Tokyo Mew Mew Omnibus, Vol. 2

Tokyo Mew Mew Omnibus #2

by Reiko Yoshida, Mia Ikumi (Illustrator)

MEW MEW! SPLASH SPLASH! On a quest to discover the Mew Aqua, a powerful element that can purify anything contaminated, our favorite female fighting force Tokyo Mew Mew discover much more than they bargained for! Will they be able to retrieve Mew Aqua or will they end up all wet? New adventures and romances are just around the corner in this stunning collection of stories from Tokyo Mew Mew volumes 3 & 4! Includes special extras after the story!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels, Shojo, Comics, Graphic Novels Manga

359 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 13, 2011

Reviews

[Jessica-Robyn]

I don't understand. What is it about this series that I'm missing?

This is about to get a little ranty, you've been warned.

To start with, why don't we just forget about those other four girls on the Mew Mew "Team"? They have been thrown to the side lines for four volumes now, which has resulted in them hardly have any background information; absolutely no story lines of their own; and they only show up when Ichigo wants to complain about them or needs help in battle. What's the point of having a group if they aren't even a central part of the story after four volumes?!

I honestly don't understand!!

Instead the focus is entirely put on the relationship between Aoyama and Ichigo. I do not like Aoyama. He consistently shows behaviour that is incredibly red flag and Ichigo's relationship with him has gradually made me dislike her as well. We have crossed into Bella Swan territory here.

There's a moment when Ichigo thinks her DNA has permanently morphed and instead of worrying about the rest of her life, her friends, her family, how things may never be the same way again and her entire life is gone, her first prominent thought on the issue:

"Maybe I'll be stuck this way forever. Then I'll never be his girlfriend." pg.113

It is just incredibly frustrating when a female main character, who has such potential as a heroine, ends up crossing the line from having a crush on a boy to having really terrible priorities. I wouldn't mind it if he was just the love interest, but then we have moments where she answers her phone during battle just to talk to him or when she tries to save the world really quickly because he's waiting for her and she doesn't want to upset him by being incredibly late while this thing is trying to kill people and she's focused on trying to get to her date. PRIORITIES.

Sigh.

The storytelling is poorly focused and when all five girls are together the dialogue is so jumpy it has no flow to it. I feel like the most intelligible conversations came from the villains, so I started rooting for them. You take back your planet! You get those Mew Mews and their lack-lustre personalities! You've certainly earned it for putting up with such terrible battle banter!

I don't understand it at all! Why do you all like this so much?! < cries >

[Anne (ReadEatGameRepeat)]

such a fun series! I really like seeing the mew's work together and really figure all this stuff out.

[Daniy ♠]

Why is every male so toxic in this manga lol the one from Tokyo Black Cat is the worst of all tho

[Sakura]

The is the weakest book in the series, and although I originally gave this volume a 5, I’m pushing it down to a four- (which is still quite high, lol)

Many portions of the book are decently boring- I don’t care for Ichigo being turned into a cat, or the extra manga comic we got at the end. They also make an error here, and refer to Tart as a girl.

But it still had its good points, I did enjoy it a lot overall- the bad points weren’t enough to majorly affect my reading experience! 💕

🌷This series is cute, fun, and has adorable artwork- I think it’s totally a good choice for teens who want a new magical girl series to try! ✨

(This book contains romance, fantasy violence, mild language, and mention of alcohol. There are some depictions of Ichigo’s body (undetailed) when she transforms and such. There is also a scene of an imagined disaster where many dead bodies are shown, but it doesn’t look violent at all. There is also some other scenes that are awkward to me. When Ichigo is a cat, she takes a bath with her crush by mistake (which sounds 1000% worse then it is, lol- she tries to escape, and he doesn’t know the cat is Ichigo- he thinks it is just a normal cat. It is shown as if she’s the in a daze, and doesn’t remember anything afterwards. Like I said, she IS an actual cat at this point- but it still felt like a dumb excuse for strange humor that didn’t hit right. Also who in their right mind takes a bath with a cat in the first place? This is why I don’t like you, Aoyama 😓) I would give it an age rating of 13+! )

[Rhiannon]

The quintessential, of its time, must read Mahou Shojou - It starts off strong but this omnibus shows a dip in the middle. The plot gets quite a bit darker and has some rather questionable elements (older teen creeping on younger teen vibes, voyeurism [but it's framed as ok cos it's cute kitty Ichigo creeping on her love interest who has no idea so it's totally fine] etc.) These elements are very much of their time and while it is unfair to judge an older manga by our more recent standards in literature and social factors BUT we very much have to still acknowledge and talk about it (especially if younger readers are going to enjoy it!).

[Jennifer]

Wow, I really enjoyed this volume and been enjoying this manga series! : ) love it, such a great story and characters and love the friendship and teamwork between the Tokyo Mew Mew girls and love the sweet relationship between Ichigo and Aoyama too ♡ this volume left on a cliffhanger though, so can't wait to read vol.3 to see what happens! definitely recommend this series as well as the anime adaptation too! : )

[~Cyanide Latte~]

This second omnibus collection lives up to the first! We get quite a few more shenanigans in this volume including Ichigo transforming into an actual cat when too aroused or whatever, and only being able to transform back into a human with a kiss, an introduction to Kish's partners Tart and Pie, a couple tiny snippets of character development for Lettuce and Mint, and...a lot of food references and puns during battle? That latter bit is NOT something I recall being in the original Tokyopop translation single volumes from when I was in high school. There are so many food/eating references when the Mew Mews are bantering with their alien antagonists, which seems kind of odd (though I guess it's fitting, given their names and the titles of their attacks.)

Additional points of note are that this volume ends on a slight cliffhanger with the appearance of another new character, and there is an extra bonus story in the back that is unrelated to Tokyo Mew Mew. (The bonus story isn't necessary to read at all, but it's just a fun little extra included, having predated the creation of Tokyo Mew Mew.)

Once again, I'm so happy that I was able to collect one of these omnibus editions, and I look forward to eventually getting my hands on and reading the rest~.

[Meesh]

Unfortunately, the more I progress though this book, the harder it becomes to read 💧 I’m not a very big fan of the pairings, and that’s probably why. I do not understand why Ichigo has to chase after the most boring, standard, lacklustre love interest when she’s surrounded by far more intriguing characters? I’m a heavy Kisshu x Ichigo shipper, and feel the plot could be taken somewhere interesting if she pursued him instead of Aoyama, perhaps there could be a truce between the aliens and humankind? Instead, she goes after boring, every-other-shoujo-guy Aoyama, I find it really boring, sorry…

This wouldn’t be such an issue either if it wasn’t such a heavy plot to the story, every chapter includes him… she even picks up her phone during battle and as such gets her phone eaten. It’s silly things like this which anger me. Romance aside (though it is a big part of the story) I love the art and the characters :)

[Hailey Vieira]

What a ride! I am so happy that I already have the next Manga because if I had, had to wait for the next one to arrive, I don't think I would've made it! haha
I'm still really enjoying the storyline... like it just makes sense, you know? The villains have a
motive for why they are doing things and it all just goes together so nicely!
I love how close the girls have grown together! They're friendship is just so wholesome and they all have one another's backs :)
Though I feel for poor Ichigo! The boy problems! The poor girl has enough on her plate, never mind adding in all the guys causing issues haha; unfortunately we have all been there at one point or another lol
Time to start reading the next volume!

[Audrey (Warped Shelves)]

4.5 stars

Tokyo Mew Mew is the epitome of a magical girl manga, and I love it! This series is full of cute boys, quirky girls, and sci-fi-fi action. I think I may like this second omnibus better than the first. Ichigo and Aoyama are SO CUTE together; ahh I just love the romance so much. And the action. And the art style. And the everything.

Tokyo Black Cat Girl at the end was a refreshing little add-on to the series. I didn't like it as much as the main story, but it was a nice little short.

I'm curious to see how Tokyo Mew Mew ends in the next omnibus, but I also don't want this to end. Ever.

[Julia Stephenson]

I enjoyed this one more than I enjoyed the first omnibus. Ichigo has been asked to go on dates with Aoyama, but every time she agrees to meet him, she gets interrupted by her role to team up and defeat aliens, or turn into a cat that can only go back to human form after a kiss. Her teammates need her help, and her employer has a crush on her. She is only loyal to Aoyama and her teammates. She ditches her employer's flirting attempts to help the girls defeat the monster that holds the destruction of their society together.

[Soobie has fog in her brain]

Some scenes were a little confusing and I had to go back a couple of pages and re-read everything.

I'm not even sure I like the Tokyo Mew Mew as characters. I totally dislike Pudding and the rest... well, they seem evanescent... They really don't have a personality.

But the idea behind the story is quite interesting and I want to start the third omnibus as soon as possible.

[Dustin]

idk how i feel about this series so far. i really wish the friendship between the girls was more important to the story. they feel like afterthoughts or only really included because the design of their characters are cute. and for so much of TMM to be devoted to the romance, it feels really underdeveloped.

[-moonprismpower-]

Every dude wants to kiss Ichigo! Let the other girls get some love LOL.

Am I the only one who wants Ichigo with Shirogane?!? Aoyama isn’t horrible but not the one for me.. *cough* I mean for Ichigo of course! Haha.

Also, did Ichigo say that she’s 12!? Manga really needs to start aging characters to match their appearance… 14-15 would’ve been better!!!

[Sarah Wilson]

ICHIGO TURNED INTO A CAT! I love that! Im really starting to notice some difference between the manga and the anime now. I love how more forward Ryo and Kish are in the manga and the sibling ish relationship between Ryo and Lettuce it adds new dynamics for the characters and the team.

[Sibyl Espada]

4 stars, a series I discovered in my teenage years that hold a very special place to me despite it's faults. The manga tends to focus on the main character Ichigo and her problems while leaving the rest of the magical girl team with less focus. But they all have their charms.

[Devin Panda]

Man this took me too long to read. Sometimes you just lose motivation to read ya know. But it was really good and I enjoyed myself a lot. Love a magical girl transformation. But man so many question left unanswered and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

[Tanya]

Very cute, though still corny :) I do love the artwork!

[706layla]

good stuff

[Madison]

Really good!

[Mercedez]

(3.5 out of 5)

[Ashlyyisfunsize]

I enjoyed this one a bit more. Less romantic triangle and more focus on the aliens and what they are trying to do to the world. I think my daughter would love these.

[LeonDante]

Fun as always. Love the addition at the end with the OG idea Mia Ikumi had before Tokyo Mew Mew

[Cheyanne]

Rereading this has been so nostalgic!

[Lize Potgieter]

Very cute and brings back nostalgia of watching the anime.

The anime is just slightly better for me.

[Pumpkin Spice Retrograde]

What can I say? It's a magical girl with an early 00's art style!

[Julianne]

Hmm who is she going to choose? Shirogane is kinda…but also Aoyama… this volume amped everything up and I am loving it! 💖💖

[Akumu]

Still cute.

[Alengo]

I like it. It is a cute manga.

[Nora Cayetano]

Bueno, pues ya terminé el segundo omnibus :)
Y la verdad es que lo puedo calificar como "meh". Porque no es bueno ni malo, pero puede cansar un poco (al menos en mi caso)


En esta segunda entrega, que está comprendida por los tomos 3 y 4 del manga original, nos enteramos de algunas cosas novedosas:

ヽ(°◇° )ノ RESUMEN DE LA HISTORIA (aguas con los spoilers)ヽ( °◇°)ノ
-Retasu tiene una crush por Shirogane (con quien Ichigo continúa en un estire y afloje por saber si se siente atraída o no hacia él). Este era un detalle del anime que nunca comprendí bien, ya que no le veía ni pies ni cabeza, ni siquiera un inicio o una justificación (aunque soy consciente de que en el anime es donde más se nota, ya que hasta lo besa) -y no es como si la otra posible parejita que le conozco a la niña tenga más sentido-. En el manga, la crush parece iniciarse en el hecho de que Shirogane confía en la chica y le inspira a creer en ella misma, lo cual es lindo, creo.

-Las mew comienzan a tener más protagonismo, que ya no se limita a ser las compañeras de equipo de Ichigo. Claro que esto a nadie le importa tanto como el hecho de que...

-¡Ichigo se puede transformar en un gato! ...Como Raku-chan en Nyan~ Neko Sugar Girls, pero con menos lógica, en mi humilde opinión: mientras que Raku-chan se convierte al contraer rabia (y vuelve a la normalidad después de ser llevada al veterinario), Ichigo lo hace porque su ADN de gato se está fortaleciendo más y más, al grado de devorar al humano -cosa que parece no estarle pasando a las otras Mew, btw-. Así que, cuando Ichigo se sobrexcita por algo (dígase Aoyama), se transforma en gato y sólo puede volver a la normalidad con un beso del sexo opuesto. Obviamente, esta situación es ideal para que se den toda clase de enredos y momentos "chuscos y románticos" entre personajes, como que Ichigo se dé un baño con Aoyama y que se consiga un nuevo admirador: Francois, el gato gordo (que es uno de mis personajes favoritos, por cierto, ya que me recuerda otras cosas que me gustan)

-Y la relación de Aoyama e Ichigo se formaliza. Yay :v


Así que, en sí, no es una trama mala, pero considero que eso se debe a que es la mera mitad de la historia. Si los tomos fueran más hacia el inicio o el final, posiblemente sería puro relleno. Pero, como ya lo dije:






El omnibus también incluye la historia que lo inició todo: Tokyo Black Cat , que es la historia de chicas mágicas con una temática más seria que Mia Ikumi imaginó que sería su siguiente gran proyecto. En ella, la batuta de ser la heroína de Tokyo (y del mundo, ¿pero a quién le interesa el resto del mundo?) recae en Hime Azumi, una jovencita muy jovial y con un alto respeto a la justicia. Sinceramente, desearía ver más de esta obra.

Y, bueno, me pasaré al siguiente tomo, que ya le traigo muchas ganas y quiero llegar a leer los momentos de más acción de mi anime de la infancia ;)