History Manga / Change123

'''''Change 123''''' (pronounced "change hi-fu-mi," after the central character(s)) is a {{Shounen}} ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids yes, really]]) fighting manga that manages to do something different with the whole "[[SplitPersonality girl has different personalities]]" thing.

* {{Meganekko}}: Motoko, complete with {{Dojikko}} tendencies.

She later explains that she developed multiple personalities due to each of her ''[[HasTwoMommies three fathers']]'' [[TrainingFromHell Trainings from Hell]]. Yes, plural. When she is threatened, any one of the three alter-egos that split off due to the trauma of those experiences emerge and cause carnage. Because her fathers are an expert karateka, a skilled soldier/swordsman, and a world-famous Jujitsu master, they're really, ''really'' good at it. And by extension so are Hibiki, Fujiko, and Mikiri respectively.

Compare with ''Manga/{{WChange}}'', another action shonen manga that stars a split-personality heroine,and ''Manga/{{Mahoraba}}'', a romantic comedy with a similarly multi-personae heroine, but without the action.

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Kousukegawa and Motoko have three girls, and guess who they look like.]]

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted. Bruises, cuts, broken bones, and scars are shown regardless of gender.

** Also, [[spoiler:Ginga.]]

* BreastExpansion: Whenever Mikiri's personality comes to the fore, Motoko's breasts increase noticeably in size, to the point where she often [[ClothingDamage ends up destroying her own bra]] with the transformation.
** This is [[{{Handwave}} explained]] as the different personalities having different postures/subtly different ways of movement and expression that tighten or loosen certain muscles. Supposedly, Mikiri just has a way of standing that really accentuates her breasts. This is also used to explain why their faces look different.
*** This does, however, lead to some FridgeLogic as it implies that Motoko routinely puts on shirts so undersized that so much as slightly changing her posture would tear them. That can't possibly be comfortable. Of course, it might just be that [[FridgeBrilliance she's always dressed by her alternate personalities.]]

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Everywhere . Waify girls with nigh-superhuman strength, people dodging bullets, physics defying jumps and spins, ImprobableAimingSkills UpToEleven...the list goes on.

* {{Chickification}}: Well, she certainly gets more girly, but [[spoiler:Ginga]] doesn't stop being able to kick ass.
** GirlinessUpgrade

* ClothingDamage: A staple of [[PantyFighter the genre]], of course. Motoko is susceptible (and often unaware) to this. Hino also falls victim to a thorn bush and gets her top ripped off during a sports carnival.

*** Obviously, both of these are a CharlesAtlasSuperpower. Still [[RuleOfCool pretty cool]] though.

* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Though Motoko gets some [[SkinshipGrope unwanted physical contact]] from the other girls while in the hot springs at Okinawa, it's really Tsukishima that invokes this trope the most. It helps that [[{{Bifauxnen}} she's quite masculine in appearance]].

* [[spoiler:EverybodyLives]]: [[spoiler:Outside of flashbacks the entire manga ended with a whopping 0 casualties, and you would never guess that until the very end.]]

** On the male side, Bigelow isn't wearing underwear when he fights Mikiri . . . which, [[CombatSadomasochist considering his "feelings" about pain]], makes the fight a bit more disturbing . . .

** Mikiri really doesn't seem to understand things like common decency, and her childish persona seems to contribute to this.

* JustifiedTrope: Unlike most action/PantyFighter series, this manga actually tries to be "realistic" though its really only about as realistic as 24 (if that).

* MightyWhitey: Not actually white in this case, but [[spoiler:Hino]] plays the trope rather straight after [[spoiler:going to the Gigi village and besting their greatest warriors, earning the title of Gadam]].
** Though it's implied that [[spoiler:the elders and previous Gadam specifically chose Hino to inherit the position so that the tradition would leave the island with her.]]

* MusclesAreMeaningless: Bullies, gangs, and even drug-doped mooks (and sometimes even armed soldiers) are usually just cannon fodder to [=HiFuMi=] and company [[spoiler:and most definitely to Zero]].
** Averted at last in the final battle against [[spoiler: Tatsuya, who himself points out at least two instances during the fight when the [=HiFuMi=]'s moves simply lack the bulk or reach of the other two parents needed to back them up, which ultimately winds up costing them victory.]]

* ThePlan: In the name of therapy, no less. [[spoiler:Our resident TeenGenius decides that the best way to verify whether or not a fourth, rage-filled personality exists within Motoko is to basically beat all other personalities up to kingdom come...without informing the male protagonist, incidentally a close "friend", or the two "fathers" (of Motoko, that is) that are not involved in executing the plot. How he managed to ultimately convince the third into cooperating is unknown, though it's probably because the third was the most pragmatic one among them]].

* RagingStiffie: The film club's skin tight leotards are not kind to Aizawa when Motoko and Hino are wearing the same.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Immediately after we see Ginga discovering that the Gadam has returned to Japan, we're introduced to Botan Tsukishima, the tall, AmbiguouslyBrown transfer student who clearly has fighting experience. Several chapters later, we discover that she's not the Gadam -- that's Izuru Hino, the smaller, paler, more ladylike other transfer student who we didn't meet until a few chapters after the Gadam scene.]]

* ResignationsNotAccepted: [[spoiler:The organization Mokoto's mother worked for. The only way a person leaves is by dying. Not even Mokoto's mother living outside the compound spared her from missions. It was actually being called in for a job which led to the accident that caused her death.]]
* TheRival: Ginga is in pursuit of the Gadam [[spoiler:who is also her best friend, Hino]], hoping to defeat the Gadam and claim the title for [[spoiler:herself]].
** [[spoiler:Or at least that's the excuse. She really just didn't want to say goodbye to her best friend.]]

** ...to ''Franchise/KamenRider'' and ''Manga/GetterRobo'', the first TransformingMecha series which featured a robot that could switch between three forms in battle.
** The title itself is a reference to the command the pilots shout when switching forms: "Change Getter (1,2,3)!" Also, Motoko's three fathers are {{exp|y}}ies of ''Getter Robo'''s three main characters - Nagare Ryoma, Jin Hayato and Kurama Benkei.

** Ginga looks the same as the protagonist in the film An Indian in the city.
** When Kosukegawa heads out to Kyoto to find a runaway [=MiFuMi=], his mother hands him a hat and cloak that look like the ones worn by Tetsuro in GalaxyExpress999 (down to the bullet holes in the hat), telling him they're things a young man needs for a safe journey. He doesn't take them.

* [[spoiler:SplitPersonalityTakeover]]: [[spoiler:After Motoko recovers her memories of her mother's death, she disappears, leaving only [=HiFuMi=]. The rest of the series is devoted to bringing her back.]]

** NotSoStoic: When Kosukegawa was believed to be dead [[spoiler:Fujiko fused partially with Zero making her a very calculating but sadistic woman who would torture Kosukegawa's would-be killer by kneecapping him in every limb.]]

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: '''Red'''-'''Yellow'''-'''Blue''' StanceSystem works like this. In one scene Fujiko even explicitly uses the "rock-paper-scissor" as a metaphor, while commenting the battle between Ginga and Gadam, saying that there is no chance for Hibiki (who is almost pure "red") to win in a battle against Gadam (who is predominantly "yellow").

* ThemeNaming: Each chapter is named for a mathematical idea or theory.

* WouldntHitAGirl: Averted. Most of the guys in the manga are smarter than to think a girl can't be dangerous, especially considering there's someone like Hifumi wandering around.
** Played straight by Aizawa. [[BerserkButton Except Ginga.]]

* TeachHerAnger: A recurring plot element in the series. After Kannami notices that neither Motoko or the [=HiFuMi=] feel anger, he hires Ralph's team to defeat the [=HiFuMi=] and awaken the personality representing that anger. [[spoiler:After Zero is revealed, the treatment plan changes to trying to integrate her with Hibiki, Fujiko, and Mikiri, which happens by driving each of them to experience anger.]]

Compare with ''Manga/{{Mahoraba}}'', a romantic comedy with a similarly multi-personae heroine, but without the action.

She later explains that she developed multiple personalities due to each of her ''[[HasTwoMommies three fathers']]'' [[TrainingFromHell Trainings from Hell]]. Yes, plural. When she is threatened, any one of the three alter-egos that split off due to the trauma of those experiences emerge and cause carnage. Because her fathers are an expert karateka, a skilled soldier/swordsman, and a world-famous Jujitsu master, they're really, ''really'' good at it.

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Three girls, and guess who they look like.]]

** In ch. 25: "No one knows where she's from but...everyone knows [[Anime/KekkoKamen her body]]."

* MightyWhitey: Not actually white in this case, but [[spoiler:Hino]] plays the trope rather straight after [[spoiler:going to the Gigi village and besting their greatest warriors, earning the title of Gadam]]. Manages to avoid most of the UnfortunateImplications the trope normally carries, however.

* AssimilationPlot: A small-scale, completely benevolent version. The entire point of the manga is to merge Motoko's personalities, since everyone involved agrees that this is ''not'' good for her mental health.

** Averted at last in the final battle against [[spoiler: Tatsuya, who comments twice in the fight that if they'd had the reach or bulk of the other two parents the move they just made might have resulted in victory.]]

** Averted at last though in the final battle against [[spoiler: Tatsuya who comments twice in the fight that if they'd had the reach or bulk of the other two parents the move they just made might have resulted in victory.]]

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Not so much in the story itself as in the {{Cosplay}} movies made by the members of Kosukegawa's sci-fi club. When asked by Motoko why they use this trope, they provide a pretty lame excuse telling her that sci-fi and fantasy worlds are too hot for normal clothes.

* TapOnTheHead: "Shaking [the opponent's] brain" is frequently used by martial artists in the series (particularly Mikiri)in order to nonlethally disable them. In real life, a blow hard enough to rattle somebody's brain ''would'' disable them... probably forever, assuming it doesn't kill them outright or leave them vegetables.

* MsFanservice: Motoko, though which personality is in control tends to determine how much she's okay with that.

* AllClothUnravels: Motoko's sweater gets caught and unravels when Hibiki vaults [[JumpOffABridge off of a bridge]] [[OutsideRide and onto a truck]]. Motoko doesn't find out until she accidentally flashes Kosukegawa.

* [[spoiler:EverybodyLives]]: [[spoiler:The entire manga ended with a whopping 0 casualties, and you would never guess that until the very end.]]

''Change 123'' (pronounced "change hi-fu-mi," after the central character(s)) is a {{Shounen}} ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids yes, really]]) fighting manga that manages to do something different with the whole "[[SplitPersonality girl has different personalities]]" thing.

She later explains that she developed multiple personalities due to each of her ''[[HasTwoMommies three fathers']]'' [[TrainingFromHell Trainings From Hell]]. Yes, plural. When she is threatened, any one of the three alter-egos that split off due to the trauma of those experiences emerge and cause carnage. Because her fathers are an expert karateka, a skilled soldier/swordsman, and a world-famous Jujitsu master, they're really, ''really'' good at it.

Compare with ''{{Mahoraba}}'', a romantic comedy with a similarly multi-personae heroine, but without the action.

* HourOfPower: In ch. 10, one of the {{Punch Clock Villain}}s pitted against Motoko in the Zero arc can use acupuncture to give himself SuperStrength for about an hour. Interestingly, the inflated muscles rip his clothes ''a la'' ''TheIncredibleHulk''. He later lets [[spoiler:Kousukegawa]] make use of it in a bid to stop Zero, warning him he has has only one shot at it.

* Troll: Ginga gets a kick out of poking fun at Aizawa in ch. 42 after learning that he's still feeling the hurt from their last sparring bout.

** Though it's implied that [[spoiler: the elders and previous Gadam specifically chose Hino to inherit the position so that the tradition would leave the island with her.]]

* TheUnSmile: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/change_123/v04/c019/12.html Motoko]] when trying to force a smile after Kosukegawa points out that she never laughs.

* Troll: [[http://mangafox.me/manga/change_123/v09/c042/17.html Ginga towards Aizawa.]]

** Later on, Kenji offers ''yubitsume'' in return for getting to leave the family, but is ordered to [[spoiler:kill Tatsuya instead]].