Kyōko Otonashi

Kyōko Otonashi, née Kyōko Chigusa, is the main female protagonist of the Maison Ikkoku series. Initially presented as a 21-year-old young lady, she takes on the tough task of managing the broken-down boarding house, Maison Ikkoku. She lives in the manager's room. She is two years older than Godai and a widow, which are two of the many reasons she worries toward the end of the series about whether she will be accepted as his fiancée. At the end of the manga and anime, she is happily married to Yūsaku Godai (which now makes her Kyōko Godai) and she becomes the mother of Haruka Godai. Kyōko is a fair-skinned young woman of average height (a bit shorter than Yūsaku Godai) who is considered beautiful and attractive by many people she has encountered, with big, blue eyes and purplish-blue hair (black-tinted in the manga) which stays right below her shoulders. It is sometimes tied into a loose ponytail with a ribbon but let straight most of the time. Her bangs falls lightly on her forehead, covering her eyebrows, and she has two long strands of hair that hang down from her ears. While going out on formal occasions, she normally has it down with secured by a complementary ribbon or has it braided in two and tied up. She has about three different styles of ponytails.[4] When she was younger Kyōko's hair was much shorter, almost bob cut, but staying just above her shoulders. Kyōko typically wears pants and full-sleeved jumper, covered by a yellow apron which has the image of a small yellow chicken with the words "Piyo" printed underneath it. She also carries a bamboo broom often, which is used to sweep the Ikkoku exteriors. After enrolling for tennis lessons with Shun Mitaka, Kyōko starts wearing sports apparel—a light pink shirt and complementing miniskirts. She also wears a cap and wears her hair with a high topknot (ponytail) secured by a white scrunchy. Despite being sweet and polite, Kyōko also has a violent and frightening side that emerges when she is jealous or angry (such as when the Puppet Club decides to play a prank on Yūsaku Godai or dealing with her meddling parents). She soon develops affection for Yūsaku and she has a tendency to dote over him (with the other tenants teasing her for acting like a "good wife") and sometimes becomes jealous around him (though she denies it is jealousy). However, it is hard for her to forget about Sōichirō Otonashi (who died just six months after their wedding) and her memories of her husband sometimes put her in a melancholy mood. Kyōko's love for him is sometimes reflected in dialogues with her dog, who bears the same name as her late husband.