Futaba-Kun Change!



Futaba-kun Change! is an eight-volume manga series by Hiroshi Aro about Futaba Shimeru, a seemingly normal junior high school student who suddenly discovers that he is anything but normal.

To be more specific, Futaba is one day handed a girlie magazine by a fellow member of the wrestling club. Having snuck into the boys' room to read it, Futaba suddenly clicks on not just how girls are different from boys, but why it matters. And as he thinks of his good female buddy Misaki, his excitement increases -- and suddenly Futaba finds himself possessed of female anatomy!

Some scary moments (and the discovery that the effect isn't permanent) later, Futaba gets home, only to find out that everyone in his family changes gender, and the person he's always thought of as a father in fact was the one who gave birth to him!

Hilarity Ensues, as Futaba tries to start a romantic relationship with Misaki, deals with female anatomy issues, starts a new career as an "idol" and learns more about his/her family's heritage.

Sadly out of print in the United States as of September 2010.

Futaba-kun Change! provides examples of:
It gets better -- she's so overly sugared that the swim team can't really swim -- because her swimming in the pool has turned the water into a sugary equivalent of the Dead Sea, which is rather hard to sink in. Even better: at one point she makes chocolate so overly sweet, it spontanously combusts, turning it into the world's first Chocolate hand grenade!
 * Accidental Pervert: Happens to Futaba a lot in the first couple of volumes.
 * The Ahnold: Mr. Lucky Strike, the P.E. teacher, looks quite a lot like Arnold; the guy acts a bit like Dutch from Predator.
 * Apocalypse How:.
 * Arranged Marriage: Kurin & Futaba; Futana also has a fiance, but he's Walking the Earth.
 * Ax Crazy: The eldest of the Koujiro sisters.
 * Bellisario's Maxim: Explicitly invoked to explain the various competitors' appearances in the Futaba-cup arc.
 * Big Eater
 * Kurin in male form;
 * Futana;
 * Also the sumo wrestler's sisters, though they try to keep it under control to avoid looking like him.
 * Bishonen: Futana and Kurin's male forms are very Bishie.
 * Black Comedy Rape: Futana comes perilously close to this trope time and again, but is usually foiled by circumstance.
 * Blade Run: Done by a sumo-wrestler during the competition arc. Yes, one of those really heavy guys.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: Aro's crocodile Author Avatar (as in forum avatar, not a full-blown character) interacts with the characters on occasion and one character even reads the manga herself.
 * Brother-Sister Incest: Oh, Futana, you so crazy.
 * The Cameo
 * The two girls here look quite familiar, as does one in the background of panel two. There are a number of others if you look closely at random characters in crowds.
 * You can also spot Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street and Rei Ayanami at one point too.
 * During the Tournament Arc, Blanka, Zangief, Guile, and Dhalsim are each seen once, with Ryu and Chun-Li making multiple appearances (especially Chun-Li). An early visit to Misaki's room reveals a collection of 9 plushies, featuring the 8 World Warriors and Sagat. (Every time we return to her room, different plushies are on display.)
 * Usagi from Sailor Moon can also be spotted front and center in one panel.
 * Character Development and Characterization Marches On: Most noticable for Negiri, whose character changes notably over the course of the manga.
 * The Chikan:
 * Clark Kenting: Everyone with a secret identity, but most especially Principal Hiroin as The Justicemaker.
 * Defeat By Modesty: Ms. Hiroin defeating the sumo wrestler by removing his loincloth while he's distracted.
 * Depraved Bisexual: Futana is an example of the Anything That Moves variety rather than the Ax Crazy sort.
 * Drunk On Milk
 * Eccentric Townsfolk: Well, Eccentric Highschool folk at least.
 * Egg Sitting: Futana tricks Futaba into this, kinda, sorta, it's complicated.
 * Excited Show Title
 * Expy: Negiri to Nabiki. At first anyway, but Characterization Marches On, see the main entry on that for more.
 * Floating Island: The Shimeru homeland
 * Follow the Leader: Copies a lot of ideas from Ranma One Half.
 * Foot Focus: The wrestling match in book 4. Female wrestler Anzu specializes in leg-work; she isn't wearing wrestling boots but only gaiters, leaving most of her feet bare, and she thrusts them all the time in her opponents' face (which is most often the reader's viewpoint).
 * Frothy Mugs of Water: Misaki drowns her sorrows when she finds out the truth with a beer stein of honey. Not as odd as that might initially sound; the mead of yore was made from fermented honey.
 * Gainax Ending: A rare manga version, due to the series being abruptly canceled. There's a reason most readers just pretend the last volume never happened.
 * Gender Bender: The Shimeru clan.
 * Gender Bender Friendship: Futaba and Misaki, naturally.
 * Genre Shift: Starts as a High School gender-bending comedy and ends with the revelation that.
 * The Ghost: Mrs Shimeru, Futaba's father. Her face is never seen, and only about two strips show even a part of her body.
 * He-Man Woman Hater: Sabuyama-sensei. Because of his thinking that girls means trouble to steamy male relationships.
 * High School Hustler: Negiri
 * Hot Blood: The school's principal, especially during his introduction.
 * Hot for Student
 * Sabuyama-sensei has a huge crush on the male Futaba that he keeps trying to act upon.
 * Also Futana when she starts her teacher training course, due to her Anything That Moves sexuality.
 * And the eldest Koujiro sister for male Kurin to the point of kidnapping him with a portable wormhole.
 * Hot Dad and/or Hot Mom: Futaba's father in his female form (s/he even works as a model and actress). And his male form can be quite attractive for some...
 * Hot Scientist: The Koujiro sisters (Mad Scientists too).
 * : The origin of the Shimeru clan.
 * Important Haircut: Futaba cuts his hair as apology Misaki; female-Futaba is also similarly hairless and Futaba has to wear a wig for a little while after as it grows back.
 * Incompatible Orientation: Misaki and Futaba -- Futaba turns into a woman whenever he gets aroused, meaning that any relationship they have is doomed, as Misaki is heterosexual.
 * Instant Fanclub: Thanks to Negiri, Futaba gains one of these with breathtaking speed.
 * Jerkass: Futana
 * Jumping the Gender Barrier:
 * Kick Chick: Anzu
 * Lethal Chef: Misaki, due to her habit of over-sweetening everything. The three Koujiro sisters are more likely to actually kill someone, though.
 * Lost Him in A Card Game: The wrestling team captain basically stakes the team in a series of Mahjong games with Negiri and Futaba has to pay off the debt.
 * Lovable Sex Maniac: Futana (in both forms, see below).
 * Love Is in The Air: A side-effect of Shapeshifter Mode Lock, see that entry below.
 * Man, I Feel Like a Woman: But of course. Best not to think about the implications for Futana's changes.
 * Martial Arts and Crafts: During the Futaba-cup arc, every school club has a fighting style. The Gardening Club even brings out a Man-Eating Plant with Combat Tentacles.
 * Meaningful Name: Far too many to count.
 * Meganekko: Negiri, eventually after some Character Development, although she still gets a Beautiful All Along moment.
 * Mister Seahorse: Explicitly stated in the case of Futaba's "father" and by implication the expected results of Futaba's marriage to either Misaki or Kurin.
 * Must Have Nicotine: A sales clerk who covers her entire stock in tobacco stains (and starts a fire that almost kills half the cast).
 * Noblewoman's Laugh: Takane Hiroin, especially as her alter-ego the Queen of Darkness.
 * Non Standard Character Design: Principal Hiroin has a considerably more cartoonish look than all the characters, including a huge round head over a midget body.
 * Nosebleed: Everyone, at some point. The wrestling team in particular, though -- they have nose explosions!
 * Only Sane Man: Futaba gets landed in this role a lot.
 * Paper Fan of Doom
 * The eldest Koujiro sister has a jet-assisted one of these.
 * Principal Hiroin as "the Tengu of Justice" also uses one.
 * Poster Gallery Bedroom: Made up of pin-ups and Porn Stash: Futana's room. Were you expecting anything else by this point on the page?
 * Powered Armor: An invention of the Koujiro sisters.
 * Power Perversion Potential: Particularly by Futana, Futaba's older sister.
 * Quirky Household: The Shimeru household.
 * Rip Van Winkle:.
 * Scary Shiny Glasses: Negiri
 * Schoolgirl Lesbians: Misaki picks up one of these
 * Secret Keeper: Misaki
 * Selective Obliviousness: Somehow Futaba has managed to make it to junior high school without noticing his family's tendency to change genders on a regular basis. Especially remarkable given the Shapeshifter Mode Lock problem.
 * Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Futaba is stuck in girl form while menstruating. Presumably this also happens during pregnancy.
 * Skinship Grope: Futana, naturally, though she tends to take it a bit further than most characters.
 * Skunk Stripe: The Koujiro sisters and Kurin.
 * Soft Glass: Futaba goes through glass windows several times, including once nearly-naked, without so much as a scratch. The Justicemaker, on the other hand, can get plenty of shards in his huge head along with comical spurts of blood.
 * Straight Gay: Sabuyama-sensei
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders: Futaba finds himself blushing while thinking of his sister's MALE form.
 * Superhuman Transfusion
 * Sweet Tooth: Misaki's got a huge one; so much so that it ties in with Lethal Chef -- anything she cooks for herself is unbearably sweet.
 * Tempting Fate: Futaba says he has a good feeling about the school field trip; next panel.
 * : The canon solution to, shown in the last few chapters. Futaba   both
 * Thanks for The Mammary: See the entry for The Chikan above.
 * Torture First, Ask Questions Later: The wrestler sisters Karin and Anzu tend to get a bit too enthusiastic during "questioning".
 * Tournament Arc
 * Transformation Comic
 * Unknown Rival: Ms. Hiroin to female Futaba; see link in Breaking the Fourth Wall example.
 * Misaki, with the complication that . She earned it, though, what with
 * Walking the Earth: Futana's fiancé(e) departs to do this after meeting her for the first time.
 * Wrestler in All of Us: Futaba is in the school's wrestling club.