Chica x Ikkoku-kan Redux

{Spoilers warning}

In a previous post, I pointed out the influences of Rumiko Takahashi's classic Maison Ikkoku that showed up in Umino Chica's "Honey & Clover". The direct influences fade in her later work "March comes Like a Lion", but are still present.

The biggest similarity is the tragedy that pervades the main characters' pasts. While tragic pasts are a common theme in fictions of many types, it is a common thread that links Takahashi with her mentor Mitsuru Adachi. In Maison Ikkoku, Kyoko and Godai are continuously haunted by Soichirou's spectre. The main characters of Adachi's "Touch"are similarly influenced by the death on of the two twin brothers.

In "March comes like a Lion", the shogi [1] pro and protagonist, Rei was an orphaned at an early age by an auto accident. None of relatives are willing or able to take him in. A friend of his father asked Rei if he liked shogi. Rei lied 'yes' in hopes of being adopted by the shogi pro. After being adopted, Rei became stronger than his foster father's natural born son and daughter and became the apple of the man's eye.

The guilt of stealing their father drives Rei to live on his own while still in high school and reinforces his natural shyness toward and distance from his classmates. In Maison Ikkoku, Kyoko resists love in the present to preserve her love for Soichiro in the past. Both authors skillfully work the tragedies into their character's relationships and behaviors, showing the influence of the influences as opposed to merely telling. Successfully using tragedy marks Takahashi's positive influence on Chica's work.

The less subtle similarities lies with the characters' names. Rei's rival, intruder, and friend is named Nikaido, which is also the name of a resident of Ikkoku. Rei's own name connotes zero; Otonashi Kyoko's family name translates to "No Noise".

Umino Chica also gives the golden hearted hostess the name Akari, which has some passing resemblance to the ruckus raising hostess Roppongi Akemi in room 6 of Maison Ikkoku. Ironically, Rei's villainous is named Kyoko and is nearly the diametric opposite of the sweet Otonashi Kyoko.

[1] shogi is basically Japanese chess.