RetaIchi

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

RetaIchi
GENERAL
Tokyo Mew Mew
Character	Ichigo Momomiya
Character	Lettuce Midorikawa
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Friends; Teammates
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Femslash
Also Known As	IchiReta, Ichigo x Lettuce, Zoey x Bridget

1

RetaIchi is the femslash ship between Ichigo Momomiya and Lettuce Midorikawa in the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom.

Canon

Tokyo Mew Mew (2002)

Ichigo and Lettuce were both at a museum known as the Red Data Animal Exhibit at the same time, but they never saw each other in the anime and only briefly in the manga. Ichigo and Lettuce were both infused with the DNA of endangered animals and became mew mews that day but were not initially aware of it. Ichigo first formally met Lettuce while the latter was a customer at Cafe Mew Mew. Lettuce was there with her three friends and Ichigo saw them taking advantage of her. Ichigo was mad with the way that they were treating her and purposefully spilled food on them while pretending to trip, so that they would need to go clean up.

While Lettuce was at the table by herself, Ichigo asked Lettuce why she was friends with such bossy and mean people. Lettuce explained that she did not have any other friends and that they were the most popular girls in school. Ichigo and Mint decided to investigate the rumors of the ghost at Lettuce's school, but discovered that the 'ghost' was actually Lettuce in her mew form. Ichigo tried to reach out to Lettuce, but she was upset and repeatedly attacked them with their abilities. Ichigo then fought back with her Strawberry Bell before revealing that she only defeated the 'hurt Lettuce' and was ready to get to know the real Lettuce. Ichigo agreed to be Lettuce's friend and brought to Cafe Mew Mew to introduce her to the Mew Project.

Ichigo and Lettuce continued to be supportive of one another during their time on Tokyo Mew Mew. Lettuce was supportive of Ichigo's relationship with her crush and eventual boyfriend Masaya Aoyama. Likewise, Ichigo was the first to notice when Lettuce had developed a new crush on a man named Norihiro Edomurasaki. She was able to tell that she had met a boy based on her cheery mood and initially assumed she had a boyfriend. Lettuce asked Ichigo not to tell anybody, and she agreed before loudly announcing it in front of the other mews. Ichigo later convinced Lettuce to confess to her crush, and when Pie attacked with chimera aliens, she scolded him for attacking while Lettuce was trying to confess to her crush.

The alien's leader Deep Blue eventually manifested in the body of Masaya, and Ichigo refused to fight him while Lettuce and the other three mews fought him. Lettuce and the other mews were eventually overpowered, and Ichigo was finally convinced to pursue Deep Blue into his lair. After the battle was over, Lettuce and the other mews arrived into the lair to find Ichigo dead in Masaya's arms, and Lettuce cried. They escaped from the lair as it was collapsing, and Ichigo was revived after Masaya kissed her.

Tokyo Mew Mew New

Ichigo and Lettuce were present at the Red Data Animal Exhibit together when they were infused with the DNA of endangered animals in order to gain their mew forms, but they did not notice each other due to the chaos. Ichigo later saw Lettuce getting crepes with her three friends, who had her take a picture of them while she was left out. Lettuce and the friends later went to Cafe Mew Mew for drinks. Lettuce's friends were teasing her about a 'ghost' at their school and dared her to go take a picture of it. Ichigo was annoyed with their bullying and pretending to accidentally spill a parfait on one of them so that they three would go clean up while Ichigo could talk to Lettuce alone. Ichigo questioned why Lettuce hangs out with such mean friends, while Lettuce explained her belief that they were just venting their frustrations and would accept her one day.

Mint later showed Ichigo that Lettuce was infused with the DNA of the finless porpoise and was one of the mew mews. They visited Lettuce's school at night, believing that it was a chimera animal, but found Lettuce transforming into her mew form instead. Lettuce was unable to control her emotions and kept attacking them with her newfound powers. Lettuce admitted that she just wanted real friends and Ichigo offered to be her friend, allowing Lettuce to calm down and control her powers.

Ichigo and Lettuce were supportive of each other while serving in Tokyo Mew Mew. Lettuce was supportive of Ichigo's crush on her eventual boyfriend Masaya Aoyama. Likewise, Ichigo was supportive when Lettuce volunteered to accompany Ryō in a search for Mew Aqua. When Deep Blue manifested in Masaya's body, Lettuce and the other four mews prepared to attack, but Ichigo stopped them by attacking the four of them. While recuperating at Cafe Mew Mew, Ichigo tearfully apologized, and Lettuce and the other three mews joined her in a group hug.

Fanon

RetaIchi only has a small amount of support in the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom and is considered to be a rare-pair. The most common femslash ship for Ichigo is IchiMint, and the two have more popular, canon, or semi-canon relationships with male characters in the series. However, some ship RetaIchi due to Ichigo being Lettuce's first real friend and the fact that they got along from the start. On AO3, there are 7 works for the pairing, with only one on FFN. RetaIchi rivals the IchiMint, IchiSaya, Kishigo, IchiRyo, RetaRyo, and RetaPai pairings.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Ichigo/Lettuce tag on AO3

Ichigo/Lettuce tag on FanFiction.net

TUMBLR

Ichigo x Lettuce posts on Tumblr

RetaIchi posts on Tumblr