Tokyo Mew Mew - Reception

Reception

The Tokyo Mew Mew manga series was well received by English-speaking audiences. In March and April 2003, the first volume sold an estimated 1,597 and 1,746 copies respectively. This put the volume at the low end of the top 50 sales for each month. By 2004, with most of the series released, it became a mild success for licensor Tokyopop. It was ranked number 16 on the list of Manga Top 50 for the first quarter of 2004 in the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Anime/Manga, based on sales from both mainstream bookstores and comic book shops. Sales of the sixth and seventh volumes dropped slightly; however, both were among the top 100 best-selling graphic novels in March and May 2004. The first volume of Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode debuted 63rd on the list of top 100 best-selling graphic novels of May 2005, with nearly double the sales figures of the last volume of the main series. On the Nielsen Bookscan charts, the volume debuted at rank 39 before quickly climbing to the 14th spot. The second volume of a la Mode saw similar success, debuting in the 69th slot before advancing to the 12th position, a result of the Mew Mew Power anime show appearing on 4Kids TV.

Tokyo Mew Mew was generally well received by reviewers, who described it as cute and entertaining. Though AnimeFringe's Patrick King notes that it is not a very intellectual series and that it avoids complex plot points, he lauded it as engrossing "brain candy" and an "endearing action-romance" that has no "delusions of grandeur". Critics praised the artwork in both Tokyo Mew Mew and the sequel Tokyo Mew Mew a La Mode. Ikumi's "free flowing" style and character designs were seen as a perfect fit for the series. Criticism of Ikumi's art focused on images which regularly spilled out of panel borders and speech bubbles with ambiguous speakers. Patrick King of Animefringe stated: "one of the most attractive aspects of Tokyo Mew Mew is easily Mia Ikumi's ultra-cute artwork. Big eyes, cat ears, fuzzy tails, and short skirts all come together in a cuteness combo that's hard to resist." According to Carlos Santos of Anime News Network, "Mia Ikumi's artwork is perfectly suited to the story, and it's not even all that wispy and frilly compared to other shōjo material. Like many budding manga artist, Ikumi's greatest strength is in carefully posed character portraits, and her prolific use of tones creates unique effects while also sidestepping the challenge of backgrounds." Conversely, in writing for Manga: The Complete Guide, Shaenon Garrity criticizes the series, calling it "uninspired", "insipid" and "creative bankrupt" and feeling it was "clearly designed by its publisher to ride the magical girl tsunami for all it was worth: the creators' marginal notes are filled with references to big book signings, photo shoots, and models hired to dress as the scantily clad preteen heroines." She also remarks that the series makes poor use of its endangered species theme, while still having a "preachy environmental theme".

Over all Tokyo Mew Mew a La Mode had more mixed reviews. Critics praised it for being a modern manga that typifies the magical girl formula, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. Mike Dungan, of Mania Entertainment, considered the original series to be "quite charming" and felt that a la Mode was a good continuation of the series with the "same fun and excitement" as its predecessor. Others felt Berry was an overly shallow heroine and that the sequel offered nothing new for readers with the Saint Rose Crusaders' costumes and plans being nothing more than concepts borrowed from Sailor Moon. Janet Crocker, Shannon Fay and Chris Istel of Animefringe criticized A la Mode for having the character Duke dressed in a white robe similar to those used by the white supremacy group, the Ku Klux Klan. Garrity felt a La Mode was a vehicle for referencing Tokyo Mew Mew fandom and merchandise and that Berry was a "transparent wish-fulfillment protagonist".

The anime adaptation has been compared to Sailor Moon due to both having female protagonists; five original team members with signature colors and powers, and similar plot lines. Tokyo Mew Mew received high ratings in Japan with extensive merchandizing tie ins and marketing events to promote the series. When 4Kids announced their licensing of the anime, heavily edited and localized, fans of the series were openly dismayed and began multiple campaigns to convince the company to release an uncut version of the series. After previews of the retooled series were released, viewers were less disappointed, but still annoyed by the cultural shifting and still desired an uncut DVD release. Mew Mew Power became a successful broadcast series for 4Kids, becoming the highest rated 4Kids show at the start of the fall 2005 season, but it was never released to DVD in North America. The 4Kids dub, rather than original Japanese version, was subsequently licensed for broadcast in France, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Greece, South Africa and Israel.