50 Fun Facts About Tokyo Mew Mew

In Tokyo Mew Mew, team leader Ichigo Momomiya is infused with the DNA of which endangered wildcat?

Iriomote cat genes make Ichigo sprout ears and a tail whenever she gets excited. The real animal lives only on one small Japanese island, where fewer than 250 adults remain.

In Tokyo Mew Mew, what kind of business doubles as the heroines' secret base and part-time workplace?

A café named after the team is the cover for their base, and the girls wait tables there between battles. Ryou Shirogane owns it, while his partner Keiichirou manages it and does the baking.

In Tokyo Mew Mew, what act changes Ichigo Momomiya back into a human after she turns into a small black cat?

Kissing a person or an animal changes Ichigo back into a girl. She first becomes a cat when her excitement over Masaya runs too high, instead of just sprouting ears and a tail.

Ichigo's boyfriend Masaya Aoyama is revealed to be the human form of which Tokyo Mew Mew villain?

Deep Blue, the aliens' leader, had been asleep inside Masaya all along. Masaya was also the Blue Knight, the mysterious protector whose identity Ichigo spent the series trying to work out.

In Mew Mew Power, the 4Kids dub of Tokyo Mew Mew, what is heroine Ichigo Momomiya renamed?

Zoey Hanson was the new name 4Kids gave Ichigo, voiced by Amanda Brown. The dub renamed almost every character and reworked episodes so viewers would not spot the show's Japanese origins.

Why do the aliens of Tokyo Mew Mew believe they have the right to reclaim Earth?

Their ancestors once lived there, millions of years ago, before catastrophes drove them to a harsh world of sandstorms. They return disgusted by how humans are treating the place.

Tokyo Mew Mew's Zakuro Fujiwara, a professional model and actress, carries the DNA of which animal?

Gray wolf DNA suits Zakuro, a loner who at first refuses to join the team. She is the oldest of the five, and the only one whose animal is not endangered as a whole species.

The given name of Tokyo Mew Mew heroine Ichigo Momomiya is the Japanese word for which fruit?

Strawberry is what Ichigo means, and her weapon is the Strawberry Bell Bell. An editor once suggested naming the heroines after colours instead, but the menu of names stayed.

Sean Schemmel, who voiced Elliot Grant in Mew Mew Power, is far better known as the English voice of whom?

Son Goku has been Sean Schemmel's role in the Dragon Ball dubs since 1999. In Mew Mew Power he played Elliot Grant, the dub's name for the team's young boss Ryou Shirogane.

Andrew Rannells voiced two Mew Mew Power characters before earning a Tony nomination for which 2011 Broadway musical?

The Book of Mormon made Andrew Rannells a Broadway star as Elder Price. Years earlier he had voiced both a lovesick alien and the gentle baker Wesley in Mew Mew Power.

What natural event leads the Mew Project to merge animal DNA with five girls by accident in Tokyo Mew Mew?

An earthquake sent the genes into five girls at an exhibit instead of their target. Ryou Shirogane had planned to inject a monster, to see whether the DNA would reverse its infection.

When red-haired Ichigo Momomiya transforms into her heroic form in Tokyo Mew Mew, her hair turns which colour?

Pink is Ichigo's theme colour, and each teammate has her own, from green to purple. That colour-coded line-up is one reason reviewers compare the series to Sailor Moon.

Besides fighting aliens, wealthy Minto Aizawa of Tokyo Mew Mew is devoted to which performing art?

Ballet is Minto's passion, and one anime episode turns on her estranged brother coming to watch her dance. She starts out spoiled and snobbish but proves to care deeply about her friends.

At the end of Tokyo Mew Mew, Masaya Aoyama leaves Japan to study endangered species in which country?

England is where Masaya heads after his friends stage a mock wedding for him and Ichigo. The sequel manga reveals that she joined him there once her powers had faded.

What does the small robot Masha do with the alien parasites driven out of defeated monsters in Tokyo Mew Mew?

Masha eats them, swallowing each parasite once an attack has forced it out of its host. Ichigo named the robot, originally just model R2000, after her crush Masaya.

Bu-Ling Huang, the youngest heroine in Tokyo Mew Mew, is infused with the DNA of which Brazilian monkey?

Golden lion tamarin DNA gives Bu-Ling a monkey's tail and ears. A running gag has her insisting she is part lion, only to be corrected every time.

Shy Retasu Midorikawa of Tokyo Mew Mew gains a mermaid-like tail from the DNA of which sea mammal?

Finless porpoise DNA lets Retasu swap her legs for a tail underwater. She is so frightened of her powers at first that they run out of control at her school.

Minto Aizawa, the second heroine to join Tokyo Mew Mew, is infused with the DNA of which Pacific island bird?

Blue lorikeet DNA gives Minto a bird's wings and tail when she transforms. The real bird, a small nectar-feeder, survives on only a handful of islands around Tahiti.

In Mew Mew Power, what new name does the 4Kids dub give Quiche, the alien smitten with the heroine?

Dren is the dub's name for Quiche, who treats his battles with the team like a game. His fellow invaders Pie and Tart became Sardon and Tarb.

What is Ichigo Momomiya's robot companion Masha renamed in Mew Mew Power, the 4Kids dub of the anime?

Mini-Mew is the dub's name for Masha, voiced in English by Tom Wayland. In the manga the robot is female; the anime made the character male and far more talkative.

Noriyuki Abe directed the 2002 Tokyo Mew Mew anime before taking charge of which long-running action series in 2004?

Bleach kept Noriyuki Abe busy for years, across the TV series and four films. Before his turn with magical girls he had directed Yu Yu Hakusho and Great Teacher Onizuka.

In Tokyo Mew Mew, what gift from his former hostage Bu-Ling Huang does the alien Tart say he might return for?

A candy drop is all it takes: she gave him sweets while he guarded her beneath the Tokyo Dome, and he was left laughing. As the aliens depart he says he may come back for another.

The 2019 spin-off manga Tokyo Mew Mew Olé! broke with tradition by building its team from which characters?

Teenage boys, five high-schoolers in all, do the transforming in Olé!, which was drawn by Madoka Seizuki rather than the original creators and ran until 2022.

Before settling on Mew Mew Power, 4Kids first announced its dub of the anime under which working title?

Hollywood Mew Mew was the first title 4Kids announced, part of a plan to strip out the story's setting. Later press releases tried The Mew Mews before the final name stuck.

Tokyo Mew Mew first ran in which Kodansha magazine, also the original home of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura?

Nakayoshi serialized the manga monthly from 2000 to 2003. The magazine, whose name means good friend, is known for tucking small gifts called furoku into its issues.

Zakuro Fujiwara, the oldest heroine in Tokyo Mew Mew, shares her given name with the Japanese word for which fruit?

Pomegranate is what Zakuro means, keeping her in step with teammates named after mint, lettuce and pudding. Kodansha's later English edition spells her name Zacro.

Which screenwriter, later known for K-On! and A Silent Voice, wrote the story of the Tokyo Mew Mew manga?

Reiko Yoshida plotted each volume with the editors and handed artist Mia Ikumi a script to draw from, an unusual split for a manga. She also wrote the film The Cat Returns.

The alien race goes unnamed in the original Tokyo Mew Mew, but what does Mew Mew Power call it?

Cyniclons is the dub's name for the invaders. Mew Mew Power also relabelled the monsters they create as Predasites and the parasites behind them as Infusors.

Which studio, also known for Naruto and Yu Yu Hakusho, animated the original 2002 Tokyo Mew Mew anime?

Pierrot animated all 52 episodes, which aired weekly in Japan for a year from April 2002. The studio's earlier hits include Creamy Mami and Fushigi Yûgi.

Megumi Ogata, the voice of Masaya Aoyama in Tokyo Mew Mew, is best known as which Neon Genesis Evangelion pilot?

Shinji Ikari is Megumi Ogata's signature role, one of many male characters she has played. She also voiced Sailor Uranus in Sailor Moon and Kurama in Yu Yu Hakusho.

Rika Komatsu performed which song as the opening theme of the original 2002 Tokyo Mew Mew anime?

My Sweet Heart opened the show, while the five lead voice actors sang the ending theme together. The 2022 reboot brought the song back in a new version for one episode's closing credits.

Sentai Filmworks licensed the 2022 reboot Tokyo Mew Mew New for viewers outside Asia on which streaming service?

Hidive carried the reboot, which was announced to celebrate the manga's 20th anniversary. Its five leads were cast through a public audition and also performed together as an idol group.

Which new heroine leads the team in the sequel manga Tokyo Mew Mew à la Mode while Ichigo is abroad?

Berry Shirayuki is the sixth Mew Mew and the first to carry the DNA of two animals, a mountain cat and a rabbit. Her robot sidekick Ucha turns into the staff she fights with.

Which robed figure leads the Saint Rose Crusaders, the villains of the sequel manga Tokyo Mew Mew à la Mode?

Duke gathers four outcast teenagers with strange powers and gives them a purpose. The manga never says whether the leader is male or female, leaving readers to decide.

Hamepane Tokyo Mew Mew, a puzzle adventure released in Japan in 2002, was made for which handheld console?

Game Boy Advance owners got the puzzle game in July 2002. A PlayStation role-playing game followed that December, adding a brand-new heroine designed by Mia Ikumi.

At a festival promoting Tokyo Mew Mew, what did creator Mia Ikumi do besides drawing a poster?

Mia Ikumi dressed as two heroines, appearing as Minto on one day and Retasu on the other. The spring holiday event also featured an art gallery and new merchandise.

Which American publisher first released the Tokyo Mew Mew manga in English, later adding its sequel à la Mode?

Tokyopop gave each chapter a title, something the Japanese volumes never had. Kodansha Comics brought out a fresh translation in an omnibus edition in 2011.

Mew Mew Power premiered in 2005 on 4Kids TV, a Saturday-morning block carried by which American network?

Fox leased its Saturday mornings to 4Kids, and the block had been called FoxBox until weeks before the premiere. Canadian viewers on YTV saw three episodes that America never aired.

At the start of the fall 2005 season, Mew Mew Power held which status on the 4Kids TV block?

Highest-rated show on the block was the dub's peak, reached at the start of the fall 2005 season. Even so, it was never released on DVD in North America.

Ryou Shirogane, head of the Mew Project in Tokyo Mew Mew, first tested the gene injection on whom?

Himself was Ryou's first test subject, to make sure the girls would not be harmed. He proved a poor match for the genes, gaining only the power to become a cat for ten minutes at a time.

Young Bu-Ling Huang of Tokyo Mew Mew is introduced earning money for her family through which street act?

Acrobatics pays the bills for Bu-Ling, who is raising five younger siblings while her father trains in the mountains. Her teammates think monkey DNA suits her perfectly.

At the end of Tokyo Mew Mew, Ryou Shirogane gives Pie the last Mew Aqua for what purpose?

Saving the aliens' world is the point of the gift: the three invaders carry it home to make their harsh planet as beautiful as Earth.

Masaya Aoyama, the heroine's popular and athletic classmate in Tokyo Mew Mew, goes by which name in Mew Mew Power?

Mark is the only name the dub gives him, as his surname is never revealed. Scottie Ray provided the English voice.

Why did the Mew Project in Tokyo Mew Mew choose endangered animals as the source of its heroines' powers?

Strongest will to survive was the thinking: the project felt species on the brink would have the fiercest desire to preserve their kind. That makes the girls, in effect, biological weapons.

In Tokyo Mew Mew, where does team leader Ichigo Momomiya first announce her group's full name to the public?

On live television, by accident: cameras caught the heroines in action, and Ichigo introduced them with the name the public used from then on. Until that moment they were simply the Mew Mews.

In Tokyo Mew Mew, what disaster kills the parents of Ryou Shirogane, leaving him an orphan at ten?

A lab explosion and fire killed both his parents; the anime blames a fossilised creature that woke up. Ryou then moved to Japan with his father's assistant to carry on the project.

The pet dog of wealthy Minto Aizawa in Tokyo Mew Mew belongs to which small breed?

Pomeranian is the breed of her little dog, which an alien parasite turns into a monster early in the anime, in the fight where Minto first transforms.

To hide the final villain's identity, the 2002 Tokyo Mew Mew anime listed his voice actor in the credits as what?

A question mark stood in for the name until the reveal in episode 49, since the real credit would have given the twist away: the same performer voiced another lead.

In Mia Ikumi's original pitch for what became Tokyo Mew Mew, the name Masha belonged to which kind of character?

A space police officer called Masha gave the heroine her cat powers in that pitch, titled Tokyo Black Cat Girl. Only his name and look survived, passed on to the team's little robot.

Which studio partnered with Graphinica to animate Tokyo Mew Mew New, the 2022 reboot of the magical-girl anime?

Yumeta Company shared the animation with Graphinica under director Takahiro Natori. The reboot ran for two seasons, the second arriving in spring 2023.