Futaba-Kun Change!

The two faces of Futaba Shimeru.

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.

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Tropes used in Futaba-Kun Change! include:

• 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.
• Acrofatic: The representative from the Sumo Club in the Tournament Arc, Konishiki Mai-chan.
• Apocalypse How: The Shimeru homeworld (actually a giant ringworld made of Ivy) has undergone a Class 4 with only the Ivy and nanomachines still working.
• 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.
• Catapult Nightmare: Seems par for the course for unpleasant dreams.
• Character Development and Characterization Marches On: Most noticable for Negiri, whose character changes notably over the course of the manga.
• The Chikan: Futana, who else. Futaba is mistaken for one at one point shortly afterwards.
• Clark Kenting: Everyone with a secret identity, but most especially Principal Hiroin as The Justicemaker.
• Comedic Sociopathy: The only kind of humor Futana seems capable of, and more often than not it's just Squick, plain and simple.
• 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 (except it is really a giant spaceship).
• Follow the Leader: Copies a lot of ideas from Ranma ½.
• 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. Turns out Futaba's family are aliens that moved away from the aformentioned Floating Island; Futaba, Misaki, and Kurin end up away from the planet for 8 years; Misaki gets gene treatment to fix her partial Gender Bender alien DNA (and thus makes herself a compatible mate to Futaba); Futaba Takes a Third Option and apparently decides to marry both Misaki and Kurin; and the entire world now knows about the aliens due to Negiri's PR efforts. There's a reason most readers just pretend the last volume never happened.
• Gender Bender: The Shimeru clan. And Misaki, when she gets a blood transfusion from Futaba. Though it turns out later that she's distantly descended from the Shimeru clan and the transfusion only woke her genetic potential.
• Gender Bender Friendship: Futaba and Misaki, naturally.
• Genre Shift: Starts as a High School gender-bending comedy and ends with the revelation that the Shimerus are aliens, their homeland is a spaceship and their homeworld is a Ringworld made of ivy that has under gone a Category 4 extinction.
• 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).
• Human Aliens: 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.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: There's a store that specializes in tailoring these that Futana frequents.
• 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. Misaki fixes the problem by Jumping the Gender Barrier via gene therapy.
• Instant Fanclub: Thanks to Negiri, Futaba gains one of these with breathtaking speed.
• Jerkass: Futana.
• Jumping the Gender Barrier: During their trip to the Shimeru clan homeworld, Misaki gets gene therapy to make her into a full Human Alien like Futaba and Kurin, making her suddenly an available love interest. Futaba decides not to decide.
• 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.
• Living Crashpad: Mai-chan landed on Sabuyama-sensei.
• 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. Also, Misaki during her brief period of changing into a boy.
• 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: It takes eight years for the Shimeru spaceship island to make the journey to it's homeworld and back, but for Futaba, Kurin and Misaki it only took a few minutes.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Negiri
• Schoolgirl Lesbians: Misaki picks up one of these who runs off since it happened during Misaki's brief phase of randomly transforming into a man.
• 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.
• She Who Must Not Be Seen: Mrs. Shimeru, Futaba's father. Her face is never seen, and only about two strips show even a part of her body. In later volumes, she gets upgraded to The Voice though.
• 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.
• Invisible to Gaydar: 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. 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!
• Tempting Fate: Futaba says he has a good feeling about the school field trip; next panel the plane carrying them has ditched in the ocean.
• Tenchi Solution: The canon solution to the love triangle, shown in the last few chapters. Futaba marries both Kurin and Misaki (who gets gene therapy on the ship to turn her into a permanent gender bending Human Alien like the other two).
• 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.
• Victorious Childhood Friend: Misaki, with the complication that she's going to have to share Futaba with Kurin. She earned it, though, what with going through Gene therapy to turn herself into a full Human Alien so she would be compatible.
• Walking the Earth: Futana's fiancé(e) departs to do this after meeting her for the first time.
• We All Live in Japan: For a culture founded on a drifting island spaceship by stranded aliens with no concept of gender, kept isolated from the rest of the world to the extent the rest of the world doesn't even know it exists, the Shimeru homeland sure ended up... Japanese. Granted, this all started tens of thousands of years ago but... really?
• Wrestler in All of Us: Justified. Futaba is in the school's wrestling club.