Review: Tokyo Mew Mew New
One of my most formative experiences as an Australian child was watching Tokyo Mew Mew (also known as Mew Mew Power for those of us that watched the 4Kids dub) on morning TV before school. When I got older, I remembered my fondness for the animal-DNA-infused magical girls and rewatched the whole 2003 series on YouTube (Crunchyroll didn’t exist back then). Even as a 19 year old woman, my love for the series never waned. It had a clumsy main character, girls with animal ears, and a theme song that has remained on my Spotify liked songs for years.
20 years after the original anime aired, fans of the magical girl genre were delighted to hear that a remake was in the works. Tokyo Mew Mew New aired in the Summer 2022 season with 12 episodes. The initial sentiment from fans was poor. People felt the series didn’t live up to the original anime, but honestly, I feel like it deserves more credit.
The story of Tokyo Mew Mew New follows the manga more closely than the 2002 anime, which means we get more character development outside of Ichigo deciding which of the three weedy boys she wants to hold hands with. Opinion: she should hold hands with Lettuce instead (Lettuce is a character in the show don’t @ me). The plot remains the same though. Five girls are chosen and injected with the DNA from certain endangered animals. This DNA gives them magical powers, which they use to save the planet from the Chimera Anima aliens. Something something magical girl anime plot something something. With a sprinkling of wholesome teen romance and working in a cute maid cafe, the story is your average magical girl anime for young girls. This is before I even mention that the main themes in the show are about looking after the environment and saving the world from global warming – we love to see it.
The story isn’t what gave Tokyo Mew Mew New its low score on MyAnimeList though. The art style moved away from the early 2000s anime aesthetic that the original series had, which was seen as taking away from the charm of the series. I have to agree with this. There’s something cool about older art styles in anime that really tickles my brain in the right way. In addition, the animation was clunky and rushed - especially compared to the original anime. Clearly costs had been cut for the initial airing due to time constraints, but it’s been rumoured that the DVD and Blu-ray versions will feature updated animation.
Even with the clunky animation and slightly less aesthetic art style, Tokyo Mew Mew New still gives a great sense of nostalgia for a series that rode on the skirts and bows of Sailor Moon’s mahou shoujo success. Watching an episode of this dorky series each week was enough for me to forget about the stress of our capitalist overlords and imagine what life would be like if I were a magical girl.