Retasu Midorikawa (jpn. 碧川 れたす Midorikawa Retasu) is a character from the manga and anime series Tokyo Mew Mew, and one of the main heroines of the story. She is the third member of Tokyo Mew Mew to be introduced and her DNA is merged with the finless porpoise. She is a shy, second-year junior high student who attends Okumura Junior High School and works at Café Mew Mew.
Plot[]
Life as a child[]
In the anime, Retasu has a younger brother named Uri. Her parents, Yomogi and Eizaburou Midorikawa, always encouraged her to "Be herself, and someday, she will have real friends.".
Before meeting Ichigo, Retasu still had her 'friends' from school. "The Three Beckies" as they're known in the English dub.
Arrival In The Manga[]
Retasu first appears in chapter 1 of the first manga book. Her name is not revealed until chapter 3. She is at a museum for endangered animals exhibit. While attending, she is being picked on by the trio of girl-bullies. Ichigo runs to get help but Bu-Ling Huang gets to the girls first and they run away. Retasu mentions that she'll have to apologize to them later. She won't see Ichigo or Bu-Ling again until an earthquake that later occurs.
During the earthquake, Retasu, Ichigo and Bu-Ling became trapped in a room. A ray zapped Retasu, resulting in her DNA being infused with that of the finless porpoise, and allowing her the ability to transform into Mew Lettuce.
Later in the manga, Retasu and the three bullies are sitting in Café Mew Mew. The girls talk about a mysterious ghost-girl haunting a school's pool. They try to pressure Retasu to investigate it, but she doesn't want to. As the girls begin to shout and harass her, Ichigo runs over and "accidentally" dumps food on the girls. Afterward, Keiichiro Akasaka takes the girls to get cleaned up; giving Ichigo a chance to introduce herself to Retasu and ask her why she hangs out with those mean girls. Retasu reveals that she only hangs out with the girls in hopes that they'll be her friend. Upon the girls' return, Retasu leaves the café.
That night, Minto and Ichigo go to Retasu's school to see if the mysterious ghost was a Chimera Anima. Making their way to the pool, Minto and Ichigo discover Mew Lettuce to be the ghost. Her powers go out of control; accidentally attacking Minto and Ichigo out of fear. Retasu begins to cry saying she'll, "Never have any friends."
Minto speaks a few comforting words to calm Retasu. Ichigo then tickles and hugs Retasu. Tricking her into thinking Ichigo was going to attack her for hurting people, they fall into the pool.
Sometime later, Retasu starts working in Café Mew Mew with the others.
Her Arrival In The Anime[]
- Tokyo Mew Mew
Unlike the manga where Retasu first appears at the exhibit, Ichigo bumps into Retasu while running late for school. She is carrying four bags. While pondering why Retasu has that many bags with her, the three girl-bullies appear. They tell Retasu to "Hurry up!". She apologies to everyone, including Ichigo.
- Mew Mew Power
In Mew Mew Power, Bridget is bossed around by three popular girls called 'The Three Beckies'. Bridget vents her anger at night in her school, causing the ghost-girl rumour. However, Zoey Hanson and Corina Bucksworth befriend her and she stops hanging around with the three girls.
Later In The Anime[]
Once, during a time of crisis, a drop of Mew Aqua appeared to aid Mew Lettuce. Her lower half changed into the tail of a porpoise. The Mew Aqua aided transformation occurs twice; Once, so she could save Iruka and a boy from drowning. The second was to save the life of an unconscious Ryou Shirogane, whom she has a crush on.
Personality[]
Retasu is a sweet but shy and timid girl. She is very polite and always speaks formally, even to her friends and family. After befriending Ichigo and Minto, she becomes more confident. Retasu does not like to get involved in fights unless it will prevent her friends from being harmed.
Appearance[]
Civilian[]
Retasu has light skin and green hair with two long braids at the back. She has blue eyes and thin glasses.
Cafe Mew Mew[]
Retasu's Cafe Mew Mew waitress outfit is identical to the others, with the exception of it being a dark green colour.
Mew Mew[]
Mew Lettuce's hair turns bright green and her eyes change from sky blue to bright green. Her hair becomes a loose ponytail. She wears a green strapless dress with a skirt that fans out in a flower-petal like appearance, with green garters on her arms and left leg. She has a green choker that her Mew Pendant dangles from and white lace lining on her choker and garters. She has long white antennas on her head that reach her feet and knee-high green boots. Mew Lettuce's Mew Mark is on her chest, with two curves that resemble fish.
New[]
Aside from a few upgrades and different color palette, her leotard is replaced with a tight green skirt. Her Mew Pendant is no longer in place of a green ribbon with green heart gem in the middle. She also has another ribbon, bigger and lighter in color, behind the choker. Her green garter now has a ribbon attached, and her new fingerless gloves have a white band with a small green heart gem. Her boots are laced-up and her once loose ponytail has been split into two with curls at the end that resembles the waves. Her long white antennas are now located at the back of the flower-petal skirt.
Relationships[]
Love Interest[]
From episode 19 and onwards, she seems to have a crush on Ryou. Retasu saved Ryou from drowning by kissing him in episode 41 and in episode 49, she shared a cake with Ryou showing interest in him. She is also shown saving him many times in the anime such as in episodes 41, 46 and 51.
Abilities[]
As a Civilian[]
Retasu is very creative and gifted in tailoring, as demonstrated by the dolls she makes during her spare time. She is intelligent, demonstrates some skill in hand-to-hand combat, even if she does not use it all the time. At the beginning of the story, she did not know how to swim after will be able.
As a Mew Mew[]
She is the only Mew Mew who can breathe underwater. In the manga, Retasu's legs can transform into a porpoise's tail when she underwater, which greatly enhances her swimming. In the anime series, she needs to be in the presence of Mew Aqua in order to do this.
Lettuce is able to manipulate water with her mind. This ability seems to be related to her emotions, and strong emotions intensify the power.
As a Mew New[]
As in the original anime series, Retasu is the only Mew Mew who can breathe underwater. Her legs can transform into a porpoise's tail when underwater, which greatly enhances her swimming.
Lettuce is able to manipulate water with her mind. This ability seems to be related to her emotions, and strong emotions intensify the power. She is able to create bubbles to breathe underwater, witness past events, and see the presence of others in the water.
Transformation[]
Mew Mew[]
Mew Lettuce's transformation begins with a kiss on her Mew pendant and a declaration of her metamorphosis as bubbles rise up around her. Her pendant begins to glow and her DNA morphs, initiating the sequence. Lettuce parts her hands to reveal the glowing Mew Mark on her chest, and she twirls into a flurry of bubbles as her Mew uniform appears. She performs a final spin as her antennae sprout from her head and she lands safely within a giant clam shell. She claps four times, her antennae curl around her and she strikes a pose.
New Mew[]
Mew Lettuce's transformation begins her declaration of her metamorphosis, starting with a view of the ocean and a finless porpoise jumping from a large wave into the sea. The finless porpoise jumps from the ocean once more and this time, Mew Lettuce is alongside it. She and the porpoise dive head-first into the water as her transformation begins. As she dives deeper into the water, her wristlets appear first, followed by her top and skirt, and the decorations on her shoulders, and finally her garter and boots. She spins elegantly to float upright, and we see that her two braids have unravelled to become two wavy, antenna-like strands of hair. Her white ribbon appears on the back of her petal-like skirt, and a green gem and bow appear on her collar. She closes her eyes and assumes a wishing position, with clasped hands, as the finless porpoise appears behind her.
Weapons and Attacks[]
Mew Lettuce's attack stems from her weapons known as the Lettustanets. During her attack sequence, she rises up into the air with her arms crossed over her chest. She then parts them and manifests the Lettustanets in each hand. Playing a small rhythm with them, she spins around and then fires a blast of water power at the opponent.
International[]
Name changes (manga)[]
As in most cases, the characters' names in Tokyo Mew Mew went through changes upon translation. For English manga translations, TokyoPop and Kodansha used the food translations for both the characters' names and Mew Mew names. For the Singapore English translation, publisher Chuang Yi chose to keep both the civilian and secret identity names.
Language | Title | Publisher | Name | Mew Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
Japanese | Tokyo Mew Mew | Kodansha | Retasu Midorikawa | Mew Lettuce |
English | Tokyo Mew Mew | TokyoPop & Kodansha | Lettuce Midorikawa | Mew Lettuce |
English (Singapore) | Tokyo Mew Mew | Chuang Yi | Retasu Midorikawa | Mew Lettuce |
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 Retasu/Lettuce or Bridget often translated their words for "Lettuce" as her first name; for example, Wō-Jù, and Alface all mean 'lettuce' in their respective language.
Language | Title | Name | Mew Name | Voice Actress |
---|---|---|---|---|
Japanese | Tokyo Mew Mew | Retasu Midorikawa | Mew Lettuce | Kumi Sakuma (Original Anime)
Ryoko Juni (Tokyo Mew Mew New) |
English | Mew Mew Power | Bridget Verdant | Mew Bridget | Bella Hudson |
Mandarin | Dōng Jīng Māo Māo (Tokyo Cats / Tokyo Mew Mew) |
Wō-Jù BìChuān | Mew Mew Wō-Jù | Xiè Jiǎo-Juān |
Cantonese (VCD Dub) | Dung Ging Miu Miu (Tokyo Mew Mew) |
Hueng-Choi BikChyun | Mew Hueng-Choi | Ng Mui |
Cantonese (ATV Dub) | Maau Maau Jin Deui (Cat Team / Mew Mew Team) |
Hueng-Choi BikChyun | Mew Hueng-Choi | Taam Suk-Ying (Rebecca Tam) |
Italian | Mew Mew Amiche Vincenti (Mew Mew Winning Friends) |
Lory Midorikawa (2002 Anime)
Lettuce Midorikawa (Tokyo Mew Mew New) |
Mew Lory | Elisabetta Spinelli (2002 Anime)
Valentina Pallavicino (Tokyo Mew Mew New) |
Korean | Berry Berry Mew Mew | Leti Bae (2002 Anime)
Green Yeon (Tokyo Mew Mew New) |
Mew Lettuce | Jeong-Hwa Yang |
Indonesian | Tokyo Mew Mew | Retasu Midorikawa | Mew Retasu | N/A |
Hebrew | Tokyo Mew Mew | Retsu Midorikawa | Mew Retsu | Hagar Tishman (Season 1) Na'ama Uzan (Season 2) |
Brazilian Portuguese | As Super Gatinhas (The Super Kittens) |
Brigiti Verdant | (None) | Letícia Quinto |
Portuguese (1st Dub) | Mew Mew Power | Bridget Verdant | Mew Bridget | Sónia Neves (†) |
Portuguese (2nd Dub) | Tokyo Mew Mew | Alface Midorikawa | Mew Alface | Solange Santos |
Danish | Mew Mew Power | Retasu Midorikawa | Mew Retasu | Thea Ulstrup |
Thai | Tokyo Mew Mew | Lettuce Midorikawa | Mew Lettuce | Arunee Nanthiwat |
Albanian (Albania Production) | Vajzat Mjau - Mbrojtëset e Planetit (Mew Girls - Defenders of the Planet) |
Brixhet Verdant | Mjau Brixhet | Desantila Kristo |
Albanian ("Jess" Discographic) | Luftëtaret Mace (Cat Warriors) |
Lori Midorikawa | Mjau Lori | Suela Xhonuzi |
Hungarian | Vadmacska Kommandó (Wildcat Commando) |
Bridget Verdant | (None) | Piroska Simonyi |
Latino Spanish | Miau Miau Power (Mew Mew Power) |
Bridget Verdant | Miau Bridget | Dilma Gómez |
French | Mew Mew Power | Bridget Verdant | (None) | Géraldine Frippiat |
Dutch | Mew Mew Power | Bridget Verdant | Mew Bridget | Meghna Kumar |
Serbian | Družina Mjau - Mjau / Mjau - Mjau Tokio (Mew Mew Team / Tokyo Mew Mew Team) |
Bridžit Verdant | Mjau Bridžit | Ana Maljević |
Croatian | Mijau Mijau Družina (Mew Mew Team) |
Bridžit Verdant | Mjau Bridžit | N/A |
Bulgarian | Силата Миу Миу / Silata Mew Mew (Mew Mew Power) |
Bridget Verdant | Mew Bridget | N/A |
Greek | Mew Mew Power | Bridget Verdant | (None) | Stella Mponatsou |
Turkish | Mew Mew Power / Sihirli Kizlar (Magical Girls) |
Bridget Verdant | Mew Bridget | N/A |
Etymology[]
- The name Retasu means "Lettuce".
- Retasu's surname Midorikawa means "green, blue" (碧) (midori) and "river, stream" (川) (kawa).
Trivia[]
- According to her official profile for the Playstation game, she is a 2nd-year middle schooler, unlike Ichigo and Minto, who are 1st years. However, since Retasu's birthday is April 29th, Retasu ages very early on to 14, from 13. This is because the Japanese school year begins in April (around April 1st) and ends in late March. Thus, Retasu would be 13 for about the span of a single month[1].
- In Mew Mew Power, Bridget is shown to be intelligent, while Retasu is not mentioned to be especially smart.
- Retasu's eyesight improves as Mew Lettuce, no longer needing glasses to see.
- Even though she can swim as Mew Lettuce, Retasu at first could not.
- The finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) (known as the "Sunameri" in Japan) looks like a small beluga whale and is named after its lack of a dorsal fin. There are two subspecies: the Indo-Pacific and the narrow-ridged. According to the IUCN Red List, the former is "vulnerable" and the latter is "endangered". Their current population numbers are unknown.
- It is unknown which subspecies provides Retasu's DNA and powers.
- Retasu's birthday, April 29, is the "Day of Green" in Japan.
- She doesn't have a solo transformation in Mew Mew Power, due to the nudity at the beginning of her transformation. Group transformations only show the ending, where she's fully clothed.
- She shares her surname with voice actor Midorikawa Hikaru, who voiced Keiichiro. Although, the kanji used for "Green" is different.
- In Berry Berry Mew Mew, Retasu speaks formally in the first half of episode 3 and speaks informally later on; while in the original Japanese version, she speaks formally all the time.
- As a pastime, Retasu enjoys making dolls.
- Retasu's favourite foods are shortcakes, mille crepes, and stewed foods. Her least favourite is shiitake mushrooms.
- In both Cantonese dubs, the translated name they chose for her, Heung-Choi, actually means "Parsley".
- When the voice actors for the original Tokyo Mew Mew anime were announced in the March 2002 issue of Nakayoshi magazine, it showed that Yoko Asada was originally going to voice Retasu. However, before recording, she had to go on maternity leave due to her pregnancy. So the role ended up going to Kumi Sakuma, her understudy.