IchiSaya

 In the English dub, the characters are referred to as Mark and Zoey Hanson.

IchiSaya
GENERAL
Tokyo Mew Mew
Character	Masaya Aoyama
Character	Ichigo Momomiya
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	Together
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het
Also Known As	IchiMasa, MasaIchi, IchiYama, Ichigo x Masaya, Zoey x Mark

1

IchiSaya is the het ship between Masaya Aoyama and Ichigo Momomiya in the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom.

Canon

Tokyo Mew Mew (2002)

Ichigo knew of Masaya because he was most popular boy at her school and was frequently in the crowd of fangirls watching him at kendo practice. She later gained the courage to ask him on a date to a Red Data Animals exhibit about endangered animal species and he accepted. Ichigo was very nervous during their date and kept talking about the weather at first. In the manga only, he and Ichigo fell and accidentally kissed. Later, an earthquake occurred, and Ichigo was infused with the data of an Iriomote wildcat. Ichigo woke up after the earthquake near Masaya and was embarrassed that she fell asleep during their date, though he did not seem to mind.

The next day, Ichigo followed Masaya to a park, and they were attacked by a rat infused by alien powers. Ichigo was forced to transform into a magical girl with cat-like powers to defeat the cat while Masaya was unconscious. From that point on, Ichigo had to manage difficult symptoms of her powers in her everyday life and many of them were related to her infatuation with Masaya. Her cat ears and tail would appear whenever she was excited, which happened frequently when she was around Masaya. Ichigo also had recurring nightmares where Masaya would learn about her powers and see her as a freak. She also named her new robot R-2000 'Masha' after her crush.

An alien named Kish later forced a kiss on Ichigo, which caused her to feel guilty. She started to avoid Masaya and even turned down a date with him when he asked her on one. However, while looking for chimera animals, they ran into each other and went into an amusement park together. They were attacked by Kish and Ichigo was forced to fight him off. Afterwards, Masaya scolded her for running away from him and made her promise not to do it again.

The mew mews are later outed on TV, and Masaya briefly saw Ichigo in her mew form on a screen, though he was not certain if it was her. Later, after Ichigo was forced to destroy a tree threatening the city, Masaya approached her while she was in her mew form and called her out by name. Ichigo, not wanting him to know her identity, said that she was a mew mew before running away. Ichigo once again began to avoid Masaya out of fear that he learned her secret. After fighting off Kish again while Masaya was around, he apologized for mistaking her for his friend Ichigo and asked who she was, to which she explained she was a mew mew before leaving. She then reverted before Masaya could find her again. Masaya tied a cat bell around Ichigo's neck so that could not run away anymore.

Ichigo later came down with an illness and was attacked by the aliens. She was unable to keep up her mew transformation and fight, but she was then saved by a mysterious figure known as the Blue Knight. From that point forward, the Blue Knight would intermittently arrive to rescue Ichigo while vowing to protect her. Ichigo wondered who this man was and initially believed it to be her colleague Ryō Shirogane. Unbeknownst to her, the Blue Knight was secretly Masaya, who was also unaware of this as he had not been transforming consciously.

Masaya later invited Ichigo to a concert as a date. However, the aliens attacked Tokyo Tower, and Ichigo was forced to miss the concert to fight off the evil. Masaya began to worry about Ichigo, and her cell phone was destroyed in battle, so they could not communicate. When the battle was over, Ichigo ran to their agreed meeting point despite the fact that the concert was over. She was surprised to find Masaya still waiting for her in the rain and was apologetic but he embraced her and told her that he loved her, to which she responded that she loved him too. At that point, the two officially became a couple.

Following another battle against the aliens, Ichigo kissed Masaya while he was unconscious and turned into a cat. She later wandered around trying to find a way to change back and was found by Masaya. He took Ichigo home as a cat and took care of her, not knowing that it was actually her. At night, Ichigo tried to kiss Masaya again, but accidentally kissed his dog instead, which caused her to change back into a human, so she went to escape out the window, before the dog licked her and turned her back into a cat again. Ichigo was able to escape and turn into a human again, but learned from then on that kissing would switch her between her cat and human forms. This upset her because it meant that she could not kiss Masaya without turning into a cat.

As Ichigo's first Christmas with Masaya approached, she was worried about her ears appearing or turning into a cat, which would expose her secret. While shopping with the other mews, the aliens attacked, and some Mew Aqua manifested on top of a Christmas tree. The aliens harnessed its power and caused an explosion, and although the mews were able to contain it, Masaya was nearby and was struck by the debris. Ichigo went to the hospital with him until he awoke. She then brought him back to the Christmas tree and told him her secret. Masaya revealed that he already knew that Ichigo was a mew mew, that it did not bother him, and that he played along with her keeping it a secret because he did not want to upset her. He then agreed to hide Ichigo's cat ears if they ever appeared.

Masaya began to have a recurring nightmare of Ichigo crying by an unknown figure on the ground while an unknown voice told him to wake up. He told Ichigo over the phone that he did not want her to fight anymore before dismissing his own words. Later, on Valentine's Day, Ichigo made chocolate for Masaya, but was attacked by Kish while on her way to meet him. The alien knocked away her transformation pendant so that she could not transform. Masaya sensed that Ichigo was in danger and arrived to help. He then remembered that he is the Blue Knight and transformed to help Ichigo. After learning of his identity, Masaya was allowed to join the mew mews.

Masaya was later revealed to be the host for Deep Blue, the leader of the aliens, who took over his body. Ichigo was in disbelief that her boyfriend was humanity's destroyer and initially refused to fight him. After seeing him destroy Tokyo, Ichigo finally realized that he was no longer Masaya and was willing to fight him, but she was not powerful enough without Mew Aqua. She followed him into his base where the Mew Aqua was located. Masaya briefly regained control of his body and they learned that the Mew Aqua was inside of his body.

Deep Blue regained control of Masaya's body and claimed that he killed Masaya. However, as Deep Blue was proceeding to destroy the world, Masaya's spirit managed to hold him down. He told Ichigo that he always want to save the Earth and that he loved her before Ichigo tearfully destroyed him. She then kissed him and transferred all of her powers into him, reviving him at the cost of her own life. Masaya cried and cradled Ichigo's body. However, after escaping from the base, Masaya kissed Ichigo, which caused her to turn back to normal and revive her.

In the manga, Masaya decided to study abroad in England, and Ichigo followed him there to study as well. However, when Ichigo's powers began to manifest again, she was forced to return to Tokyo. Masaya eventually returned as well.

Tokyo Mew Mew New

Ichigo and Masaya were starting their first year of high school together. Ichigo wanted to fall in love with someone and saw Masaya, who was the most popular boy in school. She decided to learn more about him, and her friends Moe and Miwa gathered information about him. After learning that he cared about the environment, a girl named Mint gave Ichigo two tickets to the Red Data Aninmal exhibit, which was about endangered animals. Ichigo then bumped into Masaya and dropped the tickets. After he saw the tickets on the ground, she invited him to join her.

While at the exhibit, someone set off the fire alarm, and a crowd proceeded to evacuate in a panic. Ichigo fell on top of Masaya and accidentally kissed him. Mint then pulled Ichigo to a separate area where she was infused with the DNA of an Iriomote cat. The two were briefly reunited, and Masaya told Ichigo that it was a false alarm and that they should leave the exhibit. Masaya was then attacked by a rat that became a chimera anima, and Ichigo transformed into a magical girl in order to fight it off.

Ichigo later invited Masaya out on another date to the zoo, and he accepted. The two were separated again as the alien Kish attacked the zoo and Ichigo was forced to fight him off. When the two were reunited afterwards, Masaya was upset, saying that he was very worried about her while they were separated. Masaya then tied a cat bell around Ichigo's neck and asked her not to run away again.

The mew mews were later outed on TV, and Masaya briefly saw Ichigo on TV in her mew form, though he did not know it was her. Later, after one of his kendo friend gave him extra tickets, Masaya invited Ichigo out to a concert. However, Ichigo was turned into a cat, and when she figured out how to transform back into a human, she was forced to fight the aliens at Tokyo Tower. Ichigo missed the concert but found Masaya still waiting for her. They confessed their feelings for each other and became a couple. Masaya figured out that Ichigo was a mew mew but decided not to bring it up, not wanting to upset her.

Ichigo would later be frequently saved in battle by a mysterious figure known as the Blue Knight who swore to protect her. Unbeknownst to her, he was secretly Masaya's alter ego, and he was unaware of this as he experienced lapses in his memory while transformed. Ichigo was later forced to transform in front of Masaya after they were attacked by Kish. After the battle, Ichigo apologized to Masaya for keeping a secret, but Masaya kissed her and revealed that he had already known since her battle at Tokyo Tower.

Kish later attacked Ichigo again, and when she refused to join him, started to strangle her. Masaya then arrived and transformed into the Blue Knight. Kish then realized that Masaya was the host of the aliens' leader Deep Blue and later forced him to awaken by forcing him to feel like he could not protect Ichigo. The other mews prepared to fight him but Ichigo, not wanting him to be hurt, attacked her fellow mews and knocked them unconscious. Ichigo later felt guilt for doing so and realized that she had to fight him.

Ichigo later stormed Deep Blue's lair in search of Mew Aqua and found him there. Kish protected Ichigo from him and died, which caused her to start crying. Masaya briefly regained control of his body and they learned that the Mew Aqua was inside of him. Masaya tried to stab himself but Deep Blue regained control. As Deep Blue opened a portal and prepared to have the aliens return to Earth, Ichigo pled with him that humans are not all bad, and a transparent Masaya appeared and showed Deep Blue his memories of Ichigo to convince him of this.

Ichigo and Masaya used the Mew Aqua rod together to restore the damage on Earth and make the aliens' planet inhabitable while Deep Blue disappeared, no longer wanting to destroy humanity. Afterwards, Ichigo had trouble waking up an unconscious Masaya and believed him to be dead, but was able to rouse him after crying a single tear and they kissed. Later on, Masaya decided to study abroad in England. The mews helped Ichigo hold a goodbye party for him and they agreed to keep their relationship long-distance. After saying goodbye, Ichigo was inspired him and decided to keep helping protect the environment.

Fanon

IchiSaya is the most popular ship in the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom. However, while the pairing was always popular in Japan, it was not initially as popular in the west. This is due to a phenomena known as the Americans Hate Tingle trope. Masaya was not well-liked in the west at first due to being seen as 'boring' and 'vanilla' while many preferred to ship Ichigo with 'darker' and 'edgier' boys such as Kish and Ryō. However, with the Tokyo Mew Mew New reboot, support for IchiSaya grew in the west. On AO3, there are over 100 works for the pairing. IchiSaya most commonly rivals the Kishigo and IchiRyo pairings.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Masaya/Ichigo tag on AO3

Masaya/Ichigo tag on FanFiction.net

TUMBLR

IchiSaya posts on Tumblr

Ichigo x Masaya posts on Tumblr