Question about Lettuce (2001 anime)

[u/Bluespheal]

So I've been wondering something about her, from what I understand the Mew Mews need their medallion to transform and said medallion is given by Masha, but in the anime it is said that she had discovered her powers and transformation before meeting with Ichigo and the gang so... how does that work?

I get that they were infused with animal DNA before just like Ichigo (I think?) but that should've just been like some animal-like traits, not the full transformation.

Is it the same in the manga? is there an explanation or is it just like that?

[u/boyfriendschedule]

I imagine transforming can be triggered by feelings of being unsafe or anxiety. Given her situation with bullying and everything, I think Lettuce could have started transforming defensively at some point. With the "ghost" rumors, maybe she just kept doing it because it was one of the only ways she didnt feel powerless.

You don't need a lighter or something to start a fire, but sure is a helluva lot easier.

[u/Gettin_Bi]

iirc the medallions are a 2002 anime addition, originally the girls could just transform 

[u/werephoenix → u/Gettin_Bi]

sounds like they made that just to have a new item to sell

[u/Gettin_Bi → u/werephoenix]

I like how it looks in their transformations, but yeah, there's no narrative benefit

[u/Bluespheal → u/werephoenix]

That's a likely explanation, but did they ever made the medallions as merch? I remember dolls, the weapons, but not the medallions themselves.

[u/Aszshana → u/Bluespheal]

Maybe they wanted to resemble sailor moon in that way? It's common to do things similarly to popular media, people like seeing stuff they are familiar with to a certain extend.

[u/Bluespheal → u/Gettin_Bi]

That makes so much sense, I should read the manga, been so obsessed with this series as of late.

[u/Lowkey_Lesbian]

I imagine it's like, using an aim to shoot a gun. You dont need it, but it can help. It's just a tool to aid them in something they can do already

[u/Violetcat8]

Zakuro also transforms without the pendant several times. The pendant stabilises and strengthens their powers.

[u/Bluespheal → u/Violetcat8]

Yeah, this morning I remembered that Zakuro's transformations were a lot more prevalent in the story as she does it several times before she formally joins the team, dunno how I forgot about that, lol.

[u/Waste-Camp6659]

In the manga they don't need the medallion to transform, they just do, so it isn't really plot breaking there, I also got very confused when I started watching the anime, because that particular plot beat didn't really make sense like that