Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living… in Toronto, Canada. Her family runs a temple dedicated to their ancestor, Sun Yee, in Chinatown.
Profession… dedicated middle school student and full-time boy band fan. Freshly thirteen, Mei is determined to plunge headfirst into adulthood and in her own words, "make [her] own moves, twenty-four-seven, three-sixty-five."
Interests… 4*Town, 4*Town, and more 4*Town. They're the hottest boy band around, and Mei's got their hit song "Nobody Like U" memorized to a T. Mei also possesses a budding interest in boys, manifesting in spicy and steamy doodles in her journal. As her mom, Ming Lee discovers, Mei's taken to drawing attractive boys like buff, shirtless mermaids with six-pack abs.
Relationship Status… single, she's in middle school with an overprotective Asian mother. There isn’t any dating in Mei's near future if her mom has anything to say about it.
Challenge… learning to deal with the "turning red" situation. Instead of a dreamlike, fantastical magical girl transformation that every teenage girl dreams of, Mei instead gets saddled with an animal alter-ego. After suffering through nightmares one night, Mei wakes up and realizes she's morphed into a giant, fluffy red panda. Needless to say, spontaneously poofing into a wildlife animal puts a wrench in Mei's life. She's now got to figure out why it's happening and how to maintain her human form. To make things even more complicated, Mei also has to navigate the perils of puberty and finagle a way to attend the 4*Town concert with her three best friends. There's a lot on Mei's plate!
Personality… bubbly, optimistic, and a little bit of a goody-two-shoes. Mei's outspoken, overachieving, and tackles everything with gusto. Due to Mei's close relationship with her mother, she cares deeply about gaining Ming's approval. But on the other hand, Mei isn't afraid to spearhead risky endeavors that she knows her mom wouldn't agree with, like coming up with ways to buy her and her friends 4*Town tickets. Headstrong and armed with the power of friendship, the world better watch out for Mei! She's ready for any challenge.
