Tokyo Mew Mew

When I first heard of the original uncensored version of this show, I heard a lot of things like, this is the next Sailor Moon, or this show does one of the best jobs at a philosophical approach to protecting nature, and how endangered animals, or how this show could have been as big as Naruto or Death Note. after watching the first episode, I was like, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IS THE NEW SAILOR MOON!?" I was actually very unimpressed, in fact Ichigo's seiyu busted up my ear drums after the first episode. I was very bitter, and took my frustrations out on the show when in fact I should have taken out my frustrations on dumbass fans for saying such things. Over the years I've learned such fans were only kids, and really haven't been around to see shows like Sailor Moon, or other animes, so I figured I'd let that one slide. On to my review of the show. Tokyo Mew Mew is your typical Shojo Sentai series about girls teaming up to save Tokyo from monsters. Just like in every Super sentai show. Another thing with the show is it's use of anime cliches, the neko girl, the badass girl, the rich girl in the mansion, the Chinese lolita, typical filler episodes of things like going to the beach, or a curry cookout, and that filler episode about something being closed down, and the main cast trying to raise money to save. Thought those are more problems with Pierrot than Yoshida. Let's move on to the art and animation. For Studio Pierrot, this is actually one of their best in that area of all time. I mean the animation and art were surprisingly very consistent, and unlike wiith them now iin Naruto Shippuden, characters aren't constantly going off model, or breaking the flow of things. There are a few slip ups here and there, but for an anime in the late 90's early 2000s when shows like this at the time were getting shitty, this was surprisingly very good, and the canon episodes ever very true to the original manga. Points to you Studio Pierrot. You did well there. The characters in this show are just okay. Nothing ever really stands out about them other than the trope they fit. I mean Ichigo is the cat girl, Lettuce is the meganeko, etc. The best characters are probably the ones who who are usually not on screen most of the time which is a shame. I would have loved to gotten to know Keichiro, or Ryu a lot more. I mean what's their story, where do they come from, what are their motivations, and all that are never really explained, so sorry Yoshida you missed there. The villains are meh. They're just your typical alien invaders who lost their home world find earth and try to terraform it so their people can live on it. I mean Marvel and DC have done that loads of times, so I didn't see it being done in a new way here. However by far the worst character is Ayoma. Here's where my this is not the new Sailor Moon comes from. Sailor Moon had very good love interests for it's characters. Mamoru was a strong male lead who took charge when needed, kicked ass and even saved the day when he needed too. Ayoma never does such things, he's just their for Ichigo to have a love interest even when the romance in this show has little to no purpose. Future generations of manga writers, please, don't put in romance unless it serves an actually purpose to the plot. Anyways did I enjoy it? Well it took me a while to get used to Ichigo's seyiu and I really enjoyed Mew Zakuro's episodes. Why this wasn't here story, I'll never know. But yeah it's an average but enjoyable series. But no it's not the Sailor Moon of it's time.

First off, I would like to say, I enjoyed it. It had great songs, good plot twists, and just has a good feel. There are some down sides to this anime though. Even though I didn’t find it annoying too much, I can see someone getting annoyed with the transformations of the girls. Also, the episodes tend to get very tedious at some points. The opening and ending got me wanting more in the anime and had me watch more of it. The sad part is, though, that they only have one opening and ending for 52 episodes! At the end, I still did enjoy them, just not as much. One nice little touch though was that they had different intros before the opening according to the story. Also, they did change the visuals to the opening but were very minor. Many people say that the music in Tokyo Mew Mew is good, and I would agree. There always is a song that fit the mood very well to what was going on. From very touching scenes, to exciting action pact parts, there was always a song that you can enjoy. I still will just listen to the music even without the touching or action filled parts just because they are so good. I will say one thing to those who plan or are watching Tokyo Mew Mew, if you ever want to quit, don’t. At times, it can get very tedious every episode being very similar. Just pull through because it will get better later. Also, the transformations of the girls could get annoying. I think they did nicely by not showing the whole, long transformation every time. They did well on cutting some things out, so it just shows that they transformed. Overall, this anime was pretty good. It can get tedious, but it is enjoyable. The plot may seem bland at the beginning, but it does thicken as it goes on. So, this anime isn’t the best, but there are many good points to it.

(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.

I just finished watching this anime because i love Magical girls anime The story is fair it's not what i expected i wish it got better story then this Art is very good in this anime for old anime except aliens even elf better sound is good but i didn't like Aoyama voice maybe because it's voice by female voice actor and ichigo voice when she scream i feel it's annoying I don't like ichigo she's annoying character in this anime and i wish they give us better charaters and why always they use Ichigo name in Shoujo Manga and Anime I felt boring when i was watching since Last 3 Episodes but first episodes was better Overall (6/10) Fair anime they can make it better but i enjoyed little if you don't like magical girls then this anime is not for you.

This is one of my favorite animes I love the antagonists Quiche/Kisshu, Tart, and Pie they are the best characters. After rewatching the anime recently I realized what I've missed about Ichigo, she doesn't really show major signs so people don't realize that Ichigo is obsessed. From the start she tells us that to get her date she stalked Aoyama. At Christmas Ichigo tells us three time she is nothing and asks hows she's good enough, how can she be with, she aways wants to be with Aoyama that's all she wants. This is sadly the reason why Ichigo is boring her character revolves around Aoyama. I wish Ichigo was her own character who liked nature so we wouldn't have any need for Aoyama he extremely uninteresing.

Unlike most who grew up on Sailor Moon, I grew up on this. Most people consider Tokyo Mew Mew a huge Sailor Moon rip-off. In the start it is, exactly that, but once you get past the first 15 episodes it gets really good and starts developing it's own unique story and thus loosing the title of "Sailor Moon Rip-Off". The art is, interesting. As you would expect, the art style improves over the seasons; it starts off very ugly and hard to look at but as you continue watching it gets more bearable. Let's talk about Ichigo, the main character, a little bit. I tend to not like main characters, and Ichigo is no exception. I find her very bland and most of the other characters seem more fleshed out rather than her.

Started: 8/28/17 Finished: 9/8/17 Hey everyone! If you’re coming from my last Magical Girl review, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pure, thanks for rockin’ with me, you’re the G.O.A.T. So sorry for this review taking longer than expected, we’re preparing for the holidays at my job and I started the new semester at school, so I’ve had my hands full with that. Let’s jump into it, shall we? I was first introduced to Tokyo Mew Mew as “Mew Mew Power” in early 2005 during the promotion for it before it’s February 19 2005 English dub debut on 4KidsTV. I was excited to have another girly show on that network besides Bratz (I do remember Magical DoReMi) and I faithfully watched every saturday morning when a new episode appeared. I was left clueless after the episode of the Blue Knight rescued Zoey, wondering what would happen next until a few years later in middle school (when I was FINALLY allowed to use the internet on my own...thanks mom) that Mew Mew Power was just a heavily edited English version of Tokyo Mew Mew which had a decent following. I am SO glad I discovered the original. This show started out as a Sailor Moon inspired anime (as most late 90s and early 00s MGA do) but it gradually became its own with an awesome story, nice character backgrounds and decent plot. Story: Like I said before, the story started out VERY similar to Sailor Moon, but eventually became its own. There’s romance, family drama, friendship, life lessons and a good bit of comedy. Some stuff was predictable, but not in a bad or childish way. I liked the relationships (I have a few that I shipped haha). The ending was a decent conclusion, but I wouldn’t mind knowing what happens next. Character: I liked the characters a lot! Each seemed relatable and had a fair amount of screen time. Not all of them had love interests but had cool stories, nonetheless. Costumes were cute and unique, I haven't’ seen any similar to those except for Mermaid Melody (which came out like year or so after the original Tokyo Mew Mew...these two have quite a lot in common, and I wonder if the Mermaid Melody anime took inspiration from this...hmmm…). I love all the characters, I’m not sure if I have a favorite! Art: The drawing style is reminiscent of (you know exactly what I’m going to say) of the anime in the early 00s from Cartoon Network and WBkids. It wasn’t sloppy from what I could tell, and I loved how the eyes were drawn. Also, if you notice on Ichigo’s clothes, bed sheets and other items, she has little strawberries just like Usagi from Sailor Moon had bunnies and moons and stars on her items. The transformations were cool to watch, but I didn’t too much care for the music, instead I liked the pieces the 4kids dub had when the Mew Mews would transform. Sound: The original Japanese dub was very pleasing, I liked the voice actors in the original for some characters better than the 4Kids dub (the main one being Asoyama/Mark). The opening theme was cute and I added that to my YouTube Playlist “Ultimate Anime Theme Mix” but the end theme was kind of annoying. I didn’t like it at all first, but maybe around episode 30 I started to get use to it (no, it is not in that playlist). It reminds me of the earlier stuff of the Jpop girl group Perfume. With that being said, that is the ONLY thing the 4kids dub has over the original (most 4kids dubs have better music than the originals). Entertainment: Overall, I enjoyed the show, I binged tons of episodes in a 24 hour period, and I didn’t want this show to end. I liked how Ichigo and Asoyama’s relationship actually took time to become serious and official. Also, their relationship is VERY similar to Luchia/Kaito and Usagi/Mamuro...but mostly Luchia/Kaito (Mermaid Melody). In conclusion, if you like MGA like Sailor Moon or Mermaid Melody, I highly recommend this. I’d say the age group for this would be from middle school on up. Thanks for reading my review! I’m on episode 37 of Revolutionary Girl Utena, so be on the lookout for that review! Stop by my profile for some announcements or something. Sayonara!

To be honest with you all, I think the reason I truly loved this anime is because it was my favorite show when I was a kid, and as such, it stuck with me. But, as a teen, I was finally able to read the original Japanese version and truly appreciate it. Of course, the hardest thing was to learn the Japanese names. Story: 7 This anime does have quite a compelling plot, but there were times when I felt an episode was completely unnecessary. These episodes were few and far between (only about three of them). Sometimes, I felt the show did not give enough spotlight to the other characters and that the focus on Ichigo was overwhelming. Art: 8 This might be because I'm only just getting into anime but I felt like it flowed well. Also, the emotion wasn't always shown properly Sound: 8 Freaking. Catchy. Songs. The reason it lost the two points is because the ending theme had patches where it sounded like they got a three year old with a sore throat to sing it. Also sometimes, the voices lacked emotion, but again this was a rare occurrence. And sometimes, the background music didn't match. Character: 9 Why did this lose a point. One word. Masaya. Masaya Aoyama annoyed me so much and, although I could see why Ichigo like him, he just seemed so one dimensional. He was too perfect. Ichigo annoyed me from time to time. This is probably because I felt she was on the screen to often. But she is a fun character Minto was one of my favourites. I loved the way she was kinda bitchy but she really cared about the people she was close to. Since she had a hard time making friends, she, in her own little way, was quite protective of the ones she had. Lettuce was one of those characters I saw as the reason the team didn't go to far in any direction, personality wise. She was very grounded. Pudding was easily one of the most lovable characters ever. She was full of quirks and was a little ball of energy. She was the little sister of the group and was immature and innocent and quite naive, shown later in episode 40 (i think) Zakuro was a lone wolf but was, in fact quite protective of the others.I felt like she saw them as her younger siblings. She was always on hand when they needed advice and looked out for them in a fight Kisshu. i fell in love with Kisshu almost right away. He was fun to watch, easy to love and hard to detach yourself from. Nothing more to say without spoiling Pie was so devoted to his mission that I felt bad for him. I can't say much about Pie without being a spoiler so i'm gonna leave it at this. He pissed me off so much in episode 51. Taruto was great and his dynamic with pudding made hime brilliant. if those two were in the same place at the same time, I would start feeling all bubbly and prepped to laugh. I'm not going to discuss Ryou or Shirogane because i felt like i could only spoil them. In conclusion, this show was worth watching. The first two episodes never really clicked with me but after that, especially after episode twenty-ish, this show really kicked off. Well worth the watch

I don't know where to start, so I'll just immediately delve into the review. Plot~ Eh, the plot is really typical for a girly anime. The main character has sudden magic powers that she has to hide from her crush, who is the most popular boy in school and is very kind, sort of shy (I guess), and... Well that's pretty much it. Sound typical? Eeeeeyeeeeahhh... But it's sort of interesting that the main character got mixed in with a cat (and the other characters with other animals) so I guess that's... Sort of different? Art~ All right! I give in. It's cute, but sort of typical...but still cute. It's shiny, happy, and colorful. Occasionally it looks like the artist might have gotten lazy, but it passes quickly, and gets so much better as the show passes. The movement switches between good and...decent, so it depends. Oh, but those infamous transformation scenes!-- Just like is any other review, I'll repeat what they have all said-- their transformation scenes, like any other magical girl anime, are repeated OVER and OVER again. If you can stand that, then it does get better as it goes on. Sound~ Erm... It's ok. The opening and ending songs are *sort of* cute. The soundtrack works well with the anime, but it's typical, and for me it went somewhat unnoticed. For the Japanese version, the voice actors did sort of good with their roles. Some were better than others. For the English version, I wanted to slaughter the voice actors in the most brutal way possible. Ughhhhhh. Stick with the Japanese version ( plus the English version ends early in series). Character~ For the first little while, the show is stereotypical, boring, and plagued with fillers. The characters are typical (even though it's fun to watch Ichigo when she acts like a cat). But they each get their own episodes, where, even though they're not as fleshed out as they could be, they all become more likable. For me, Aoyama was just too cliche, too perfect, but oh well. As the show progresses, it gets more and more unique from the typical magical girl genre, and I won't spoil anything, but Aoyama isn't all he seems. Maybe he's just "too nice" for a reason. I'll admit that the main focus is on Ichigo and Aoyama later on, and the characters seem somewhat like chopped liver over in a corner-- nobody in the show seems to care. Oh well, it's still decent. Anyway, it gets especially interesting when some of the characters have certain disagreements with each other, and they each have their own things they have to put up with. Trust me, it does get...slightly better. All in all, Tokyo Mew Mew is your typical shoujo magic girl anime, but it takes a little twist later on. That twist was the only thing that saved it for me. If you like this type of genre, this is definitely for you, especially since this anime has its own slightly unique quirks that might be a nice change-up. I enjoyed this anime near the end, and though the final battle was admittedly weird, it worked. I don't know what else to say, except, maybe give this a try, or not. It depends on your taste in anime, I guess, whether you'll love it or think it's just ok. I'm on the side of...well, it was sorta fun, but in hindsight, it was just ok.

STORY: The story is unique for the Magical Girl genre. The protagonists are infused with animal DNA which makes it a little more interesting. But the romance is one of the best parts. I'll try not to spoil anything but the villains are amazing! It has a big twist towards the end and lots of relationships and possible relationships arise xD ART: the Art is great. There are no flops anywhere. The transformations were especially great(my favorite was Zakuras) Sound: I have to say I found two flaws in terms of character voices. Ichigo's voice got annoying after awile because of the high pitch. And Masaya's voice sounded a little too much like a girl's. CHARACTER: I was mainly disappointed in characters. Ichigo extremely got on my nerves when she yells out to Masaya almost every episode. I felt Zakura should have played a mainer part in show instead of talking once or twice every five episodes. I also thought Ryou should have had a mainer role in terms of romance(Ichigo and Lettuce?). The villains were amazing..one of the best and the rest of the "team" was great. ENJOYMENT: Despite Ichigo, it was a great anime that is highly enjoyable. OVERALL: Watch it but be prepared to cover your ears when Ichigo is there.

I spent several months of my preadolescence watching Tokyo Mew Mew, every time it aired on TV. And just like many other people, I have a nostalgic feeling every time I think about it (the fond memories of jumping on the couch during the English opening). There's something magical about being a kid and not judging these shows for their plots or logic involved. On the other hand, just like many other youngsters, I cared more about the romantic tension between the characters, especially Ichigo and Masaya. It's funny that once you turn into an adult, this is the thing you care the least about. So, with all this said, I started watching Tokyo Mew Mew for the nostalgia of it and one thing I can tell you: some things are better left alone. The story starts with Ichigo Momomiya, a girl who soon finds out she can transform into a humanoid wild cat, in order to save the world, especially animals becoming extinct. Why she needs to be a wild cat, goes over my head, but I guess it has more to do with the aesthetic than anything else. As a series marked for young girls (I would say, young teenagers), the simplicity of the plot is quite self-explanatory. It's a cute anime about magical girls - it's not more than this. The formula for most episodes is exactly the same: Enemy appears - the girls transform to fight it - enemy is defeated - and the cycle continues... All this in less than 5 minutes, usually. The rest of the episode has to do with the girls own melodramatic life (Ichigo's love interest or their part-time job). Now, talking about their part time job... The girls are 13! Every day, after school, they need to work in this cafe, and of all things, they need to work as MAIDS! If it's not only absurd that they're working at such delicate age, they also need to work in questionable ways (Sadly, it's a job that is highly sexualized in Japan). The entire concept is supposed to be about protecting the Earth and fighting alien threats, but the show rarely explores the ecological theme in any meaningful way. Another issue is that the show relies too heavily on coincidences. Ichigo just happens to be at the right place to be transformed; the café just happens to be the perfect magical base; the aliens appear exactly when the girls are nearby. There’s a sense that the plot moves because it must, not because actions lead naturally to consequences. The weak plot structure affects the characters, who end up feeling shallow because they exist more as roles than as people. Ichigo is the typical clumsy leader whose entire personality revolves around her crush, and her emotional reactions repeat instead of developing. Mint is the rich, cold girl. Lettuce is shy and insecure because the genre needs a shy girl. Pudding is energetic because the cast needs a quirky one. Zakuro is cool and distant because the team needs a mysterious older figure. Their traits rarely evolve, and when they do, the changes are undone by the next episode. Even their relationships are surface-level. Conflicts get resolved too fast, emotional arcs are rushed, and their interactions are built on clichés rather than on actual chemistry. Because the plot resets constantly, the characters don't grow as a team; they simply repeat their assigned roles. This makes it hard to feel attached to them, since we never see them struggle in a way that feels real or earn their development. They always return to the same personality loop, making them feel one-dimensional. Overall, the story lacks depth in its conflict, and the characters lack meaningful growth, which makes Tokyo Mew Mew charming but shallow, more reliant on magical-girl formulas than on real narrative strength.

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.

I have a very sentimental relationship with Tokyo Mew Mew. I remember first watching the English dubbed version, Mew Mew Power, on TV when I was about twelve, and I watched it religiously until it got unceremoniously cancelled. It was also the first anime I ever watched in Japanese with subtitles, and it started my descent into the anime fandom. Tokyo Mew Mew was also the first right-to-left manga I ever bought, and to this day, I still own the old Tokyopop volumes I bought way back when, including the sequel, A La Mode. But weirdly enough, I never got around to finishing the anime. I had attempted to do so many times, but never followed through, whether it be because of other obligations, or because I was watching other, much better anime. But last year, I made an oath to finally, finally finish the entire anime in Japanese, making it a new year's resolution as well. No matter what, I intended to finish the anime in full, no excuses. As of today, I can proudly say that I finally managed to finish the whole show! And it only took me...what, fifteen years to do so? Better late than never! I already reviewed the manga, but as a refresher, here's the story: Five young girls are given the ability to transform into animal themed magical girls by being injected with the DNA of various endangered animals. Their mission is to fight a group of aliens who want to reclaim Earth for themselves and terrorize it with mutated creatures known as Chimera Anima. But the main girl, Ichigo Momomiya, really isn't too fond of the idea of being a magical superhero, as all she wants to do is go on dates with her new boyfriend, Masaya Aoyama! So yeah, not exactly the most original of premises, and unfortunately, here in America, any and all magical girl anime are automatically deemed rip-offs of Sailor Moon, even though SM isn't the only magical girl series out there. My review of the manga is rather critical, and my feelings on it still stand. Some people claim that whenever an anime adapts a manga, the source material is always the best one. While that is true in most cases, especially nowadays, there are exceptions to the rule, with many anime opting to offer its own ideas and improve on their manga counterparts. In my humble opinion, Tokyo Mew Mew's anime is also one of these, managing to rectify a lot of the manga's flaws, even though it itself still has some flaws that prevent it from being a masterpiece. For one, the characterization is very much improved from the manga. The latter focused solely on Ichigo, with all the other characters mostly just serving as literal props to make Ichigo stronger, and we never learn what the others are like outside of being a Mew Mew, like their family lives, hobbies, dreams, and so on. The anime has 52 episodes, and it made ample use of its time to give the other girls time in the limelight and a lot more character development, like how Mint has a strained relationship with her brother, Lettuce making plush dolls as a hobby, showing Pudding actually being a reliable sister for her younger siblings, and even on side characters, such as Ichigo's parents. I know people say filler in anime is always bad, but I'm in the camp that firmly believes that filler in and of itself isn't automatically bad, and that it can be either good or bad depending on the writing and execution. Personally, I feel Tokyo Mew Mew made good use of its run time to focus on bringing its cast to life and giving them more depth and development than the manga did, even if they're not the most complex and three-dimensional. So yeah, having more episodes can make a difference. Another way the anime improved on the manga's flaws is how it tackled themes of animals and environmentalism. The manga tried to make use of its themes to tell its story, but it was often very clumsy in how it did so. Again, the anime improved on this by focusing on them a lot more, putting them to better use. For example, the anime has the characters interacting with various animals and environments, and having the latter play a much bigger role in the larger conflict against the aliens. Nothing like that is ever shown in the manga, as again, it mostly focuses just on Ichigo and her struggles with romance. That said, the anime doesn't always explain a lot of really important plot details, especially near the end of the series, where a bunch of new conflicts and revelations seem to come out of nowhere, with nary a solid explanation in sight. I won't spoil it for you, but for anyone who's seen the entire series, I think you'll know which episodes I'm referring to. The animation is fairly standard for an early 2000s anime, with bright colors and lots of still frames, and it's not as fluid as other shows I've seen, but it does its job decently. That said, it does tend to fluctuate a lot over the course of the show's run. Sometimes, the characters have simplistic designs, while other times, especially in later episodes, the features on the characters' faces suddenly get hyper detailed for no reason. Normally I like this, but the way it happens here feels jarring and breaks the immersion every now and again. Maybe Pierrot had different animators on different episodes or something. That does happen. Yeah, Studio Pierrot of Naruto fame worked on this show. Hard to believe they'd go from a magical girl anime to a long running series about ninjas, right? There's also the occasional off-model body parts and character designs looking inconsistent and rushed, but those are relatively fewer in number. The soundtrack isn't very memorable, but I'm not gonna lie, it's still better than the overdramatic, tryhard soundtrack the 4Kids version gave it. The opening and ending songs are pretty nice as well, fitting the show to a T. But I should warn you: Pudding's Japanese voice is REALLY high pitched and grating. Like, super high pitched, almost as bad as Ichigo's friend Miwa (Voiced by Tomoko Kaneda, who is the queen of super squeaky high pitched voices. Pudding is played by Hisayo Mochizuki). It really says something when her English 4Kids voice actress manages to make her sound tolerable (Thanks, Kether Donohue. Where is she now anyway?). Ichigo has a similar problem, but still managed to strike some balance between genuine and obnoxiously squeaky. At times. So is Tokyo Mew Mew the best magical girl anime ever? Not really. I can name several that I like better than it, and I'm not going to let nostalgia blind me to its flaws. But the anime rectifies a lot of the manga's issues and managed to make a fun, enjoyable show for girls that everyone can enjoy. Now if only someone would re-release the anime in the US on home video or give it a new, faithful dub like Sailor Moon got. Plus, it seems like Tokyo Mew Mew's heading back into the limelight now. Not only did it get a new spin-off manga by a completely new artist, Mia Ikumi herself is making a new two chapter sequel manga, and TMM is getting a brand new anime. From what I hear, it's going to be a reboot that's completely different from the original anime. Whether it'll be faithful to the manga or not, similarly to Sailor Moon Crystal, I can't say, as there isn't much new information on it yet, other than there's going to be a new voice cast. But I sure am looking forward to it nonetheless! Still, the original anime will always have a place in my heart as the anime that helped pave my way into fandom as a whole.

Tokyo Mew Mew was, in fact, the first ever anime I watched. Recently, I went back and re-watched it, and decided it was time I gave it a proper review (now that I'm feeling rather old!) STORY: 7.5 There's a lot to unpack here. While the initial concept has been a bit worn out, at the time it was quite fresh - a group of girls gain magical animal powers and are sent off to fight evil. Simple, right? Except nothing ever is. With love triangles, bad magic side-effects, and a maid cafe, Tokyo Mew Mew has plenty of fun plots and side-plots to keep you guessing. Plus, with planetary extinction, global warming, and endangered animals all featuring, it's definitely very relevant. What isn't so great is the pure vagueness of the whole thing. It's never entirely explained how or why certain things are going on, or else it is explained, but in a way that contradicts other lore. But I suppose you just shouldn't overthink it. ART: 7.5 It's Y2K transformation scenes at their finest. There's a surprising amount of unique battle scenes, and though the finishers are the typical re-used animation you always get in magical girl shows, they're so pretty and sparkly you just can't quite hate it. The wands and character designs are still unique today, but if there's one thing that suffered, art wise, it's the villains and scenery. The villains look re-used from pretty much anything, and the background scenery is often blurry and unfocused, likely to cut corners so they can avoid adding rich details. It ends up looking super flat, even for 2000s animation. Sound: 7 It's pretty standard for the genre and era, with nothing really notable to speak of. The OP is entertaining, and definitely relevant to the themes, but not exactly catchy. Character: 8 They knew what they were doing here! Prior to TMM, the concept of pink dorky lead girls was still fairly rare - it really typified a lot of the common characters seen in Magical Girls today. If you saw it without that context, it may seem cliched, but it's worth acknowledging the era it's in to enjoy it. And besides, many of the characters go on to defy their usual troped stereotypes anyway!

WARNING: If you are going to watch the English dub, only 26 of the 52 episodes have been translated and episode 26 ends on a big cliffhanger. Also, this anime was dubbed by 4kids which is infamous for the changes they make to the anime they dub like changing the name of the show from Tokyo Mew Mew to Mew Mew Power. Characters 7/10 I liked all the Mew Mew girls; they all have unique and likeable personalities and they play off each other very well. If I had to pick a favorite it'd definitely be Ichigo because it's funny how clumsy she can be and I always laughed at the scenes where she becomes love drunk when thinking about Aoyama. Kisshu (or Quiche) was a fantastic villain; Ichigo and him are enemies, but that doesn't stop him from falling in love with her. However, when she rejects him, his love turns into obsession and there's even a part where Kisshu says he's going to kill Ichigo then himself! Wow, that is dark for a magical girl anime! Aoyama is Ichigo's boyfriend and my least favorite character. He's such a stereotypical Prince Charming character; his only personality trait is that he loves Ichigo. Story 4/10 The story would definitely be the weakest part of the anime. There's almost no over-arcing plot; it really stays true to the monster-of-the-week formula where every episode the Mew Mew girls fight a different monster. It's obvious the creators were really trying to reach that perfect 52 episode mark. 52 weeks in a year, show 1 episode a week, repeat the cycle every year. Animation 7/10 Similar to most shoujo anime, this anime tries to be as cute and pretty as possible with lots of sparkles and bright colors. The transformations sequences and character animation overall is nice to look at, but if I do have one complaint it'd be the fight scenes. All Ichigo does is say Strawberry Surprise, throws some sparkles at the monster, the monster disappears, and the fights over. Also, I know this purely for marketing purposes, but why do the Mew Mew's "weapons" look so much like toys? Overall 7/10 I wouldn't say I'm a fan of magical girl anime, but I did enjoy this anime. I like how cute it looks, Kisshu was a great villain, and Ichigo was very likeable protagonist. If you just want to watch something really cute and light hearted where no one dies and there's no blood or any adult jokes then I'd recommend this anime.

Full disclosure: this was my first anime and manga, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Though this has a lot of trait of your typical magical girl show, I do believe this anime is an especially good one. The amount of development to the characters and relevant yet somewhat unique plot (at least, the specifics of it are fairly unique) make it worth a watch. Some definite cons are the occasionally sub-par artwork and the occasional filler episode that just doesn't seem relevant. However, the filler episodes (53 episodes out of 7 books is impressive) serve to fill out the characters and make this more than just another Sailor Moon rip-off. Bottom line: give it a shot!

If you liked sailor moon but thought it was too repetitive/boring, youll definitely like this anime! It's really similar to sailor moon but condensed down into just 52 episodes, cuter characters and takes up alot less time and really cute music - which is why I like it so much. However, even though it is quite short it can still be boring to watch at some parts and also quite predictive, but its still a fun watch overall. The story is quite simplistic and typical, but still engaging with some romance and drama. The artwork is very colourful and fun, really cute characters and designs but not realistic at all, suited their characters extremely well. Alot of the female characters voices are quite similar and high pitched which can be annoying but its still alot better than watching a dub, the music is addictive too and Im still listening to songs from it even though I first watched this anime in 2010 (rewatched in 2012). Basically, refrain from this anime if you dont like typical plot lines, repetitive transformation scenes and lots of girls, but if you like 'girl power' , romance, aliens and action then you'll probably love this.

Tokyo Mew Mew has been a great anime to watch. It starts off with Ichigo Momiya going on a date with Masay Aoyama, and that is where she is injected with the DNA of a cat. As the anime progresses, more things are revealed. Not much is shown at the beginning, which is also something that makes it interesting to watch. Characters change from a personality no one would like, to a very nice personality, and so they gain friends, experience and other important things. Story: 8/10 I thought this was a very good storyline. Not alot of magical girl animes have a good storyline, because it is mostly about these girls defeating an enemy every single episode(i.e it always repeats itself.) Each episode leaves you wanting to watch another. The thing I disliked was that Ichigo always finished the Chimira animal off, but such a small fault like this is rarely noticed in an anime this good. Art: 10/10 The art was my favourite. Because Tokyo Mew Mew was made 2002, the graphic designs are quite new. The colouring is matching and complete; the shading is very good and it is in very good quality. Both the transformations and attacks are very well coloured-very pretty to watch. Sound: 9/10 I thought the voice actors in the japanese version matched the characters very well: Ichigo is clumsy, yet cute, so her voice actor sounds young and slightly girly. Zakuro is a loner, so her voice actor sounds husky yet mysterious, etc. Description about each character: Ichigo Momiya: She is the main charcter, and was put in charge of finding all the other mew mews. I like her, because what she experiences with her boyfriend is mostly what normal teenage like her will have experienced-first dates going wrong, things that they need to hide. Mint Aizawa: At first, she appears snobby and dislikes Ichigo because she thinks she is too posh for her. At this point, not many people will like her. As the story progresses, she does not change much, but begins to care more. I would describe her as "a typical rich girl" found in many animes. Retasu Midorikawa: A very shy girl, she is not treated well by her fellow school mates. At first she refuses to join the Mew Mew gang, but later she realises that by doing this, she has gained more respect, and of course, friends. Purin Fon: She is the cutest out of all 5 girls, because she is the youngest. At the same time, she is mature for her age since she has 5 younger brothers and sisters to look after. Zakuro Fujiwara: The oldest and most maturest character, she appears as a loner and refuses to join at first. Later, she will begin to reveal her caring heart. Overall, this is the best magical girl anime I have seen. I like it because unlike most magical girl animes I have seen, this is one which does not repeat it self very ofter-even if the enimies and the girl's moves are the same, something new happens in each episode which makes it very interesting to watch.

I personally liked Tokyo Mew Mew, although the plot is a bit cliched. Story: The plot itself is incredibly overused. A few girls turn into wondergirls, getting super powers, and stopping aliens. Then there's a lot of one-sided love too. The parts I liked the best were actually not the actual fighting action, but the comedic side plots. Artwork: The artwork was nice, but the transformation sequence was boring. It was used in every. single. episode. I think I memorized everyone's transformation sequences by the time I finished all 52 episodes!!! The fact that everyone only has one or two fighting moves was a major turn off for me too. Sound: The music and sound affects were okay. Nothing special. The voice actors voices were cute. Very fitting for the cute characters. Characters: The characters were great. They each had unique personalities. The way they were designed was nice, too, and fitted the image.

It might not have the most detailed plot-line, but Tokyo Mew Mew has a strange satisfaction visible to me after completing it. Watching the show is a reminiscent, nostalgic attitude if you grew up with watching it during childhood. This anime served as a raw stage of blueprints for future Mahou Shoujo anime being produced in recent years. The significance on the romance was a bit over the top, and the slice-of-life episodes present a desire for a more intricate storyline. However, it remains a notion of innocence and frugality that isn’t hard to miss, once you look past the loud (mostly obnoxious) characters that hold the show together. A bit boring sometimes, yet makes me so absorbed in scenes where the plot actually shines. 7/10