Ichigo Momomiya
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Ichigo Momomiya (桃宮 いちご Momomiya Ichigo?) is a 12 year old girl who is the main character of the manga and anime series Tokyo Mew Mew. She turns 13 later in the series. Ichigo is known as Zoey Hanson in Mew Mew Power, and Strawberry Momomiya in Mew Mew: Amiche Vincenti (Italian version).
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[edit] History
Ichigo was just a normal 12-13 year old who was on a date with Masaya Aoyama until her DNA is mysteriously merged with the DNA of an Iriomote Wildcat. Now she is the leader of the band of girls whose DNA was also merged with the DNA of endangered species called "Tokyo Mew Mew", who have to save the world from Chimera Animas, the Aliens, and the Alien leader, Deep Blue. Originally, Ichigo wants nothing to do with the "Mew Project," instead wishing to simply spend time with her crush, Masaya. Later, she accepts her fate, realizing what she is (a Mew) and the importance of her task assigned to her.
[edit] Manga
[edit] Tokyo Mew Mew
Ichigo is introduced while she is attending a Red Data Animal exhibit with Masaya Aoyama, her love interest, where she ends up accidentally kissing him when she trips and falls on top of him. This is when she first meets Mint Aizawa, who offers her a handkerchief and treats her rather rudely. Ichigo later finds Lettuce Midorikawa at the museum, where she is being bullied by three girls that go to Okumura Daifuzuku Junior High. They are yelling at Lettuce because she brought them hot coffee when it was hot outside, even though they said they wanted hot coffee. This could mean that they just were mean to her. Ichigo runs to help Lettuce, but she stops, and Pudding Fong gets to the girls first annoying them. They get angry and one of the girls attempts to throw coffee at Pudding, but Zakuro Fujiwara stops the girl, holding her arm in a rather painful position. The girls then leave, rather angry. Lettuce states she'll have to apologize to them later. Ichigo questions why, but she doens't answer, and doesn't see her again until some time after the earthquake.
She then leaves the exhibit to get some air and briefly meets the future Mews before she is injected with the DNA of an Iriomote Wildcat. Later she finds herself acting like a cat and, remembering the dream sequence of a cat jumping into her body when she was injected, realizes something has happened to her. When she and Masaya are attacked by a Chimera Anima made from a rat, Ryou appears and saves her, only to push her out of a tree to encourage her to transform for the first time. She does, and then defeats the Chimera Anima.
[edit] Tokyo Mew Mew à la Mode
At the beginning of À la Mode, Ichigo is revealed to be in London with Masaya, studying, leaving the other members of Tokyo Mew Mew to fight the remaining Chimera Animas. She comes back to Tokyo later, just in time to save Berry Shirayuki from one of the Saint Rose Crusaders, but she turns into a cat shortly after. While in cat form, she says that her powers started coming back while on vacation (meaning that she must save the world again), but she can only be a Mew Mew for three minutes. It is never said why she can be a Mew for only three minutes, but possibly because her powers came back early, but in volume two, she is seen being a Mew much longer. Unfortunately, Berry can't understand what she's saying. While in cat form she helps Berry by blocking the ultra-sonic waves from Happy Child's attack (while getting dizzy from the waves). Berry is able to fend off Happy Child.
She and the other Mews move to Berry's school so they can be together in case of an attack.
Later, the Saint Rose Crusaders brainwashed the fans of Tokyo Mew Mew to believe Mew Berry was the evil Mew, who has been ruining Tokyo Mew Mew. However, the other Mew Mews stand by her side.
[edit] Anime
[edit] Tokyo Mew Mew
Ichigo appears in episode one, titled "Neko ni Naru! Seigi no Mikata wa Koi Suru Shoujo Nyan!" (Turning into a Cat! Justice Lies in a Girl in Love!), with Masaya. The anime introduction of Ichigo is similar to the manga one, however there are some differences. For example, the view first sees Ichigo asking Masaya to the exhibit, and Ichigo does not briefly meet the future Mews outside the Museum in the anime. Also in the anime she, and presumably the other girls, are scanned for their DNA compatibility prior to being injected. In the manga, this doesn't happen. Ichigo goes outside after being scanned and there is a sudden earthquake. A bright light covers her and in a dream-like scene, a cat jumps into her, symbolizing the infusion. She wakes up next to Masaya who says she slept for three hours. The next day at her school she starts acting off of her new "cat genes", such as sleeping too much, eating fish, and saying "nya!" (the Japanese interpretation of a cat's "meow".)
[edit] Mew Mew Power
In Mew Mew Power, 16-year-old Zoey Hanson has to save the world while juggling her love life, part time job, and her duty as a Mew at the same time. She has a very preppy personality in Mew Mew Power. When Zoey has her DNA infusion, the dream-like scene is not shown, presumably because she appears naked.
[edit] Cat Form
Later, as the story progresses, her cat DNA begins to overtake her human DNA. When she is excited or nervous, she grows cat ears and a tail. When she kisses someone, she turns into a cat. To turn back to normal, she must kiss someone again. In the manga however, if she gets very nervous or excited she turns into a cat and in the manga it has nothing to do with the kiss. But in the manga as well, she must kiss someone to turn back into human form. Her boyfriend Masaya Aoyama, as well as Ryou Shirogane (as Alto) save her a lot of times.
[edit] The debate on Ichigo's age
Ichigo has been described as 11, 12, 13 and 16 years of age. Assuming that the manga and the Japanese version of the anime are part of the same canon (as Mia Ikumi seems to favour, considering that she has retconned various portions of the series to fit in with the anime), the evidence presented below shows that she ages throughout the series, beginning at 12 and ending at 13.
- In the beginning of the English version of the manga, Ichigo is described as 11 years old.
- Ichigo's birthday, according to the official site[citation needed], is March 15.
- The beginning of the series states that she is a seventh grader, which means that she's 12-13 years old.
- The end of the year comes with the two-part Christmas episode.
- The third volume of the manga, which takes place after this and begins before Ichigo's birthday would have passed, states that she is now 12 years old.
- In episode 12 of Tokyo Mew Mew, she introduces herself as 13, and in later episodes.
Why Ichigo was described as 11 in the beginning of the English version of the manga is unknown. This could be an error made by Tokyopop because she cannot be 11 in 7th grade, unless she skipped a grade, which is unlikely. Later in the manga, she is described as twelve, making it look more likely that this was a typo.
However, though Ichigo Momomiya does not reach the age of 16 during the course of the show, her English counterpart, Zoey Hanson, is described as being 16 years old on the 4Kids website.[citation needed] (Please note that most of the character's ages were changed in Mew Mew Power.)
It should be noted that even though Ichigo ages, the other characters of Tokyo Mew Mew don't appear to age. It may just be that their ages aren't mentioned later in the series, as they are considered sidekicks.
[edit] Personality
Ichigo has the typical magical girl heroine personality: sweet and caring, but clumsy, shy, and ditsy, is prone to overlooking things the more perceptive and more intelligent can see, and is overactive when she is mad or excited. Ichigo reacts angrily whenever a loved one is hurt, and dislikes being treated like an object (unless it's towards Masaya), hence her reaction to Kish, as he acts possessive towards her. Ichigo tends to go dreamy and blushes when in the presence of her crush Masaya, typically head over heels, and she occasionally becomes confused with her feelings, and is prone to act rashly. Many times, she puts her own relationship before saving the world. Overall, she is a friendly person who's willing to give second chances to the people she likes.
[edit] Family
Shintaro Momomiya (桃宮 慎太郎 Momomiya Shintarō), and Sakura Momomiya (桃宮 さくら Momomiya Sakura) are Ichigo's parents. Her father, Shintaro is irrational, overeacting when whenever Ichigo is late, and mentions Masaya Aoyama. Her mother, Sakura is more understanding. Their names are not said in Mew Mew Power. Ichigo and Zakuro Fujiwara are the only original Mews who do not have siblings.
[edit] Romanization
In the Japanese version of the manga, Ichigo's name is written in katakana and hiragana. When she is in Mew form, her name is written in katakana, and when she is "normal", her name is written in hiragana. This was most likely done so that she can hide her identity as Mew Ichigo, and for emphasis, as it is common to write Japanese words in katakana. Due to the difference being different writing systems, this was omited in the English version of the manga, as English has only one writing system. Because of this, fans who have only seen the English version could find it odd how no one found out her identity.
[edit] Profile
- Name Translation: "いちご Ichigo"=Strawberry, "桃 Momo"=peach, "宮 miya"=shrine
- Name Pronunciation: Ee-chee-gou Mou-mou-mee-yah
- Alias: Mew Ichigo (ミュウ・イチゴ Myuu Ichigo)
- Signature Color: Pink
- Age: 12-13, as she ages during the series (16 in Mew Mew Power).
- Birthday: March 15th
- Grade: 7th grade, 1st year of middle school by Japanese standards (10th in Mew Mew Power)
- Zodiac sign: Pisces
- Height: 5 feet 1 inch
- Weight: 92 pounds
- Blood Type: B
- Hair Color: Dark Red (Sugar Pink in Mew form)
- Eye Color: Chocolate Brown (Pink in Mew form)
- Likes: Shopping, spending time with Masaya
- Favorite Foods: Pizza, pancakes with maple syrup, caramel popcorn, and fish (possibly due to her cat genes)
- Least Favorite Food: Carrots (Sushi and baklava in Mew Mew Power)
- BMI: 17.4
- Mew Mark: The symbol on the Mew member's pendants--two sides of a big heart over a smaller heart, and underneath are two sets of little lines, on her right leg, upper inner thigh, colored pink.
- Battle cry: "For the future of the Earth, I will be of service nya!" in Tokyo Mew Mew, "For your evil actions, We will make you pay!" in the English manga, and the hip-hop styled "Mew Mew style, Mew Mew Grace, Mew Mew power in your face!" in Mew Mew Power.
- Transformation saying: "Mew Mew Strawberry, Metamorphosis!" in Tokyo Mew Mew, "Power Pendant, Activate!" in the premire episode of Mew Mew Power ("Power Pendant, Mewtamorphosis!" in later episodes), and "Mew Berry, metamorfosi!" (Mew Berry, metamorphosis!) in Mew Mew: Amiche Vincenti.
- Animal: Iriomote Wildcat
- Love interest: Masaya Aoyama.
Though Ichigo and Masaya have proven on numerous occasions they are very much in love throughout both the manga and the anime versions of Tokyo Mew Mew, many fans disapprove of this very canon relationship, as they consider Masaya to be a typical example of a Mary Sue character, and prefer to pair Ichigo with Kish or Ryou Shirogane.
[edit] Weapons and abilites
[edit] Tokyo Mew Mew
Ichigo is the leader, with typical love-based powers. Her emotion-fueled power is transforming into a catgirl or cat when she is suddenly excited, and she also has the reflexes of a cat.
Her weapon is called the Strawberry Bell, Strawberry Bell Bell or StrawBell Bell (see below). In the manga, Ichigo can combine her weapon with Mint's, Lettuce's, Pudding's, and Zakuro's weapon to make the StrawBell Bell Version Up. Later, Mewberry Rod is given to Ichigo, which changes her StrawBell Bell/Strawberry Bell into Mew StrawBell Bell.
In the anime, Ichigo receives the Mewberry Rod from Ryou and Keiichiro. She is also the only Mew Mew who can use the Mew Aqua Rod in the anime, while the other four Mews can use it when they find Mew Aqua in the manga.
- Weapon: Strawberry Bell/StrawBell Bell/Sutoro Beru Beru (ストロ・ベル・ベル)
- Attack: Reborn Strawberry Check (リボーン・ストロベリー・チェーック riboun sutoroberii cheekku)
- Weapon: Strawberry Bell/StrawBell Bell
- Attack: Reborn Strawberry Jail (リボーン・ストロベリー・ジェル riboun sutoroberii jeru)
- Used in episode three to "take away Lettuce's weirdness"
- Weapon (manga only): StrawBell Bell + MinTone Arrow + Lettuce-tanets + PuddRing Ring + ZaCross Whip = StrawBell Bell Version Up (ストロ・ベル・ベル・バージョン・アップ sutoro beru beru baajon appu)
- Attack (manga only): Reborn Strawberry Check Surprise and Reborn Strawberry Check Healing (リボーン・ストロベリー・サプライズ riboun sutoroberii sapuraizu and リボーン・ストロベリー・チェーック・ヒーリング riboun sutoroberii cheekku hiiringu)
- Weapon: Mewberry Rod + StrawBell Bell = Mew StrawBell Bell (ミュウ・ストロベリー・ベル myuu sutoroberii beru)
- Attack: Reborn Strawberry Surprise (リボーン・ストロベリー・サプライズ)
- Weapon: Mew Aqua Rod (ミュウ・アクア・ロッド myuu akua roddo)
- Attack: Reborn Aqua Drop (リボーン・アクア・ドロップ riboun akua doroppu)
- Weapon: Strawberry Bell / StrawBell Bell
- Attack: Secret technique: Cat amuser
- Used in episode 29 by Ichigo; she throws and catches her StrawBell Bell repeatedly, like a boomerang, therefore distracting (or, "amusing") the cat Chimera Anima.
- Weapon: Strawberry Bell / StrawBell Bell
- Attack: the technique itself is not named; Ichigo uses her weapon to create a shield around herself to protect herself from the villains' attacks.
[edit] Reborn Translation Error
"Reborn" was incorrectly translated as "Ribbon" in the English version of the manga. In the Japanese manga it was written as リボーン riboun, which is "reborn". But, to an English native speaker, it roughly looks like "ribbon", so Tokyopop assumed it was "ribbon" which is seen throughout the entire manga series. However, many fans still call it "ribbon," as do fansubs and fandubs, as a vast majority of fans do not know the correct translation. "Ribbon" was to be used only once, the Tokyo Mew Mew fanchise; the opening song of the anime, sang by Rika Komatsu. "Ribbon" was to never be used in the manga.
リボン ribon and リボーン riboun do look similar, with the only difference being a dash between ボ bo and ン n, called a chōon, used in katakana. The chōon represents the length of the a vowel, which is very important in determining the meaning of a word, regardless of a words looking similar. Many non-Japanese fans who have seen the Japanese version of the manga and the anime most likely either didn't know that the chōon is important in determining the meaning of a word, or knew but didn't catch this.
"Reborn" appears to makes more sense than "ribbon", as it could be a reference either to the Mews' being infused with Red Data Animal's DNA, going through the dream sequence (being "reborn"), or, a refernce to the process of reverting the Chimera Animas back to normal, as this is what their attacks actually do, though Ichigo usually does the finishing move.
[edit] Pun of Ichigo's Weapon
The pun of her weapon in the Japanese version is a cross between "berry" (ベリー berii) and "bell" (ベル beru), making it "sutoroberuberu" (ストロベルベル), which translates to "Straw-bell Bell", rather than "sutoroberiiberu" (ストロベリーベル), which translates to "Strawberry Bell". In volume two of the manga, a little section called "Business Meeting 2", it is revealed that Ichigo's weapon is intended to be funny, leading to the conclusion that all of the Mew's weapons and attacks are intended to be funny.
Interestingly enough, Ichigo is the only Mew who doesn't have her name directly included in the names of her attacks and weapon; instead, it was replaced with the English word "strawberry", as that has the same meaning as her name.
[edit] Mew Mew Power
- Weapon: Strawberry Bell. Ichigo is the only Mew Mew whose original weapon's name is similar in Tokyo Mew Mew and Mew Mew Power.
- Attack: Strawberry Bell: Full Power!
- Weapon: Mewberry Rod + Strawberry Bell = Rose Bell
- Attack: Rose Bell: Full Power!
- Weapon: Strawberry Scepter
- Attack: Strawberry Scepter: Blue Aqua!
- This attack was used in one of the episodes that was never aired in the U.S.
[edit] Mew Mew: Amiche Vincenti
- Weapon: Fiocco del cuore (The heart's ribbon).
- Attack: Fiocco di luce (Ribbon of light) ("Reborn Strawberry Check")
- Attack: Fiocco di luce, massimo splendore (Ribbon of light, maximum shine) ("Reborn Strawberry Surprise")
- Weapon: Ala del cuore (The Heart's Wings) (MewBerry Rod)
- Weapon: Acqua Mew Rispelendi! (Mew Aqua ????needs translation for last word)
- Attack: Fiocco di Goccie! (Ribbon of Drops!) ("Reborn Aqua Drops")
[edit] Battle Costume
In the commentary at the end of volume two, it is shown on comic book form that the staff of Tokyo Mew Mew actually created Ichigo's battle outfit for Youki Yoshida to wear, since she played Ichigo at Tokyo Mew Mew events.
[edit] Voice actresses
- In Tokyo Mew Mew, her seiyū is Saki Nakajima.
- In Mew Mew Power, her voice actress is Amanda Brown.
- In Miau Miau Power, her voice actress is Alejandra Ramírez.
- In Mew Mew Amiche Vincenti, her voice actress is Debora Magnaghi.
[edit] Character Songs
Ichigo has five character songs, more than any other character in Tokyo Mew Mew. These songs are performed by Saki Nakajima, who is Ichigo's voice actress:
- Kirameki no Umi wo Koete (Crossing the Shining Sea)
- Strawberry Power
- Saikou ni Happy (The Most Happy)
- Nonbiri Dreamin' (Carefree Dreaming)
- Rondo
Kirameki no Umi wo Koete was used to make an official promotional video for Ichigo. Rondo and Nonbiri Dreamin' weren't actually used in the anime series, and were only included on the CDs: Rondo came with the Kirameki no Umi wo Koete CD single, and Nonbiri Dreamin' came with the Koi wa a La Mode single.
[edit] Trivia
- It is possible that Ichigo is modeled after Hime Azumi, the main character of Tokyo Black Cat Girl, another manga by Mia Ikumi. They share some characteristics, such as a similar battle outfit, personality, and love life.
- Ichigo's Strawberry Bell looks unusually similar to Chibiusa's Crystal Carillon.
[edit] External links
- Bio: Momomiya Ichigo
- Absolute Anime
- Mew Mew Power Uncensored's Character guide
- Mew Mew Planet Bio: Strawberry
| Tokyo Mew Mew Characters |
| Heroines |
| Ichigo Momomiya - Mint Aizawa - Lettuce Midorikawa |
| Pudding Fong - Zakuro Fujiwara - Berry Shirayuki |
| Ringo Akai - Hime Azumi |
| Friends |
| Masaya Aoyama - The Blue Knight |
| Ryou Shirogane - Keiichiro Akasaka - Tasuku Meguro |
| Masha - Ucha |
| Enemies |
| Aliens (Pie - Kish - Tart - Gateau du Rowa) |
| Deep Blue - Chimera Anima - Baku - Saint Rose Crusaders |
| Minor characters |
