Kyoko Otonashi is the main female protagonist of Maison Ikkoku / She is introduced as the beautiful young manager of the aging boarding house Maison Ikkoku, where the eccentric tenants live including the earnest but struggling Yusaku Godai. Beneath her graceful appearance is a heavy burden: Kyoko is a widow at a very young age. Her husband, Soichiro Otonashi, died only months after their marriage, leaving her emotionally frozen between grief and the possibility of loving again. She keeps his surname and even names her dog Soichiro in remembrance of him.