paizuri wrote:Really? I thought they pulled Alone Again and Get Down (another Gilbert O'Sullivan song that was the ED for that episode) because they didn't have the rights to use the music.
I had been going just on what my friend had told me, but I did a bit of looking around, and this is an exerp from the MI FAQ (which I assume has been checked for accuracy...):
Why were there different opening and ending animations and songs for episode 24? And why was it only for that episode? Did the song appear in any other episodes?
At the time, Maison Ikkoku's television ratings were not as high, so a new song was used. After the episode aired, there was a disagreement between the creators of the show, so it was switched back. (Incidentally, a new character designer was also hired starting at episode 25.) The songs are by the Irish artist Gilbert O'Sullivan, and are titled Alone Again (Naturally) and Get Down. Alone Again (Naturally) was the number one pop song in the US for 6 weeks in 1972. It was also used again in episode 27, during the scene when Kyoko mistakes Godai's silhouette for that of her late husband.
Although it might be possible they didn't have the rights to use the music, it was released on several MI CDs, so I'd guess they had to have worked out the rights to it at some point.