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As such, it can be tricky for anime fans to find a gender-bender anime that’s worth the time and investment — especially now that there are so many available to watch. Thankfully, certain gender-bender anime do end up rising above the competition. Just which gender-bender anime remain a must-watch for any anime fan?
Updated on May 25, 2022, by Rhenn Taguiam: With the likes of She Professed Herself As The Pupil Of The Wise Man being one of the more anticipated gender-bender anime to be released in 2022, fans of Sakimori Kagami’s adventures trapped in the world of Arch Earth Online might want to read other odd and entertaining gender-bender tales. Luckily enough, some of anime’s more interesting gender-benders include tales of cross-dressing characters, alien-induced gender-switching, and even heartwarming body-switching stories.
13 Saga Of Tanya The Evil
When an unnamed Japanese salaryman is murdered by an angry subordinate he fired from work, he’s confronted by an entity that affirms its existence as God. The being starts condemning the salaryman, who is an atheist, for not having “faith,” with the salaryman criticizing the entity - which he calls Being X - for its existence. To force the salaryman to believe, Being X decides to reincarnate the salaryman into a world with extremely difficult situations that the salaryman has no choice but to call Being X for help.
This odd situation transforms the story into both an isekai and a gender-bender, as the salaryman is reincarnated into Tanya Degurechaff, an orphan in the 1920s in an alternate Germany that is known as Imperial Germany. Being X tells Tanya that if she doesn’t die a natural death or continues to refuse to have faith, Being X will have Tanya’s soul condemned to hell. As a result, Tanya will begin her struggle to do work for the military as far away from the battlefield as possible - even if it means killing others in the process.
12 Genshiken: The Second Generation
Despite its age, Genshiken: The Second Generation is quite an odd continuation of the Genshiken series. Focusing on the many elements of otaku lifestyle, both Genshiken and the Second Generation focus on a group of college students that show both their successes and struggles living lives surrounding their hobbies.
However, it’s Second Generation in particular that tries adding a more realistic spin to the gender-bender formula, especially as one of the new members of the Genshiken otaku club is Hato, a fudanshi who cross-dresses to “fit in” with society better with such skill that even his classmates don’t recognize him. While Second Generation focuses on many stories, it’s Hato’s story of discovering his identity that makes Second Generation quite a compelling anime to watch.
11 Your Name
Perhaps one of the most compelling anime films of the past few years, Your Name is a gripping story regarding two star-crossed individuals. Set in 2013, the anime stars rural girl Mitsuha Miyamizu who wishes to become “a Tokyo boy” in her next life, whereas Taki Tachibana from Tokyo simply wishes to have a simpler life in the province. They suddenly switch bodies the next day, being forced to live each other’s lives.
Throughout Your Name, the two of them leave each other notes to communicate with each other, soon becoming close with one another as the series progresses. However, with their distance means potentially never being able to meet, their fates become intertwined with the arrival of the comet Tiamat.
10 Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl
A rather unique twist to the gender-bending concept, Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl tells the story of Hazumu Osaragi after he confesses his love to his close friend Yasuna Kamiizumi, who quickly rejects him. When a devastated Hazumu climbs Mt. Kashima, he’s killed when an alien spaceship crashes on him. While the alien Hitoshi Sora brings Hazumu back to life, he accidentally regenerates him as a girl down to his genetics.
So when Hazumu, now a girl, returns to school, she becomes surprised with all the new interactions she has to deal with. This is compounded by the fact that Hazumu’s closest friends - Yasuna who can’t see males, and tomboyish Tomari - start to like her as well. This results in an odd love triangle between the cast’s female characters and makes Kashimashi a unique take on exploring some of the many compelling aspects of the female personality.
9 Working!!
Although more of a slice-of-life anime compared to a simple gender-bender, Working!! tells the stories of a group of rather unusual workers in a restaurant in Japan. This is especially the case for protagonist Souta Takanashi, whose love for all things cute cannot possibly turn down Popura Taneshima’s offer to work with her in a Hokkaido restaurant.
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Thing is, everyone working in the Wagnaria has rather odd personalities - a katana-toting floor chief, a sadistic sous chef, a lazy manager, and a man-fearing waitress. Souta himself is forced into odd situations where he has to cross-dress, making his rather effeminate appearance an asset to some adventures in the comedic series.
8 Secret Princess
Also known as Himegoto, Secret Princess is a manga series exploring the life of Hime Arikawa, a high schooler who has quite a debt that he had no way of paying off. Thanks to the Shimoshina High School student council, Hime’s debt gets taken care of. However, in exchange, Hime now has to dress up as a girl and become the student council’s servant for the rest of his stay as a high schooler.
Despite the rather wild take on the story, Secret Princess remains a decent slice-of-life anime with delightful stories that explore friendship, camaraderie, and even a bit of romance. And in the spirit of the gender bender anime, Secret Princess features quite a number of characters with unique personalities, all eventually opening up to Hime and giving him a chance to help them grow into better individuals.
7 Birdy The Mighty: Decode
It’s not often that a gender-bender anime branches into action, but Birdy the Mighty: Decode is a great way to showcase just how flexible the genre can become. The story explores the life of Birdy Cephon Altera, a supersoldier created to hunt down interplanetary criminals that use Earth as a secret hideout. Unfortunately, one of her chases leads to the accidental death of Tsutomu Senkawa, a high school student. Thankfully, the advanced tech of the Federation allows Tsutomu’s body to be “reconstructed,” but in order to complete the process, Birdy now has to share a body with him.
As a result, Birdy and Tsutomu have to “swap” places every so often, especially when Birdy has to chase down bad guys. On top of that, Tsutomu must ensure no one gets to know about Birdy, for the sake of their safety. This unique dynamic makes Birdy the Mighty quite an enjoyable story.
6 The Minami Family
Although The Minami Family itself doesn’t focus too much on the gender-bender genre, its freeform slice-of-life formula has more than enough room to let its gender-bender subgenre become a part of the main story. At its core, The Minami Family explores the lives of the Minami sisters — Haruka, Kana, and Chiaki — as they live an independent life with few relatives. As a result, their usually-empty household is often populated by classmates and friends, all of which have some sort of weird or funny connection to the sisters.
One such classmate is Makoto, or Mako-chan, who has a huge crush on Kana Minami. And in order to get closer to her, the two other sisters think it’s a good idea to have him crossdress all the time. While this take on romance is quite interesting, Makoto and his journey to accepting crossdressing as a part of his daily life are inspiring, especially to those who just want to be themselves.
5 Aoharu x Machinegun
Yet another unique take on the action subgenre of gender-bender anime, Aoharu x Machinegun is perfect for fans who love the trend of survival games. There’s more than enough action to keep viewers glued to the screen. Aoharu x Machinegun tells the story of Hotaru Tachibana, a person with a strong sense of justice — who just happens to be a girl who likes to dress up as a guy.
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When Hotaru learns that her friend was tricked at a local club, Hotaru tries to seek justice — and the owner, Masamune Matsuoka, challenges her to a survival game that involves shooting with toy guns. Despite Hotaru’s loss, Masamune invites her to the Toy Gun Gun team, which aspires to become Japan’s best survival game group. While Hotaru eventually enjoys survival games, she does constantly face two problems: she’s bad at the game, and Toy Gun Gun doesn’t allow girls in the group. And yes, Masamune and the rest of the team think Hotaru is a guy the entire time.
4 Ouran High School Host Club
Perhaps a classic example of gender-bender anime, Ouran High School Host Club is a thorough and dynamic take on the romantic side of gender-bender anime. The anime revolves around Haruhi Fujioka, a scholar of Ouran Academy, a school that caters to rich kids. While looking for a peaceful place to study, Haruhi stumbles upon an abandoned music room used by the Host Club, a group of male students who entertain female “clients” with tea and sweets.
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When Haruhi accidentally destroys an antique vase in the room, she has to work the debt off as the Host Club’s errand boy. Unfortunately for them, they have no idea Haruhi is actually a girl, given her gender-ambiguous appearance. This results in hijinks and shenanigans that slowly help Haruhi get to know each member of the Host Club. This slice-of-life gender bender is a heartwarming take on the genre and is worth a watch for both its comedic elements and the chemistry between the cast.
3 Yamada-kun And The Seven Witches
Now exploring the mystical side of the genre, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches follows the adventures of Ryu Yamada. An ordinary high school boy, Ryu’s accidental fall onto Urara Shiraishi has them switch bodies, a process that is only cured with a kiss. This weird circumstance sparks the revival of the Supernatural Studies club, where Yamada and its members discover the existence of witches in the school, all of which possess special gifts and abilities.
Soon, they discover that Yamada’s kiss not only activates the witches’ powers but also does other magical things. Unfortunately, various disasters start happening around the school that the club has to somehow prevent or stop. This magical girl spin on the genre is quite unique, making the anime quite a must-watch for gender bender fans.
2 Kokoro Connect
Also known as Heart Connect, Kokoro Connect explores the lives of five students that have weird supernatural problems that force them to “connect” and bond with each other. Thankfully for the five students, all of them are members of the Student Cultural Research Club of their high school. They soon learn that an entity called Heartseed is causing the supernatural phenomenon to test them for unknown reasons.
The gender bender aspect happens when a supernatural phenomenon causes these students to constantly switch bodies with each other. Considering that their friendship is constantly tested, it’s interesting to see how far they will go to preserve their friendship and their knowledge of each other while inhabiting each other’s bodies.
1 Ranma ½
Perhaps the quintessential example of a classic gender bender anime, Ranma ½ explores the adventures of Ranma Saotome, who becomes cursed when he falls into Jusenkyo’s cursed springs during a training journey. According to legend, those cursed by the springs will take the form of anything that drowned there years and years ago — and Ranma takes the form of a drowned girl. Thankfully, being exposed to either hot or cold water will revert him into their other form. And unfortunately for Ranma, this begins an odd adventure as he tries to balance his life with this newfound supernatural gift — or is it a curse?
Despite its age, Ranma ½ remains a delightful watch given its take on a mix of slice-of-life, light martial arts, and romance. The shenanigans involved with Ranma constantly switching forms are a breath of fresh air, especially when he starts juggling the many relationships involved in the process.
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