Highlights

• Gender-bender anime offer diverse takes on the premise of swapping genders, making it hard to find the best one.
• Ayakashi Triangle faced production challenges but offers enough to recommend as a gender-bender series to watch.
• Unique gender-bending concepts in anime like Your Name and Cheeky Angel add depth to storytelling, making them worth a watch.

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 May 5, 2024, by Mark Sammut: Gender-bender anime are incredibly rare. Winter 2024 did not contain a theme-appropriate series, and the same mostly holds for Spring. That said, Vampire Dormitory and Tadaima, Okaeri might be able to scratch a similar itch, even if they are not proper gender-bender stories. The former follows a girl who has to pretend to be a guy, while the latter presents a fascinating take on gender fluidity.

Body-swapping anime will also be included. However, isekai or reincarnation anime that involve characters reborn as the opposite gender will not be considered. If that premise sounds appealing, please check out the following article.

14 Ayakashi Triangle

MyAnimeList Score: 6.45

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.

13 Kämpfer

MyAnimeList Score: 6.37

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.