It's over~!
I got my Trix cereal that turns the milk pink, my black cat slippers, my Earl Gray tea, and my wildcat shirt on to finish this reboot- because even if I've disliked it, I'm a Mew Mew fan nonetheless. I expected to feel more at the end when they played the original theme, kind of like when they sang "Showtime AGAIN" in the first TMMN theme (it gave me chills), but I just passively nodded at each character's future displayed to it. Like, "oh, good for Lettuce. That's nice." But not really moved as I would've expected? It's nice of them to show the directions some of the mew mews went after it's all over (guessing we're not getting an a la mode?).
I think the best thing about this finale is probably that the aliens saw catharsis in the end? It was a real, "everyone is happy" ending. I feel like it should be better than the original where the aliens were just like, "we'll try our planet again, sorry for attacking earth," and peaced out. I think Pie did a real 180 near the end- makes sense he wouldn't need to hold a grudge or anything if his planet found a solution, but he was stabbing boyfriends one moment and then smiling and exchanging PenPal info with Lettuce the next. I think, it's a good thing the aliens saw catharsis, but it's also kind of a strange feeling at the same time? They were all super cutthroat apparently and ready to kill humans but the second Ichigo helps them they're all like "yay us!" instead of "woops our bad" or anything like that. Kind of feels like pacifying a very deadly force instead of doing good for another civilization when that's how they frame it. The only thing that felt like "oh good for the aliens" was that there was a kid alien that surely wasn't out for blood and was happy about the grass, but everyone else was shown to be super eager for violence just a second before their problems were solved, so it just makes me not as happy for them as I wish I was? I thought the aliens didn't even know humans were on earth but just that Deep Blue was scoping out the area or something, so to have them be invasive and violent is like... well, it certainly makes me empathize a lot less. Seriously, only felt for the poor kid who was excited for grass.
It's whatever, though- just kind of off? Not the worst, and it's still a nice addition for the aliens to have their planet made prosperous- violent or not, just for pacifying them or not, they should have the opportunity to live and change, and this helps them live and causes them to change, so that's neat.
In the end, the finale was... okay! The Pie betrayal was neat, the alien resolution was fine, seeing the futures was cool, it went a different route than the OG anime AND the manga at the end there, so TMMN made sure its name was distinguished as it played legendary music from an adaptation I liked a lot more...
Did I like this reboot? No. I'm going to hate-watch it again with my TMM loving friend sometime because she is equally as baffled by everything I've told her about this version, and I need to not be the only person feeling unhinged about this reboot. Do I WISH I liked this reboot? Absolutely. New mew mew content? I would have loved to enjoy it! But I just didn't- aside from how I've never berated a show verbally while watching it before or left anime reviews before, making it, indeed, a NEW experience. Seriously, I had to pause to catch my breath from the obscenity of some moments, and I had to start fast-forwarding overly long sequences (does Aoyama need to pant THAT long after seeing the image of Ichigo crying for the tenth time?? Do I need to sit through Mint having the same conversation about growing up with her brother for the fifth time??? No- I'm skipping through it.), and I found myself gripping the table and exhaling heavily most episodes, just pure disbelief that the show could get any worse or any more boring or the characters any further from who I've known them to be. The dialogue in this series too- just- yikes all around. Also never watching a HiDive subbed anime ever again if I can help it- I've never seen a worse translation in my 20 years watching anime. These subtitles were AWFUL.
To those who really enjoyed this reboot, I am so happy for you, and I am seriously envious that I couldn't see what you saw in this. May you continue to enjoy so much content in your life, and if you read my scathing reviews, I hope they didn't dampen your mood- I'm sure there's still a lot I'm just not seeing, or maybe I just loved the original anime too much (despite all its flaws, definitely not perfect, it IS my number one favorite anime), and I'm not a professional critic or anything. Different opinions happen, and I'm so glad if this reboot did the series 'justice' for you, 'nya~' For the future of my sanity, though, I'm logging off and hopefully never getting inspired to write reviews again. I wasn't clever enough to condense my words or word feelings perfectly, but I've felt baffled enough by the content to share my thoughts, so here we are. Have a great day and a very happy good bye to Tokyo Mew Mew New! |