Best Gender-Bender Manga

Life hasn’t exactly been comfortable for trans people, non-binary people, and anyone else who isn’t cis in the past few decades, but the past few years have been especially tough. Even people supposedly on their side have been acting against them, cutting off their support while treating them like some modern fad. But there have been stories about people changing genders or removing the label entirely since antiquity, be it famous Greek myths like Caneus and Tiresias, or biographies of figures like Chevalier D’Eon.

Even in this unfriendly climate, there are plenty of movies, TV shows, books, plays, comics, and manga about others bending gender norms for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s a case of mistaken identity, fluffy fantasy fulfillment, a light-hearted romp, or a sober, introspective look at how gender identity (or lack thereof) can affect people, these are just some of the best gender-bender manga available for people to check out,

10

The Day I Became Her

MyAnimeList Score: 7.32

• Japanese Title: Kanojo ni Naru Hi (‘The Day I Became Her/Becoming a Girl One Day).
• Creator: Akane Ogura.
• 4 Volumes, 20 Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

The world of The Day I Became Her is a curious one. It looks like present-day Japan, but it has some surreal mechanism where it sets humanity at a fixed ratio of men to women. Which means some people end up shifting from male to female, or female to male, partway through their lives in order for the mechanism to maintain that ratio, as Nao Mamiya experiences firsthand.

As a boy, Nao had a friendly rivalry with his pal, Kyosuke, where they challenged each other over school, sports, tests, etc. But when Nao turned 17, he came down with an illness that saw him slowly turn into a girl. Nao comes to terms with it pretty quickly, but Kyosuke has more trouble adjusting as he has a fear of women. It has become his greatest challenge yet, as his friendship with Nao begins to change as well.

9

The Gender of Mona Lisa

MyAnimeList Score: 7.37

• Japanese Title: Seibetsu “Mona Lisa” no Kimi e (‘Your Gender is Like Mona Lisa/Just Like Mona Lisa’).
• Creator: Tsumuji Yoshihara.
• 10 Volumes, 53 Chapters.
• Available in English via Square-Enix, and digitally via Comikey and Manga UP!

People have analyzed Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of Mona Lisa in all sorts of different ways, with some finding the figure more gender-neutral compared to other Renaissance portraits. So, Tsumuji Yoshihara used it as a metaphor for Hinase’s predicament in The Gender of Mona Lisa. In it, people are born genderless until they hit 12, where they’ll then go through whichever puberty they desire, no matter their genetics.

But even at 18, Hinase has remained gender-neutral. They thought they were fine with it, as they had the support of their friends, Ritsu and Shiori. But when they both confess to Hinase, they’re left troubled. Do they pick one gender or the other to keep one friend happy and do the whole ‘love’ thing? Or is there still a place in their world for someone to be agender, asexual and aromantic?

8

Boku Girl

MyAnimeList Score: 7.40

• Japanese Title: Boku Girl (‘I, Girl’).
• Creator: Akira Sugito.
• 11 Volumes, 107 Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

People complaining about pronouns in English would hate knowing Japanese, as the term ‘I/me/myself’ can be translated into multiple different ways to show a person’s gender, class, upbringing, etc. Like Anglophone pronouns, it can cause a stir too, as Japanese fans took umbrage with Undertale’s Sans using the bumpkinish ‘Oira’ over cooler-sounding pronouns.

Boku Girl uses ‘boku’ (‘I/me/myself’ for young boys) to show how Suzushiro looks more androgynous than he’d like. Guys confess to him, and girls treat him like one of their own. It’s annoying, but he deals with it. That is, until the trickster god Loki decides to take the ‘andro’ out of ‘androgynous’ by turning him into a woman overnight. Until he can find a way to revert it, Suzushiro has to deal with literally being one of the girls, which isn’t easy to say the least.

7

Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout

MyAnimeList Score: 7.49

• Japanese Title: Isekai Bishoujo Juniku Oji-san to (‘With an Ordinary Guy’s Reincarnation as a Fantasy Beauty’).
• Creator: Yu Tsurusaki (story) and Chibimaru (art).
• 13+ Volumes, 203+ Chapters.
• Available in English via Seven Seas Entertainment.

In the real world, Tachibana had trouble standing out to women thanks to his best friend, Jinguji. He doesn’t mean to cause trouble. It’s just that women are more into his tall height and hunky good looks over Tachibana’s smaller, slight features. Drunk and frustrated, he wished he was a girl in the world so he could get some attention for a change. Unluckily for him, the Goddess of Love and Beauty happened to be listening.

She decided to grant his wish by transporting them to a fantasy world. By turning Jinguji into a strong, buff hero, and Tachibana into an overpowering beauty, she challenges them to use their new skills to defeat its evil demon lord. Hence, why it’s called Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout. It’s only the start of their troubles too, as Tachibana’s new wiles begin to charm Jinguji as well as the world’s inhabitants, and Tachibana starts to see Jinguji in new ways too.

6

Shishunki Bitter Challenge

MyAnimeList Score: 7.67

• Japanese Title: Shishunki Bitter Challenge (Puberty Bitter Challenge).
• Creator: Masayoshi.
• 9 Volumes, 67 Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

A lot of gender-bender stories tend to be bodyswap ones, where a guy and a girl, be they friends, lovers, rivals, or barely acquaintances, end up learning what life is like in the other person’s shoes before switching back. It’s the topic of many a cutesy romcom. But what if the swap happened, then never got fixed? This is where Shishunki Bitter Challenge comes in.

Yuuta accidentally fell out of a tree onto Yui when they were kids, which caused them to swap minds and bodies. They both kept it a secret in case it just fixed itself. But they’re still stuck years later, and they’re beginning to start puberty. By playing the premise for drama, the manga ends up showing off how grim gender dysphoria can feel in terms everyone can understand; cis, trans, or otherwise.

5

Until I Become Me

MyAnimeList Score: 7.77

• Japanese Title: Ore ga Watashi ni Naru Made (Until I Become Me)
• Creator: Hatsuki Satou.
• 5+ Volumes, 67+ Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

Manga don’t have to swap bodies to make people see the error of their ways. Until I Become Me changes the person on their own instead. As a boy, Akira used to torment and abuse the girls at his school, but things took a turn when he woke up one day as a girl. He thought it would be temporary, thinking “I’ll go back to being a boy soon”.

But the days turn into weeks, and the weeks turn into months, and Akira is still a girl. During that time, she learns just how it feels to be on the receiving end of the abuse he used to dish out. That’s not to mention the other awkward parts about growing up as a girl, which give Akira complicated feelings. Her ironic punishment may end up opening her eyes in more ways than one.

4

Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister!

MyAnimeList Score: 7.83

• Japanese Title: Oniichan wa Oshimai! (Big Brother is Done For! or Onimai for short).
• Creator: Nekotoufu.
• 9+ Volumes, 94+ Chapters.
• Available in English digitally via Kodansha Comics USA.

Manga doesn’t have to be as heavy as Shishunki Bitter Challenge or The Gender of Mona Lisa to tell a story. Readers who fancy something lighter can find some fun in Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister! Where the eroge-playing shut-in, Mahiro, ends up undergoing a life-changing experience courtesy of their mad scientist sister, Mihari.

Her latest experiment ends up turning her big brother into her big sister overnight, which ‘she’ isn’t so fond of. Mihari wants to study all Mahiro’s different changes, but she’s absolutely not interested. Female or not, Mahiro insists on going back to her bedroom, playing her videogames, and living as ordinary a life as possible. But unfortunately for her, things are only going to get stranger from there.

3

Ranma ½

MyAnimeList Score: 7.99

• Japanese Title: Ranma ½.
• Creator: Rumiko Takahashi.
• 38 Volumes, 407 Chapters.
• Available in English via Viz Media’s Shōnen Sunday imprint.

This list wouldn’t be complete without Ranma ½. It’s perhaps the most popular gender-bending manga out there, and likely many people’s first experience with the topic. Albeit via either its classic late 1980s anime, or its new adaptation that’s been catching on with newer audiences. It sees the Tendo sisters contend with the prospect of being married off to continue their family’s dojo.

They’re not too keen on the prospect, until they find their suitor is Ranma Saotome. He’s afflicted by a condition he gained when he fell into a cursed spring. Whenever he’s doused with cold water, he becomes a girl (‘Ranko’), and changes back when hit with hot water. Depending on what he’s splashed with, rivals can become suitors, suitors can become rivals, and sticky situations can become all the more troublesome.

2

The Saga of Tanya the Evil

MyAnimeList Score: 8.37

• Japanese Title: Youjo Senki (The Military Chronicles of a Little Girl).
• Creators: Chika Toujou, based on the original light novel by Carlo Zen and Shinobu Shinotsuki.
• 30+ Volumes, 103+ Chapters.
• Available in English via Yen Press.

Another popular source of gender-bending comes in reincarnation stories, which have been on the rise in the past few years. Being reborn into a different body while still retaining memories of their former life can offer challenges of their own. In The Saga of Tanya the Evil, one unnamed salaryman’s challenge is to prove a godlike being wrong. He was punished for his lack of faith by the divine ‘X’ by being reborn as a girl called Tanya in an alternate version of World War 1 Germany.

If she dies before her time, and without repenting her faithless life, she’ll be sent to hell. But X’s attempts to make Tanya see the light end up making her scheme her way through Germany’s military in order to avoid both repenting and dying too soon. As a result, she becomes a darker, more malign figure than anyone could’ve expected.

1

Ouran High School Host Club

MyAnimeList Score: 8.50

• Japanese Title: Ouran Koukou Host Club.
• Creator: Bisco Hatori.
• 18 Volumes, 87 Chapters.
• Available in English via Viz Media’s Shojo Beat imprint.

Most gender-bender stories focus mainly on male-to-female transformations, with the occasional intersex or non-binary tale popping up like The Gender of Mona Lisa. Female-to-male experiences are thin on the ground, which can be frustrating for trans male readers. The closest they have to it are tales about girls dressing up as guys for one reason or another. It’s not really the same, but it has produced some intriguing stories.

For example, Ouran High School Host Club sees Haruhi get mistaken for being a boy, where she’s soon pressed into service at their host club. There, she ends up learning just how to charm other women, while catching the eye of their leader, Tamaki. Inadvertently or otherwise, and for better or worse, one person defying the norms can expand people’s horizons.