A batch of character episodes (continuing to work through the team from where the last batch I reviewed left off), followed by a cliffhanger & the start of something big... It's been a while, but it's time for more Tokyo Mew Mew...

33 - A Fiance Appears - Pudding's Fated Marriage?!
During a battle with one of Taruto's latest Chimera creations, Pudding gets herself into a bit of a bad spot - just as it looks as though she's about to be beaten by the chimera animal, she's rescued by a man with particularly good martial arts skills... He introduces himself as Ron Yuebin, and the girls are quite taken by him, until he reveals that he's come to challenge Pudding to a duel for the right to lead her father's martial arts school - and to become her fiance. Pudding's fine with the duel part, but it's the first she's heard about any fiance, and she's not happy at the idea at all...

34 - The Most Important Matter - The Ability to Trust in Someone
The cafe's holding a charity sale - although Mint's not quite catching the spirit of things when she tries to sell a Y10,000,000 cabinet. Lettuce has much better luck with her collection of hand-made dolls, and during the sale meets another girl, Ayano Uemura, famous for her own hand-made dolls. The two quickly strike up a friendship and are soon making dolls together - but things turn sour when Ayano tries to claim sole credit at an exhibition for one of the dolls that she made with Lettuce. Naturally, Kisshu can't help getting involved, either...

35 - Don't Cry, Lonely Little Zakuro
The character episodes continue, and this time it's Zakuro's turn. Momoka, a little girl who attends the daycare centre near the cafe, is Zakuro's #1 fan. Not the most charming kid on the block, as Ichigo quickly finds out, but still. Noticing that Momoka's not the most sociable of kids, Ichigo tries to hint at Zakuro to go see her, although initially Zakuro doesn't bite. She does meet Momoka later, though, and sees a lot of her own past in the girl - and it's not pleasant memories she's recalling. When Momoka gets caught up in one of Kisshu's plans to get his hands on Mew Aqua, it's up to Zakuro to save her...

36 - Shirogane's Past: The Secret of the Mew Mew's Birth!!
Ichigo's turning into a cat more and more these days, and she's not happy. She tries to confront Shirogane about it, but he's his usual evasive self. That doesn't help Ichigo, whose cat-form has been getting a bad reputation lately for catching small animals and forcing them to kiss her... On this attempt, she's saved once again by Alto - but when taking him for a thank-you can of catfood, Alto turns into a human: Shirogane. Later, Keiichiro explains to Ichigo how Shirogane came to be the way he is...

37 - The Shining Tear: Celebrating Christmas with Just the Two of Us!
It's Christmas, and Ichigo's looking forward to spending some quality time with Masaya. Problem is, she's having nightmares about what will happen if she turns into a cat during their date - and about not having told him she's a Mew Mew. Time for Zakuro to play the big sister, and give Ichigo some valuable sisterly advice. When Christmas Eve comes, though, Ichigo finds she can't face Masaya...

I'm really not much of a fan of character episodes, as they often just feel like a contrived situation that's been put together solely to keep fans of a particular character happy. On that basis, I'm not too happy with eps 33 & 34, which to me fall squarely into that category, since they don't really develop Pudding & Lettuce any more than they already have been. As a Lettuce fan, it pains me to say that...

Zakuro's and Shirogane's episodes fare a bit better, as they give us glimpses into the past and, in Shirogane's case, a large chunk of backstory that had barely even been hinted at. Colour me pleased. Zakuro also manages to come out of this batch as a more likeable character than I'd thought previously, as she gets scenes here which prove that she does have a heart.

Moving on to the final episode of the batch, which is a dreaded cliffhanger - but I like where this is going, with Ichigo finally having to decide what to tell Masaya, and Kisshu's suggestion that she's not really human any more & should really be fighting with him being a real surprise. Put it all together and I may just have to watch the next part sooner than I'd planned...

Overall, though, a fairly mixed bunch. If you're short for time there are 2 episodes here that can pretty much be safely missed, but the other 3 are well worth watching.