Best Gender-Bender Anime

Anime remains one of the most diverse forms of entertainment in terms of animation, as creators in Japan have different takes in terms of genres and tropes. For instance, the gender-bender anime genre remains quite a hit for romance fans. However, while all gender-bender anime share the same basic premise of a person switching genders, the way their stories work is almost always different from one another.

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 shows do end up rising above the competition. Just which gender-bender anime is the best?

Updated on November 9, 2024, by Mark Sammut: Gender-bender anime tend to be comedic in nature, which is perfectly fine. However, some shows opt to go in a different direction, utilizing the concept in a way that goes beyond the standard formula. One of these series has been added as a recommendation.

Does Fall 2024 Have Any Gender Bender Anime?

Gender-bender anime are extremely rare, to the point that the theme did not make an appearance during the first three seasons of the year. At most, Senpai is an Otokonoko covers enough similar concepts to merit a watch by anyone who enjoys stories that challenge gender norms, but it is not part of the theme. So, is Fall 2024 more of the same?

Well, the answer is no! In fact, Fall 2024 has a huge gender-bender anime that is also one of the funniest shows of the year. It should be great.

Ranma ½

Ranma ½ is the definitive gender-bender story, and that has been the case for roughly three decades. MAPPA’s new adaptation restarts everything from scratch, serving as a welcoming entry point for people who are not familiar with Rumiko Takahashi’s influential manga or its very, very good ’80s and ’90s anime. While nothing can replace the original in terms of importance and influence, a fresh take on this classic formula has the potential to capture a whole new generation of fans, ones who would otherwise have never got to experience Ranma and Akane’s unique love story.

Revisiting such a popular series comes with enhanced scrutiny that could have resulted in a substantially negative response if the first few episodes failed to put their best foot forward. Fortunately, Ranma ½ has been pretty spectacular so far, once again proving that Rumiko Takahashi’s humor is timeless. As should be well-known by now, Ranma is a martial artist who falls into a peculiar Chinese hot spring that gives him a strange affliction: he changes gender when drenched with water. If this situation were not already challenging enough, he has been arranged by his father to marry one of the Tendou sisters, specifically Akane. They do not get along, at least not at first.

MAPPA has seemingly gone all-out to ensure this adaptation does justice to both the source material and the classic series. The animation is fantastic, comfortably among Fall 2024’s best. The characters are just as great as they have always been, be it Ranma and Akane’s love-hate dynamic, Ryouga’s directionless vendetta, or Nabiki’s sly wit.

Now, onto the best gender-bender anime ever…

17 Ayakashi Triangle

A Fanservice-Driven Action-Comedy That Struggles To Pick Up Steam

To say that Ayakashi Triangle had a troubled production cycle would be an understatement. Despite debuting in Winter 2023, the anime had to wait until the Summer anime season to complete its single cour run. Due to its elongated release schedule, Ayakashi Triangle squandered a somewhat decent start, dooming itself to be nothing more than a footnote in the year’s anime output. Still, there is enough to enjoy here to recommend the gender-bender series.

The eponymous Ayakashi are essentially spirits, and they can be dangerous if they happen to find someone with a lot of energy. Kanade and Matsuri can both see these creatures, and the latter strives to keep the former out of harm’s way. One day, a cat-like Ayakashi transforms Matsuri into a girl, a change the shinobi takes in her stride.

16 Back Street Girls: Gokudols

Either Hilarious Or Awful, With No In-Between

All things considered, most gender-bender anime do not push the envelope too much. Well, Back Street Girls: Gokudols is an exception that throws any semblance of good taste out of the window, crafting a story designed to push buttons. The result is a polarizing series that can be both painfully funny or nearly unwatchable, depending on the viewer.

The premise revolves around three Yakuza members who are forced into a gender change so they can become idols, allowing them to earn money for their boss. Back Street Girls is at its best when mocking the idol culture or exploring parallels between that industry and the Yakuza; that said, the anime relies on a lot of tired punchlines. Beyond that, Back Street Girls‘ animation is very static, to the point of barely having more movement than just a standard manga page.

15 Kämpfer

Forgettable Fluff That Is Mostly Passable But Struggles To Leave An Impression

Kämpfer is one of those anime that, while enjoyable, will probably not stick in a viewer’s mind for all that long. The series does not excel in any area, delivering middling action, serviceable humor, and inoffensive characters, all things that combine to create an experience that goes in one ear and out the other. Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with fluff, as long as it is entertaining. Kämpfer is just fun enough to warrant a recommendation, even if it is nowhere near the best gender-bender anime ever.

Essentially, Natsuru becomes a magical girl, albeit one that fits other chosen girls rather than evil monsters. While this situation leads to a couple of notable fights, it mostly culminates in comedic high jinks as Natsuru tries to fit in at school while keeping his dual gender a secret. The story does not build all that much momentum as it goes along, and it kind of petters out at the end; still, Kämpfer is a decent watch.

14 Magical Girl Ore

A Magical Girl Gender-Bender Twist That Has Decent Moments And Uneven Humor

Magical girl anime parodies are not hard to come by, and there are some great ones out there. While it slips into some other genres and themes, Is This a Zombie? is consistently hilarious; meanwhile, Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! is a decent comedy that pokes fun at classic mahou shoujo tropes.

Surprisingly (or not), two magical girl anime incorporate a gender-bender twist to their stories, and they are both of somewhat equal quality. Gonna be the Twin-Tail!! features a male lead who transforms into a magical girl, and the show is mostly bland. Conversely, Magical Girl Ore goes in the other direction, centering around a female protagonist who transforms into a buff dude when she becomes a magical girl. Out of these two shows, Magical Girl Ore is slightly better, although its humor can be quite divisive.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Saki decides to become a magical girl to save her love interest. To her surprise, she transforms into a very masculine guy, all the while still wearing the traditional magical girl outfit. Magical Girl Ore is a strange case as its selling point, the whole female-to-male transformation, is arguably its weakest element. The humor during these moments mostly boils down to gender stereotypes, and Saki’s personality shifts from enjoyably silly to annoyingly bland when she is a guy.

Still, the anime has some interesting points, including a fun supporting cast (including another magical girl).

13 Life With An Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated Into A Total Fantasy Knockout

An Isekai Gender-Bender Adventure With Romance At Its Heart

Fun as most of them can be, isekai anime often seem allergic to the mere concept of originality or novelty. Most shows are happy to repeat the same old tropes with almost no variety, a decision that enhances their mainstream appeal along with their forgettability. For all its flaws, Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout is at the very least memorable, and that comes down to its unique setup.

Two lifelong friends, Hinata and Tsukasa, are sent to a fantasy world by a goddess and tasked with defeating the demon lord. If that was not already hard enough, Hinata is also transformed into a girl who can magically charm almost anyone, a power that threatens to take their friendship with Tsukasa in an unexpected direction. Total Fantasy Knockout is, unsurprisingly, a comedy that, while not regularly hilarious, is frequently amusing.

12 Heavenly Delusion

An Unconventional Scenario That Deals With Gender Fluidity And Identity

While exceptions exist, gender-bender anime tend to lean into humor. The concept’s silliness just lends itself to slapstick or absurdist comedies, some of which still manage to have poignant things to say about gender norms or expectations.

Heavenly Delusion is different. The sci-fi anime goes to very dark places befitting of a post-apocalyptic series revolving around characters who are desperately searching for “heaven” in a hellish alternate reality of Earth. So, just to be clear, this is not one of those “fun” and “wacky” gender-bender action romps.

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Honestly, “gender-bender” might not be the right descriptor. The main character, Kiruko, is a combination of two siblings: Haruki’s brain and Kiriko’s body. As they both were on the verge of death, a doctor decided to combine them to save one. While Haruki seems to be the dominant personality, the character goes by Kiruko, both in honor of Kiriko and as a reflection of their state.

11 Kokoro Connect

Just A Single Arc Deals With Body Swapping, But It Is Entertaining

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.

10 Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister!

A Coming Of Age Comedy About Viewing The World From A Different Perspective

Considering gender-bender stories are rare, the fact Winter 2023 contained three anime that fit the theme was unusual. Ayakashi Triangle is what it is, while Reborn to Master the Blade follows a king who is reincarnated as a female swordsman, and while the protagonist does swap genders, the show does not focus too much on that part of the premise.

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Last, there is Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister!, which revolves around a hikikomori guy who is converted into a (much younger) girl by his sister. The anime completely skips over the main character’s pre-transformation life, a decision that limits the story’s potential as a traditional gender-bender comedy. That said, the show does a good job of highlighting the protagonist’s attempts to adapt to life as a girl. While not devoid of frustrating or uncomfortable moments, Onimai becomes surprisingly wholesome once the protagonist starts to attend school.

9 No Doubt In Us

Consistent Show That Has Produced A Couple Of Seasons Of Quality

An ONA series based on a manhua, No Doubt in Us has produced two seasons so far, both of which are very good. While married, Emperor Jinyun Xiao and Empress Yu Xu have drifted apart over the years, to the point of basically hating each other. Their relationship appears to be beyond mending, at least that seemed to be the case before they swap bodies, forcing themselves to literally see the world from their partner’s perspective.

No Doubt in Us uses its gender-bending premise as fuel for its comedy and romance, the latter of which comes with a healthy side helping of drama and character development.

8 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 by 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 the 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.

7 Gintama’s Dekobokko Arc

Pretty Hilarious Arc That Flips The Genders Of Gintama’s Iconic Characters

Over the course of roughly 400 episodes, Gintama did everything there could be to do in an anime. Whether parodying battle shonen series or crafting tense action that can sit among the genre’s greatest efforts, the beloved show could always be relied upon to tell creative and memorable stories featuring an incredibly likable cast of characters who love to get irreverent every once in a while. Considering the series features an arc around a real-life popularity contest, Gintama‘s decision to tackle the gender-bender trope hardly came as a surprise; more importantly, just like the Character Poll saga, the Dekobokko arc pushes the concept to its absolute limit by producing hilarity and also heart.

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Angered by humanity’s weak appreciation of gender roles, an alien cult fires a god-like beam into Edo’s Kabukicho district, transforming (nearly) everyone within into the opposite sex. To transform back and avoid this attack spreading to the rest of the world, the impacted people have three days to embrace their new genders. However, Gintoki (aka, Ginko), Tsukuyo (aka, Tsukuo), and the rest of the usual crew opt for a different solution.

As this is Gintama, the arc largely focuses on humor, with all three episodes coming packed with big laugh-out-loud moments. While it is neat to see the gender-bender versions of Gintama‘s main characters, the most memorable and funniest transformations are completely silly and bear little resemblance to the original designs. Kagura is particularly hilarious. The storyline is not devoid of nuance either, particularly concerning Tsukuyo.

6 Birdy The Mighty: Decode

A Rare Gender-Bender Anime That Focuses On Action & Sci-Fi

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 be. The story explores the life of Birdy Cephon Altera, a supersoldier created to hunt down interplanetary criminals who 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.

5 Our Home’s Fox Deity

A Slice Of Life Fantasy With A Protagonist Who Can Swap Genders

Our Home’s Fox Deity is a different type of gender-bender anime since it revolves around a youkai who can change genders at will. After being sealed away for a long time, Kuugen Tenko is freed in order to serve as the bodyguard of the Takagami siblings. Naturally, this entails occasionally taking on a spiritual threat, although it would be a stretch to describe Zexcs’s anime as action.

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In reality, Our Home’s Fox Deity is closer to a fantasy slice of life anime. Comedy is also a big part of the equation, although its mileage may vary depending on someone’s tolerance for tropes and fish-out-of-water jokes.

4 Yamada-kun And The Seven Witches

Body-Swap Anime Blended With Magical Girl Elements

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 whom 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 unique, making the anime a must-watch for gender-bender fans. Now, Ryu and Urara swap bodies frequently enough throughout the season to warrant a mention in this discussion; however, that is not constantly the main focus, and the anime deals with a range of other powers.

3 Cheeky Angel

A Cult Classic With A Fantastic Protagonist

An early 2000s anime that has been slightly forgotten, Cheeky Angel holds up as one of the best gender-bender anime of all time. To the unknowing eye, Megumi is just a high-school girl who enjoys the occasional fight; however, she used to be a boy, at least until she/he was granted a wish that changed her life forever. All these years later, Megumi is still searching for a way to reverse her transformation, all the while she engages in school shenanigans.

Cheeky Angel lives and dies on the strength of its main characters, and the show knocks this area out of the park. Megumi is a fantastic lead, and she is accompanied by a roster of lovable support characters who are hilarious.

2 Your Name

The Ultimate Body Swap Movie That Is Also One Of The Greatest Anime Ever

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.

1 Ranma ½

The Definitive & Best Gender-Bender Anime

Perhaps the quintessential example of a classicgender-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 to 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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