‘Tokyo Mew Mew’ Illustrator Mia Ikumi Has Passed Away
The Magical Girl community has lost an icon with the just-announced passing of Tokyo Mew Mew artist and writer Mia Ikumi.
Tokyo Mew Mew was a Japanese manga series created and written by Reiko Yoshida and illustrated by Mia Ikumi (who would end up writing the series as all later on), about a group of girls who could transform into “Mews Mews” and protected the world from aliens trying to reclaim the Earth.
The manga and anime were both very popular for being cute and entertaining, along with the fun character design. I remember watching it on 4Kids when the dub came out, and while I didn’t finish all of it, the series was extremely popular—and I did enjoy reading the manga. It was successful enough to become two video games and multiple CDs, and it’s even getting a new anime adaptation later this summer.
The cause of death has been listed as subarachnoid hemorrhage, and I am so sad that Ikumi will not be able to see the revival of her popular series. 49 years old is very young, and she had her whole life ahead of her.
Our thoughts go out to her family and to the fans of Tokyo Mew Mew who are mourning the loss of a creative legend among Magical Girl fans.
(image: TV Tokyo)
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