This post CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS and is intended as a comparison, not as a review. What's So Similar? Tokyo Mew Mew is an anime and manga series from the early- to mid-2000s featuring five girls who work in a cafe and transform into animal-themed magical girls who fight evil and use food names. Kira Kira Precure A La Mode is an anime and movie series (with a companion manga) from 2017 featuring a group of girls who work in a cafe and transform into animal-theme magical girls who fight evil and use food names. When Kira Kira Precure A La Mode - henceforth called KiraPre for simplicity - was first announced, many Tokyo Mew Mew - TMM - fans were outraged. The similarities were glaringly obvious, even more so when you consider that TMM's sequel manga was subtitled 'A La Mode', and had a Bunny-themed protagonist, just like KiraPre. But the truth is, they aren't as similar as the aesthetics would have you believe. So, What's Different?Use of the Cafe In TMM, the cafe is purely a hideout. It's part of their aliases. It's used for comedic and occasionally character arc purposes, it's used to give the girls an excuse to wear cute maid outfits, and indulge in their sweet teeth, but that's about it. It doesn't add to the main arcs, overall plot, or help them as magical girls. In KiraPre, it's used because the girls genuinely love baking. It's used because the KiraKiraru in sweets - and anything they put their feelings into - powers their abilities as Pretty Cure. They struggle, grow, have battles in, defend, and build the cafe on their own. The success of the cafe symbolizes their success as individuals, as a group, and as Precure. Power Sources & Animal Choices TMM are transformed by futuristic technology which combines their DNA with that of an endangered animal. They had absolutely zero choice in the matter. KiraPre bake their choice of sweets and, when given the chance to transform using magical items from the fairies, select the item they or their friends made, which includes and animal that they themselves chose or liked, or which relates to their character in some way. Impact on Their Normal Lives In TMM, their DNA is altered, so their animal traits heavily impact their daily lives and personalities. In KiraPre, the animal parts are part of their costume only, so have no affect on their lives when not transformed. Aliens, Fairies, and What's Polluted In TMM, they're fighting off aliens and there's an underlying plot of animal conservation and environmentalism - something we can't describe without major spoilers, but that impacts absolutely every part of the show. In KiraPre, everyone is a fairy or a human, and the underlying plot is about what the characters love the most. The only thing polluted is the feelings in sweets and thus, the sweets themselves. There is no conservation of environmentalism involved. Character Arc ThemesTMM deals with themes of love, death, the cost of fame, and school life. KiraPre deals with desire, rejection, failure, depression, and anxiety. There is also a heavy focus on continuing to work hard, especially when it doesn't seem to pay off. Both deal with broken and unusual families, bullying, coming of age, sisterhood, and friendship. Unusually for a magical girl team, both groups also feature girls of different ages, though this has a more apparent impact in TMM than KiraPre. Romance, or Lack Thereof
KiraPre has no serious romance, only crushes, and what appears as a very light yuri romance (it is never officially confirmed, but also is rather obvious to most viewers, and people who worked on the show have approved of that interpretation during interviews.) Action, Violence, or Lack Thereof TMM does have some original action scenes, but the majority of their battles are made up of stock footage of various attacks, purifiers, and finishers. Most episodes have a few minutes or less of actual battles. The girls start out being very awkward and clumsy with their powers. However, it has much more graphic violence in the instances where original animation is used. KiraPre features less hand-to-hand combat than other Pretty Cure series, and is even less graphically violent as a result. It still features plenty of action using their weapons, most of which is original animation, and sometimes the battles take up the majority of the episode. Stock footage is limited to finisher attacks. The KiraPre girls are shown as very talented and powerful fighters from very early on. Character Comparrison Overall, the characters share very little beyond their initial aesthetics - but here's a brief breakdown comparing those with the same theme colour. Whip is a clumsy, enthusiastic, passionate, soft, but lonely pink rabbit. Ichigo has many friends, is passionate and fiery, romantic, yet awkward pink cat. Berry is quiet, cheerful, romantic, and awkward, and is a yellow/white cat-rabbit fusion. Gelato is a loud rock chick who loves people, is secretly rich, and is a blue lion. Mint is a rich, elegant ballerina who is often selfish and stuck up, but actually is very passionate about her few friendships. Mint is a blue lorikeet. Custard is awkward, anxious, extremely shy and fearful, but loves baking, science, and teaching others. She is a yellow squirrel. Pudding is young, loud, circus-loving and an excitable performer, who is a yellow monkey. Macaron is older, naturally gifted, yet is often unhappy and pushes people away. She is a purple cat. Zakuro is a successful pop singer, the oldest in the group, who is highly independent but struggles with self-expression. She is a purple wolf. Parfait is an expert baker, exceedingly proud and somewhat arrogant about her craft, and is a green/rainbow Pegasus. Lettuce is an extremely shy, quiet nerd who desperately wants to be cooler and have friends She is a green Porpoise. Chocolat is older, confident, masculine, and passionate about helping others. She is a red fox and has no equal. Personality wise, Lettuce and Custard are somewhat similar in that they both lack friends. However, Lettuce is more a of a pushover who prioritizes friendships over her own feelings, while Custard - though extremely shy - isn't a pushover and puts her feelings first. Macaron and Chocolat both share traits with Zakuro, though all three are quite unique, especially when their backstories are considered. Gelato and Pudding are both loud performers, but Pudding is annoyingly over-talkative versus Gelato's more relaxed and mature nature. Ultimately, these two series do indeed have a lot in common - but just as much , if not more, that's different!Click these buttons for more:
1 Comment
yolkcheeks
22/3/2023 11:47:45 am
Great comparison- this made me want to check out KiraPre. :)
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
SOCIALS:Find the MSF blog here:
SCHEDULEDIY FRIDAY
VS SATURDAY LISTED SUNDAY All others posted sporadically on Weekdays. Sister BlogsBootleg Wands
For reviews and comparisons of bootleg magical girl wands. Ashleigh is a contributor. Real Magic Wands For pictures, reviews, and information about genuine magical girl merchandise. This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of Cookies |