Futaba-Kun Change!
Encyclopedia
is a 8 volumes manga
series by Hiroshi Aro
. Fast-paced, madcap and relatively mature in themes, it's usually comedic
, with occasional elements of romance
. It was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Jump
in Japan, but it is now out of print. It was licensed by Studio Ironcat
in the U.S., but as the company went out of business their release is also out of print.
club and slowly getting closer to his awkward love interest, Misaki. This fails to last as he discovers his family's hereditary genetic defect that becomes active at adolescence
. Although it will eventually become controllable, either excitement or stress now makes Futaba switch sex
. Hilarity ensues. The general status quo of the storyline, tone and atmosphere is maintained until volume 6, at which point Misaki discovers Futaba's secret.
In volume 8, the manga abruptly changes from light comedy to serious Science fiction
. Futaba, Misaki and Kurin are taken by alien
s that explain that the Shimeru family are not merely bizarrely mutated but descendants of a space crash 12 to 13 thousand years ago. They are taken to the star system they originated from to see a structure much like a Dyson sphere
, but see that the entire race has been annihilated. Determined to find a less tragic future, they return to Earth. 8 years have passed, all their friends and family have happy lives (Motomura and Nigiri have gotten married and Futana is an celebrity playboy), the Shimeru clan have spread throughout the world, and their condition is now widely known and accepted.
cliché
taken to its grotesque extreme.
Parallels to the well-known Ranma ½
series, where the protagonist's effect is triggered and reversed by cold and hot water, are unavoidable. Shimeru is even a wrestler while Ranma Saotome is a martial artist. This wouldn't be the only time Aro seemed to be influenced by Ranma 1/2, seeing the title of his other manga Morumo 1/10. On the other hand, Ranma ½ is more cartoon
ish in both drawing style and content as well as containing precious little references to sexuality. Ranma starts off already used to if unhappy with his situation, and spends a lot of his time fighting while Futaba only occasionally comes to blows and those blows tend towards the theoretically possible.
Several other canon
characters make cameos, including Street Fighter
characters, Sesame Street
puppets, Ryoko and Aeka from Tenchi Muyo!
, or even Hiroshi Aro himself (drawn as a glasses-wearing alligator
).
Takeru
Chima
Iroka Kahoru
Principal Hiroin
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series by Hiroshi Aro
Hiroshi Aro
, better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. He is mostly known for being the author of Futaba-Kun Change!, Morumo 1/10 and Yuu and Mii.He makes guest appearances in his own comics, drawing himself as an alligator wearing glasses....
. Fast-paced, madcap and relatively mature in themes, it's usually comedic
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, with occasional elements of romance
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
. It was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Jump
Monthly Shonen Jump
is a now defunct monthly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the Jump line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to Weekly Shōnen Jump.- History :...
in Japan, but it is now out of print. It was licensed by Studio Ironcat
Studio Ironcat
Studio Ironcat was a small publishing company based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, dedicated to publication of manga and later, Amerimanga. The company is most known for its publication of the first volume of Megatokyo, a prominent webcomic, as well as the flamboyant style of one of its founders,...
in the U.S., but as the company went out of business their release is also out of print.
Story
Futaba Shimeru is a normal high-schooler living a normal life, active in his school's wrestlingWrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
club and slowly getting closer to his awkward love interest, Misaki. This fails to last as he discovers his family's hereditary genetic defect that becomes active at adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
. Although it will eventually become controllable, either excitement or stress now makes Futaba switch sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
. Hilarity ensues. The general status quo of the storyline, tone and atmosphere is maintained until volume 6, at which point Misaki discovers Futaba's secret.
In volume 8, the manga abruptly changes from light comedy to serious Science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. Futaba, Misaki and Kurin are taken by alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
s that explain that the Shimeru family are not merely bizarrely mutated but descendants of a space crash 12 to 13 thousand years ago. They are taken to the star system they originated from to see a structure much like a Dyson sphere
Dyson sphere
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
, but see that the entire race has been annihilated. Determined to find a less tragic future, they return to Earth. 8 years have passed, all their friends and family have happy lives (Motomura and Nigiri have gotten married and Futana is an celebrity playboy), the Shimeru clan have spread throughout the world, and their condition is now widely known and accepted.
Themes
The characters of Futaba and Misaki are quite realistic (while virtually every other person is a certified nutjob), and the former's state is examined from day one. As such, the effects on the sufferer are an important part, especially early on. This includes the physical aspect, which is presented realistically but a few parts are left to the imagination. The gradual romance between Futaba and Misaki, and to a lesser degree Misaki and Futaba, though now very awkward indeed forms a loose central structure. Commonly enough, events turn into chaos, usually through the help of other characters ranging from Futaba's older sister with her/his anything-that-moves attitude to one who suffers from the nosebleedNosebleed
Epistaxis or a nosebleed is the relatively common occurrence of hemorrhage from the nose, usually noticed when the blood drains out through the nostrils...
cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
taken to its grotesque extreme.
Parallels to the well-known Ranma ½
Ranma ½
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi with an anime adaptation. The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood in martial arts...
series, where the protagonist's effect is triggered and reversed by cold and hot water, are unavoidable. Shimeru is even a wrestler while Ranma Saotome is a martial artist. This wouldn't be the only time Aro seemed to be influenced by Ranma 1/2, seeing the title of his other manga Morumo 1/10. On the other hand, Ranma ½ is more cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
ish in both drawing style and content as well as containing precious little references to sexuality. Ranma starts off already used to if unhappy with his situation, and spends a lot of his time fighting while Futaba only occasionally comes to blows and those blows tend towards the theoretically possible.
Several other canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
characters make cameos, including Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
characters, Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
puppets, Ryoko and Aeka from Tenchi Muyo!
Tenchi Muyo!
, is a Japanese anime, light novel, and manga series created by Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi.The generally accepted translation of the title is No Need for Tenchi or Useless Tenchi, though at the time of its appearance it was also translated variably as No Heaven and Earth and This Way Up...
, or even Hiroshi Aro himself (drawn as a glasses-wearing alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
).
Characters
- The lead character of the story, he's stunned to learn that not only will he change into a girl when he becomes excited, but somehow he failed to notice that all of the other members of his family switch sex as well. His new female form is just as strong as his male form, and has a power of attraction that quickly launches her into a career as a Japanese idolJapanese idolIn Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...
. As a male, Futaba's name is written in kanjiKanjiKanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
as , but his female form's name is written in hiraganaHiraganais a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
as ふたば. His family name is a reference to the word shemaleShemaleShemale is a term used in sex work to describe trans women with male genitalia and augmented female breasts from breast augmentation and/or use of hormones...
.
- Futaba's love interest, the fact that he turns into a girl when he becomes aroused places a seemingly insurmountable barrier to their relationship. Her cooking is intolerably sweet to anyone else, and she is very superstitious. After she switches from swimming club to wrestlingWrestlingWrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
club so her new friend "Futaba-chan" won't be the only girl in it, there is a joke about how it turns out that none of the other swimmers actually know how to swim in regular water that isn't filled with dissolved sugar from Misaki's sugar-filled body. Her family has a little connection to the Shimeru clan.
- Futaba's sister who in her male form makes the most out of her powers of attraction, by seducing countless girls and probably a few boys as well. She doesn't use birth controlBirth controlBirth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
, and leaves a small army of sex-shifting offspring behind. She also gropes Futaba, but probably more for the amusement value of watching his reactions than genuine interest since it doesn't cause her to shift sex. Futana is genuinely loves both sexes, even to the point of shape shifting in front of Futaba whom he tricked to do sexy poses.
- A very important member of the main Shimeru family which has arranged for her engagement to Futaba. Imperious and pushy she is initially contemptuous of her fiance until she learns that he's also the famous Futaba-chan and that he's already interested in someone else, at which point she desperately tries to win his affection. In her female form she is short and unattractive, but her male form is tall, handsome and surrounded by a cloud of pheromones that leave women awestruck. She uses this power to get free food since the transformation makes her extremely hungry.
- The president of the wrestling club, Motomura is a large and impressive manly figure but is easily moved to tears in his excesses of emotion. He is also a compulsive gambler and Negiri takes great advantage of his weakness.
Takeru
- Another member of the wrestling club, he's the weakest wrestler among them, and a would-be lotharioLotharioLothario is a male first name which came to connote an unscrupulous seducer of women.In The Impertinent Curiosity, a story-within-the-story in Don Quixote , by Miguel de Cervantes, a man named Anselmo coerces Lothario, his faithful friend, to test the virtue of Anselmo's wife, Camila...
.
Chima
- The last member of the wrestling club, he takes the Japanese clichéClichéA cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
of nosebleedNosebleedEpistaxis or a nosebleed is the relatively common occurrence of hemorrhage from the nose, usually noticed when the blood drains out through the nostrils...
s due to sexual arousal to exaggerated lengths, even using it as a weapon in a martial arts tournament.
Iroka Kahoru
- A famous actress/model, s/he is the person Futaba thought of as his father, although he actually gave birth to Futaba. Iroka pushes Futaba to follow in her footsteps as Futaba-chan.
- Misaki Shima's friend, she takes control of both the wrestling club and Futaba-chan's idol career because Motomura and Futaba are both easily taken advantage of. Negiri is Futaba-kun's equivalent of Nabiki Tendo and speaks using KansaiKansaiThe or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included...
turns of phrase.
Principal Hiroin
- A small man with an over-sized head, Principal Hiroin is somewhat mad. Whenever he sees someone in trouble he changes into one of his superhero costumes (modelled on Japanese superheroes) and appears to attempt to save the day. He is aware of Futaba's double identity and arranged for both identities to be students at the school, which has many secret cubbyholes where Futaba (and Principal Hiroin) can change identities without being seen. His daughter, Takane, is secretly Queen X and playacts at supervillainy just as he plays at superheroics.