Tokyo Mew Mew

Ichigo Momomiya expected her date with her crush, Masaya Aoyama, to have a more romantic ending than her falling asleep after she sees a vision of a cat entering her body. Things get even stranger when, the next day, she begins displaying cat-like behaviors such as an intense craving for fish. When Masaya is attacked by a monster, she discovers that she is able to transform into the cat-eared magical girl, Mew Ichigo.

After she saves Masaya, two researchers named Ryou Shirogane and Keiichiro Akasaka approach her and reveal they had injected her with Iriomote Cat DNA in order to create a magical girl that can save the world from aliens. Ichigo is tasked with fighting these monsters, but saving the world proves to be just too much for Ichigo to handle by herself. Fortunately, she learns that there are four other girls just like her, and now, Ichigo must find them quickly before the aliens completely take over the planet.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Momomiya, Ichigo Main

Nakajima, Saki Japanese

Fujiwara, Zakuro Main

Noda, Junko Japanese

Aizawa, Mint Main

Kakazu, Yumi Japanese

Huang, Bu-Ling Main

Mochizuki, Hisayo Japanese

Midorikawa, Lettuce Main

Sakuma, Kumi Japanese

Quiche Supporting

Sakaguchi, Daisuke Japanese

Shirogane, Ryou Supporting

Toochika, Kouichi Japanese

Aoyama, Masaya Supporting

Ogata, Megumi Japanese

Masha Supporting

Noda, Junko Japanese

Blue Knight Supporting

Ogata, Megumi Japanese

Kachi, Hideyuki Producer

Fukura, Kei Producer

Hagino, Ken Producer

Yamada, Noboru Producer

Reviews

Aug 2, 2021

Tetsu_Jin

Recommended

(May be slightly biased, as this was one of my very first anime. This review only applies to the original japanese version of Tokyo Mew Mew, and not the absolute horror that is Mew Mew power/The unholy English dub)

I thought this show deserved a review, considering how many positive memories I have of it. That being said, in order to chuck off the rose-tinted glasses, I rewatched all of it - but I still had a blast.

Tokyo mew mew (TMM for short) is just a lot of nostalgic, light-hearted fun. It isn't something to go into for epic battles, realism, and complex dilemmas. It's ... a show full of pink, sparkles, and blushes, and it very much sticks to that the whole way through. Think of it as a "turn your brain off" kind of anime; though they attempt to give it some depth, and... it doesn't quite work.

The story itself is very basic, and follows a 'monster of the week' formula. There are, of course, a fair amount of twists and turns along the way, but the enjoyment of the show relies heavily on the characters - so if you don't like those, the whole story will just seem pointless and without much substance. That's why I can't say it stands up well on its own, despite how much I enjoyed the environmental aspect and how they defined magical girls.

The art is a big yes, though! Expressive, saturated, with bold, fun details, cute outfits, and adorable animations. It's pure eye candy the whole way through. Only thing that gets a little tiresome is how much they reuse all kinds of animations, both for transformations and for attacks. The transformations are so important to the magical girl genre, yes, but I found myself skipping through a lot of these.

The sound is a bit of a mixed bag. I adore the soundtrack as a whole, but I think a lot of it was also just not very memorable. Neither was the voice acting, while we're at it...although Masaya's voice was especially bad, imo.

Speaking of which, let's talk about the characters. They are such a defining feature of this show, and *have* to shine to make up for the lack of complex storytelling. And you know what? The main girls kind of do. They're very digestible clichés with a lot of heart, and a clear common goal. Except for Zakuro - I thought her edgy spiel was a bit overdone and I tired of her really quickly, especially since she never seemed to truly fit in with the rest of the cast.

Their banter with Shirogane and Akasaka was great, and the hints of romance between the former and Ichigo were a lot of fun.
And then there's Ichigo's main love interest...Masaya. I can't list any defining features because the boy is so bland and empty and devoid of humanity that most of the times it feels like Ichigo is just simping over thin air. This is probably the most frustrating aspect of the show, because she spends half her time fawning over this character that you don't find appealing in the slightest, and the show also expects you to enjoy him to a similar degree that she does.

To make matters worse, she has more interesting romance, tension, and banter with the main antagonist of all people. Kisshu literally saves this show's boring romance by offering a twisted, almost bordering on yandere kind of love that, although one-sided, still gives the audience little bits of hope to latch onto. He frequently shows conflicting emotions and inner dilemmas due to him loving the one person who's in the way of his plans. If it were realistic and he were the only love interest, the audience would be disgusted because he's rather unethical in his advances, but because you're stuck with a bland cardboard cutout and another poor lad that has no chance, you find yourself rooting for Kisshu in this strange way...if you enjoy villain characters.
Kisshu has great banter with his two fellow antagonists too, who also happen to have some kind of interest in two of the other girls. Their side of the story is just so much more interesting!

Despite not really enjoying the way things turn out in the show, I still thought TMM had a lot to offer, and I couldn't help but binge this with a good cup of tea and a switched off brain. If this is something you think you could enjoy, even if just a little, I'd recommend this wholeheartedly, even if just for the sake of watching a cute classic.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 25, 2021

Krissystvs

Mixed Feelings

I enjoyed watching the series more as a kid than when I’m older as I’ve had more anime experience since. It’s a cute series and having never watched Sailor Moon which this heavily copies I think it’s enjoyable enough in its own way. Love the characters and story, my only problem is that it switches from Dub for the first 26 episodes then finishes the next 20 or so only in Sub. Wouldn’t be as much a major issue except when you watch the Sub version all the way through, the dubbed version has taken some creative liberties and missed quite a few things out, ... so watching these characters I grew up with have different storylines and attitudes to the ones I remember was a bit off putting

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 8, 2024

Animelover875

Not Recommended

Tokyo Mew Mew is a series that I've wanted to watch for a long time, which is good, because it's always seemed to have a really cool premise, strong themes, good characters, and decent story. Unfortunately, the consistency with which these attributes are actually applied to the anime is subject to interpretation, because it unfortunately fails to leave a strong impact most of the time. Tokyo Mew Mew's characters are held back by a string of flaws both as a part of the story and standalone, and the plot and characters both suffer because of the somewhat ambiguous direction that was chosen to execute the ... story, leading to some questionable developments.

To start, the series, in my opinion, is at its strongest when it does take its plot seriously; the concept of the series is incredibly interesting, and there are obviously strong ties to the Earth's preservation. More than at least a great handful of series, there are concentrated episodes that focus on the Earth's habitat and the pollution and corruption humans have caused to the environment. This is a great message: it helps encourage people to be more aware of their ecosystem and organisms that are affected by humans as well as brings attention to endangered animals, to some degree. Tokyo Mew Mew is also skilled with deeply emotional moments; some of the saddest scenes of the series are their most powerful. The concept of Mew Aqua being an element intended to save the Earth seems very interesting, as do the girls' specific endangered animals they are connected with.

Unfortunately, the first major problem is with the Mew Mews themselves. While they do perfectly fine in their focus episodes, outside of these the girls struggle to have a defined role within the plot most of the time. This means that if an episode doesn't directly affect a Mew, they will likely not have a big role in it. Several episodes have progressed with the other four Mews only having a few minutes of screentime throughout, which is a detriment to the viewers. As an example, an attempt was made to help flesh out Lettuce (arguably the Mew Mew with the most development aside from Ichigo) and Pie by giving them a conflict; however, this was hardly explored outside of a brief scene and brought up later. The other Mew Mews do not fare much better, as in particular, Mint, Pudding, and Zakuro fail to serve a purpose within a standard episode at times. The Mew Mews are also somewhat stuck in the tropes they were cast in at the start of the show; Lettuce never leaves her shell of being kind (aside from leaving a group of girls picking on her), while Mint and Pudding change even less. The series also seems to have a problem with backstory; despite attempts to develop Zakuro and Lettuce's pasts in their debut episodes, this was quickly forgotten about and never addressed again during the series, which should be a crucial plot development considering the apparent gravity that appears to be implied about their previous lives. In short, the Mew Mews struggle to move forward as characters and truly develop, which makes them seem more static than they are. Surprisingly, the aliens do not have this problem: Pie and Kisshu develop heavily as characters and become better people by the end.

The series pacing and execution of the Mew Aqua plot can also be bothersome at times; the way the series is set up requires that the Mew Mews not find Mew Aqua immediately in order to maintain tension within the plot, which becomes a problem very quickly; countless episodes are dedicated to finding Mew Aqua, although more often than not they fail to find ANY, rendering the outing and the episode itself pointless, as this is ALL they do within the episode aside from the standard fight. Speaking of, the girls powers seem somewhat inconsistent, and the series itself also seems inconsistent on whether Mew Aqua's power is contained within Ichigo or not, as the girls occasionally glow blue with little to no explanation. Also somewhat puzzling was a romantic situation set up with Ichigo and Ryou, despite the fact that Ichigo already loved Aoyama. Oddly enough, this development simply ceases to exist after a while and instead the idea of someone having a crush on Ryou is redirected as being Lettuce, which seems oddly disjointed, particularly because it was never properly addressed.

Ichigo's crush on Aoyama seems to have some significance in his being Deep Blue or simply Aoyama/the Blue Knight. Particularly, it appears that Aoyama taking the form of whichever he appears may be relevant to the level of empathy he receives. While this is only a theory on my part, it appears that Ichigo's compassion towards him may have helped foster his care for the Earth, which reinforces his kind soul. Overall, Tokyo Mew Mew is a troubled series: despite having valuable advice on spreading awareness of the planet's dwindling condition (which I suspect has worsened still since this series aired), the series' pacing and characters are inconsistent and incompatible in upkeeping this message and spreading it, and instead it feels as though the Earth's preservation and endangered animals were put in as more of an afterthought. This is a shame, because when the series focuses on its messages, it is at its best. 6/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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