Zakuro Fujiwara is a character in the manga and anime series Tokyo Mew Mew, and one of the main heroines of the story. She is the fifth of the Mew Mews to be introduced and her D.N.A is merged with a gray wolf.
Plot
Zakuro's childhood
Zakuro Fujiwara went to a prestigious school and was fully educated. Much of her past isn't mentioned in the manga but is shown more in the anime. It was mentioned in one episode, that she used to live in America, as she left 'home' two years before the series started.
In Tokyo Mew Mew, it is shown that someone close to Zakuro died in the form of a flashback. She had to take care of herself when her parents were busy. This hints at the reason for her unsociable personality.
Tokyo Mew Mew
Zakuro is the fifth Mew Mew to be introduced. Having transformed without having come in contact with anyone from Café Mew Mew, she acted as a lone vigilante. After the four other mews meet Zakuro for the first time, she declines their invitation to join the team.
During one of Quiche's mischievous interventions, Mew Ichigo saves Zakuro and calls her a friend. After that, even though she "doesn't like friends", Zakuro joins the group. As with the others, she first appears at the endangered animal exhibit without being named.
Zakuro in her School Uniform.
Personality
Zakuro is presented as a self-confident, independent, and mature character throughout the Tokyo Mew Mew series; portrayed as the mature, older-sister-like figure of the group, offering advice and often appearing to save the younger girls just in the nick of time. She usually works alone, as she initially refused to join the other Mew Mews. Zakuro is also shown to be very smart, although she often masks her knowledge of things. She often takes to speaking with Ryou about conflicts within the group. Although Zakuro is a part of the Mew Mews, each member views her differently: Ichigo views her as the big sister of the group, that she stands out at parties, as well as being calm and cool in dire situations. Minto sees Zakuro as an idol that she adores, while Bu-Ling and Retasu find Zakuro to be a normal person who doesn't really stand out from the crowd.
Appearance
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Mew Zakuro
Zakuro is a professional model and, as her biggest fan Minto effuses, Zakuro has "long, glossy, raven hair" with "dark, intelligent, yet sensitive sapphire-coloured eyes" and "long, strong and thin legs". She is the tallest of the Mew Mews.
Civilian
Zakuro's hair is violet and her eyes are indigo. When they meet she is always wearing a silver cross necklace. In the anime, she is often seen wearing another necklace that has her name on it.
Tokyo Mew Mew
Zakuro's Mew uniform consists of a short, magenta crop-top with light pink lace lining, magenta flared shorts and matching thigh-high boots. She sports more magenta on her armbands, choker and garter belt, located on her left thigh. As well as a pair of matching wristbands. She obtains large grey-brown lupine ears and a tail. Her Mew Pendant is attached to her choker.
Her Mew Mark is two wolf tails around her navel.
Cafe Mew Mew
She wears the same waitress uniform as Ichigo, Minto, Retasu, and Bu-Ling, with the exception of it being purple.
Abilities
As a Civilian
Zakuro is a talented dancer, singer and model. The dance has allowed her to develop her flexibility, reflexes and agility, including developing a dance-based hand-to-hand skill combined with agility, flexibility and reflexes that provide a good combat advantage. She knows how to swim and is very intelligent. She seems to be adept at manipulating the whip, as evidenced by the one she uses.
Transformation
Mew Zakuro Transformation
Mew Zakuro's Transformation
Zakuro initiates her transformation by kissing her pendant and shouting out her name. As the transformation begins, she cradles the Mew Pendant in her hands, gazing at it while her DNA begins to morph. Zakuro then lifts her hands into the air and a large sphere of flames appears. She twirls herself upward into the fire and her Mew uniform fades onto her body, animal appendages and all. Zakuro's body remains idle in the air with her arms still lifted and her body gracefully arched until the fire lashes out and explodes with a rose-shaped flame left behind her. The rose made of fire extinguishes as Zakuro leaps out of her position and lunges forward with a piercing glare. The transformation sequence is concluded with a final somersault into the night sky. She then descends upon the ground with a crescent moon and purple rosebushes surrounding her as she strikes her final pose.
Weapons and Attacks
TMM- Zakuro's Attack
Mew Zakuro's weapon is a whip, which is shaped like a cross in the original Japanese version. In the dub, the cross is removed due to religious referencing. In the manga, her weapon goes unnamed but was called ZaCross Whip in episode 26 of the anime.
Her attack is called Ribbon ZaCross Pure. This has been mistranslated as "Ribbon Zakuro Spear" in fansubs.
To perform Ribbon ZaCross Pure, Mew Zakuro waves the cross around menacingly, leaving streams of purple energy in its wake. She then raises the cross into the air as the golden centre piece changes to a horizontal position, activating the attack. A series of energy rings surround Mew Zakuro as she stares her enemy down. She then declares her attack and slashes at the air with the cross, unleashing a long, whip-shaped ray of purple energy towards the opponent.
It has been proven that she is just as strong as Ichigo, as she is able to defeat Chimera Animas independently without the assistance of the other Mews.
During her first transformation sequence, the mere presence of her power was enough to obliterate the Chimera Animas in one fell swoop.
Similar to how Ichigo can communicate with cats, it is implied at the end of episode 21 that Zakuro can communicate with canines. It is later revealed that she got, Mickey (Minto's dog) to go along with her plan to get Minto to rejoin the team.
International
Name Changes (Manga)
Unlike the other Mew Mews, Zakuro doesn't say the English equivalent of her name when transforming. So she is the only Mew Mew to have the same name, whether transformed or not, in all English manga translations. However, the Kodansha English translation spells her name as "Zacro" which is an official, alternate romanized spelling of her name.
| Language |
Title |
Publisher |
Name |
Mew Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | Tokyo Mew Mew | Kodansha | Zakuro Fujiwara | Mew Zakuro (Mew Pomegranate) |
| English | Tokyo Mew Mew | TokyoPop & Kodansha | Zakuro Fujiwara (TokyoPop) Zacro Fujiwara (Kodansha) |
Mew Zakuro (TokyoPop) Mew Zacro (Kodansha) |
| English (Singapore) | Tokyo Mew Mew | Chuang Yi | Zakuro Fujiwara | Mew Zakuro |
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 Zakuro or Renée often translated their words for "Pomegranate" as her first name; for example, Shí-Liú, and Romã mean 'pomegranate' in their respective languages.
| Language | Title | Name | Mew Name | Voice Actress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | Tokyo Mew Mew | Zakuro Fujiwara | Mew Zakuro | Junko Noda |
| English | Mew Mew Power | Renée Roberts | Mew Renée | Mollie Weaver |
| Mandarin | Dōng Jīng Māo Māo (Tokyo Cats / Tokyo Mew Mew) |
Shí-Liú TéngYuán | Mew Mew Shí-Liú | Wāng Shì-Wěi (Sylvia Wang) |
| Cantonese (TVB Dub) | Dung Ging Miu Miu (Tokyo Mew Mew) |
Sek-Lau TangYun | Mew Sek-Lau | Jau-Man |
| Cantonese (ATV Dub) | Maau Maau Jin Deui (Cat Team / Mew Mew Team) |
Sek-Lau TangYun | Mew Sek-Lau | Lau Wai Wan (Vivien Lau Wai Wan) |
| Italian | Mew Mew Amiche Vincenti (Mew Mew Winning Friends) |
Pam Fujiwara | Mew Pam | Patrizia Scianca |
| Korean | Berry Berry Mew Mew | Ruby Ja | Mew Ruby | Jihye Kim |
| Hebrew | Tokyo Mew Mew | Zakuro Fujiwara | Mew Zakuro | Maya Bar Shalom |
| Brazilian Portuguese | As Super Gatinhas (The Super Kittens) |
Renée Roberts | (None) | Tatiane Keplermaier |
| Portuguese (Season 1) | Mew Mew Power | Renée Roberts | Mew Renée | Maria João Miguel |
| Portuguese (Season 2) | Tokyo Mew Mew | Romã Fujiwara | Mew Romã | Sónia Neves |
| Danish | Mew Mew Power | Zakuro Fujiwara | Mew Zakuro | Ilia Swainson |
| Thai | Tokyo Mew Mew | Zakuro Fujiwara | Mew Pom (Pomegranate) | Viphada Jatuyosporn (Amigo Dub) Arunee Nanthiwat (Modernine TV Dub) |
| Albanian (Albania Production) | Vajzat Mjau - Mbrojtëset e Planetit (Mew Girls - Defenders of the Planet) |
Rene Roberts | Mjau Rene | Gladiola Harizaj |
| Albanian ("Jess" Discographic) |
Luftëtaret Mace (Cat Warriors) |
Pam Fujiwara | Mjau Pam | Klodiana Keco (Ep. 10) Anisa Dervishi (Ep. 11 - 52) |
| Hungarian | Vadmacska Kommandó (Wildcat Commando) |
Renée Roberts | (None) | Ildikó Csampisz |
| Latino Spanish | Miau Miau Power (Mew Mew Power) |
Renée Roberts | Miau Renée | Rocio Bermúdez |
| French | Mew Mew Power | Estelle - Renée Roberts | (None) | Marielle Ostrowski |
| Dutch | Mew Mew Power | Renée Roberts | Mew Renée | N/A |
| Serbian | Družina Mjau - Mjau / Mjau - Mjau Tokio (Mew Mew Team / Tokyo Mew Mew Team) |
Rene Roberts (Season 1) Rene Fudživara (Season 2) |
Mjau Rene | Ana Maljević |
| Croatian | Mijau Mijau Družina (Mew Mew Team) |
Rene Roberts | Mjau Rene | N/A |
| Bulgarian | Силата Миу Миу / Silata Mew Mew (Mew Mew Power) |
Renée Roberts | Mew Renée | N/A |
| Greek | Mew Mew Power | Renée Roberts | (None) | Stella Mponatsou |
| Turkish | Mew Mew Power / Sihirli Kızlar (Magical Girls) |
Renée Roberts | Mew Renée | N/A |
Trivia
- Zakuro's name means "Pomegranate" in Japanese.
- In Mew Mew Power, Zakuro's weapon was censored due to its religious reference.
- In some episodes of Mew Mew Power, the cross pendant on her necklace was censored as well. (Crosses found on top of churches were also censored)
- Zakuro is the tallest of the Mew Mews.
- It remains unknown if she ever had any love interests at all, and has never spoken of going on any dates.
- Due to her personality and childhood, Zakuro may be considered to be a tragic character.
- She is one of the few characters within the series with a more cynical personality.
- Zakuro's background is more developed in the anime adaptation (no back story is verified within the manga).
- She is said to be estranged from her family since leaving home two years prior.
- The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is no longer a threatened species; it is currently listed as "least concern" on the IUCN Red List. However, the two Japanese subspecies - the Hokkaido (C. l. hattai) and Japanese (C. l. hodophilax) - are extinct.
- Zakuro's dub name Renée means 'reborn' in French.
- Some translators made the mistake of translating the first word in the Mew's attacks to 'Reborn' instead of 'Ribbon'.
- Zakuro's name in the Kodansha translation of the manga is spelled 'Zacro'.
- In episode 44 it is revealed that Zakuro has a phobia of bugs.
- The voice actress for Zakuro, Junko Noda, also voices Masha -otherwise known as R2000. The voice actress also shares the same surname as a male character from Tokyo Black Cat Girl.
- Unlike Ichigo -who transforms with the words, "Mew Mew Strawberry"- it is unknown why Zakuro does not say "Mew Mew Pomegranate" when transforming.
- In Tokyo Mew Mew, Zakuro can speak English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese and Japanese.
- In Mew Mew Power, Renée can speak English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Japanese.
- Her favorite food are watermelon and cheesecake and her favorite drink is milk.
- Her least favorite food is natto (Japanese fermented soybeans).