I remember the feeling of heaviness when I was scrolling through my news feed depicting posts about Ms. My memories of being a joyful sixth grader eagerly trading manga with my friends helped mold the person who I am today. A series that I haven’t read in over ten years could still impact me emotionally after all this time was a reminder that while I continue to age, my younger years are very much part of my identity.

The overwhelming sense of loss I felt when I heard of Mia Ikumi’s death shocked me. Saddly, on March 7th, 2022, Mia Ikumi passed away at the age of 42. Sailor Moon was my introduction to the Magical Girl genre, but Tokyo Mew Mew solidified my love for it. It impacted my standard of top tier magical girl anime. With deliciously over-the-top outfits, sugary sweet romance plots, and ridiculous character dynamics, this series was a major part of my upbringing. She, along with the creative writer Reiko Yoshida, brough five spunky gal pals to life in this original 7 volume series. Mia Ikumi was the illustrator of Tokyo Mew Mew.

Every time I saw the gorgeous covers on the shelves at Barnes & Noble or Borders, it set the stage for an epic reading time for young little Oona. I am in my late twenties, and I can still remember how hungry I was for each book how excited I was when each Mew was revealed, the multiple love triangles, the super cute maid outfits, and the adorable romance between Ichigo and Masiya. The coolest ‘Mew reveal’ for me was Lettuce it had a major Carrie/old-school horror set-up. My favorite Mew was Zakuro, who had a bitchin’ purple magical girl outfit and wolf ears (Her powers came from the DNA of a gray wolf that she was infused with). She wasn’t as huge a crybaby as Usagi from Sailor Moon, but she did have an outfit just as cute, if not more so. Ichigo was not my favorite kind of main character, but she was earnest and had a good heart.

TMM was everything I wanted in my life best friends who would go to war for you, a sickly-sweet romance, ah-mazing outfits? I was in heaven every time I flipped a page. I was the biggest anime nerd in elementary and middle school, and I just loved bringing TMM to school and letting my friends read through it too.

I remember being in 6th grade excitedly sharing my copies of Tokyo Mew Mew with my friends in the cafeteria.

Tokyo Mew Mew, Vol. 1 by Mia Ikumi