Transformation Sequence / Anime & Manga

Transformation Sequence
Mediums: Anime & Manga - Live-Action TV - Video Games - Western Animation

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• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: Kusuri invokes this in Chapter 29 by drinking her Magic Antidote to age herself up during a play session with the other girls.
• Akazukin Chacha has one that gets longer after Episode 30 and 43 as Chacha gets more and more weapons. Fortunately, the show compensates a bit by speeding the initial part up.
• Angel Blade features one or two of these. They never show a power down or what it looks like to the others in the area. Also since it's hentai any implied nudity is thrown out the window as it's all plainly visible.
• Nina, the main heroine and eponymous Magical Girl of Artiswitch has a short yet stylish sequence going from the sporty and fashionable casual clothes she was wearing to her witch outfit in episode 1 transporting one of her customers to the Acid-Trip Dimension. All episodes after the first onwards show Nina already in her witch outfit whenever she appears in the magic dimension.
• Played for Laughs in Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts. Hideyoshi, a male character who is often mistaken for being female, gets his own Sailor Moon-esque transformation sequence when he uses his summon (unlike the other characters, whose summons just sort of materialize). He follows this up by immediately Leaning on the Fourth Wall afterward, saying, "Why am I the only one to get a transformation sequence?"
• Black God has "Synchronization" which is accomplished through a shared transformation sequence of two people, such as This one.
• Black Jack, oddly enough. In the manga he washes up and puts on his scrubs like any normal surgeon. In the anime there's a fanfare and a light show and what looks for all the world like a Magical Girl transformation. And he's just badass enough to make it look good.
• Bleach:
  • Downplayed for most characters where transformation sequences can be quite straight-forward and practical such as Ichigo transforming from human to shinigami with a simple smack via an appropriate soul-removal tool or popping Kon's pill form into his mouth. It tends to be played straight when seeing a character's power-up transformation sequence for the first time (such as a powerful Arrancar entering Resurrection form or a shinigami activating bankai). However, some shinigami who rarely activate their shikai forms will get a dramatic sequence as well.
  • It was also played straight with the Magical Girl parody of Charlotte Chulhourne in the anime.
• Subverted in Blue Dragon where as several robots begin to merge together in a transformation sequence, one of the heroes quickly slices them in half while berating them for thinking she would stand still and wait while they used such a long sequence during battle.
• Cardcaptor Sakura averts this in regards to Sakura's outfits; instead, the transformation sequence is for turning the tiny key she wears on a necklace into a three foot long staff which she needs in order to use the magic cards. Any changes to her wardrobe are done in an entirely non-magical way (her friend Tomoyo provides different costumes for her). These staff transformations don't use Stock Footage, since in this series everyone has an Unlimited Wardrobe and Sakura will often be wearing a different outfit.
• The anime version of Chrono Crusade gave Chrono a transformation sequence when Rosette unseals the watch and unleashes his true form, complete with his clothes ripping as he grows in size. In the manga, the transformation is never really seen, but seems to be instant.
• Classicaloid gets in on the fun too despite not being a magical girl show.
  • When casting Mujik, the Classicaloid in question manifests a Transformation Trinket in the form of a baton and transforms their regular clothing into those more befitting of conducting an orchestra. Quick transformations merely involve sparkles, while more detailed transformations show ribbons forming around them like a cocoon while their newly gained outfits temporarily appear star-spangled.
  • While Classicaloids are generally able to cast Mujik at will, Beethes and Motes are shown to have forgotten how to trigger it at the beginning of the show. This is achieved through freshly-made gyoza hitting the floor and getting slapped by the protagonist Kanae respectively.
• In Corrector Yui, Yui got a standard one for her Magical Girl transformation (and so did Haruna and Ai), and bonus ones when given an Elemental Suit (Fire, Water, Wind and Earth). These sequences were infamous for all of the Fanservice and the very... "orgasmic" faces.
• Parodied, lampshaded and played straight in Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!. The Defense Club boys are forced to transform the first time and they notably get embarrassed about having transformed right after that. Season 2 shows that it is possible for them to transform in one second, but only when the times call for it. The parody comes from the fact that this being a magical boy show, there have to be parts where the boys are stripped of their civilian clothes, which means Io has to cover his parts with his hands and sparkly effects in Season 1...
• Cutey Honey is the archetypical transforming Magical Girl, including catchphrase, naked transformation, and In the Name of the Moon. However it should be noted that in the original series, Honey's transformation was very short and to-the-point, clocking in at only 5 seconds or so — a far cry from the minute-long lightshows of modern-day Magical Girls. Basically, she's a more tech-based Magical Girl. While other Magical Girls look like naked silhouettes with Barbie Doll Anatomy in full play when transforming, and in-universe it's actually instantaneous, Honey transforms via a device within her body that disassembles matter and reassembles it in another form. That means when it takes her clothes apart at the atomic level to turn them into her fighting outfit or one of her many disguises, she's 100% nekkid, and while it's much shorter than a Sailor Moon morph, it's in real time and real space. Only the camera angles keep the series from NC-17 level, and the other characters definitely see the whole show.
• The second season of Darker than Black has a Contractor whose power is the ability to summon a gigantic antitank rifle, which involves a sequence, apparently in real time, in which she floats up into the air and the barrel of the gun comes out of her necklace. Given the show's habit of deconstructing every trope it gets its claws into, the fandom was already taking bets on how long it was going to be until she got attacked in the middle of it. They were entirely baffled when she didn't. Not even once for the whole season.
• Weirdly inverted in Date A Live: The first one we see is a character changing their costume into normal clothes. Tohka transforming her costume into a normal school uniform for her date with Shido.
• Devil Hunter Yohko was an early entrant in the Magical Girl genre, with its highly fanservicely sequence. Her younger sidekick's sequence was quicker, and even when "nude" was done with less fanservice. On the otherhand, Yohko's identical twin cousin's sequence was just as much as Yohko's, with a dark edge.
• A staple feature of all incarnations of the Digimon franchise, to the point that to many they're the most memorable and recognizable point of the series. Transformation Is a Free Action is (almost) always in full play; however, it's widely implied that evolution takes only as long to happen as it takes for the evolving Digimon to announce their evolution.
  • There are numerous demonstrations that evolution takes next to no time across the franchise, but the most obvious example occurs in Digimon Tamers in the fight against Zhuqiaomon, where he fires an attack at the group, and only then Terriermon evolves, finishing up before the attack hits — i.e., less than a second! Later, the Digimon Data Squad Short Film verifies this notion — Agumon's evolution into ShineGreymon is shown both as the usual Transformation Sequence and as it would appear in-universe to the other characters. While the Transformation Sequence is the usual, the outside evolution takes less than five seconds, as demonstrated here starting at the 2:00 mark.
  • Digimon Adventure, despite being the one which set the trend for the franchise, loved playing with this trope on occasion. The forty-ninth episode played it to hilarious effect through combining it with Magic Misfire and Power-Up Letdown:
    Biyomon: Biyomon digivolve to... (fails) Hey! What happened?
    Patamon: Patamon digivolve to... (fails) Wait a second, I'm still me!
    Tentomon: Tentomon digivolve to... (fails) Kabu— never mind...
    Agumon: Agumon digivolve to... (fails) Greymon! ...Greymon! ...Greymon! Yeah, I'm Greymon! I'm big and I'm bad and I'm—
    Tai: Agumon, your Digivolve was a Digi-dud.
  • Digimon Frontier plays this with amusing consistency: regardless of the form being transformed into, a single full Spirit Evolution sequence with no cuts will take thirty-two seconds.
    • Lots of Barbie Doll Anatomy, screaming, and pretty lights ensue. It doesn't look like it, but Spirit Evolution is painful, and the amount of pain correlates with how powerful the form is (one word: ew). Takuya's voice actor, Michael Reisz, refused to voice Takuya's final evolution because he didn't want to harm his voice with all the screaming.
    • While it takes less time than the full sequence implies, it does take time. (Basically, we see them de-digivolving many times. Simple "big form glows yellow, shifts to Sleep-Mode Size form, little form de-glows." Reverse that and you get the power-up (we see it when a one-shot character does it.) Make it white and you have the Tamers version. However, the Frontier version gets this cool swirly shiny barcode bit.) If attacked during these few seconds, the sequence can be interrupted.
  • Digimon Fusion has flavors of both evolving and having a combination sequence a la Combining Mecha.
  • Digimon Adventure: (2020) actually has most Digivolving happen in real time, a very rare thing for the franchise. Agumon is the sole exception so far, as his transformation into Greymon got stock footage in Episode 4 that continues to be used afterward. Same deal goes for Gabumon and his transformation to Garurumon once he's re-introduced later on. All the other partners don't use stock footage though.
  • Digimon Data Squad has Lalamon practically strip while (Double) Warp Digivolving to become Rosemon... Hey, we're talking about a Digimon whose second favorite move is "Forbidden Temptation" here, 'kay?
• Dinosaur King uses transformation sequences for the six main dinosaurs (Chomp, Ace, Paris, Terry, Spiny, and Tank). Notably, they change from 2D chibi dinosaurs into CGI realistic dinosaurs. As the series progresses, they shorten these sequences, cutting from the chibi dinosaur straight to the CGI.
• Dragon Ball Z is the shounen version of this trope. Many of the characters have powered up forms and minor to major transformation sequences.
  • All of the Saiyajin who still have their tails can transform into monstrous 50-foot-tall apes when they see a full moon, and most of the Saiyajin featured in the series also master lesser form changes, the first just being developing a glowing aura, and their hair turning gold and standing straight up. This is one of the early examples of a super mode.
  • Inverted form of monstrous change for a couple of villains, when Frieza and Buu have power ups that leave them in a smaller, cuter, but more powerful form. Both Frieza & Cell are also examples of a Bishounen Line.
  • Dragon Ball Super parodies the Magical Girl variation with the Kamikaze Fireballs. When attempting their transformation sequence, they get blasted by Android 17. They survive and proceed to chew him out for trying to interrupt them.
• When Erza in Fairy Tail changes her magical armor in mid battle, all the mooks stop what they're doing to ogle her. This is actually something of a subversion. In the manga it is noted that her transformations (actually just exchanging armor, called 'ex-quipping'), is performed astonishingly fast, to the point that it can be used practically in battle. Each transformation is assumed to take less than a second, just long enough for the opponent to go "Ooh, clothes vanishing from an Action Girl!" before she's re-dressed in magical armor that lets her kick thirty people's asses at once without even trying. The anime, however, gives her a traditional-style Transformation Sequence which, combined with the over-use of Stock Footage and Instant Runes, and the lack of blood from what should be gaping sword-wounds, makes it significantly less popular than the very-awesome manga. Thankfully, the anime got the hint and got rid of the Transformation Sequence.
• Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA plays with it a few times.
  • The second episode has Illya hiding in a bathroom to do her transformation sequence because she's embarrassed about it.
  • The first episode of 2wei has Rin and Luvia loudly arguing and bickering with each other during Illya's and Miyu's transformation sequence.
  • Later, the staves do a running commentary over the girls' transformation sequences, at one point questioning why Chloe is doing one when she doesn't really need to.
  • At one point, Ruby complains about Illya using the transformation just to get clothes to wear after a moment of accidental nudity, saying the brief moment of nudity after a magical girl's clothes disappear is an important part of the transformation sequence. According to Ruby, using the transformation to end your nudity is "blasphemous".
• Flip Flappers has Cocona and Papika partially tap into the power of the Amorphous during the climaxes of the first two episodes though the only changes that get invoked are an Eye Color Change combinded with Power Dyes Your Hair (with Power Makes Your Hair Grow in the former's case). It isn't until episode 3 that the main duo gain full Pretty Cure-styled transformations though episodes after that have them transform and back to civillain form automatically.
• Floral Magician Mary Bell has a nudity-free one in which her clothes change into sparkles and re-form themselves as her Magical Girl outfit. She also gains an oversized hairbow.
• In Flowering Heart, all four girls have one that's based around flowers and cosmetics.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Envy unleashes his gruesome true form inside Gluttony's stomach. Complete with "Oh, Crap!" expressions from Ed and Ling.
• Full Moon gives Mitsuki one when she turns into Full Moon. A rather simplistic sequence is used for the first half of the series, but a more elaborate looking, Magical Girl-type one was used in the second half. Meroko also gets a short sequence when she shapeshifts.
• When Daiya gets into Gaiking in Gaiking: Legend of Daiku Maryu, the sequence consists of not only the DaikuMaryu's head docking with the Parts 1 and Parts 2 units, but Daiya's hair and clothes also transform, putting him in a jumpsuit with a similar torso design to his humongous mecha, and making his already-spiky anime hair to stick up and turn red.
• Averted in Galaxy Fraulein Yuna where one of the characters has a literal three frame transformation from normal clothing to battlesuit. Phenomenally cool.
• Getsumento Heiki Mina (aka Lunar Rabbit Weapon Mina) has gratuitous Fanservice-laden sequences. Complete with boob bounce}. Yes, magical boob bounce. (Thus.) Also, in the last episode, we find out that everyone else just sees them having a bright light surround them for about half a second, then they are done transforming.
• Parodied nicely in Genshiken; when forcing Saki to cosplay, a somewhat...unhinged... Ohno, with a creepy laugh and in a sing-song voice, says "Time for all the gentlemen to get out of here, so Saki can begin her transformation sequence".
• Getter Robo, one of the classic Transforming Mecha series, subverted it when the prototype Getter units were destroyed as an enemy attacked in the middle of the transformation sequence. A modern sequel had the heroes pull the same trick against their Evil Counterparts — after doing their own combination sequence first — to prove how much more badass they are.
  Ryoma: What's the matter? Can't even pull off a change without checking the controls?
  • Then gleefully subverted with the revelation that the heroes only destroyed one of the machines. The other two formed enough of the machine for their enemies to keep fighting. Of course, one Stoner Sunshine later...
  • This scene seems to be based on the first battle in the Shin Getter Robo manga, though in that version they managed to destroy the partially-formed mecha before it could fight back.
• Gundam:
  • The Impulse Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny uses a variation on the original series' Core Block System to launch — the cockpit is a transforming fighter, the legs are a separate module and the entire upper body is a third, with extra equipment arriving as a fourth after the main body has combined in mid-air. Shinn is never attacked during that sequence.
  • No such luck for the protagonist of Victory Gundam, despite the Victory and V2 Gundams having very similar combining/transforming sequences to the original RX-78; well over half a battle can and is spent just trying to get all the pieces together without being interrupted or having said parts outright destroyed by the enemy, leading to such gems as Uso having to fight without arms or even legs.
  • In contrast, Mobile Fighter G Gundam just went for straight up Fanservice, with sequences that include watching the latex wrap snugly over Domon Kasshu's buttocks. In close-up. Especially evident when Rain gets a sequence. Parodied with Master Asia's horse, who also gets to suit up.
• The majority of protagonists, antagonists, and minor enemies in Guyver are capable of changing to and from incredibly strong and sentient beings; the most prominent is the main character, Sho Fukamachi (a.k.a. "Guyver 1").
• Being one of the older Magical Girl shows, Hana no Ko Lunlun has a rather simple transformation: Lunlun points her Transformation Trinket at a nearby flower, and the flower emits rings of colorful light towards Lunlun, thus changing her outfit to whatever she needs at the moment. However, the nudity and floating/dancing-around-in-a-void present in later Magical Girl shows are absent here.
• Parodied in Happy Lesson. "Activate tutor transformation! Actually, I was wearing these underneath..."
• Parodied in Hayate the Combat Butler; Hayate once drew a manga about a magical girl that won a manga contest. When he showed it to the other girls at their insistence, the girls noted with some irritation that the transformation sequence was too Moe and full of Fanservice.
• Hell Girl's Ai Enma has one of these nearly Once an Episode (in the first season, anyway.) However, it's not very traditional.
• Hellsing Every time Alucard is granted more of his powers, he recites an elaborate chant to invoke the release system.
  Patrick Seitz: (on the commentary) When the badass vampire starts mumbling to himself, you back away.
• Henkei Shoujo: Every episode has a scene where one of the girls transforms into a vehicle or robot. Given that each episode is roughly a minute long, said scene takes up a sizable portion of the episode's runtime.
• Heroman:
  • The male protagonist Joey is given one of these, though all that's really changing is the gauntlet. It has a rather Magical Girl vibe which isn't helped by Joey's excessively girly appearance.
  • Heroman himself has a version of one of these early on, where he marches toward the enemy growing larger with each step, but he stops using it after the first couple of goes.
• In High School D×D, Issei's transformation sequence into his Balance Breaker does take at least 15 seconds in the anime. The first time he gets to use it in the anime is at the final episode though. At the climax of Season 2, Vali gets a transformation sequence nearly as long-winded as well. Both of these are lost in the second season, although for Issei it coincides with him being able to use Balance Breaker without a crutch, and it was speculated at the time Vali's first on-screen use of his Scale Mail was him showing off.
• Kunihiko Ikuhara loves this trope, and many of his shows feature elaborate, re-used sequences of characters transforming even in works lacking a Magical Girl, superhero, or even combat element.
  • Revolutionary Girl Utena has an extended sequence every time a character enters the dueling arena involving Utena travelling up elevators while her and Anthy's clothes are removed and replaced with their special dueling uniform. Oddly, the one transforming isn't in charge of the transformation. The transformation sequence also contains several bits of important symbolism. What? Surely you didn't think a surreal deconstructivist shoujo anime wasn't going to have a bunch of crazy symbolism in the transformation sequences?
  • Whenever the Princess of the Crystal awakes in Penguindrum, there's a long sequence where Himari transforms into the Princess of the Crystal, who has a distinct costume and all main characters travel through a Acid-Trip Dimension.
  • In Yuri Kuma Arashi, Ginko and Lulu have a sequence where they spin around and transform from bears to humans.
  • Sarazanmai has three distinct transformation sequences: one where the boys turn into kappas (which involves Keppi swallowing them whole and their shirodakama being extracted), one where the main villains transform the Monster of the Week from humans into zombies (which involves a long dance sequence while the actual transformation happens in the background) and one where the boys turn back into humans.
• Inuyasha:
  • Averted with the titular character. He becomes human for the night of the new moon, but the transformation has little visible effect on his clothing, although there's a brief pulse of power when his hair and eyes change colour and his ears shift from dog-like to human. In the manga, the transformation is almost instantaneous, but the anime will draw it out for dramatic effect, especially when returning to his hanyou form. The transformation tends to be more dramatic when going into his Superpowered Evil Side mode but again, it's much faster in the manga and much more dramatic in the anime.
  • Both the manga and the anime tend to make Sesshoumaru's transformations into his true form dramatic, but this is because he takes his true form so rarely there's clearly something very dangerous or important happening when he does.
• Itsudatte My Santa! does this with the main character Mai getting an adult form, including gratuitous close-ups, including one after the transformation after the co-main character points out her added appeal. Is it any coincidence that it was created by Ken Akamatsu?
• Was done in Kaiketsu Zorro. He transformed with lightning. And generic Latin music. Zorro was one of the first males to ever transform; see Moment of Awesome.
• Meimi from Kaitou Saint Tail has one. Interestingly, she's not really transforming, just putting on her 'stage clothes' (as she's a Phantom Thief that uses stage magic in her capers), so she could theoretically just change clothes... But she likes doing it (plus, it's faster). It nearly bit her in the ass when Rina, who had guessed her secret but had no evidence, was nearby when she needed to change... And she failed to eliminate part of the sound and visual effects. The anime implies the classic Magical Girl naked transformation sequence, but only shows her from the shoulders up while she's doing it.
• Kamichama Karin, as you'd expect. Only two transformations (Karin's main one and Kirio's) actually use Stock Footage, though — Kazune usually skips the sequence and any other transformations are only shown one or twice. The series also averts Out-of-Clothes Experience for the non-stock ones, instead just having the character change out of whatever they were wearing at the time directly to their transformed state.
• Natsuru Senou of Kämpfer periodically drops his (yes) Y-chromosome whenever another Kampfer is around in a short display of fan pleasing goodness (at least for the first few times).
• Kaze no Stigma is positively laden with transformation sequences, mainly Ayano Kannagi whipping out her sword Enraiha — often several times per episode (or at least it felt that way).
• Kill la Kill takes this all the way up to eleven. Of course, this is parodying ridiculous amounts of fanservice, but it's still a Barbie Doll Anatomy riddled sequence. While you don't really see anything condemning the series to the grotesque label of hentai, it comes pretty close at times.
• Kirby has a variety of transformation sequences, one for each ability. Most of them are cute and silly, but a few are darn cool.
• The Lyrical Nanoha works feature long transformation sequences for the heroine and her female comrades. Notable for the nudity of the heroine even when she was a minor, although no secondary sexual characteristics are depicted. In certain cases, even the weapons get their own transformation sequences. In the third season, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, the clothes of the only male on the team explode directly into his Barrier Jacket with no implied nudity in between — particularly conspicuous next to the consecutive transformation sequences of the females, who have their clothes explode long before the Barrier Jacket appears. It should be noted that the characters can use magic in their civil outfits, but that would be deadly for them in combat, so they need their Barrier Jackets which protect them and can give them other abilities.
  • Said sequences happen in decreasing frequency through subsequent seasons. A's has the characters perform the transformation sequence twice for the whole season, while StrikerS also had it twice for the main characters only during its 26-episode run. Heck, the Wolkenritter who were introduced in the second season did not have a transformation sequence until the third season, and it was very brief (less than 20 seconds each). After transformation sequences have been done previously, the characters usually just gets enveloped in a ball of light and transforms in a split second.
  • Doubly subverted in the second episode of the first season where a giant dog of a Jewel Seed monster attacks Nanoha during her Transformation Sequence... only to get tossed away like a rag doll by the powerful barrier it generates.
  • Vita in A's also attacks the bubble of energy surrounding Nanoha while she's transforming. The bubble explodes but she's too late because Nanoha is able to flee from it already fully clothed. This suggests it's possible to attack and disrupt a transforming heroine in Nanoha, it's just difficult.
  • We also see variations on transformations, including one that is virtually instant (Nanoha says simply, "Raising Heart, please?" and her Jacket flows over her), and numerous detransforms that are not only simple but clearly triggered just by willing them.
  • The transformation sequence in The Movie only appears once each for Nanoha and Fate, thankfully. However, the previously missing secondary sexual characteristics were this time included. And in the second movie, their joint transformation is over four minutes long.
  • One of the interesting details in StrikerS is the fact that the type of magic that people use is reflected in how the sequence starts. The clothing disappears layer by layer for Mid-Childan users, while it vanishes all at once for Belkan ones. Sadly, this detail was not kept in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid.
  • ViVid Strike! breaks series tradition by showing the stock footage for almost every transformation, a la a normal Magical Girl series. They even have ones for one-shot characters.
• Macross:
  • Super Dimension Fortress Macross had a mechanically detailed slow-mo sequence of the Valkyrie's shape-shift in the opening, but most times the changes happened lightning-fast, without Stock Footage (in fact, the mecha fighting style shown in Macross depends heavily on moment-by-moment management of the correct transformation mode for the situation). The later Macross series generally follow the lead of SDF; although beautifully animated slow-motion transformations (like Focker's VF-0 transformation in Macross Zero) were retained, these sequences were mostly one-off Fanservice moments.
  • In Macross Delta, Walkure has the Magical Girl kind, complete with colorful backgrounds, catchphrases and facial portraits. However, the effect is actually achieved with holographic projection clothing similar to the kind Sheryl Nome used for her concerts.
• Downplayed in Magic Knight Rayearth. They get the whole nine yards when Clef first gives the girls armor and magic, with Barbie Doll Anatomy and Elemental Colors with fire/water/wind (a scene that's repeated in the opening credits). When the armor evolves, it just glows and changes shape. Whenever they pilot the Mashin, the Mashin just send out a beam of light and they appear in their caped pilot garb in the cockpit.
• In Magilumiere Co. Ltd., Magical Girls change clothes through these. Interestingly, each company has their own method, which often translates to the company's own aesthetic and mission. Magilumiere girls have a simple transformation sequence, Lily recites a few poetic verses to a key to transform, RIMT's Akasaka summons a form she signs to transform, and so on.
• Mahou Shoujo Pretty Bell is a parody of the Magical Girl genre, where a bodybuilder and weight trainer is chosen to be the latest Pretty Bell. He gets a transformation sequence that ends with him in a Sailor Fuku.
• Deconstructed in Matoi the Sacred Slayer. Magical Girl transformation makes characters' previous clothing disappear permanently. After transforming back they're completely naked so they need to bring spare clothes with them. Later, Matoi is prepared and uses P.E. uniform she doesn't need anymore. In one episode, she buys many cheap clothes specifically for this purpose. Obviously, this is Played for Laughs.
• Capcom has been experimenting with this a lot lately in the Rockman/Mega Man (Classic) series. Cross Fusion starting in the third season of the EXE/NT Warrior anime, Denpa Henkan/EM Wave Change in the new Ryuusei/Star Force game/anime, and the "Rock On!" ability that underpins the [ZX series.
  • Specifically, in Mega Man ZX Advent, Ashe and Aile get full-on Magical Girl-esque transformations (Vent and Grey's transformations are similar, but much shorter; Grey's appears to be a Painful Transformation).
  • Even earlier, in Mega Man 6, selecting the Rush Jet(pack) and Rush Power would be accompanied by a mini-cutscene (thankfully skippable) that shows Rush teleporting in, transforming, and flying over to Mega Man, who would then fly up or punch. Mega Man 7 streamlined it: Rush teleports, jumps over Mega Man's head, transforms, and falls onto him in the space of a couple of seconds. Interestingly, this was the game where Rush could be hit by enemies and would retreat. No enemies were smart enough to take advantage of this except by accident, though.
  • Mega Man X kinda gets one when he enters a Light Capsule. He gets surrounded by glowy lights, a lightning bolt strikes the capsule, the new part appears, and X raises his fist (with the recurrent Audible Sharpness sound) and demonstrates his new power.
• Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch gives everyone two separate sequences; one if they're in human form, and one if they're mermaids. Also, once they get their first wardrobe and weapon upgrade, it appears that Lucia, Hanon and Rina cannot transform separately until near the end of the season, for the simple reason that the animators didn't make the necessary Stock Footage.
• Mobile Fighter G Gundam has the scenes where each fighter got into their skintight combat suits, so that they could actually make their Motion-Capture Mecha move, note that since it's Hot-Blooded: The Show, it's always over-the-top. It also has various gundams and their transformation sequences (Shining Gundam turning more samurai-like, Maxter Gundam going from a football player look to a boxer, nether Gundam transforming out of windmill mode) for the mecha too.
• Subverted in Moetan. While Ink and Sumi's transformations fit the standard fare, Arks and Karts would be shown observing the naked transformations and drooling and Nosebleeding respectively, showing that the transformations take place in real time.
• Moldiver parodies the conventions with a transformation that destroys clothing unless the transformee strips naked first.
• In the anime of Monochrome Factor, Akira, Kengo, Aya, and Kou all get one.
• A unique variant on the Super Mode sub-type appears in Mononoke (and the Bakeneko arc of Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales from which it was adopted). In it, the Medicine Peddler doesn't so much transform, as summon a warrior body to replace his normal one. The elaborately painted patterns on his blue robes and pale face slide off, instead crawling onto his other form's golden robes and dark-skinned face before his original body vanishes in what is unquestionably one of the most unusual transformations ever animated. And each sequence is slightly different from the others, ensuring that the process never becomes redundant. No Stock Footage for the Medicine Peddler, that's for sure!
• Monster Musume puts its own spin on it, when the gang help Ils Nineta, the ninetailed fox put on a show. Since Ils can't transform her clothes, Rachnera promply uses her webs to create a new set of clothes on her right in front of the audience.
• My Bride is a Mermaid:
  • My Bride Is A Memaid has San and Luna transforming into their Idol Singer mode in order to stop a Yakuza War. Nagasumi hangs a lampshade on it.
  • Later on, the Class Representative (by far the most reserved person on the show) spontaneously transforms into 'Yes Amazoness' an amazon warrior as a cover when she accidently confesses her love to San.
• The anime adaptation of My Happy Marriage has protagonist Miyo Saimori undergo a sparkly Pretty Cure-esque one into a fancy miko outfit as she comforts and makes peace with the manifestation of her childhood trauma while in the dream world.
• Nanatsuiro★Drops has a strange case in that they wait until the ninth episode to give them to the two Magical Girls, and then we never see them again after that.
• Naruto:
  • The Demonic subtype is played straight when Naruto pulls out his fourth kyuubi tail.
  • Naruto's Tailed Beast Form involves an elaborate Transformation Sequence, with him going into Kyuubi Chakra Mode first, then the markings becoming more pronounced and a Badass Longcoat forming.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • The OVA's give both Asuna and Konoka a Magical Girl-style transformation sequence when they summon their Artifacts. This is purely stylistic, though, as all other Artifact summonings (even when a clothes change is involved) are shown to be instantaneous.
  • The Extra OVA "Magical Girl Yue" takes the chance to parody this. Yue gets a transformations sequence to stylistically summon... normal underwear and clothes. (Plus a Robe and Wizard Hat )
• Taken one step beyond in one of the later Eldoran Series anime, Nekketsu Saikyo Gosaurer Where the school it self turns into the mechas. Observe.
• Nyaruko: Crawling with Love!:
  • The title character goes through a transformation sequence that looks like Sailor Moon turning into a Kamen Rider when she activates her Full Force Form. What makes this noteworthy is, it's completely unnecessary; Nyarko is a Voluntary Shapeshifter who, in the Light Novels, has demonstrated the ability to transform in an instant with nothing more than a thought. But because she's an Otaku who adores Anime and Tokusatsu, she chooses to have a full-on transformation sequence purely because she thinks it looks awesome. The concept is also spoofed in the second TV season where Nyarko changes from a maid outfit into her school uniform using Kamen Rider Wizard's magic circle effect, saying she wanted to try out "the latest version's transformation"^note that season aired at the same time as Wizard.
  • Nyarko gets a more traditional transformation sequence in the OVA episode "How to Defeat a Kind Enemy", where she undergoes training to become a Magical Girl.
• Ojamajo Doremi has probably the most unique variation of this for a magical girl series, as the sequences are very brief and the characters simply put on the costumes over the clothes they were already wearing. They all avert Transformation Is a Free Action, something which is taken advantage of in the story.
• Transformation sequences in Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo are fairly long, but used rarely. Like many other examples, they're instant in real time.
• Parodied in the anime adaptation of One-Punch Man with Puri Puri Prisoner's Angel Style. He undergoes a Sailor Moon-esque sequence from his POV whereas he flexes his muscles so hard that he rips his clothes and becomes nude to the outsider's perspective.
• Onmyou Taisenki has a variation, in the form of Shikigami summoning sequences. Interestingly, pretty much everyone has them, and it's a pretty good way of telling how significant a Toujinshi is to the plot: important characters get long personalized sequences, while Mooks and Red Shirts all get the same generic sequence.
• As it's completely mandatory for the genre it is gleefully deconstructing, Ayumu Mikoshiba from Otasuke Miko Miko-chan goes through this every time he turns into Magical Girl Miko-chan. No, that is not supposed to be "she."
• Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, like the Soul Eater example below, only has the weapons change (although the users do change as well, it's temporary and they change back into their normal clothes shortly after the sequence is done), though it's joined by a sparkly, disco-like enviroinment, switching out of its "normal" Western-style animation and going into traditional anime style... and bringing with it tons of Fanservice and pole dancing.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • Evolutions can take up to thirty seconds on screen. Ash's Chimchar evolving was an excellent example. However, after evolving, Pokémon can never change back. What's noticeable is that the evolution effects changed eventually. Originally the Pokemon merely glowed white and began to grow and change into their new form. Now they turn sapphire blue and continue to grow into their new form. It gets a bit silly when Ash's Sandile evolves its glasses evolve along with it.
  • Starting with the Sun and Moon anime, the evolution sequences vary depending on what Pokemon is evolving. For most wild Pokemon, such as a Sandygast who evolved in SM022, the evolution is the same as in the Black and White/XY/XYZ anime, with the Pokemon glowing sapphire blue and transforming. For Pokemon belonging to the main characters, however, it's... different. Of the three Pokemon belonging to major characters that have evolved so far:
    • Mallow's Bounsweet evolving looks like something straight out of Sailor Moon or any kind of Magical Girl anime.
    • Ash's Rockruff evolving, on the other hand, did involve glowing in a bright light; however, that light was green. Also, there was a ton of detail that could be seen under the light.
    • Most recently, the evolution of Ash's Litten looks like something straight out of the games, and is... rather hard to describe. Take a look at it and see for yourself. (Contains Flashing images)
  • Some Pokemon evolution animations can also look as though the Pokémon themselves are forcing their body parts to change (albeit in a non-painful way). Ash’s Staravia evolving was a good example of this. When its wing changes shape, for example, it appears to lift; then the whole thing pushes out from the tip; then it pulls down until it becomes a nice, smooth curve. Finally, the wing fluffs out, forming a Staraptor’s wing. And all this is done in a single motion. The exact same thing is replicated in the fanfic Pokemon Carnegie.
  • Meloetta transformation between Aria and Pirouette forms.
  • And finally, one episode completely subverts it. An early episode featuring Slowpoke's anime debut. The end of the episode shows Slowpoke pulling it's tail out of the water, revealing a Shellder that has become attached (Slowpoke requires a Shellder to evolve). Slowpoke simply stands and says to the screen, "Ah... Slowbro..." — most anti-magical magical transformation ever.
• Phoron's One Man Orchestra (before it was built into the bike) in Polyphonica has a bit of an elaborate sequence for setting itself up in Crimson S.
• Himeno Awayuki of Prétear has seven six available transformations, depending on the Leafe Knight she is merging with; all sequences look pretty similar, though. No special words are used, the process is triggered by joining hands. The de-transformations are also shown occasionally, but they don't get any special footage, and don't necessarily happen at her own will.
  • We get to see her merge with Shin in the manga. The Plant version outfit is actually rather cute. The anime only shows it once for a split second, when Himeno briefly goes through different Pretear forms during the Combined Energy Attack sequence. The transformation into the Legendary White Pretear, on the other hand, is instantaneous.
  • Interestingly, there's also one episode where Himeno's transformation with Hayate is shown from outside, implying that it does take time (at least enough time for other Knights to comment on it); however, it could be that it was actually longer than usual, as the amount of power unleashed nearly caused Himeno to turn into the Legendary White Pretear.
• Naturally, in the Pretty Cure series, these tend to get pretty elaborate and pyrotechnic. Like Sailor Moon, the full sequence is generally only shown early on, and later episodes condense it by intercutting the individual Cures' scenes in split screen. They're unusual by magical girl standards in that the typically-implied nudity is rarely present. In the original Futari wa Pretty Cure, the girls are entirely covered in a metallic sheen that forms into their outfits, while subsequent series either use a full-body glow or a glowing dress that transforms into the outfit.
  • Also unusually, several Pretty Cure seasons require two girls to be together to transform, most notably with Futari wa, Suite Pretty Cure ♪, and Maho Girls Pretty Cure! (as well as the case-specific Cure Amour and Cure Ma Chérie in HuGtto! Pretty Cure).
  • HeartCatch Pretty Cure! had a special transformation sequence for Tsubomi and Erika together, where they change into their outfits in a more playful manner. Interestingly, the same thing isn't done for Itsuki and Yuri.
  • Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure has a Magic Music aspect, as all of the Cures sing during the transformation sequence. Depending on the episode, one girl may take a solo, or it may be an ensemble performance.
  • The series also provides an explanation to Transformation Is a Free Action, as it's demonstrated in the first episode of Futari wa that the Cures transform in a beam of light that the villains are unable to approach (in one case, a villain escapes mid-transformation, implying it takes place in real time). Furthermore, a professor did the math and concluded that the light energy created by this beam is so strong that it could power all of Japan 21 times over, so anyone else caught within it would be burnt to a crisp.
  • Later seasons show that, to the perspective of someone outside of the sequence, it appears as an instantaneous flash of light. Special non-standard transformations also take much shorter amounts of time, such as Doki Doki Pretty Cure (during the episode which debuts the song "Kokoro wo Komete", Makoto transforms in mere seconds while singing) and the Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure movie (Hikaru and Lala quickly transform while singing the opening verse of the movie's main theme, "Twinkle Stars").
• The Pretty Sammy series mostly plays it straight with an epileptic seizure-causing bit of Stock Footage, but sometimes parodies aspects of it. One of the first times Sammy transforms ends with her getting kicked down by Pixy Misa as she's posing.
• Princess Tutu:
  • You can tell the Dark Magical Girl by the pain she goes through when transforming — black wings rip out of her back and thorny vines wrap around her as she voicelessly screams. The title character, however, gets a regular Transformation Sequence with glowy body outlines and beautiful water, egg and light imagery.
  • The main character also has a short transformation sequence that takes place when she turns from a duck into a girl, although we see the transformation from the viewpoints of outsiders about as many times as we see the sequence, and it seems like most people simply see it as a bright flash of light followed by a naked girl standing where a duck was a moment earlier. Also, it's a little interesting to note that in comparison to a lot of other magical girl shows, Tutu's transformation sequence is very short (about 14 seconds) — the main character only disappears into a golden egg for a moment and comes out fully clothed. The promo video made before the show was produced shows a much longer, more traditional transformation sequence, however.
• Psychic Squad has them whenever the limiters are removed. Usually, the camera will pull out to show other people staring in bemusement and asking questions like "Where did the smoke come from?" or "How were you surfing inside a submarine?"
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It's a Magical Girl series, if an atypical example.
  • Interestingly, the sequences are atypical as well; the sequences are very brief, very quickly put on all parts of the outfit rather than concentrate on each part individually (Mami's was probably the closest to one that did the latter), and the audience only gets to see each one once or twice in the entire series. When they do appear twice, they are animated differently according to the situation, averting Stock Footage. The majority of the "transformations" just end up being the girl briefly glowing and reappearing with new clothes, what it would probably look like in real-time. And being a series in which magical girls don't inherently get along, you don't see combo-transformations. Even more ironically, the transformation you don't get to see? Madoka's.
  • The sequences in the movies — while still fast paced — are far more elaborate (warning — spoilers if you haven't seen the anime). Mami's especially so, which is fitting, as she's one of the more "typical" magical girls in the show. However, there are still no combo transformations, and Mami and Kyoko are the only ones who got two sequences.
  • In the third movie, each girl gets a transformation based on Dance Motifs. They are very elaborate and fancy and take nearly a minute each. However, each girl only gets one sequence.
  • Another odd example: the show's theme song includes a sequence unlike any in the series. There are two Madokas, one with longer hair and possibly meant to be older, who have Barbie Doll Anatomy and embrace in a rather suggestive way; wherever they touch, a costume appears on the younger Madoka, and it ends with the older one kissing her on the head. This probably symbolizes Madoka becoming a patron goddess of Magical Girls in the finale.
• Parodied in Punchline. Mikatan does a transformation to turn into a Henshin Hero named "Strange Juice". When she does it, the viewer also sees what it looks like to others in-series. It looks like she's doing a bizarre dance and she doesn't even transform (she manually changes outfits). Mikatan is convinced heroes need transformation sequences.
• Similarly, Poemi Watanabe's transformation to Puni Puni☆Poemi automatically strips her bare — except for her socks, which she has to manually remove before she can complete the sequence.
• Chouja Reideen features a bunch of more or less bishonen guys who transform into mecha-like armor which they may fuse into a Gundam-style mecha. The transformation includes light, they strip naked and then crystallize before becoming armored. After they transform back, they are actually naked and have to look for clothing or try to avoid being seen like that.
• Do-chan, the sentient Battle Dogi from Ranma ½, isn't actually worn. When it finds a suitable master, it flashes into a bolt of lightning that crashes down on its owner, ripping her clothes to shreds (which leaves them naked momentarily,) and reforming on her body. It is also emphatic enough to know precisely when its owner wants to transform.
• Ronin Warriors had multiple Transformation Sequences for different levels of power.
• Moka's super-vampire transformation in the anime version of Rosario + Vampire shows up nearly every time, and seems to have bats flying into her body and increasing her breast size. The DVD version goes a step further and removes the glow from her body, canceling out at least some of the Barbie Doll Anatomy. Come the second season, another, slightly more elaborate one is used. This sequence happened in real-time and included a voice-over that was actually part of the sequence. Played for laughs in at least one instance when Moka transformed off-screen... and yet the voice-over describing what was happening could still be heard.
• Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs has a "4 vehicles transform into one Mecha" every episode.
• Alma Tandoji of Sacred Seven, he can only do this when Ruri is near him. He then would take a page of Mega Man X which he uses a similar get up for his battle suit.
• The Sailor Moon anime, with its heavy dependence upon stock footage, used pretty much every variation of the Transformation Sequence over the years and codified the modern Magical Girl transformation.
  • Transformation sequences gradually evolved over the course of each season as the novelty wore off: condensed, "team transformation" sequences created by intercutting the various characters' individual transformation sequences predominate in later episodes.
  • In SuperS, Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon shared a sequence. What would happen if they had to transform separately was never addressed. (Presumably, they'd use their transformations from the previous season, but it never happened.)
  • In Ami Mizuno's Day in the Limelight episode of Sailor Moon R the camera actually cut away from her Sailor Mercury transformation sequence twice. The sequence appears to be happening in real time and her opponent appears to transfixed by the light show.
  • When we actually see a character (namely, Sailor Uranus) transform back on-screen, it apparently requires only an act of will, as opposed to the "By the Power of Grayskull!" phrases used for normal transformations. Also, there are a few plot-critical moments at which Sailor Moon is temporarily depowered by a villain, reversing her transformation; these, however, are obviously not voluntary.
  • Amusingly, for all of the girls' transformations, we see Tuxedo Mask transform four times over the course of the series. Once before Mamoru knew of his alter ego, once with a rose after Usagi outs herself as Sailor Moon to him, once in Episode 69 on whilst on the back of his motorcycle, and finally, during a meeting with the Outer Senshi. These last two are noteworthy because it's the shortest henshin of the series. After the three lengthy transformations of the Outers, Mamoru transforms fully in the time it takes for a leaf to blow past the screen. Though the Outers also get a similar blink-and-you'll miss it version elsewhere, and like Mamoru's motorcycle one it's done in a vehicle as Haruka drives them both through a tunnel.
  • There is an instance in a flashback sequence in Sailor Moon S which shows Michiru raising her rod, being swallowed by a ball of light and instantly emerging fully clothed as Sailor Neptune. This may be to save the surprise, as Uranus' and Neptune's transformation sequences officially debut on screen later that episode, or what the transformation actually looks like in real time from an outsider's perspective. This also applied to several times Chibiusa transformed throughout that season, with a very quick scene showing her uniform magically appearing over her clothes. Eventually, we did get a proper Sailor Chibi Moon transformation.
• Sailor Moon Crystal:
  • For the first two seasons transformation sequences were a Cel Shaded CGI variation on their predecessors, with ten more seconds worth of mid-air twirling, flying hair and additional sweeping Orbital Shots, accompanied by an Ethereal Choir and capped off with a spray of red roses climbing the standard stylized crescent moon background.
  • Season 3 goes back to using hand drawn animation with shorter transformations, in response to criticism for the CGI of the first two seasons.
• Saint October dispenses with glittery body outlines and comes up with things like... fruits falling down from a tree and covering the magical girl.
• In Saint Seiya, the Cloths (living suits of armor built to resemble the 88 Constellations) are typically carried around in enormous chests. When the Saint activates his Cloth, the chest shines spectacularly and bursts open (sometimes revealing a spectral construct shaped like Pegasus, a Dragon, a Swan, or whatever constellation the armor represents.) The Cloth within the chest reveals itself, assembled in the rough likeness of the creature from the constellation, before splitting into pieces that fly towards the wearer and clasp onto his body, one at a time. When it is complete, the Saint strikes a pose with the constellation shining in the background.
• The KNT and its translations have a sci-fi sequence, via a spoken phrase, a wristband, and a circular arm motion. Each character gets one once, but G-1's sequence is used a lot. (Vehicle transformation included for plot convenience.)
• Spoofed in Episode 41 of Sgt. Frog, where Tamama suggests the squad attack Kogoro during his Transformation Sequence, but Keroro insists they wait until it's finished.
• Parodied in Shrine of the Morning Mist where during one monster attack Seiko orders the girls to "Transform!"... And they run into a locker room and laboriously change into their miko clothes.
• Shugo Chara!, by its very nature as a Magical Girl series, has these — though, it adds some twists. There's a part-way "character change" that adds an accessory or two rather than a full costume, and the male characters' transformation sequences are as elaborate as the girls'. Also, Amu gets multiple transformations and can even borrow others' transformations. This trope is subverted hilariously on a couple of occasions: on one, Amu goes through the motions without her Transformation Trinket, only realizing too late that it won't work; on another, someone else triggers her transformation by tweaking the activation phrase! "Amu's heart: unlock!"
• So, I Can't Play H!: All three of the shinigami look like normal human females, until they assume their true forms. Their school uniforms dissolve amidst a brightly lit background, along with gratuitous close-ups of their naked bodies; particularly their breasts, legs, and backsides, as their battle attire materializes around them. Each one ends by summoning their weapon of choice.
• SoltyRei showed a member of the RUC team suiting up with her Powered Armor in a fashion reminiscent of this trope, complete with a bit of bounce.
• Soul Eater:
  • Some "soul resonances" take a minute to charge up, noticeably Death the Kid's "Death Cannon" attack, which employs glowyness, dramatic angling, a countdown and a call. His definitely counts as a Transformation Sequence due to the fact they generally involve his guns molding themselves to his body and transforming his forearms into giant cannons.
  • Cruelly interrupted in Episode 50 of the anime by the demon god Asura, who speared him through the stomach before he was done powering up. (Blame Black*Star, who was told to "stop his movements until I finish my Transformation Sequence" but didn't.)
• Despite being from a Super Robot anime, Takuto's transformation into the Galactic Pretty Boy (just go with it) in Star Driver may as well have been taken from Anime/SailorMoon.
• The Magical Girls of Studio Pierrot ^note except Magical Idol Pastel Yumi, who never had an Older Alter Ego each have a Transformation Sequence:
  • Yuu from Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel has a static one featuring strobe lights and golden rings all around her body, after which she quickly grows into her Older Alter Ego.
  • Persia, the Magic Fairy has one that begins with baton-twirling and a brief dance, and continues with heart and bubble imagery. The actual transformation part is quite brief though.
  • Magical Emi, the Magic Star has one with lots of bubbles and wand-waving, where again the actual transforming part is quite brief.
  • Miho from Fancy Lala grows into her Older Alter Ego while surrounded by floating pink and blue ribbons.
• In Tamagotchi! Yume Kira Dream, Yumemitchi and Kiraritchi have a sequence where they swipe cards through their Transformation Trinkets, the Yume Kira bags, and are transformed into people of whatever job or skill to aid in making someone's dream come true.
• Tekkaman Blade has a rare male nude transformation sequence. However, the transformation sequence was pretty much dropped after about six or seven episodes. It was replaced with Stock Footage of the Humongous Mecha, Pegas, being deployed.
  • When Saban created their dub of the series, Teknoman, they reinserted the sequence into most episodes that didn't have it. It was even combined with the Pegas launch-sequence, creating a double-length sequence.
  • As for "detransforming", we see it twice. Once willingly and the other when Blade's crystal shatters. In Tekkaman Blade II, it's given a more magical girl feel when Yumi does it.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann features transformation scenes for each of the "stages" of the Gurren Lagann, featuring a specific background, and their awesomeness increases with the size of the resulting combination. The Chouginga Gurren Lagann scene deserves an special mention because half of it is about how epic sunglasses just got.
  • Actually subverted with the Gurren Lagann itself: when Kamina takes the Lagann and shoves it into Gurren's top, nothing happens. When they pull it off with a transformation sequence, it does! They spend the next episode practicing it — or rather, Gurren keeps trying to crush Lagann with big-ass rocks to motivate Simon who keeps running away.
• Tiger & Bunny:
  • Mechanical Transformations are surprisingly averted most of the time. Despite it being a Mecha Superhero action anime with its fare share of plot-less moments, we rarely (with the exception of Episode 5, which has a pretty standard one) see the characters getting into their battle outfits. Super Mode transformations happen so quickly that they aren't really a 'sequence', and are usually symbolized by a slight (by anime standards, at least) Battle Aura and glowing eyes. Kotetsu, being the protagonist, gets a couple of Growing Muscles Sequences just for the heck of it.
  • In Episode 2 of the second season, Kotetsu and Barnaby change into their battle outfits with their bracelets and a Magical Girl-esque transformation sequence. Though like many cases, this is only shown twice and it’s actually instantaneous from outside viewer, as seen with Barnaby's transformation into his version of Wild Tiger.
• Similarly, Tokyo Mew Mew shows Mew Ichigo voluntarily transforming back into her normal form at least twice (with no nudity shown), seemingly just by touching her pendant; in the last episode, the entire team gets their transformations reversed because their powers are no longer needed. Turns out they're only temporarily depleted from the final battle. Bad (but funny) news for Ichigo.
  • Tokyo Mew Mew New goes with more traditional magical girl transformation sequences with more representation towards the animal the Mews got fused with, but the musics that played for each of them are just a variation of one theme rather than completely different theme from the original series. And considering the fact that this series has the same music composer and Sound Ring employee who worked on the Pretty Cure series... We also see Ichigo power down on-screen via a full body glow that lasts a couple seconds before she's seen as a civillain again. The full body glow is additionally present when the transformation is seen from the outside during several episodes in season 2.
• To Love Ru:
  • Lala's change into "Dress Form" somehow manages to combine this and tentacles. Seriously. And it's, unusually, skipped after just the first two episodes.
  • In To Love-Ru's Show Within a Show, Magical Kyoko, the transformation sequence is subverted. Kyoko, a magical girl, has a cat partner that transforms into her costume — and only her costume. Kyoko has to manually put it on.
• The anime based on Transformers have them as almost a matter of course. Beast Wars II, Beast Wars Neo, Robots in Disguise and the Unicron Trilogy are all loaded with them, while the Japanese G1 continuations feature them for their original characters.
• Figure 17 Tsubasa & Hikaru has a short, less flashy sci-fi themed transformation sequence for Tsubasa and Hikaru. It appears to be mostly symbolic, however, because when we see the transformation occurring from "outside" it's just a dome of green light that envelopes the characters. This is also implied to be a little bit negative, in fact — the need for so much time to transform seems to be a symptom of Hikaru being a malfunctioning Figure. Normal figures are able to transform for combat fast enough to react to an attack; Tsubasa and Hikaru have to transform somewhere safe before getting involved.
• UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie has at least four different transformation sequences, all of which provide plenty of fanservice. And one of them is done, both ways, at least once per episode:
  • Valkyrie: a fairly standard transformation sequence, triggered by Valkyrie kissing Kazuto.
  • Hydra: another fairly standard transformation sequence, triggered by Akina temporarily removing the seal on Hydra's power.
  • Valkyrie Ghost: an evil-type transformation: involves lots of chains and darkness, appears to be painful, causes manacles to appear around Valkyrie Ghost's wrists.
  • Akidora: fairly standard sequence, this transformation combines Akina and Hydra, averaging their "assets"; introduced in Episode 9 of Season 2 and used 3 times in that episode alone (full-length every time), plus at least once more during the series. Triggered when Akina and Hydra are annoyed at each other, dissolves if they start feeling friendly toward one another.
• UFO Robo Grendizer:
  • Subverted. The villains exploited a design flaw in the Grendizer unit — as it left its ship (its transformation sequence), the pilot's seat took eight seconds to travel from the ship's control center to the robot's. The locals end up developing another support craft for the robot to respond to this, complete with its own full-time pilot.
  • Played straight with the Pilot's transformation sequence, announced with a roaring Dude Fureedo!
• Subverted in the second episode of Ultimate Girls when Tsubomi and Vivian transform. Instead of the stock animation which is later used, a "now transforming" meter is displayed which looks suspiciously like an Adobe Flash Player loading bar.
  Tsubomi is currently transforming. Please wait.
• Subverted in Unlimited Fafnir. The girls seem to go through one, but their school uniform remains the same. Instead the power goes to their hands, which then summons weapons such as a spear or a spellbook.
• In Umi Monogatari, Marin and Kanon get very short transformation sequences that take around 4 seconds.
• The anime adaptation of Park Harajuku Crisis Team, Urahara has its' main trio of Magical Girls transform instantaneously, bypassing the need for Stock Footage. When they get spattered with Scooper goo the substance also transfers over to their civillain forms and ends up corrupting them.,
• Uta∽Kata has quite a bit of variety in its transformation sequences for Ichika, depending on which Djinn she summons. Each of her costumes is designed by a different well-known manga or anime artist. Ichika sometimes becomes fully naked, but also changes almost instantly on some occasions.
• Double Subversion in Voltron. During one episode, the villains decide to attack Voltron while it is transforming. Unfortunately for them, they find out that a force field protects Voltron while it is transforming.
  • Not true in Voltron Force. In the episode Flash Form Go, Voltron's transformation is repeatedly disrupted by a monster. Turns out 36 seconds is a long time to be defenseless. The team questions why it never happened before, which may mean the above-mentioned scene is no longer canon.
  • Similarly, GaoGaiGar is surrounded by a tornado of greenish energy during its Final Fusion sequence. This time triple subverted when at least one Monster of the Week was actually able to breach it and attack the machines in the middle of transforming, and had to be distracted by another Brave robot.
    • GaoGaiGar also had to fight off the second Monster of the Week himself in mid-transformation.
    • It should also be noted that at least twice GaoGaiGar is shown to perform "Fusion Out" with help of hangar machinery, making it a rare demonstration of the nominal way of ungattai-ing the combined mecha.
    • The earlier Brave show The Brave Express Might Gaine had no such protection & actually did get attacked mid-gattai by an opponent at least once.
  • The title mech of Gravion is surrounded by a huge bubble of turbulent gravity-manipulation as its parts join together. Notable in that even the pilots of the separate machines have to be careful and concentrate on what they're doing, or it's quite capable of knocking them away too.
  • Subverted in Gravion Zwei, where a Zeravire specially designed to break the Gravion combination sequence appears. It succeeds, and proceeds to use the energy of Elgo Form to wreak general havoc.
  • The invincible while transforming part was also subverted in one episode of Vehicle Voltron/Dairugger XV. Specifically one of the units that made up the left leg was knocked out of formation (and the pilot stunned) leaving Volton hopping around one one leg while the other units that make up the missing leg cover their downed comrade. It also made for an odd logic exercise since for the entire set-up to work they not only had not use the stock footage but actually assemble the titular mecha from the head-down, the exact opposite direction to the normal from the feet up assembly shown in the stock footage.
• Wedding Peach had two, one for the wedding dress form, and one for their standard Magical Girl Warrior form.
• World Trigger: Overall downplayed. The original manga gave Osamu and Yūma one each when they first use their Trigger devices in story, and one for Konami since her Trion Body had a different look. In the anime, Kitora was given the sequence and was used only a few times, while Osamu and Yūma’s sequence was overabused for the anime's first season. As the anime project was moved to a more seasoned department of Toei, the transformation sequences were pretty much taken out completely in respect of the manga original.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • Yami Yugi's appearances in the early episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! were usually preceded by a Transformation Sequence. After a while they cut this short, but the dub version left it in for a while afterward.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds:
    • In the second season, when someone starts a Riding Duel on the highway, it reconfigures itself to allow the duelists to enter the Duel Lanes.
    • During the transformation sequences at the end of the second season, Dark Glass aka Bruno summons his D-Wheel and dons his riding duelist outfit in a flash of green computer coding. Placido displays one of the most bizarre sequences ever seen in the franchise when he reveals himself as an android and merges himself with his D-Wheel. Just watch.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL's Yuma gets into the act, too. "Duel Disk, goooo!! Duel Gazer, let's roll!"
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Some characters undergo a change in appearance in this manner when logging into LINK VRAINS, Yusaku/Playmaker and Takeru's/Soulburner's has been shown. When Blue Girl teams up with Aqua, she undergoes her own transformation on-screen, into a new avatar called Blue Maiden, which looks marginally more mature than Blue Girl.
• Yuki Yuna is a Hero has transformation sequences for the girls. They're only completely shown the first time, otherwise pieces of each girl's transformation are spliced into one sequence. The characters use their smartphones as their Transformation Trinket. Togo's stands out as it's quite fanservicey despite the series being light on fanservice. She gets tied up by her leg, arms, and chest before transforming into her magical girl gear. Her attire uses ropes to help her walk around as she is paralyzed.
• Transforming heroes exist in the multiverse of Yuusha Gojo Kumiai Kouryuugata Keijiban (AKA, Hero Union BBS). However, both examples seen on the page are deeply embarrassed by the associated tropes.
  • Magical Pastissier Macaroon is a Magical Girl in her 20s who lampshades the Barbie Doll Anatomy of her sparkly naked transformation sequence and how nonsensical her costume is.
  • Veggievorn is a farmer who can transform into a Kamen Rider-esque hero with an outfit made of vegetables that appears piece by piece after shouting his transformation phrase. He arranged to only fight at night since he wouldn't be caught dead in pumpkin pants.
• Zatch Bell! featured a parody of the elaborate transformation sequence, with one-shot villain Coral Q able to transform into a variety of forms to counter Gash's spells. He takes great pride in these transformations (with theme song sung by sentai mainstay Hiroki Takahashi), and Kiyomaro counters them by simply saying he blinked and missed them, forcing Coral Q to de-transform and re-transform. Kiyomaro makes Coral Q do it over several times — for the first two, he did miss it: Coral Q goes from being a laughably tiny half-transformed box-like thing to a ridiculously giant robot in an instant. Kiyomaro makes him do it over twice because he's convinced that he somehow missed a step...and then he gives up trying to figure it out and starts screwing with Coral Q.
• Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh took this trope to epic levels early in the Super Robot genre — Not only does the title combiner have a gattai sequence, the classrooms of the school transform into a command centre, with the whole structure of the school building rearranging itself. The three pilots do a whole To The Bat Pole sequence, and the school hall, pool, and sports track all unfold to reveal the three component robots of the mecha. As shown Here.

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