I was introduced to watch this anime. After viewing only a few episodes, i started to lose interest. Mainly because Godai is such a loser and a pushover. His ridiculous shyness and inablity to stand up for himself are getting very annoying. The author is supposed to make this a comedy, but it came off to be a really pathetic drama.
shareGood, because the drama is where the show really shines. Keep watching, stick around for the whole series, it will well be worth it.
shareI really wish Viz would stop trying to sell maison Ikkoku as a comedy or a romantic comedy, because it is neither. Maison Ikkoku is a half and half mixture of 80's prime time drama and 80's soap opera. I'm not convinced that it was a good idea myself, but if you read the manga before watching the series, it helps.
See, the manga is a straight up soap opera (Hence the name, "Apartment Fantasy Maison Ikkoku"), but that wouldn't transition very well into an anime series, so Kitty decided to mix it up a bit. They changed the story around, mixed in some comic relief, and dragged it out to four seasons. The end result was, as you have seen, a bit of a mess. I still love it though.
The reason for Godai being "such a loser and a pushover" as you put it, has nothing to do with the story at all, but everything to do with Japanese society. As a young man who is working on his third attempt to enter university, Godai is on the lowest social tier. Before he can become an acceptable member of society, he must graduate from college and land a full-time job. It's just the way things are. It reminds me a lot of the caste system.