If you grew up in the ’90-’00s, you might remember the classic selection of Saturday-morning anime that would often grace our TV screens. As is to be expected from the age of reboots and revivals in which we live, a certain beloved magical girl series is making a comeback. The first look at a renewed, revamped version of the hit series Mew Mew Power has just been revealed by AniTV.
The original series, first premiering in Japan in April of 2002, followed the story of a group of young girls who, after getting caught in a sudden earthquake, find they’ve been imbued with magical powers. In their new lives, they must find a way to balance the everyday struggles of being a high schooler with a newfound magical destiny that awaits.
The 2002 run was based on a manga series of the same name, having begun only two years prior to the TV pilot in late 2000. In a matter of months, the American dub of the anime had become the most successful dubbed project overseen by 4Kids distribution at the time.
Although the original series consisted of 52 episodes, only 26 were ever dubbed into English by company 4kids due to rights issues. The new reboot (colloquially dubbed ‘Tokyo Mew Mew New’) is set to follow the original Japanese release’s model, with 52 episodes expected.
The new series is expected to provide a new interpretation of the original manga, with the core group being voiced by members of Japanese idol group Smewthie.
Tokyo Mew Mew (2022) is set to premiere in July of this year on TV Tokyo, almost exactly 20 years after the screen debut of the original. It is currently unknown what arrangements will be made for English dubbing of the new series, or whether the series will be available to watch on standard anime streaming services such as Crunchyroll or Funimation.
