Tokyo Mew Mew New

Tokyo Mew Mew New is a remake of the 2002 show Tokyo Mew Mew centered around magical girls infused with endangered animal DNA to fend off aliens intending to take over Earth by infusing Earth creatures with parasites, causing them to mutate. Despite the strange premise, the show and characters happen to be rather simple. Ichigo is boy-crazy, Mint is high-class, Bu-Ling (Pudding) is happy-go-lucky, and Zakuro is the strong, reserved type. And of course, since it's a shoujo anime mainly marketed towards girls, there's multiple pretty boys who chase after Ichigo. Despite all that, I actually had fun with the show. The characters bythe end are slightly less one-note, but still need more development and I actually want to watch more now that the show is over. Music: 9/10 Art: 7/10 Characters: 6/10 Story: 6/10 Total: 7/10 If you like magical girls or just want to see Bu-Ling do cute stuff, I would certainly say to give it a try.

One thing that needs to be made clear to everyone before watching this: This is a re-adaptation of the manga from the year 2000, NOT a remake of the 2002 anime. This version seeks to tell the story of the manga in a new way, and is not trying to imitate the 2002 anime adaptation. With that out of the way let's go! Tokyo Mew Mew New follows the story of five girls who gets infused with DNA of red listed animals, and gains superpowers in order to save the world from the threat of alien extinction. The main character, Ichigo, is also struggling to balanceher life as a superhero with her romantic high-school life as she's in love with a boy whom she doesn't like lying to about her secret identity. Having been infused with DNA from an endangered animal is also ironic fun seeing as the boy she's in love with is extremely passionate about endangered animals. The girls do their best to fight evil while working simultaneously at a cafe and trying to conceal their true identities to the world. Characters: All of the characters in this show are somewhat stereotypes that were common for this kind of show back when it was written. Ichigo is your standard protagonist who's determined, loyal to her friends and head over heels for a boy she barely knows. However, they take the time to give her moments of personal growth and a personal arc, mostly tied into her love-interest. Speaking of the love-interest; I never cared much for him in the manga, but here he's fine! Him and Ichigo have a couple of nice scenes together where they just talk, making them feel more natural as a couple and giving them time to just be teenagers in love. Then you have Minto who's the stuck-up rich girl who has a hard time complimenting people, Retasu the clumsy shy girl, Pudding the cute and hyper-active athletic type, and Zakuro the cool and quiet type. It's nothing spectacular, but for a show that was written in the early 2000's they're all fine, and the girls do get moments to bond and get to know each other, making their friendship feel very natural after a couple episodes. Story: The story itself is very simple, and I doubt anyone will have any issue following it. It's very classic 90's - 2000's shoujo with colourful but somewhat silly situations interwoven with fight scenes and romance. I grew up with this manga and is thus a bit nostalgic for it, however, there are some common tropes in the story that can be distracting. They never take the time to fully explain most of the plotelements and there are gaping holes in the story at every turn. However, the story was written with pretty young girls in mind and is very cute and fun, so if that's all you're really looking for then there are few actual complaints. The pacing on the other hand is all over the place, and this is something that I believe can really turn some people away from this adaptation. The first 4 episodes are incredibly rushed, with episodes 4 - 8 slowing down and taking time to develop the characters, and then the pacing drinks an energy drink again for episode 9 - 11, to then have a pretty good final episode. For those that have read the manga this won't be an issue, but for everyone else you should really brace yourselves for some ups and downs. Presentation: The overall art style is very cute and suits the show for what it is. The music as well suits the style that the show is going for very well. The opening and ending are even performed by an idol unit comprised of the five main voice actors, who were auditioned specifically for this show. The voice acting does suffer a bit because of this. The main five are all rookies at voice acting, and there are places where it really shows. It's good to prepare for the voice acting to not be up to the standard that most anime fans are used to if you're wanting to enjoy this show. I do want to give the girls credit though, as by the final episode they've all improved significantly, and I barely noticed their previous insecurities anymore. The animation goes up and down depending on the episode as with all shows created by smaller studios. There are some fight scenes that really stand out, and the transformations and attacks for the most part look gorgeous. There are some derpy looking cells at times however, and the framing is a bit stale at times. This really isn't a show that sets out to be revolutionary in that department though, and you can tell that they focused their efforts where it was most needed. All in all this is by no means a perfect adaptation. It has flaws at every turn but they in no way sink the show. A lot of heart was put into this from the designs and direction to the VAs and composers. This being an adaptation that seeks to follow the story and pacing of the manga does make it feel very rushed (as the story in the manga was extremely fast paced) so those who take issue with that should probably give this a skip. Especially those who grew up with the 2002 adaptation should probably skip this as they do most things completely differently. If you're just looking for a cute, lighthearted, somewhat silly show with a lot of passion put into it despite a smaller budget, and you enjoy mahou shoujo, then this is a good way to spend your time. With season 2 having been announced for April 2023 I really hope more people join us on the hype train!

Tokyo Mew Mew New is a reboot of the original anime and has made numerous changes from the original, which are all welcome. In my opinion, the shorter season helps the new series reduce the need for filler and allows the plot to more narrowly focus on the elements of the story it is likely intending to develop. This directly benefits the anime, as the story becomes far more concise and easily self-contained in a narrative sense. As such, the series can afford more concise explanations of events and allows for better characterization. The Mew Mews' development has vastly improved since the original Tokyo MewMew, which can be seen best in their debut episodes; Lettuce and Mint have much better context regarding Lettuce's issues with bullying and Mint's relationship with her brother, while Zakuro benefitted most heavily, getting a fleshed out mini-arc which helped develop herself and Mint as characters. While Ichigo primarily has not changed in her initial role, she is more refined as a main character now and feels like a person rather than a character, as opposed to the past. As mentioned, one of Tokyo Mew Mew New's main draws is its focus more on plot and important events, which notably gives Kisshu and Pie greater development as antagonists and makes them generally more threatening. One of the main benefits arising from this is that the series is less forced to rely on Mew Aqua and Deep Blue to advance the plot, which helps keep the aliens' schemes fresh, while simultaneously sympathetic enough that a viewer can at least understand their motives. Lettuce, Mint and Zakuro all have short story arcs that help them grow as characters, which adds to the theme of them all maturing and coming into their own roles to protect the Earth. This can also be seen (albeit indirectly) in their age up to high-school age (aside from Pudding), as they (as characters) are now able to comprehend the actual weight of their role to protect the Earth. Zakuro's mini-arc was one I particularly enjoyed, as her origins as a character were not covered in as great detail as I had hoped in the initial anime. Here, however, Zakuro's song stands as an excellent representation of what she believes to be her "path," and we see her perspective versus being forced to fight and how she is perceived by the other Mew Mews. Her development also directly affects Mint, who also develops heavily as a character thanks to Zakuro, and becomes more than a simple obsessed fan of Zakuro; in fact, this element of her character is severely diminished after this, which helps flesh her out as more her own person than simply a rich fangirl. One of the only aspects of Tokyo Mew Mew New that I would criticize would be the romance. Kisshu and Ichigo's romance (if it can be called that even) is far less nuanced in this version, and Kisshu is downright creepy to Ichigo more than a handful of times, which comes across as far more predatory and malicious than would seem to be appropriate for the anime. Aoyama seems to struggle as a character for different reasons; as it's shown that he and Ichigo meet each other after the season begins, their relationship seems far less natural than when it seemed Ichigo already semi knew him in the original. This gives the impression that they're growing attached to each other too quickly after only knowing each other for a very brief amount of time. Aside from this, Aoyama is an alright, if rather plain, love interest for Ichigo, although I will note that it is due to him that she is able to have enough morale to continue fighting in battle, and that this is not a knock towards his character or any potential role this may fill in the plot. Overall, Tokyo Mew Mew New is a great reboot of the original which fixes many problems that were initially present and seems to not add in any new problems while simultaneously making notable quality of life changes, such as the aforementioned reduced quantity of filler (which helps the plot advance more quickly). This directly leads to the Mew Mews getting more immediate character development as well as the antagonists being more intimidating yet complex in their role in the series. Overall, 8/10.