The Eighth Year Arrives
By Dylan Acres
Here we go again, eight years after the fact.
This is late, as usual. I shouldn't be surprised, but the anniversary of the site falls within a very busy time of year for me. As I write this, I find myself in a new part of the country, starting school yet again, without the support of my family and most of my friends. Not only does the stress of moving and and leaving behind loved ones, but as soon as I began to get settled in, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, my hometown. I had been out of contact with my parents for four days, until finally they managed to get a call through to me this afternoon. Thankfully they're safe, but there are so many people along the coast that are suffering now.
But of course this about the website, and not entirely my life at the moment, although it is always interesting to look back and see what I was doing at various points in the website's history. This year has seen the first new episodes dubbed in the new millenium, with new voice actors replacing some of the dubbed voices that have moved on in their careers. Thankfully all the voices sound great, and the series is more popular now than ever. The manga is being re-released and new fans are coming on board all the time.
Most likely, before the next year rolls around, Maison Ikkoku could very likely be completely finished in the United States. The ninety-six episodes of the anime could be completed and released in their boxsets, and the manga will see its second publication ending. With graduate school looming I can't promise that I'll have as much time as I did last year, but hopefully the site will keep up with the pace of Viz's releases and by next year's anniversary, August 17, 2006 the site itself could be finished! Thanks for hanging in there everyone, and stay safe!
Dylan Acres is a psychologist and college professor. Maison Ikkoku has long been his favorite manga and he has written a number of articles on the series and Rumiko Takahashi including an analysis of the animation directors of Maison Ikkoku, Takahashi's love of the Hanshin Tigers and a cataloging of the color artwork of Rumiko Takahashi.
