Hello,
Earlier this week I posted a topic about gender benders for cross dressing. This is the second part and clearly it was best to split the topic in two since the first one was quite long already.
So for this type of gender bender, there are a lot of different types of plots for this type of genre itself as well but typically it's just a variation of boy to girl transformation or vice versa physically and/or mentally.
TOTAL TRANSFORMATION
One of type of gender bender plot is the total transformation from one gender to the other. Sometimes it is through a strange phenomenon, sometimes, maybe, it is through gene therapy. Most of the ones I've read are because of a strange phenomenon that is somewhat related to genetics/biology. It is one of my favorite type of gender bender story because it's just very out of the norm since not only does the character also have to adjust mentally but there are a lot of elements in their lives they have to adapt to according to their new identity.
Here are some of my favorites.
*The Day of Revolution by Tsuda Mikiyo (completed)
This is actually probably the manga that really got me into gender benders. And once again it's Tsuda Mikiyo. What really captured me about this manga is probably the whole idea of a born man who is pretty normal but is suddenly hit with the fact that he is supposed to be a girl and then actually goes through with a transformation surgically. It's a great comedy as well and although it's short, it's a fun read.
*Kanojo ni Naru Hi by Ogura Akane (ongoing)
(Edit: 07.30.2013)Promising new manga. Nice characters. The subject of the gender bender is really cool about the whole circumstances of his gender bender-ness. It's pretty interesting.
CLICK by Lee Young ran (completed)
(Edit: 07.30.2013)This is an ok manhwa. The art may not be appealing to many since it's not really the typical shoujo kind of art. You may not like it so much in terms because all of the characters aren't attractive personalities.
~Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki (completed)
(Edit: 07.30.2013)I read this a long time ago and I wouldn't call it a favorite either but it is worth reading. Reading it is a little confusing though because there is a lot going on. It draws on the whole angels versus demons thing as well as the arch angels. But WARNING, it's a forbidden fruit story at it's core-Highlight to see the "spoiler"-->INCEST<--
IMPERMANENT GENDER SWITCH
If the heading isn't clear (which should be), this plot is basically like a hovering between genders. It's nothing like androgyny. It's physical complete changes from boy to girl or girl to boy but not permanent (therefore impermanent). There are actually very little stories that I've read or checked out that qualify for this and it's probably just really difficult to write because of all the drama. There is only one I've fully invested my interest in and there are a few others that I quit since I couldn't get into it very well.
Here are the more "notable" ones:
*Ame Nochi Hare by Bikke (ongoing)
This, if it finishes to the end in scanlating, will probably among my favorite gender benders. It's a new twist and take on gender bender for sure. We get a sort of sneak peak in the lives of boys in a boys' school (yes it's fiction, just roll with it) but they experience a strange phenomenon of gender transformation whenever there is rain. I especially enjoy how even though they are men mentally, through the transformation to women, they can sort of see what it's like to be a girl....Trust me it's a lot more interesting than the way I've put it and the characters that have been chosen for this strange phenomenon aren't particularly ordinary people either. I guess it brings new appreciation for the other sex for these young men. Anyways, quite an interesting part of the story right now especially when young love is especially susceptible whether boy or girl.
*Baroque by Ogawa Yayoi
(Edit: 07.30.2013) New manga. Can't say much about it since I kind of forgot what it's about.
~Divine Melody by Yi Huan
(Edit: 07.30.2013) Not my favorite written Yi Huan but I thought I'd throw it up here. It's a historical fiction manga too. For me though, the beginning was frustrating for me to read through...just saying.
BODY SWITCH
As lame as this might sound, if anyone has watched Freaky Friday (the hit movie starring Lindsey Lohan) or the K-Drama Secret Garden, that's the general idea. Usually the plot is switching bodies so the guy mentality is in a girls' body and the girl mentality is in guy's body (rarely same sex like in the movie Freaky Friday). I guess you can say it's funny and interesting but I haven't found many of much interest to myself-or it's just that I haven't found time to actually read it. This might actually be my least enjoyed plot of this genre but it makes for good lighthearted comedy so I'll give it that.
The following are the only ones I've gotten into for the comedy:
Yamada and the Seven Witches by Yoshikawa Miki (going)
This is one of the most hilarious mangas I've read. It's not exclusively a gender bender but it certainly adds to the fun of this story. I think what I like about it most is that it isn't a shoujo manga so there is less melodrama which is sometimes just the key downfall to a gender bender with this kind of manga plot. Because it isn't a shoujo manga and instead a seinen/shounen (i don't remember which one right now), the characters are more fun and diverse in personality which really makes for an awesome manga and comedy.
My Barbaric Girlfriend by Morinaga Ai (completed)
(Edit: 01.29.2014) It's been really long time this manga was updated. It's really funny and certainly kind of tries to mix up the femininity and masculinity gender norms. Seeing the polarized personalities, I want them to remain switched and date other people but others want them to change back and also date each other...I feel for the guy.
*Orange Chocolate by Yamada Nanpei
This one I stopped reading because I got tired of waiting for updates so I decided to wait 'til later to get into it but I haven't had time to do that. I simply list it here because I think it's good based on the general story line which I know of. It also features fine art in terms of traditional dance so it gives the manga a boost in originality.
MENTAL GENDER BENDER
For me, I had to separate this as its own plot because the stories aren't actual gender benders but more like gender benders in the sense that it's mental. This is probably the most relevant for past lives mangas where the whole born with your past life memories exist but the memories are of you as the opposite gender ergo "mental" gender bender. Now there hasn't exactly been any gender confusion from the past and present gender but I felt like it had to have a category of its own since mentally, one still has had that experience and it still impacts them in the present.
*Bokura no Kiseki by Kumeta Natsuo
Ok, if you were reading what I was describing for this gender bender type of plot, you'd probably would have predicted me mentioning this manga. If not, oh well. Ok so this manga is categorized as josei but the thing is that this manga kind of is at a stand still in terms of audience which usually defines the genres a manga is tagged with. Bokura no Kiseki involves an ancient/past world in which the practices still continue to exist in present time for some unknown reason. The real thriller of this manga is the mystery that surrounds the whole "why" select people of the present remember the past and have been reincarnated with the magic of the past. Again with Bokura no Kiseki, it's a lot more interesting than how I've described it here. (I'm not very good at writing clearly). Anyways, several characters are reincarnated but of the opposite sex. It seems like key players have this phenomenon including the protagonist. I don't know if it's a coincidence but if not and it was on purpose, well that just adds to the fun of this mystery and thriller especially since everyone who was reincarnated died from a war that began (for which nobody knows why) and everyone is split into factions of good/evil/neutral/and whatever. Once again, I've done this manga no justice in my description but it's certainly caught my interest since the first chapter was released and promises that it won't disappoint anyone.
~NG Life by Kusanagi Mizuho
This one is also a past life manga but since I stopped reading it and haven't picked it up since, I'm not too certain about the gender bender factor here. I do know that the protagonist isn't experiencing any "mental gender bender-ness" but a few of the other characters do (difference is that they don't remember their past lives and I'm not sure if they will ever since I didn't finish it).
ANDROGYNY
Well for a gender bender genre, it seems like androgyny is new or it's just that no one has scanlated one like it or no one has published any manga in english on it. If you don't know what androgyny is, it's generally the idea that you can't tell the sex of a person by their physique/appearance. It's a rare plot for a transformation gender bender. It's more typical for a "non-transformational" (yes not an actual word) gender bender I suppose but I think it's more special for a "transformational" (yes not an actual word) so I'm giving it its own category.
*Magnolia by Naked Ape
I only know of one such gender bender thus far with this kind of plot and Magnolia is it. I feel like this manga just goes to show that maybe sex isn't so binary. It's a huge struggle and in this manga, it just shows how the social construction of gender is complex and how it is so central to the identity of a person. These "iconic" images of what a man or woman is, how s/he should behave as well as the expectations of each gender that stem from the biology of sex, this manga really just shows how a person can struggle with this binary of man and woman. But enough with that.
What's really interesting about this manga is the struggle that the main character, Crown Prince Ayato goes through. It's an internal fight of love(woman) versus pride(man)? (Is pride the right word?) But Ayato has been raised as a male and having been raised as one and not achieving maturation of puberty at his age has really kind of screwed him up mentally. The parents kind of messed up on that but I guess it makes the story. It's a really interesting manga but my problem with it is how there is this kind of direction in which readers seem to be forced to lean towards Ayato as becoming female instead of male since Ayato loves a man and not a woman (loving a man will transform him to be a woman). Nevertheless, it's a interesting on going manga.
Sigh...this was a really longer than expected post and I don't expect anyone to actually read through it. Well got things out from pen to paper so to speak.
Bye,
tohukyo
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