Ichigo Momomiya

''"Chikyuu no Mirai ni, Gohoshi Suru ~ Nyan!" - Ichigo's Catchphrase''

Ichigo Momomiya (桃宮 いちご, Momomiya Ichigo) is the main character and protagonist from the manga series Tokyo Mew Mew and its anime adaptation. She is the first Mew Mew to be introduced and her D.N.A is merged with an Iriomote cat.

She is a 13-year-old girl who attends Daikan Junior High School, with her crush and later boyfriend, Masaya Aoyama. She also works at Café Mew Mew as a waitress, a cover-up of her real duty as a Mew Mew.

Tokyo Mew Mew
Ichigo is first introduced when she is on a date with her love interest, Masaya Aoyama. She is attending a Red Data Animal exhibit with him because she is interested in his life. She meets the future Mew Mews at that exhibit. (Manga only)

In the anime, Masaya and Ichigo go to the park after going to the exhibit. Suddenly, there is an earthquake, and then Ichigo is injected with the D.N.A of an Iriomote cat in order to save her life. Later on, she begins experiencing cat-like aspects, such as eating a lot of fish, being more acrobatic (as in she tends to land on her feet as a cat does), and sleeping more than average. During the date, she passes out when she is injected and has a dream of a cat going inside her and merging with her. When she wakes up, Masaya says she has been sleeping for hours. A bit later Masaya is then attacked by a Chimera Anima and Ryou Shirogane gives her a Mew Pendant and encourages her to transform into Mew Ichigo.

Midway through the series, Ichigo gains a mysterious protector – the Blue Knight who later turns out to be Masaya. Throughout the series, Ichigo repeatedly rejects romantic advances by Quiche, one of her enemies, but, even though she could not accept his final declaration of love, she cried and held him when he died, showing how sweet Ichigo is.

Ichigo dies while transferring her own life force into Masaya after he sacrifices himself to kill Deep Blue, the leader of her enemies, but is subsequently revived by the Mew Aqua in Masaya. Later on, Masaya decides to go study abroad in England at the end of the series; but before he goes, Ichigo participates in a mock wedding with Masaya (manga only).

Tokyo Mew Mew à la Mode
The spinoff sequel reveals that Ichigo lost all of her Mew Powers and joined Masaya in England, but returned to Japan when her powers began to manifest again to aid in the battle against the Saint Rose Crusaders, with her new teammate, Berry Shirayuki.

Tokyo Mew Mew New
Ichigo has just made it to high school but sees everyone around her is in love and now she wants to feel it too. During this time, she finds out about a Masaya Aoyama who is very popular with the ladies and practices kendo. Ichigo catches him after he'd just finished his kendo match and had taken his mask off. It was at that moment Ichigo fell in love with Masaya.

Civilian
Ichigo is an average-sized, pale-skinned, young woman who has short cherry-red hair and chocolate brown eyes. Her hair is commonly tied up into pigtails with two red ribbons. Around her neck, she wears a bell that was given to her by Masaya, her boyfriend.

Café Mew Mew
Her café uniform consists of a red dress with light red trim-like stitches at the bottom and a heart-shaped white apron. Underneath, she wears white pantaloons with small light red bows on each side and has a light red ribbon tied into a neat bow on her chest. On her sleeves are light red cuffs that end in white frills.

She also wears black mary-janes with light red socks, laces and a small heart placed on the tongue. Instead of her usual pigtails, Ichigo's hair is let down and clipped with a pink lace headband.

Mew Form (2002)
When changing into Mew Ichigo, Ichigo's hair and eyes become bubblegum pink and her hair gets let down and slightly curlier. She grows black cat ears with light pink insides and a black tail with a thick dark pink ribbon tied into a bow with a bell attached.

Her Mewfit is a short, fluffy, pink strapless dress with a poofy skirt and dark pink knee-high boots with black laces. She has pink, puffy, arm garters, a choker which her Mew Pendant hangs off of, and a garter on her left leg which are all lined with dark pink lace. Her gloves are dark pink and wrist-length with pointed cuffs. The top of her dress is also lined with dark pink lace.

Mew Form (2022)
When changing into Mew Ichigo, Ichigo's hair and eyes become bright red and look more feral-like. She grows brown cat ears with light pink insides and a brown tail with a thin red ribbon tied into a bow with a bell attached.

Her Mewtfit remains the same aside from a few upgrades and a slightly different color palette. Her Mew Pendant no longer exists and in its place is a red ribbon with a gold base with a pink heart gem in the middle. Her red garter now has a ribbon attached, and her gloves have a white band with a small pink heart gem. Her arm garters and the bottom of her dress are lined with spiked-trim.

Cat Form
Whenever Ichigo's emotions run high, she has the chance to turn into a small black cat with bubblegum pink eyes and a collar with a bell around her neck. However, she needs to kiss something, human or animal, if she wants her human form back again.

In Tokyo Mew Mew New, Ichigo's cat form resembles an iriomote cat more closer.

Transformation Upgrade (PS1 Game)
In the PS1 Game, Ichigo gains a transformation upgrade with the help of Ringo's powers. With this upgrade, Ichigo hair is put up into wavy pigtails and a red bow is placed on her lower back. Her skirt become wider and gains a red trim.

Personality
Ichigo is a cheerful, friendly, hardworking, and hyper young girl who enjoys spending time with her friends and her boyfriend. She is quite bold and very brave, never letting her fear of the aliens stop her from protecting those close to her. She is very excitable and tends to overreact when angry. She has great leadership skills and constantly encourages her team to try their best without trying.

As a Civilian
Ichigo is full of energy, agile, and enduring even in her civil form. In Episode Five, Ichigo joins the rhythmic gymnastics team at her school where she improved her stamina, agility, flexibility, and reflexes. Sometimes her enhanced Mew Mew abilities (jumping high, landing on her feet) manifest in normal form, without her controlling it. She has some hand-to-hand skill that is combined with her acrobatic skills giving a combat advantage. She knows how to swim as seen in Episode Three.

As a Mew Mew
Ichigo was chosen to be the leader of the Mew Mews, by Ryou Shirogane, due to her being quite literally the heart and soul of Tokyo Mew Mew. If she's not around her team doesn't feel the drive to continue fighting. Ichigo's powers are love-based and emotion-fueled, seen when she transforms partially (cat ears and tail appearing) whenever she is excited or embarrassed. (Something the other mews don't experience.)

When she get very excited or embarrassed, she will turn into a cat and must kiss another living creature to return to normal. With the D.N.A of an Iriomote cat, Ichigo is granted certain cat-like abilities. Some of which are, being able to land easily after falling from a great distance and being able to predict the weather.

Original
Ichigo's transformation begins with her Mew Pendant glowing and powering on. Next, we see Ichigo in a curled up position with her DNA morphing in the background. Ichigo's face fills the screen before her hands cover her face and the screen zooms out, showing Ichigo bathed completely in light. Her hands go up above her head, pink sparkles surround her, shadows loom over her body. She then twirls through the air as pink energy flies onto her, forming her Mewfit. The camera goes down while Ichigo's Mewfit is still forming, stopping when her boots manifest.

Ichigo proceeds to land on her feet and bend forward as a tail spouts from under her dress. A light lands on her tail and a ribbon with a bell appears. Ichigo puts her hands out in front of her and the light covers her hands, leaving behind her gloves. Ichigo mimics a cat with her hands before the camera pans back to her head and her ears spouts. Ichigo puts her right hand up beside her head and a ribbon with a gold base and pink gem center appears on her wrist.

Ichigo jumps backward and puts her right leg up above her head. The camera then zooms in on her leg and switches perspective. The ribbon on Ichigo's wrist expels light that then dissolves into her choker and Mew Pendant. The camera zooms in on Ichigo's Pendant before zooming out again as Ichigo strikes her signature pose.

New
Ichigo's transformation begins with a large version of her mew mark in what appears to be a galaxy. A light shines from behind the mew mark than a pink door with gold rims appears and opens. Coming in from the door is a pink iromote cat whom runs toward the camera. After the cat passes the camera, Ichigo's face appears close-up while her body is hidden by pink sparkles. Ichigo begins twirling in the air as the camera zooms out. Her body is covered in a galaxy-looking paint and pink lights are flying onto her body.

Ichigo then starts to twirl back toward the camera when suddenly the pink lights all hit her and form her Mewfit. Starting with her dress, the dress is formed bottom to top, then the pink gem and the gold base form on her choker which was already there, and her hair which gets lighter and more shiny.

Then the camera moves down to her thighs as a pink ribbon spawns tied around her right thigh. The camera goes even more down, all the way to her feet, on her feet are a pair of redish pink knee-high boots with white lace tied neatly into a bow near the top. The camera is then moved to above Ichigo's head where her arms are currently. Ichigo puts her hands together above her head as her redish pink gloves with white lines around the wrist spawn on them.

The camera then shoots to her backside where her tail pops out from her dress. A bell appears on her tail and is then followed by a red ribbon that is tied into a bow. The camera then goes up to her head and her ears form. After her ears form, she puts her hands out before her and begins to imitate a cat. A pink gemstone appears on the white line on her gloves.

Ichigo's face fills the screen before she spins and then backflips into the air. On her way down, Ichigo starts doing all kinds of tricks in the air and eventually lands on the ground. She then strikes a pose as a picture of the iromoto cat appears behind her.

Weapons and Attacks
Ichigo's main weapon is the StrawBell Bell. The StrawBell Bell makes its first appearance in chapter 1 of the manga and Episode 1 of the anime. In Episode 15 of the anime, Ichigo receives the Mew Berry Rod which when combined with the StrawBell Bell, creates the StrawBell Bell Version Up. In chapter 8 of the manga, Ichigo's weapon is joined up with the other Mew's and that's what creates the StrawBell Bell - Version Up.

Ichigo's first attack is "Ribbon Strawberry Check!" where she aligns the jewels on her wrist and the bell as energy flies out. She rises into the air, surrounded by multi colored sparkles. She then blasts enemies with a rainbow-colored energy from her StrawBell Bell.

Ichigo's second attack is "Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!" where she aligns the jewels on her wrist and the bells as stronger energy files out. She rises into the air, surrounded by multi colored strings on energy. She then blasts enemies with a bright pink heart-shaped energy wave from her StrawBell Bell. This attack is stronger than her first.

Another attack used by Ichigo is "Ribbon Aqua Drops", in which she summons the Mew Aqua Rod (actually a transformed Masha in the manga), and in a swirl of light, she rises in the air and spreads blue, bubbly energy across the surface of the Earth.

In à la Mode, Ichigo is able to perform a joint attack with Berry named Ribbon Doubleberry Check!

In 2020 Re-Turn, her weapon is still the StrawBell Bell and her new attack is "Mew Sunshine Drops", which she initiates with the Mew Aqua Rod.

Mew Mew Power Dubs
Zoey's weapon name in the English dub and some other Mew Mew Power dubs is simplified to "Strawberry Bell", and her attack is renamed to "Strawberry Bell, Full Power!", and is sped up compared to Ichigo's. When the Mew Berry Rod (Unnamed in English dub) is attached, the weapon is given the name Rose Bell and the attack is called "Rose Bell! Full Power!".

Her third weapon is called the Strawberry Scepter. Her Blue Aqua Wand's only attack was named "Strawberry Sceptre! Blue Aqua Drops!".

Name Changes (Manga)
For the English translations of the manga, Ichigo's name is the same as the original Japanese version.

Name Changes (Anime)
Tokyo Mew Mew was dubbed and localized in many different languages. The names of the characters were also subject to change. Many of the dubs that didn't use Ichigo or Zoey often translated their words for "Strawberry" as her first name; for example: Chau-Mui and Morango all mean 'Strawberry' in their respective language.

Etymology

 * The name Ichigo is written in hiragana (いちご), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (一吾, 一悟, 一護, 一期, 一五 or 苺), it could possibly mean:
 * 一吾 - "one" (一) (ichi) and "I, me" (吾) (go).
 * 一悟 - "one" (一) (ichi) and "enlightenment" (悟) (go).
 * 一護 - "one" (一) (ichi) and "safeguard, protect" (護) (go).
 * 一期 - "term/first term, half-year, quarter".
 * 一五 - "15".
 * 苺 - "strawberry".
 * Ichigo's surname Momomiya means "peach" (桃) (momo) and "temple, shrine, palace" (宮) (miya).

Trivia

 * Her main weapon is a mystical pink-and-gold bell, just like the Crystal Carrion wielded by Super Sailor Chibi Moon in the fourth season of the 1990s Sailor Moon anime.
 * In an episode of Mew Mew Power, Zoey Hanson said that she was not a good dancer. She provided evidence for this when she revealed that, when she attempted to do the famous Macarena dance, she sent five people to the emergency room, just by dancing.
 * The Iriomote cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis) is a subspecies of leopard cat endemic to Iriomote Island. It is classified as "critically endangered" on the IUCN Red List, with an average population of under 250.
 * It was initially classified as a separate species, but mt-DNA analysis in the 1990s led to its reclassification as a subspecies.
 * Ichigo is the only Mew Mew who needed some help for her mutation to speed up. All the other Mew Mews' mutations are all complete and they are either unaware of the mutation (Minto and Bu-Ling) or they found out how to unlock it (Retasu and Zakuro).
 * Ichigo is the only member of the group whose garter is placed on her right leg, whereas the other members' garters are placed on their left leg. In à la Mode, Mew Berry also has her garter on her right leg, which may mean it signifies that they are the leaders of Tokyo Mew Mew.
 * Ichigo's transformation phrase and attack is the only one not including her name, hers being "Mew Mew Strawberry, Metamorphose" and "Ribbon Strawberry Check", while the other Mew Mews have their names included in their transformation phrase and attack. (The reason for this is because her name "Ichigo" is the Japanese translation of strawberry).
 * This was changed in New as her name was now included in her transformation phrase: "Mew Mew Ichigo, Metamorphose". The attack phrase, however, remains the same.


 * Despite popular belief, she and Ringo Akai are not related in any way, despite having a few similarities.
 * We found out in Episode 3 that Ichigo knows how to swim but is afraid of ghosts.

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