Anime Anime Global

November 6 is “Apartment Day”.

It is the anniversary of the building of Japan’s first wooden apartment, Ueno Club, on the same day in 1910.

Apartments and condominiums often appear in anime. There are various ways of imaging it, such as being close to neighbors, falling in love with a cute manager, and hearing the voices from the next room because of the thin walls.
We think there are many anime fans who would like to live in one of those.

Here at Anime! Anime!, we conducted a reader survey, “In what anime apartment would you like to live?” All types of apartments, including condominiums, villas, dormitories, and corporate houses, were included in the voting list.
We received responses from 158 people during the survey period from October 25 to November 1. The male-female ratio was about 45% for males and 55% for females. About 50% of the age group were minors, and about 20% were in their 20s.

■ Apartments with unique residents are ranked high!
1st place
1st place is shared between Hidamari Apartments from “Hidamari Sketch” and Kotobuki Dormitory from “Elegant Yokai Apartment Life”. The approval rating was about 9%.

Hidamari Apartments is the place where Yuno, the main characters, and other students of Yamabuki Art High School live. Readers pointed to the atmosphere of joy in which they would like to be, “It’s so nice to eat and live with kids your age”, “All residents are good people”, and “I want to eat Hiro-san’s food!”

Kotobuki Dormitory is a cheap place where people and youkais live together. Readers commented, “It ‘s really interesting how people and youkais with bright individualities live together, cook delicious meals, take open-air baths, and even rooms are connected to another world.”, and “I would like to talk and hang out with such nice youkais.”

3rd place
3rd place goes to Ikkoku from “Maison Ikkoku”.
Ikkoku is a shabby apartment where the main protagonist Godai Yusaku lives. Story starts when Otonashi Kyouko becomes the apartment manager. Very special residents got a lot of attention, “They seem rough because of all these festivities but I think they are like a real family.”, and “I want to party in Godai-kun’s room!” Some readers like the relationships between Yusaku and Kyouko, “I enjoyed watching how those two growing up together.”

■Let’s introduce other comments!
About Otowa House from “ClassicaLoid”, “Although it is a big house, there are many cute landlords and many residents who do not pay the rent. There are also shoebill and pygmy hippopotamus as pets. It’s a nice place with a garden where you can make gyoza. Maybe a little crazy though…”
About Amamizukan from “Princess Jellyfish”, “The conditions for moving in are unexpectedly strict, so it makes me want to move in even more. I can move in at the last minute (laughs)”

About the dormitory of Kotori Entertainment Office from “IDOLiSH7”, “It’s a place where you can spend your life with fun and joy, naturally interacting with members from other groups. I’m glad to know about furniture, interiors, floor plans, etc. through anime!”
About Matazure Apartment from “Crayon Shin-chan”, which appeared only once in the anime, “I like the episode when their house exploded and they forced to move to Matazure Apartment.”, and “There were many memorable characters such as Shirou and the landlord.”

In this survey, the works with the name of the apartment in the title are topping the list. Another feature is that many old apartments were ranked in, and one of the reasons why readers want to live there is because of the interesting residents.

■ Ranking Top-10
“In what apartment from anime you would like to live?”
1st place Hidamari Apartments “Hidamari Sketch”
1st place Kotobuki Dormitory “Elegant Yokai Apartment Life”
3rd place Ikkoku “Maison Ikkoku”
4th place Matazure Apartment “Crayon Shin-chan”
5th place Royal Hills Nerima “Rent-A-Girlfriend”
5th place Otowa House “ClassicaLoid”
5th place Sakurasou “Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo”
5th place Yoshino Chiaki’s Mansion “The World’s Greatest First Love”
5th Bandasou”The Demon Girl Next Door”
10th place dormitory of Kotori Entertainment Office “IDOLiSH7”
10th place Kogarashisou “Inazuma Eleven GO”
10th place MANKAI dormitory “A3!”
10th place Edashima housing complex “Danchi Tomoo”
10th place Kawaisou “Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou”

(Survey period: October 25-November 1, 2020)