Mia Ikumi spent a year designing the "Tokyo Mew Mew" manga before the release of the first volume in February 2001. The story she originally presented to her editors, "Tokyo Black Cat Girl", featured a heroine named Princess Azumi who is given the ability to transform into a cat-girl by an intergalactic police officer named Masha. He then asks her to aid him in defeating alien invaders called the Baku using her new powers. Azumi agrees, while trying to keep her new double life secret from her crush. After the production team decided to focus on five female superhumans, Ikumi was asked to reconstruct the lead character and the darker Princess Azumi was changed into the brighter and more colorful Ichigo. She had reservations about the changes, as the character was originally designed for a more dramatic series.