[image description: a stimboard of mew ichigo from tokyo mew mew consisting of nine images. first is a gif of a hand playing with a strawbell bell toy, causing it to blink. second is a gif of a hand filling in a white, paw-shaped cookie with pink icing using a thin, sharp object. third is a gif of pink icing being piped onto a white cake. fourth is a gif of a black cat happily grooming another black cat. fifth is a gif of a giddy mew ichigo with hearts in the background. sixth is a gif of a hand petting a content black cat whose eyes are shut. seventh is a gif of a hand holding a pink, heart-shaped bath bomb, with one side covered in red, heart-shaped glitter. eighth is a gif of manicured fingers pressing arrow keys with cat paws on them. ninth is a gif of a figure of mew ichigo turning left and right. /end description.]
So, a few days ago I was on Tumblr and noticed someone posted and translated a Twitter post from the Tokyo Mew Mew New Twitter page that Mia Ikumi, the mangaka Artist of Tokyo Mew Mew passed away this year. At first I didn’t believe it….but then more tribute drawings were made articles popped up aaand the new voice actress of Mew Ichigo gave her thoughts on the matter…that’s when I realized…”Oh my God, it did happened.” And it sucks to hear it. The person that gave me inspiration to draw anime characters….is now gone. I have a lot to thank for her. Thankful that her creation brought me to new world of magical girl genre. Thankful for her inspiration art style back then got me to draw my own characters.(Heck Mew Ichigo is what led to the design of my Sona/ Character Angel). And Thankful for giving the enjoyment in middle school life. Thank you Mia Ikumi. We will never forget you.
Tokyo Mew Mew New Prologue #11: Recap and Reaction
Let’s hop right into it! This episode recapped the auditions for each of the girls who will be playing the other four members of the Mew Mew team. (Video available on the official Tokyo Mew Mew Youtube Channel here.)
Mirai Hinata (ADESSO): Age 17 at the time of audition. Mirai originally auditioned for the role of Retasu, but was cast at Minto in the end. She enjoys dancing, singing, mimicking (perhaps they mean voice impressions?) and kickboxing. Although this is her first time auditioning for a character voice role, she believes in the power of one’s voice and hopes to be an actor who can touch others’ hearts.
I find this an interesting role change, but I do think that Mirai will pull off a lovely Minto. Even listening to her readings for Retasu, there was something very formal and ladylike about her tone. She also has a pretty singing voice! It’ll be great to get a feel for how she will portray Minto in the future.
Ryoko Juni (Stardust Promotion): She calls herself the “waking positive machine” and hopes to make a lifelong career out of voice acting. She also lightly joked about her height, saying that she was tall enough to destroy the ozone layer and hoped everyone could feel the heat of her passion (for this audition) which is far beyond her 165.5 cm (about 5′ 5″).
I really enjoyed her sense of humor (”Juni warming” indeed! ^_^) Her acting and singing performances were both very strong, and she really sold me on her portrayal of Retasu! Out of all the performances, I felt that she was the most well-rounded and prepared.
RIan Toda aka “Rianchosu” (Platinum Production): Age 15 at the time of audition. She describes herself as a friendly person who looks forward to working with and befriending the other members. She has previously worked as an idol.
Rian is very cute! I was most impressed with the feeling she put behind her line readings, so much so that she shed tears while acting them out! With a little bit more energy and vocal practice, I think she’ll make a fine Bu-Ling.
Momoka Ishii (Box Corporation): Age 17 at the time of audition. As a fan of anime and voice actors, she hopes to be able to cheer up others. In the future, she says, she hopes to be active in multiple fields, such as an actor, voice actor and model. (Not unlike Zakuro-oneesama herself!)
Momoka does look the part of Zakuro with her long dark hair and fashionable ensemble. I quite enjoyed her dance performance and will be interested to see if she can pull off Zakuro’s aloof nature as well as her big sisterly role once she finally agrees to join the girls.
This episode, for me, also highlighted just how much care Kameyama-san puts into coaching the girls on the emotions and motivations behind each piece of dialogue. I felt once again that his direction is very in-tune with the characters themselves.
The next prologue episode on Monday, “Cat Day” (2/22), will be a live event on Youtube, “1st MEW♡ting”, beginning at 7PM JST (that’s 5AM EST). The episode will include information about the new anime as well as the first performance of all five girls joining together as a unit. An after party is scheduled following the event, at 500 yen per person. Details can be found here.And here. The live stream is scheduled to be ~25 minutes long.
I based this off a screenshot I took of Yuuki Temma performing “bitter sweet darling” during the event screening. I don’t think I got the angles quite right… but Ichigo looks like she’s doing her best.
For as much as we’ve talked about Saki Nakajima narrating this docuseries and “passing the torch”, nothing could have quite prepared me for seeing Nakajima-san open a letter (complete with a strawberry seal!) containing the name of the girl chosen to be the new Ichigo. As she called up the winner on FaceTime and waited excitedly for her to appear, I felt a wave of nostalgia. And when Yuuki Temma accepted the role of Ichigo Momomiya, I found myself fighting back tears.
“We saw the strongest enthusiasm to be the role of Ichigo in you.“ Nakajima-san explained as she read the letter aloud from the production committee. “Many of the judges were attracted by your performance which showed your strong determination, and it made us feel that we should keep an eye on you.“
The letter went on to talk about, though Temma-san still has a lot of practice to do even now, how the judges and staff could see the way she worked hard at the lessons to learn as much as she could, and about the growth and potential they saw in her. The letter emphasized that she reminds them of Ichigo, who is always strong in a pinch.
Thinking back on the auditions process, and how personable Yuuki Temma was from the beginning, energetic, full of feeling, and not afraid of her own mistakes, I realized that she already possesses many of the same qualities Ichigo has. Ichigo, who, at the end of the day is just an ordinary girl doing her best at school, at work, in love, and - as it turns out - in saving the world.
Nakajima-san later confessed to an emotional Temma-san that she knew just how she felt. When she first received the call that she got the role of Ichigo in 2002, she was shaking, crying, and just couldn’t believe it. Nakajima-san went on to congratulate her and encourage her in creating her own Ichigo. Watching the video again as I make the final adjustments on this post, I’m struck by how warm and nurturing Nakajima-san is, and how genuine their feelings are. If the new Tokyo Mew Mew can carry those heartfelt feelings, I think it’ll be something truly special.
“I’m panicking now, I understand how much Tokyo Mew Mew is loved by so many people of various generations. It’s a big title,“ Yuuki Temma said. “I’ll work hard as the new Ichigo, and do my best for dear life! Thank you so much!“
Hidenori Sugai (vocal instructor): “I felt that she has the natural talent over the techniques, sort of a diamond in the rough. I like her free and darling expression, but without solid skills, it will be just antics. I think she will grow much more if she learns properly, and that growth will be clear. I hope she will grow more and more.”
Toshiki Kameyama (acting instructor): “In terms of voice quality, Temma-san needs a little more effort. However, she is the best in terms of facial expression. She was able to reflect her facial expression into her voice, which was a great thing. I can tell that she understands structurally what feeling is. I found she was making all kinds of faces. Actually, I liked it.”
SA.KANA (dance instructor): “I suppose Temma-san doesn’t have much experience in dancing, but I was very impressed by how much she tried to express herself with little experience. I could see her determination, and she will grow much more with more lessons.”
The episode continued into a Q&A session with the judges, discussing the auditions and the other finalists’ progress (subtitles have now been added for these, and it’s definitely worth a look!).
Afterwards, the cast of the remaining four girls was announced:
The next episode (2/12) will introduce and follow the auditions process for these four girls. Delayed until 2/20!
The following episode on “Cat Day” (2/22) will be a live event on Youtube, “1st MEW♡ting”, beginning at 7PM JST (that’s 5AM EST). The episode will include information about the new anime as well as the first performance of all five girls joining together as a unit. An after party is scheduled following the event, at 500 yen per person. Details can be found here.And here. The live stream is scheduled to be ~25 minutes long, and it does seem that the after party on ZAIKO accepts overseas payments such as Paypal.
In addition, Yuuki Temma will be appearing on トミドコロのノゾキドコロ on 2/24 as a guest along with assistant MC Sappi (PATI PATI CANDY…☆) to discuss her successful audition.
A little chibi Mew Ichigo I started a while ago. I prefer the sketch version, but since I drew it on a thin paper, I had to redo it all in order to color it… /sweatdrop
