Gender-bending is not exclusive to manga and anime, but it feels like it would be. The term is really self-explanatory, but it basically refers to a scenario that changes a character's gender. While examples of the opposite exist, the most common transition is men turning into women (or boys into girls), which usually comes with its fair share of shocked expressions, devious behavior, fanservice, and silliness. For the most part, gender-bender anime are synonymous with comedies, as the most famous shows are part of that genre; however, the theme also shows up in dramas, fantasy epics, and, naturally, isekai.
Is gender-bending popular? Well, kind of. Anime have been exploring this theme for decades by this point, and most years tend to have at least one show that fits. However, they are very rarely among the biggest series of a season, with most of them being niche or just not all that memorable. So, are the best gender-bender anime worth watching? Well, yes and no. Almost no shows are worth watching solely because their protagonist flips their body parts, but some great anime feature gender-bending.
Here are a few criteria and notes:
- Body-swapping anime will be included as long as the characters are of opposite genders and the story focuses on that element.
- Reincarnation anime that involve characters reborn as the opposite gender will not be considered unless they are a unique situation.
- That said, some isekai anime will be included if the story does not use conventional reincarnation or if they warrant a mention for some other reason.
Updated on December 30, 2025, by Mark Sammut: Rather than adding new shows, as options are limited, we have added a section that introduces gender-bender anime as a theme.
What Are Gender-Bender Anime?
Before getting to the rankings themselves, we should quickly discuss what gender-bender stories are exactly. Obviously, as suggested by its name, the concept involves stories that challenge characters to walk a mile in another sex's shoes. Now, gender bending predates anime and is not limited to fiction, and its real-life usage ties into gender identity. For the latter, gender bending covers cross-dressing or people who go against gender norms; however, in anime, gender-bending generally refers to situations when a character changes their gender entirely. Typically, this transformation happens to them rather than because of them, and they are forced to see the world from a wildly different perspective.
Although generally associated with comedies due to the popularity of shows like Ranma ½, gender-bender anime can be fairly dramatic, and most of them have a coming-of-age aspect. The transformation tends to be magical, although there are a few shows that go down the scientific route. Despite the fantastical transformation, the majority of these series are otherwise grounded in a world resembling our own, and the interest comes from seeing how the characters adapt to their new circumstances. That said, a few fantasy anime incorporate gender-bending.
While the best gender-bender anime revolve around the transformation, several shows incorporate this development for an episode or two, typically for a laugh.
Types of Gender-Bender Anime
Already touched upon in the previous section, gender-bender anime come in a few different forms, which are determined by the nature of the show. Episodic comedies use gender-bending as an inciting incident, and they usually do not explore gender norms, as their goal is to just put their characters in unexpected situations. Anime that feature permanent transformations or regular gender-bending are designed to blur the lines separating men and women, although not all of them emphasize introspection. Romance gender-bender anime are not extremely common by any stretch of the imagination, but they do exist.
Body swap is considered a separate theme, but it can often tread the same ground as gender-bender stories. Cross-dressing protagonists are not that common in anime, and the few shows that cover that subject are their own thing. Same for gender-fluid characters.
34 Ayakashi Triangle
A Fanservice-Driven Action-Comedy That Struggles To Pick Up Steam
Ayakashi Triangle
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2023 - 2023
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Studio
- Connect
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Kentaro Yabuki
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
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 that year's Summer anime season to complete its single-hour 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, this gender-bender series has just enough positives to warrant a very weak mention, even if I would generally recommend checking out the manga.
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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.
33 Back Street Girls: Gokudols
Either Hilarious Or Awful, With No In-Between
Back Street Girls: Gokudols
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- July 4, 2018
- Japanese Title
- Back Street Girls: Gokudolls
- Number of Episodes
- 10
- Studio
- J.C.Staff
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Jasmine Gyuh
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
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 either 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.
Fair warning, Back Street Girls revels in poor taste. The anime can be funny in an "did they really do that" type of way, but I also wouldn't recommend it to just anyone.
32 One Piece
A Change In Hormone
One Piece
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
I mean, of course, One Piece has a gender-bender Devil Fruit, and Emperor Invankov is the right person to make the most of this devilish ability. Now, to be exact, the Horu Horu no Mi doesn't just swap the recipient's gender, but rather alters their hormones. As such, it can be used to impact things like height, strength, and looks. Along with gender. Still, it is the gender-bender Devil Fruit in everything but name.
Ivankow is a free spirit who believes that people have the right to be who they want to be, and his Devil Fruit allows that to really materialize. His entire army consists of warriors who basically shed their gender to embrace themselves, free of any such constructs.
31 Cinderella Boy
Body-Sharing Anime Detectives
Cinderella Boy
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2003 - 2003
- Studio
- Magic Bus
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator(s)
- Monkey Punch
- Number of Episodes
- 13
- MyAnimeList Score
- 6.32
Based on a one-shot manga by Monkey Punch, the author behind Lupin the Third, Cinderella Boy comes across as a fusion of multiple classics. Besides sharing similarities with Lupin's character designs and humor, the male lead is named Ranma, a pretty obvious reference to the most famous gender-bender anime character of all time. The concept is fairly interesting. Two detectives, Ranma and a woman named Rella, get in an accident and are "saved" by a doctor who puts them into the same body. Each day, one person and their associated body come out, swapping at midnight.
Cinderella Boy is a unique gender-bender since Ranma and Rella are presented as different people inhabiting the same body. Technically, they are not swapping genders but instead sharing real estate and time. The 2003 anime is the definition of a mixed bag that never comes close to matching the brilliance of its inspirations. That said, the show has decent comedy and a few fun action sequences.
30 Heaven's Lost Property (Episodes 11 and 23)
Well, One Anime Had To Do It
Heaven's Lost Property
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start Display card media widget end- Release Date
- October 5, 2009
- Japanese Title
- Sora no Otoshimono
- Studio
- AIC A.S.T.A.
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Suu Minazuki
- Number of Episodes
- 25
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
Generally speaking, most anime that explore gender-bending feature protagonists who are forced into a new body, and they are just trying to adapt to a tricky situation. However, exceptions exist, and Heaven's Lost Property's Tomoki might provide the most stereotypical comedy harem take on the concept. Through supernatural shenanigans, Tomoki gains the ability to change his gender, becoming Tomoko in the process. Why? Well, he wants to enter public baths that are exclusively for women.
Frankly, at one point or another, there had to be a perverted protagonist who uses the power of anime to gender-bend his way into crossing the line, and Heaven's Lost Property handles the idea relatively well. Sure, the humor is very "2000s," but Tomoki receives his comeuppance at the end. Tomoko comes back in a later episode as well, although that transformation is shorter-lived than the original.
29 KonoSuba (Episode 25)
Kazuma Becomes A Princess For A Day
KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2016 - 2025-00-00
- Japanese Title
- Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
- Studio
- Studio Deen, Drive
- Based On
- Novel & Light Novel
- Creator
- Natsume Akatsuki
- Number of Episodes
- 31
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
Similar to Heaven's Lost Property, KonoSuba uses a gender body swap to indulge its protagonist's unsavory vices. This time, Kazuma swaps bodies with Princess Iris thanks to a magic spell, allowing them to both experience life from a different perspective.
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For her part, Iris heads out into the city alongside Megumin, a combination that proves to be pretty explosive since neither girl knows how to defuse potentially tense situations. Conversely, Kazuma uses this gift to live the high life for a while...and to try and take a bath with two girls. Completely in character for the isekai protagonist.
While not painting Kazuma in a great light, KonoSuba never rewards him for his stupid or bad behavior, and the payoff to this storyline is simple but funny. I firmly believe KonoSuba is one of the funniest anime ever, but you probably should not watch it solely to see this gender-bender episode.
28 Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
Sailor Starlights Are Magical Girls And Male Idols
Sailor Moon
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 1992 - 1997
WHERE TO WATCH
- Japanese Title
- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Naoko Takeuchi
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu, Pluto TV
The final season of Sailor Moon's original run, Sailor Stars is probably the most divisive entry, and a large part of that reaction has to do with the Sailor Starlights. A trio of galactic-travelling magical girls, the Starlights come to Earth on a mission, and they decide to blend in by becoming male idols. In the anime, they are gender-bender characters, which is not the case in the manga. So, they can swap between male and female, although they spend most of their time as the former and limit the latter for when they take on their magical girl forms.
Frankly, the gender-bender aspect is probably the most fascinating part about the Starlights, as they are otherwise fairly bland (although Seiya can be interesting, at times). They also don't mesh that well with the Sailor Guardians, all of whom are way more likable than this trio. They are also introduced so late in the anime that they feel like footnotes in Sailor Moon's history. At least, they were brought back in Sailor Moon Cosmos.
27 She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man
A Gamer Becomes His OP RPG Character, Albeit In Little Girl Form
She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2022 - 2022
- Japanese Title
- Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja
- Studio
- Studio A-CAT
- Based On
- Light Novel
- Creator(s)
- Hirotsugu Ryusen
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
An isekai gaming anime that adds a gender-bender twist, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man is mostly just OK, with the adaptation not quite managing to match the quality of the source material or the manga version. Still, if someone is craving a lighthearted OP fantasy with a relatively likable protagonist, they might enjoy this short journey, even if the trip might not linger in their memory for that long.
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Sakimori Kagami is the gamer behind Danblf, one of the most powerful wise mages of Ark Earth Online. Long story short, he falls asleep and wakes up as his character within the game's world, albeit a few hundred years in the future. However, Danblf's conventional magician look has been tweaked slightly, and now he resembles a little girl. She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man does not actually make that big of a deal about the gender-swap aspect, as Sakimori does not seem particularly uncomfortable in the new form. As such, this aspect is pretty quickly forgotten, with the anime becoming a fairly typical OP MC isekai story.
26 When I Woke Up I Became a Bagel Girl
An Otaku Becomes A Bagel Girl
When I Woke Up I Became A Bagel Girl
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2019 - 2019
- Studio
- Studio Animal
- Based On
- Web Toon
- Creator
- Tank Guy
- Number of Episodes
- 15
Based on a webtoon/manhwa, When I Woke Up I Became a Bagel Girl did not leave that much of an impression during its initial run. Firstly, the series aired all its episodes in the span of a week, which is not an ideal release schedule due to not fitting into the seasonal lineup. More importantly, the anime is difficult to come by and does not have a particularly glowing reputation. Taking all that into account, should you just skip this one?
Honestly, yes and no.
When I Woke Up I Became a Bagel Girl follows Bong Gi, an otaku who is, overall, not a great or charismatic person. One day, he randomly wakes up as an attractive woman, granting him a new lease on life. Before long, he befriends a woman (and develops a crush on her), gets a job, and reunites with a person he hates from his past. When I Woke Up I Became a Bagel Girl has a couple of things in its favor, including a pretty interesting dynamic between the protagonist and his female friend. The story also tries to offer a few surprises rather than just sticking to slice of life comedy, and the second half is quite different from the first. While not a huge, huge focus, Bong's psychological struggle with his transformation is somewhat explored.
Unfortunately, Bong is really not that likable, and he/she gets worse as things progress. Although the show deserves props for trying to be dramatic, it does not handle this aspect all that well.
25 Kämpfer
Forgettable Fluff That Is Mostly Passable But Struggles To Leave An Impression
Kämpfer
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2009 - 2009
- Number of Episodes
- 14
- Studio
- Nomad
- Based On
- Light Novel
- Creator
- Toshihiko Tsukiji
- Streaming Service(s)
- HIDIVE
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 who fights with 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 peters out at the end; still, Kämpfer is a decent watch.