Tokyo Mew Mew New

Episodes 1-3

It's been twenty years since the animal-fused magical girls of Tokyo Mew Mew last danced across our screens, but here they are, back again! Based on the manga by Reiko Yoshida and Mia Ikumi, Tokyo Mew Mew New is the second magical girl show of its time period to get a reboot years later, with the first being Sailor Moon Crystal. (And how nice that they're getting to reuse that show's transformation music for this one.) It's interesting to see how well the storyline holds up after all this time, and not only because those of us who read the manga and watched the original anime have grown up since it first appeared; it's also to see how a little franchise that popped up between Tokyo Mew Mew and Tokyo Mew Mew New may or may not influence – or take influence from – this show. (That would be Pretty Cure. Perhaps you've heard of it?)

While there are a lot of fun things and a few nice costume design changes in these first three episodes, there's one piece of the story that I remember questioning back in the day that's somehow even worse now: the romantic subplot. Seriously, if someone you are dating puts a bell around your neck to keep track of you, rip that thing off and run away. That's not romantic, it's super creepy. But then so is a random guy showing up out of nowhere to kiss you before announcing he's going to “play with” you, and we know from the opening theme that at least one more boy is going to be going after Ichigo's lips, if nothing else. The idea behind this – to combine the magical girl story with a reverse harem – is decently solid, but wow, do I ever wish that along with giving Mew Lettuce a skirt they'd leave the predatory romance tropes back in 2002.

It's unfortunately not the only unsettling piece of this story, although we can see by episode three that the writing is starting to really think about a few things, namely the fact that apart from Mint, the other four Mew Mews were all injected with endangered species DNA against their will, or at least without any sort of informed consent – the poor kids were just at an endangered species exhibit when two guys in the high tech version of a white van shot it at them. While Mew Pudding is totally fine with this, Ichigo and Lettuce have a bit more to ponder, and Ichigo in particular is just thrown into the whole mess. It works out, but come on – even Kyubey had to get Madoka's consent before he could turn her into a magical girl.

Is this thinking too much about all the little plot details? Possibly, but there's that whole “I grew up in the intervening years” thing rearing its ugly head. The good news is that there's still a lot of pure magical girl fun to be had in these three episodes, because despite its issues, this is a classic magical girl show with an intended audience of younger viewers. Ichigo is very much a heroine in the Usagi Tsukino mode, but the other girls we've met so far all seem fairly distinct, with Bu-Ling (which is meant to sound like “purin,” meaning “pudding”) standing out the most as the girl with no fear and very possibly no filter. She's infectious in her enthusiasm for everything that comes her way, and I love how we almost never see her standing still. Mint, meanwhile, talks a good mean girl game but is clearly a lot nicer than she wants to let on, as we see in her treatment of Lettuce; Ichigo may be the one who charges in to save the day in episode two, but Mint's taking Lettuce under her wing at Café Mew Mew, she's just not one for showy gestures about it. We know the least about Lettuce so far, but her introduction in episode two is still one of the strongest parts of these three episodes; her feelings of isolation that she tries to combat by attempting to fit in with other girls at school are easily recognizable and more grounded than Ichigo being desperate for a boyfriend or Mint trying too hard to be above it all. All three, however, are believable traits for girls in high school, and that really does help to make the story and the characters work.

The environmental angle is also a good one, to say nothing of timely. Ichigo's pretend enthusiasm for it that morphs into a real interest makes for a nice guidepost for younger viewers, and I love her honesty in episode one about how she was originally faking it for Masaya's benefit before actually becoming interested. Her animal, the Iriomote cat, is among the most critically endangered of the girls' DNA combinations; there are, last I knew, only around one hundred in the wild and they're only indigenous to a very specific area of Japan. Getting the word out there about them, along with the other animals, is a good idea to say the least. And even if you get distracted by kitty ears and tailfeathers (or the odd moments of sexualization during transformation sequences), just having the names mentioned is a start.

Tokyo Mew Mew New is still in the “assemble the team” phase, which should wrap up next week with the introduction of Zakuro. (That's hardly a spoiler since her name's in the ending theme.) Once that's out of the way and Kish (Quiche?) starts kicking his evil plans into high gear, we should be in for a good time. And remember, if there's anything that feels weirdly outdated, just sit back and watch like it's 2002.

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Tokyo Mew Mew New is currently streaming on HIDIVE.