishment is a pretty nice guy and gives you one on your tab. Now go
back to Kanrinin-san's. She'll be mad at you for going to Kozue's house. (Of
course, she would've been mad at you even if you didn't. Women.) She won't
accept flowers from you, knowing where they probably came from, so give her her
bra instead. She'll slap you and storm back into her room, but if you knock on
her door again she'll apologize and allow you inside after you talk to her.
Ichinose is here, probably because of Kanrinin-san's parents. She won't let
you do anything, including take the picture frame. Therefore you need to
distract her with the oft-used method of getting her drunk. First give her a
ramen to make her less hostile, then give her an egg to make her cheerful.
(Another ramen wouldn't work.) Finally, give her the liquor and she'll decide
to hold a banquet for all of the house inhabitants. You can either go to
sleep, which will immediately advance the game, or drink a few times then try
to embrace Kanrinin-san, which will lead to another one of your dreams. Either
way, you'll end up in your room with Yotsuya and Akemi hating you as usual (but
not Ichinose, strangely enough).
----------------------------------------
4. The Second Snag: The "Perfect" Rival
----------------------------------------
If we try to visit Kanrinin-san again, her suitor and your rival Mitaka will
show up. Since we need to get rid of him, we should go to the market first and
buy some yakitori (for Souichiro the dog) and flowers. We won't need the
flowers for quite some time, but we need to have less than 500 yen for the next
sequence to work. Go back to the Ikkoku-kan and go to the corner with the
phone. It will ring; pick it up and Grandma will tell you she's sending a
package for you. Now immediately use the phone to call Sakamoto, who will tell
you to go to the train station to see him. Go straight to the train station
and talk to Sakamoto, who will give you 3000 yen. Now go straight to the
market and buy the Maneki Cat. Normally it would be 5000 yen, but if you did
things in this precise order it will be on sale for 3000 yen. Buy a ramen with
what little money you have as well.
Go to the Ikkoku-kan and give the ramen to Ichinose. Go back and forth between
Room 1 and Kentarou should be on the front porch instead of Ichinose. This
will allow you to give Souichiro the yakitori and pick him up ("take"). Now go
visit Kanrinin-san with flowers. She'll talk about her late husband and how
long it's been since she started managing the house. If you sit with her,
she'll give you the package from Grandma. If you look at it, you'll find five
packs of ramen and five cans of food. Try taking the picture frame and Mitaka
will come in. Instead of leaving in defeat like you might normally do, show
Mitaka the dog. He'll freak out and run away, leaving you alone with Kanrinin-
san again.
Now she'll talk about how Mitaka seems not to like Souichiro, as well as ask
you about what it is you've been looking for that would explain your behavior
lately. Try taking the frame again (for the last time) and Kanrinin-san's
niece Ikuko will appear and ask you to come tutor her. For now, we'll refuse
her request and leave the room.
-------------------------------------------
5. People Sure Like Pictures of Themselves
-------------------------------------------
This is where the game goes a bit strange, because there's no clear relation
between what you're doing and what happens. The object of this part of the
game is to get pictures of the other tenants so you can show them to Kanrinin-
san. For some reason, this will allow you to finish the game.
So how do we go about this? Well, if you look at the board by the Ikkoku-kan
phone, you'll see that Yotsuya is looking for his "beckoning cat." Could that
be the Maneki Cat you bought? Give it to him and he'll be very happy with you,
at least for the moment. If you now go to Room 2, he'll let you in. On the
floor, there's a picture of him in high school with a couple of characters from
another Rumiko Takahashi work. Take it and leave, then move the welcome mat
and you'll find a key to Room 2 under it, which you should also take.
Next is Ichinose. If you show her Yotsuya's picture, she'll mention a picture
of her own but clam up about it. How do we get it from her? Get her sloshed,
of course! We'll have to have not one but _two_ more banquets with her to do
this. We can get the liquor easy, and we already have the ramen, but what
about the egg? Fortunately, we can also bum money off of Master as long as
Akemi isn't at the Chacha Maru.
"Buy" the liquor first. You'll notice that you can't get a bottle for free as
long as that old guy named Sayaka is there. For whatever reason, he'll go away
if you bribe Ichinose. Do so and get the liquor. Now you'll have to bribe all
three tenants since the game won't allow you to bribe Akemi directly unless
she's by herself. So bribe Ichinose outside, Yotsuya in front of Room 2, and
finally Akemi in front of your room. Now show Master your wallet and he'll
lend you 2000 yen. Go to the market and buy an egg, then go to Ichinose and
give her the ramen-egg-liquor combination to start another banquet.
When you wake up, you'll notice all of your food is gone. This is because the
tenants stole it all for the banquet. Drat! So go to the Chacha Maru and bum
another bottle of liquor (you should have less than 2000 yen now) and then buy
a pack of ramen and an egg at the market, then do another banquet. Now if you
visit Ichinose and show her Yotsuya's picture, she'll give you a picture of
herself in middle school (or around that age) and apparently drunk.
Now there's just Akemi, and she's a lot less annoying to bribe than Ichinose;
in fact, you've already done it by patching the peephole in her wall. Get two
ramens at the market so you can mollify Yotsuya and Akemi, then knock on
Akemi's door (you might have to move around a little to get her to appear) and
show her Ichinose's picture. She'll give you a picture of herself topless (not
surprising) but as a little girl on the beach.
-----------
6. Endgame
-----------
Now we just need to do one more thing before we show all this stuff to
Kanrinin-san. Go to the Otonashi residence where Ikuko is. If you talk to her
you'll find out that she's apparently studying English, but that's not
important. Look around her room and you'll find a photo album with a picture
of Kanrinin-san and her late husband; take it. Now to do something else that
doesn't make sense; show her an item of yours that she isn't interested in.
(She should say something like "you're being silly.") Do this three times and
Ikuko's mother will show up with a cake. Take it (she'll leave) and show Ikuko
some pointless stuff another couple of times. Mr. Otonashi will then appear
and give you the diary of Kanrinin-san's late husband as well as a picture of
Kanrinin-san in high school. He'll also give you 5000 yen, which is totally
useless now (*sigh*). Now you can visit Kanrinin-san for the last time.
Now you don't have to bribe anyone anymore. Just knock on Kanrinin-san's door
and open it. (But don't open it before you knock, or you'll get a big
surprise!) Go inside and you'll see that Kanrinin-san is busy in the backyard,
and that the frame is gone but a photo album is on the table. Take the album
and you'll get the picture that's inside. Success! But for some stupid reason
Godai won't look at it yet. So show Kanrinin-san all five of the pictures
you've gotten, as well as her husband's diary and the key to Room 2. Now we
can leave, and we're almost done.
Go to the grave of Kanrinin-san's husband, and you'll see her there praying.
(If not, then go back to Kanrinin-san's and try taking the album and showing
her the pictures again. Try doing other things like looking at the objects in
the room as well. Eventually the game will advance.) Godai has the sense not
to interrupt, so put your last bouquet of flowers in the holder and go back
home. Now we go to the only place we haven't been yet, the attic above Room 4.
Go there and turn on your flashlight, and you'll see Kanrinin-san standing
there nervously. Approach her and you'll have beaten the game!
**********
X. CHEATS
**********
There is a poorly hidden debug password in this game. If you enter all 'A's in
at least the first two rows of the password, you'll start the game with all of
the important items and access to all locations. Grandma will also be in your
room. However, Kanrinin-san seems to be missing so you can't beat the game
this way.
Here's a legitimate password that will start you off right before you go up to
the attic to end the game:
xn#=LXhmoN%P&ZWj
W$jkn<yiEn+lDp&x
lG%D#SrmMHAnoASG
oBdrSCpTXVe&FXGc
mhA
***************************************
XI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CLOSING WORDS
***************************************
Thanks to:
Micro Cabin, for developing (and publishing?) this game.
Rumiko Takahashi and related companies, for the license this game was based on.
http://pingshan.parfait.ne.jp/maison/game1.html and
http://members.at.infoseek.co.jp/room777/maison.html for information about
beating this game.
Dave Shadoff and Matt LaFrance, for translating this game and providing a
resource at
http://projects.mattsmessyroom.com/maisonikkoku/
Romhacking.net, for providing the translation patches for this game and many
others.
Wikipedia, for information about Maison Ikkoku and pretty much everything else
in the universe.
CJayC and everyone else at GameFAQs, for their excellent resource (as well as
giving me a place to host this FAQ). This FAQ can also be found at Neoseeker.
The folks behind Mednafen, an excellent emulator for multiple systems including
the PC Engine.
NEC and Hudson Soft, for creating the PC Engine.
And, of course, you for reading.
Questions, comments, and criticisms can be sent to pluvius3 @ gmail.com
(without the spaces obviously). Please put "Maison Ikkoku FAQ" or something
similar in the subject line so I will know what the email is about. If you
mention something that I feel should be in this FAQ, I will insert it in a
future update and give you credit.
Copyright 2009 Rob Browning, all rights reserved.
