To do this, Himeko must stand in front of a reflective surface (like a mirror) and say Parallel Parallel, name ni naaaaare. When she does this, the ribbon turns into a small pendant. When the one-hour time limit on her transformation is about to end, the pendant starts to flash and beep. Before the hour is up, Himeko must stand in front of a reflective surface (again) and recite RURERAPA RURERAPA, moto no sugata ni naaaare in order to turn back. Note: RURERAPA is PARARERU (Parallel) with the syllable ordering reversed. If she doesn't turn back within the time limit... she is stuck in that person's form for the rest of her life.

There are five general rules that describe the Ribbon's behavior: She can only transform while wearing the ribbon. She can only transform into people in the human world. She can only transform for one hour at a time. While she's transformed, the real person (who she now looks like) still exists, so she has to be careful not to meet that person. While she's transformed, she cannot remove the Pendant.

Later in the series, Himeko gets another magical item that allows her to make a duplicate of herself. The duplicate acts and talks in a much more feminine way than Himeko does. This is because the duplicate has only 1/2 the power of Himeko. She is 1/2 as strong, 1/2 as tomboyish, etc.

In one year, when Erika's observation of the human world training ends, Himeko will have to return the ribbon (and, presumably, the palette which allows her to make a duplicate of herself). In addition, if anyone in the human world ever discovers that she has these magical powers, they will be taken away from her, and all memories that relate to them (or to the Land of Magic) will be purged from the human world. Actually, Daichi finds out about her powers fairly early in the series, but an exception is made. As long as nobody *else* finds out about them, Himeko is still OK.

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