Tokyo Mew Mew

Tokyo Mew Mew is based on a manga written by Reiko Yoshida and illustrated by Mia Ikumi. The anime was produced by Studio Pierrot, and directed by Noriyuki Abe. The fifty-two episodes produced for Tokyo Mew Mew aired on TV Aichi and TV Tokyo from April 6, 2002 to March 29, 2003. The series was dubbed into English by 4Kids Entertainment under the title Mew Mew Power. 4Kids Entertainment made a lot of edits to the series to try to hide the Japanese origins of the show.

The main character of Tokyo Mew Mew is a seventh grade girl named Ichigo Momomiya. She attends an endangered species exhibit with Masaya Aoyama, a boy she has a crush on. After they leave the exhibit, an earthquake hits; during the earthquake, Ichigo and four other girls are bathed in light. While she’s in the light, a cat appears before Ichigo and merges with her.

The next day, Ichigo begins acting like a cat. After school, she has a chance encounter with Ryou Shirogane and Keiichiro Akasaka, who tell Ichigo she has been infused with the DNA of the Iriomote Cat. This infusion of DNA allows Ichigo to transform into Mew Ichigo, a powerful and heroic cat girl. Ryou is a wealthy high school student who heads the Mew Project, and he is the owner of Cafe Mew Mew. Keiichiro is Ryou’s partner in the Mew Project, and he is also the manager and baker at Cafe Mew Mew.

Ryou and Keiichiro tell Ichigo her mission is to defeat an alien parasite called chimera animas. These parasites infect animals and turn them into monsters. Ichigo also has to find the other four girls from the exhibit that were infused with DNA. Mint Aizawa is a spoiled and rich girl infused with the genes of the Ultramarine Lorikeet. Lettuce Midorikawa is a meek girl that absorbed the genes of the Finless Porpoise. Pudding Fong is the youngest Mew Mew, and has been infused with the genes of the Golden Lion Tamarin. Zukro Fujiwara is a professional model who has been infused with the genes of the Gray Wolf. Together, the Mew Mews battle the chimera animas and their alien controllers (Kish, Pie, and Tart).

The Tokyo Mew Mew manga is aimed at pre-teen and teen girls, and the anime also strives to appeal to that audience. Personally, I would recommend Tokyo Mew Mew to female anime viewers who are eleven or twelve years of age and older.