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Rumiko Takahashi’s Maison Ikkoku inspires anime/whisky collaboration

Casey Baseel Jul 28, 2024
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Former manga editor picks out two whiskies to represent the contrasting elements at the heart of this beloved romance classic.

Among the works of manga creator superstar Rumiko Takahashi, Maison Ikkoku is a story that takes its time to be told. When we first meet protagonist Yusaku he’s a lazy teenager who spends at least as much energy making excuses for why he can’t get into college as he does actually studying for his entrance exams, and Kyoko, the older woman he find himself attracted to, is recently widowed.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of things that would make it difficult for the pair to become a couple, and since Maison Ikkoku is the rare Takahashi series set in our real world without any magical artifacts or mystical powers, the attempts to resolve all of those issues are going to take real personal growth, and that takes time. So if you’re going to read Maison Ikkoku, or watch its excellent anime adaptation, you’re going to need to settle in and enjoy the ride, in the same way you’d sip and savor a nice whisky, and now, conveniently enough, there are two Maison Ikkoku whiskies about to go on sale.

The manga/whisky connection is doubly deep here, as the spirits are being offered through Whiskey Mew, an online spirits marketplace founded by whisky expert and connoisseur Hideo Yamaoka. Before starting Whiskey Mew, though, Yamaoka was an editor for Shogakukan, the manga publisher whose anthology magazines have long been the home of Takahashi’s works. Whisky Mew often collaborates with popular manga series for commemorative bottles, and for Maison Ikkoku, Yamaoka has personally picked out two whiskies that he feels reflect the opposites-(maybe will)-attract nature of the early relationship between the series’ male and female leads.

The first bottle, featuring a label with Kyoko in her iconic “piyopiyo” apron standing in front of the apartment house which serves as Maison Ikkoku’s primary setting, is a 25-year 1998 Glen Grant. Whiskey Mew describes this Speyside whisky as well-balanced with fruity notes to its flavor, but with a complex aroma with elements of pine and milk

The second bottle, which like the first is a single malt scotch whisky, comes from Islay, and has been aged for 13 years. In contrast to the mellow Glen Grant, this 2009 Kildalton is especially peaty, with a malty, smoky flavor profile that leads to a spicy finish, coupled with an earthy, leathery aroma.

▼ Incidentally, the scene this illustration comes from is one in which Yusaku has just come home from a night of heavy drinking.

The Maison Ikkoku-label whiskies will be available in limited quantities, 196 bottles of the Kildalton and 265 of the Glen Grant, the former priced at 37,400 yen (US$235) and the latter at 55,000. Preorder reservations, with buyers chosen by lottery, starts at noon on August 8 and runs until August 13 on the Whiskey Mew online shop here, so purchasers should have their bottles in time to toast the premiere of the upcoming anime TV series remake of Takahashi’s Ranma 1/2.

Source, images: PR Times
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Follow Casey on Twitter, where he now has two or three Maison Ikkoku opening theme songs simultaneously stuck in his head.