♫ Showtime again! ♫
Clockwise from top left: Zakuro Fujiwara, Bu-Ling Huang, Mint Aizawa, Retasu Midorikawa. Center: Ichigo Momomiya
Ichigo Momomiya has just entered high school, and on her to-do list is to experience a high school romance. She finds the perfect candidate in Masaya Aoyama, an animal-loving kendo player concerned about the environment. After receiving some tickets to a museum exhibit featuring Red Data Animals,
she manages to get a date with him.
Said date is unfortunately cut short by an earthquake, an emergency evacuation, being merged with the DNA of the Iriomote Mountain Cat, and a rat monster attacking her and Masaya. After a quick save from Mint Aizawa, alias Mew Mint, Ichigo awakens her powers as a Mew Mew. And so begins her role in a battle to save the planet from alien invasion.
A reboot of the original 2002 anime co-produced by Graphinica and its sister studio Yumeta Company, Tokyo Mew Mew New quickly sets itself apart by bringing in some character and pacing changes - which the fandom has generally accepted as a good thing. Amongst the big changes are the development of Ichigo and Masaya's relationship, as well as Mint's role in the Mew Project proper.
The series has been licensed for release on the streaming service HiDive.
A second season has been announced to air on April 4, 2023.
This show provides examples of:
- Accidental Kiss: Ichigo accidentally has her First Kiss with Aoyama when she knocks into him during the evacuation of the endangered animal exhibition — both of them are shocked, but Aoyama understands it was an accident.
- Adaptation Expansion: Several characters, mainly Mint and Masaya, receive more character focus than in the original manga and several events are expanded on to add more depth to the characters and setting.
- Ichigo and Masaya's relationship also gets more focus than in the original, showing how it started and continues to grow.
- Bu-Ling and Tart start interacting as early as his first attack on the Mew team, while their relationship in the original series didn't start until the Tokyo Dome chapter late into the story.
- Age Lift: Ichigo, Lettuce, and Mint are aged up from first-year middle school (13) to first-year high school (16). Bu-Ling is also older than in the 2002 series, though exactly how much is left vague.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: “Mew Mew (food), Metamorphose!”, just like in the manga and first anime. The only difference is Ichigo’s phrase having her name ‘Ichigo’ instead of ‘Strawberry’ in the original.
- Call-Back: The ending theme for the season 1 finale is a slowed-down version of the original anime's opening 'My Sweet Heart'.
- The Chosen Many: The Mews were all born with greater genetic compatibility to various endangered species, which indirectly implies that there are other people with said capabilities.
- Crash-Into Hello: Ichigo talks to Aoyama for the first time after she accidentally runs into him on her way to ask him out on a date.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The Opening and Ending themes are sung by the voice actresses of the main characters as a unit called "Smewthie".
- Edible Theme Naming: Food in general for both heroes and villains:
- Ichigo: Strawberry
- Minto: Mint
- Bu-Ling: Pudding
- Retasu: Lettuce
- Zakuro: Pomegranate
- The Aliens are pastries: Tart, Pie, Quiche
- Even Bu-Ling's nickname for Tart, "Tar-Tar" is food related: tartar sauce is a condiment usually eaten with fish.
- Bu-Ling's siblings are named after varieties of tea.
- Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: The Mews were all born with greater genetic connections with various endangered animals, and being injected with their DNA allows them to become superheroes. The moment Ichigo's Involuntary Shapeshifting into a cat happens, it's revealed by Ryou that all the Mews are at risk of going through similar transformations thanks to the instability in their genes unless they get enough Mew Aqua to counteract it.
- Happy Birthday to You!: In episode 3 of Season 2, the characters sing the traditional birthday song for Bu-Ling's siblings, and in Gratuitous English.
- Insert Song: Songs sung by the characters are often inserted into the background of the episodes, and since their voice actors sing them, they double as Image Songs.
- Zakuro sings "I Believe" and "Watashi o Yobu Koe" in Season 1 and later "Everything" in Season 2.
- In the season 1 & 2 finale, there is a cover of "My Sweet Heart" sung by Ichigo's VA, Yuuki Tenma. Later, Season 2 Episode 7 has her singing "You & Mew."
- In Season 2, there is "Watakushi Original" sung by Mint.
- Episode 3 of Season 2 has two insert songs - one is Bu-Ling's image song "Egao Ranbu," and the episode's ending song is "Magical Carnival," sung by all of the characters.
- Episode 4 of Season 2 has Lettuce sing "Sunahama ni Kaita Chizu."
- Magical Girl Warrior: The series is about the Mew Mews using their magical powers to fight aliens and monsters.
- Magic from Technology: The girls getting injected with endangered animal DNA somehow results in them getting magical powers that have no relation to their animals whatsoever.
- Meet Cute: Between Bu-Ling and Tart in episode 8. As Tart is in the middle of some Evil Gloating, Bu-Ling interrupts him, gets her face up close to his to make him blush and starts teasing him about his short height. Tart tries to claim he's taller by floating, causing Bu-Ling to call him out for cheating and nickname him "Tar-Tar" to tease him more.
- Mission Control: Ryou and Keiichiro monitor the Mews' battles from their computer screen.
- Monster of the Week: Almost every episode has the Mew Mews fight the Chimera Anima that the aliens created for them to fight Once an Episode.
- Mythology Gag:
- The first opening has the lyrics "Show time again!" referencing "It's show time!" from the first anime's opening "My Sweet Heart" (with the same beat as well).
- The backup calls during the first ending calls back to the first anime's ending.
- Pervert Revenge Mode: In Episode 2, Ryou tells Ichigo to "get undressed" (he actually means to ask her to change into her waitress uniform). Ichigo promptly directs a flurry of punches at him and calls him a creep.
- Remake Cameo:
- Akira Ishida voiced the minor character Shunsuke in the 2002 anime, and would later go on to voice Seiji Aizawa in Tokyo Mew Mew New.
- Saki Nakajima voiced main protagonist Ichigo Momomiya in the 2002 anime, and voices Sakura Momomiya in the reboot.
- Hisayo Mochizuki voiced Bu-Ling in the 2002 anime, and voices her late mother in the reboot.
- Koichi Tochika voiced Ryou Shirogane in the 2002 anime, here he voices Ryou's father, Dr. Shirogane.
- Ayako Kawasumi voiced Canon Foreigner Jacqueline from the 2002 anime, she voices Ryou's mother, Mrs. Shirogane in New.
- Stock Sound Effects: By virtue of the sound effects being handled by former Sound Ring employee Kaori Yamada, you'll be hearing quite a few Pretty Cure sound effects in this iteration of the show.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The Season 2 finale ends with this:
- Zakuro is now more open to working with others and she can be seen at a video shoot willing to make changes to the script.
- Bu-Ling has become a better big sister to her siblings, and Tart visits her every now and then.
- Retasu has started working at a museum exhibition about the aliens that lived on Earth before humans, and she keeps in touch with Pie, who's currently leading the aliens in making their planet more hospitable.
- Mint finally gets to open her own company, getting her brother's blessing in the process.
- Lastly, while Aoyama still heads overseas to study, Ichigo has decided to aim towards conserving endangered animals and to be an ambassador of Earth towards the aliens.
- Despite this however, all 5 still wish to work at Café Mew Mew, which has been rebranded to include 'New' in the name.
