Tokyo Mew Mew Discussion

I didn't see it listed as a show that there is a discussion thread for, so I thought I'd make it. I like Tokyo Mew Mew, and I think my favorite character is Zakuro (I like her personality, I like purple and I like wolves). I HATE Quiche unlike a lot of fangirls because I found his presumptuous stalking of Ichigo to be obnoxious (especially because he calls her his "toy"), especially when he goes all Yan Dere on her and tries to kill her because she won't date him.

I tend to like using the Tokyo Pop names for the girls because it makes more sense to me to use the original English words their names are derived from, obviously the green-haired girl was named after the food lettuce and so I call her "Lettuce" instead of "Retasu" because it's like writing "Seera Muun" instead of "Sailor Moon." I know that's kind of controversial on this site but it's what makes the most sense to me (probably because the Tokyo Pop manga was my first exposure to the series). That and the Edible Theme Naming in the series is what got me interested in the series in the first place. This is also why I usually like writing the aliens' names as the food words they were based off of, too, to preserve that theme naming. It's not that I mind other people writing the girls' names in the manner mentioned in the article on this wiki, it's just more that's how I write them unless strictly told not to (like if it would get me banned on a forum or something).

One thing I learned is that while this probably isn't what the dubbers were going for, editing Zakuro's weapon to be a stick instead of a cross might not make it be not religious anymore. I was researching the Easter story in a sociological way and learned that there are some people who speculate that Jesus might have been hung from a pole instead of a cross!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispute_about_Jesus%27_execution_method

When I read that, I thought that had an interesting connection to the "Mew Mew Power" dub changes. (stuff about crucifixion that's unrelated to Tokyo Mew Mew probably should go in a non-anime thread if anyone wants to continue that discussion)

edited 26th Apr '11 10:32:55 AM by Rainbow

Ah, I remember Tokyo Mew Mew. It was my first manga.

And yeah, the whole thing with the names did get really confusing. Even more so when you throw in the dub names. And I always wondered, what was the alter ego names for the girls in the dub?

I heard that Kodansha USA is going to be re-releasing the series. I've already got the full set at home, but I'm not sure if I want to replace them or not (didn't like Tokyopop's translations).

The dub names were:

• Ichigo = Zoey Hanson
• Mint = Corina Bucksworth
• Lettuce = Bridget ??
• Pudding = Kiki Benjamin
• Zakuro = Renee Roberts
• Masaya = Mark
• Quiche = Dren (nerd backwards?)
• Tart = Tarb (brat backwards?)
• Pie = Sardon

I don't remember the others, as it's been a while since I've watched the dub or read things about it.

I was actually wondering for the dub names for their Mew Mew forms. (Since it was simply Mew Ichigo, Mew Mint, etc. in the original)

I believe it was Mew Zoey, Mew Corina, etc.

What I'm wondering about is if there's any official translations that use 'reborn' instead of 'ribbon'. It's just kinda bothered me that some fans insist it's the actual translation when it doesn't seem to have shown up anywhere in relation to the series. -shrug-

TMM is one of the first manga I bought, though I ended watching the dubbed anime (it wasn't that bad, really).

Same boat that I'm in. I enjoyed the dub too, mostly cause I was too young to care that they cut off and censored things. I'm indifferent with it now, but I still love the theme song.

I actually liked Mew Mew Power and found it to be one of 4Kids better dubs....It still has quite a few unforgivable flaws.(Like making Mark Find out about Mew Zoey in the PREMIERE EPISODE. That is actually the 12th one in Japanese Continuity!When he finds out WAYYYYYYYYY later in the show. Like late 35)

edited 26th Apr '11 6:47:39 PM by CocoNatts

Amusingly, they did the opposite of the Sailor Moon dub and made Corina more of a lesbian than Mint, given that Mint was shown thinking romantically of a guy in one scene (not sure when) but the picture of the guy got replaced by one of "Renee" when it was Corina doing the imagining.

Interestingly enough, I didn't really think of Berry being a Mary Sue until I saw it mentioned on this site. I was just neutral to her story and thought she was kind of interesting but not a favorite, and didn't really notice or care that the other Mew Mews liked her without much hesitation. Probably because aside from Zakuro and Mint having initial problems, they all got along as a team pretty quickly so I just assumed that was the case with Berry. She did seem a bit flawless, like she didn't seem to have obvious personality flaws, but maybe because she wasn't shown being the best at everything it didn't stand out as much to me.

edited 26th Apr '11 6:52:58 PM by Rainbow

While on the subject of Berry, I'd just like to say that her boyfriend is very cute.

If you ask me, it was the villains I had a problem with, not Berry. I mean, Berry is definitely a total Mary Sue, but the fact that the villains were so poorly written (or at least in my mind) just made the arc near unredeemable to me.

I for one think a lot of those problems would be solved if the story had been given more time to be developed. I find it's hard to complain about bad writing when there's not much writing in the first place.

As for Berry, she's no more of a sue than Ichigo. Most of the complaining I've seen has to do with her being too similar to Ichigo, actually.

And yes, Tasuku is cute. (:

edited 27th Apr '11 7:34:14 AM by YamiiDenryuu

I think the thing that I hated the most is that they replaced Masha and never bothered bringing him back. ._.

just finished tokyo mew mew anime so i'm reviving this.

my verdict; much better than manga.

Revived once more

I didn't like the fact Mia Ikumi shoved all the original characters to the side. And Tasuku is adorable. He's pretty much the only reason I read A la Mode. Which is pretty sad, actually.

Some of the things he did reminded me of Quiche. The practially stalking behaviour, the No Sense of Personal Space, and the nicknames. Except for the fact, Tasuku is an old friend of Berry's, and she doesn't mind so much. Quiche, on the other hand...

edited 30th Apr '12 1:59:19 AM by TakeHomeRena

Bringing this back again.

So how do people here feel about the new translation in comparison to the Tokyopop one?

Also I liked the anime better.

Just a quick question: Does the new translation still use "ribbon" for the attack names, or have they switched it to "reborn"?

IIRC, it's "ribbon".

Hah! In your face, Jizu!

Okay I am done satisfying my childish grudge over a trivial thing from many years ago. Thank you for the information. I am going now.

Who is Jizu?

I think "ribbon" makes more sense anyways because of the clothes and its styles.

Some person who insisted that the "ribbon" in the attacks should really be translated as "reborn" even though no one ever uses it (before or after her little discovery) and that this was actually a big deal and people who didn't use it were wrong oh wrong (and also that people who liked ships other than IchigoxMasaya and didn't use "correct" name translations like Buling or some weird translations of the weapons and attacks were wrong oh wrong)... basically, she annoyed me. :P

By the way, what names are they using for the Mews, attacks, weapons, etc? I'd be interested to see what other bizzare permutations of the puns they've ended up with. XD

I ship Ichigo/Masaya.

I'm getting some of these from the TMM wiki (I don't own the retranslated manga):

Names:

• Ichigo's the same
• Mint I think was changed to Minto
• Lettuce is now Retatsu
• Pudding Fong is now Bu-ling Huang
• Zakuro is now Zacro (?????), an alternate spelling in Japanese
• Kish is still the same, I think.

Weapons:

• Sutoru Bell Bell, Strawberry Bell Bell, Straw Bell Bell, Mew Strawberry Bell in Tokyopop to Strawberry Bell Bell.
• Mintoon Alo to Mint Tone Arrow.
• Lettuce Tanet to Lettuce Castanet.
• Pudding Ring is the same.
• Za Cross Whip (I think that's what it's called) is the same I think.

Attacks I think are all the same, except for Zakuro's which went from "Ribbon Zakuro's Pure!"/"Ribbon Zakuro Pure!" to "Ribbon Za Cros Pure!".

I think that's it.

Zacro? That's new... I guess it works better with the weapon pun, though. Interesting that they kept Kish's name intact.

I personally liked Zakuro better.

I think they kept it because kids can read it better or something (although everyone knows it's supposed to be Quiche by now ).

Nah, I have the Kodansha editions (all three omnibuses), and the only name they changed the spelling of was 'Zakuro' to Zacro'

I got kinda ticked off other the whole Kish vs Quiche thing, but oh well. Still much better than Tokyopop's translation. There's no annoying slang. Thank goodness!

However, they used the translations for the second omnibus in the third...

Oh ok.

I was going off the wiki and stuff since I don't have the new translation.

So who here has the new translation?