In the English dub, the characters are referred to as Elliot Grant and Zoey Hanson.
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IchiRyo is the het ship between Ryō Shirogane and Ichigo Momomiya in the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom.
Canon[]
Tokyo Mew Mew (2002)[]
Ryō first saw Ichigo through a camera when she was visiting a museum on the Red Data animals, which was a cover-up for the operations of his mew project. The sensors indicated that Ichigo's DNA was compatible with that of the Iriomote cat, so he had her infused with the cat's DNA, which gave her the ability to transform into a magical girl with cat-like abilities. Later, when Ichigo was attacked by a giant rat that was a chimera animal, Ryō saved Ichigo and brought her up in a tree to safety. He explained that she needed to transform into order to defeat the alien rat and gave her a pendant that would allow her to transform. Ichigo then transformed and defeated the rat.
After defeating the rat, Ichigo demanded that Ryō explain what was going on with her. Ryō told Ichigo that there was no time and brought her to Cafe Mew Mew, a small cafe that also served as a hidden base for their operations. Ryō introduced Ichigo to his co-worker Keiichiro Akasaka and explained that she had been infused with the DNA of the Iriomote cat because she was compatible, and there were four others like there that she needed to find. Ryō also told Ichigo that she needed to work as a waitress to help keep up the image of their base as a cafe. Ichigo did not like this until Keiichiro gave her a uniform and found that she looked gorgeous in it.
Ichigo continuously found Ryō to be a very cold and rude individual. However, when she started struggling in battle, a mysterious figure known as the Blue Knight started showing up to save her while vowing to protect her. Ichigo began to wonder if the Blue Knight was secretly Ryō, as they were both blonde and the two were never around at the same time. She began to show complicated feelings between Ryō and her love interest Masaya Aoyama, whom she eventually started to date.
Ichigo later had problems with turning into a cat involuntarily whenever she was kissed. While she was evading a large cat named Francois who tried to force himself on her, she was saved by a mysterious gray cat known as Alto. After nearly drowning, Ichigo woke up in her human form around Ryō. Later, after Ichigo was turned into a cat again and Alto kissed her so she could turn back, Ichigo followed the cat, demanding to know who he was. Alto then said he could not hold the transformation any longer and turned into Ryō, much to Ichigo's surprise.
Ichigo learned from Keiichiro that Ryō voluntarily tested the mew project infuser on himself before infusing the mews to make sure that it was safe to use. Because of that, he gained the ability to transform into a cat, but he could not hold the transformation for longer than ten minutes or he would be stuck in that form permanently. Ichigo gained a newfound respect for Ryō after learning this, but when she confronted him, he kissed her offscreen, causing her to turn back into a cat, before saying that he didn't need her pity.
Deep Blue, the leader of the aliens, later manifested in Masaya's body, and Ryō saw this through a camera. He punched the screen, stating that was exactly what he was trying to prevent before leaving to help the mew mews on the battlefield. Ichigo later sacrificed her life to revive Masaya afte the end of the battle, and Ryō saw Masaya carrying her body. He screamed "damnit!" for her but Masaya was able to revive her by kissing her while using the last of the Mew Aqua.
Tokyo Mew Mew New[]
Ryō met Ichigo while recruiting the mew mews for the Mew Project. He had already recruited Mint Aizawa as the first mew and had her give her tickets to the Red Data Animal exhibit so that she could ask her crush Masaya Aoyama on a date there. While there, Ryō set off the fire alarm and had Mint bring her outside so she could be infused with the DNA of the Iriomote cat. Later, when Ichigo reunites with Masaya outside, they are attacked by a rat chimera animal. After throwing a rock at it to save Masaya from being harmed by it, Ryō told Ichigo that she needed to transform to defeat it, and she did so.
Ryō, Mint, and Ryō's partner Keiichiro brought Ichigo to Cafe Mew Mew, which was their base of operations under the disguise of a simple cafe. There they explained to Ichigo that aliens were threatening the world and that she and Mint belonged to a group of five people who could defeat them. Ryō then walked Ichigo home, and after she sneezed, he put his jacket around her, believing that she was cold. However, Ichigo thought of her developing relationship with Masaya and ran the rest of the way home on her own.
Ichigo later turned into a cat after being excited around Masaya, and Ryō brought her to a bench and began to explain to her that her powers were progressively rapidly. However, Ryō was interrupted by a phone call from Keiichiro about a situation at Tokyo Tower, while Ichigo was distracted by a butterfly and chased after it due to her cat instincts. Much later, a gray cat named Alto saved Ichigo from a large cat named Francois, and after she turned back, Ryō found her and told her to hurry to Tokyo Tower.
Ichigo later started to date Masaya, and Ryō was very cold toward him when the two met, demonstrating his jealousy. Later, Ichigo brought Masaya to Cafe Mew Mew to watch music videos of her and the other mew mews. After Masaya complimented her, Ichigo turned into a cat again, and she ran outside. Keiichiro told Ryō to help her and he followed her outside. After the cat Alto saved her again and kissed her so that she could turn back, Ichigo grabbed the cat, demanding to know who he was, and was forced to transform back into Ryō. Ichigo then learned from Keiichiro how Ryō insisted on testing the infuser on himself to make sure that it was safe from the mews, which gave him the ability to transform into a cat. Ryō told Ichigo that their kiss did not count while they were cats and then kissed her again, causing her to turn back into a cat.
The aliens later helped their leader Deep Blue awaken inside of Masaya's body. Ichigo was not willing to harm her boyfriend and instead attacked the other mew mews. She then stood still and was about to allow Deep Blue to kill her until Ryō arrived in his cat form to push her out of the way, which caused him to be wounded in the process. The wounded Ryō then carried the unconscious Ichigo on his back all the way to the ruined Cafe Mew Mew.
Fanon[]
IchiRyo is a popular ship in the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom. It is not as popular as the other main pairings involving Ichigo which are IchiSaya and Kishigo. While Masaya and the IchiSaya pairing were not as popular in the west, most western fans preferred Kish and Kishigo. Furthermore, many fans prefer to ship Ryō with Lettuce Midorikawa instead. However, IchiRyo is still popular, as fans find it to be way less toxic than Kishigo. On AO3, there are 31 works for the pairing, while FanFiction.net has 26. IchiRyo most commonly rivals the IchiSaya, Kishigo, and RetaRyo pairings.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Ryō/Ichigo tag on AO3
- Ryō/Ichigo tag on FanFiction.net
- FAN ART
- Ryou-x-Ichigo-Club fanclub on DeviantArt
- TUMBLR
- IchiRyo posts on Tumblr
- Ichigo x Ryō posts on Tumblr
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| Tokyo Mew Mew Ships • Tokyo Mew Mew Characters | ||
| SHIPS | het | IchiBlue • IchiRyo • IchiSaya • KeiiMiwa • KeiiRei • KeiiZaku • Kishigo • Kishinto RetaNori • RetaPai • RetaRyo • RyoMoe • ShintaSaku • Tasuku x Berry TaruPuri • ZakuPai |
| femslash | IchiMint • MoeMiwa • RetaIchi • RetaMint • ZakuMint | |
| family | Aizawa Siblings • Fong Siblings | |
| friend | Alien Trio • Tokyo Mew Mew | |