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Maison Ikkoku Featured in American Singer-Songwriter Norah Jones' Latest Music Video
posted on by Kim Morrissy
The American singer-songwriter Norah Jones' latest music video is a collaboration with Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku series. Titled "I'm Alive", the music video was released on Blue Note Records' YouTube channel on Friday.
The music video commemorates the release of the digital deluxe version of Jones' album Pick Me Up Off the Floor , which includes the song "I'm Alive." Maison Ikkoku was chosen for the collaboration because the heroine Kyoko Otonashi shares many similarities with the lyrics of "I'm Alive" – she is a female figure who is conflicted in many different directions while still living her life to the fullest. She is also a beloved character worldwide. The music video depicts the story of Maison Ikkoku through her point of view as she meets the residents of the Maison Ikkoku, slowly warms up to the protagonist Yusaku Godai, and considers her own reason for living.
Regarding the collaboration, Rumiko Takahashi commented: "It has a very nice atmosphere. It's very nostalgic to me on a personal level. Also, it is a great honor to collaborate with Norah Jones."
Norah Jones commented: "We're all human, and we experience many things in life, the good times and the bad. That's what 'living' is all about. Even if there may be dark patches, it isn't the end of the world; I think it's the feeling of yearning for human connection."
The song celebrates the importance of life in a world that is stricken by COVID-19, and the collaboration was organized out of a desire to spread that message to an even wider audience in Japan. Blue Note Records first released the album on June 12. An earlier music video for "I'm Alive" can be watched on Norah Jones' YouTube channel with closed-caption lyrics subtitles in English, French, Japanese, and Spanish.
Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku manga ran from 1980 to 1987 in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits magazine. It is set in a boarding house called the Maison Ikkoku, and tells the story of Yusaku Godai, a student struggling to pass his university exams, and the young widow Kyoko Otonashi, who is the manager of the Maison Ikkoku. The manga has inspired an anime and a live-action drama.
Source: Comic Natalie
