Tokyo Mew Mew à la Mode

    (Tokyopop, 2005)
™ and © 2003 Mia Ikumi and Kodansha
Reads right to left; b&w

In the first Tokyo Mew Mew series, the DNA of endangered animals became infused in Japanese schoolgirls so they could use their new powers to defeat aliens who’d cast a covetous eye on Earth. In the latest version, Berry (who chose her junior high because of the uniform) gains the DNA of two unthreatened species (cat and rabbit) and joins the team. Together, the girls fight a new enemy, the Saint Rose Crusaders, a bunch of disgruntled pretty boys with a hat fetish. (Their leader, Duke, wears a Ku Klux Klan hood.)

“Cute” can’t begin to describe this average entry in the magical-girl genre where action plays a distant second to pre-teen romance. Naturally, each girl has her own impossibly ridiculous battle cry, but the winner hands-down is “pudding ring inferno”—just try working that into everyday conversation.

While there isn’t nearly enough manga for pre-teen girls, anyone who isn’t a big fan of the anime currently running on Saturday mornings will much find this one rough going.

— S.A. Bennett
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#1

June, 2005
Cover Price: $9.99
1 copy available for $9.99 		Mia IkumiMia Ikumi