Zakuro Fujiwara
Zakuro Fujiwara (藤原ざくろ, literally "wisteria field pomegranate"), known as Renée Roberts in the infamous English dub, is a supermodel/teen idol/junior high student who was injected with the DNA of a Mexican grey wolf as part of the Mew Mew project. With the incantation "Mew Mew Zakuro Metamorphosis!" (none originally in the dub), she becomes Mew Zakuro. Her weapon has no official name in the original manga or anime; it's referred to as "Zakuro's Whip" or the "Zakuro Crosswhip" (because of its shape when used) by fans, while it was called the Purple Dagger in the dub. Her attack is "Ribbon Zakuro's Pure!" (often misheard and mistranslated by fans as "Ribbon Zakuro Spear!") . Her injection site mark surrounds her belly button.
Controversies
- There was a large amount of fan-generated controversy over Zakuro's (Renée's) representation in the 4Kids dub of Tokyo Mew Mew, as she was often represented in the anime wearing a cross necklace and in one episode, praying in a Christian church. In a rather sloppy censorship effort, all cross images had the horizontal bars digitally edited out. This caused a problem, as in Zakuro's attack sequence, the horizontal bar on the whip starts out turned to the side and rotates when ready to be used. In the only time the "full" attack sequence was shown, the horizontal bar appeared in its turned state, but somehow disappeared for the rest of the attack. (The scene where the bar spins as the whip gathers energy was conveniently cut out.)
- In the manga and anime, Mint Aizawa is depicted as being a huge fan of Zakuro's. In an infamous punch-up move, 4Kids took this admiration to the next level, hinting that Mint (Corina) had a lesbian attraction toward her idol.
There are four other girls endowed with magical powers as a result of the Mew Mew project: Ichigo Momomiya, Mint Aizawa, Lettuce Midorikawa and Pudding Fong.
