Revelations all around & another opportunity to show off the power of Mew Aqua in this volume of Tokyo Mew Mew...

12 - The Blue Knight
After saving her during her last battle, Ichigo's confused about the Blue Knight's intentions & is also trying to figure out who he really is - not that she gets much of a chance to think about it before she's back to fighting Kirema Anima again. There's also the small matter of Masaya, who has seen her in her Mew form again, and Pudding, who has been kidnapped by Tart...

13 - Rescue Mission
Ichigo gathers the other Mews to help search for Pudding, but they initially don't have much luck - until Ryou summons them and tells them he's detected Kirema Anima activity underneath the Tokyo Dome. There's a concert there that night, with 50,000 people expected to attend - and as expected, the aliens have plans to make sure than none of them leave... Pudding, meanwhile, is not being the most co-operative of captives and is giving Tart a hard time. It's not long before Ichigo and the others arrive, though, and battle begins - with the Blue Knight again appearing when he's needed, and with Pudding finding some Mew Aqua to finish the job with...

14 - Truth or Dare
Ichigo finally gets the chance to go on aother date with Masaya, and she's agonising over keeping her Mew identity a secret from him- should she tell him everything? It soon becomes a moot point when Kish attacks again (more out of jealousy this time than from any desire to avance the aliens' plans...), forcing Ichigo to transform in front of him in order to protect him. Afterwards, she's reluctant to see him again, ashamed that's she's kept secrets from him, but she needn't have worried - seems he knew anyway...

15 - Masaya Confessions
Ever since Masaya first saw Mew Ichigo, he's pretty much known it was his Ichigo, and the evidence has only mounted over time. Not that it's made him think any less over her - quite the opposite, even. Masaya's ready to accept Ichigo just as she is, secrets & turning-into-a-cat phases and all. Later, there are more revelations, when Ichigo finds out that Alto (little cat that's been helping her out on occasion) isn't all he appears to be, either...

Tokyo Mew Mew - Another Story: Petit Mew Mew
Another little diversion from the main story, this time looking at what the Mew Mews could have been like in their kindergarten years. Good fun. :)

Extras
- Sidebar panels - Ikumi's Day (Ikumi's fist wrinkle) and Go Go Masha! (remember last volume, when Ichigo sent Masha to call the rest of the Mews then disappeared? Here's Masha's view of what happened...)
- Tokyo Mew Mew Special - a page by the VA's from the anime series
- It's Me, Ikumi, Again! - dairy entry from Ikumi
- Usagi no Tampopo - short story about Ikumi's favourite book from when she was a kid
- Afterward
- Mew Mew Anime Report

Y'know, I'm so glad to see the truth finally come out between Ichigo & Masaya - those scenes were the highlight of this volume for me, as it was the payoff for an awful lot of buildup over the previous volumes. Great stuff, very well presented, and almost worth buying the volume for, even without the rest of the story... Speaking of which, it's slipping into something of a Sailor Moon monster-of-the-week rut here, with the battle for Tokyo Dome being strangely similar to the battle for Tokyo Tower (except it's Pudding & not Mint who finishes the job this time). I'm guessing Lettuce and Zakuro will get their turns with the Mew Aqua before the routine changes again...

Away from those concerns, though, this was a pretty good volume. A lot of time devoted to Masaya, naturally, with the Blue Knight and Alto getting a fair amount of time devoted to them in their roles as possible rivals to Masaya. Alto's real identity was a surprise to me, and will probably complicate things down the road - but where's the fun if things go smoothly? :)

Another worthwhile volume. I'm hoping the monster-of-the-week routine breaks soon, but there is a bit of a feeling that events are coming to a head. Now all I need to do is track down a copy of volume 6...