lucathia

Kampfer got me thinking of gender bender series I actually enjoy. I'm a huge fan of shoujo gender bender series because I just adore when characters keep secrets or have a secret identity. This secret identity thing extends to non crossdressing situations too, such as Lelouch as Zero and Kaitou as Kaitou Kid and all that. My biggest complaint for most shoujo gender bender series is that the secret generally comes out too quickly, though for manga, it makes sense that the secret is out quickly when you're trying to grab everyone's attention with the first few chapters. If it's not a secret identity thing, I generally...don't like the series even if it's gender bender unless it has something to do with power relationships. Most gender bender I enjoy seem to be manga only instead of anime. Which is sad, because I really want a gender bender series animated so I can hear a seiyuu attempt voices as both a guy and a girl.


(I can't find the corresponding scanlation of this panel, so this will have to do...basically says the school council president = the female idol)
A lot of mangaka seem to like combining crossdressing with the idol world. I'm guilty of doing that too (I've been writing an AU fic with such a situation). I was ecstatic when I came upon Charming Junkie where the idol Umi is crossdressing. He looks hot as a guy and cute as a girl. I like his character design. The series is reasonably long and manages to flesh out the characters more by the end of the series. Naka, the main female protagonist, has a scary face like Sawako. It's interesting seeing her overcome that. Naka and Umi are very adorable together. People who liked Never Give Up will most likely enjoy this one, since Umi ends up wanting to crossdress in order to protect his job with Naka.

( gender bender in showbiz )

( gender bender with guys dressing up as girls )

( gender bender with girls dressing up as guys )

( gender bender with mistaken gender )

( other gender bender, such as transformations, reincarnation, body-swapping, etc )

( gender bender but not the focus )