Charming Junkie and other gender bender series
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:
Charming Junkie - Umi starts out as a female model for fun, but he gradually wants to keep his identity secret so he can continue working on jobs with Naka, a girl at his school who has a scary face but is actually extremely beautiful. A bunch of people discover his secret along the way, but Naka gives her all to help Umi continue modeling.
Never Give Up - Kiri, who is a girl, looks like a guy. Her crush, Touya, who is a guy, looks like a girl and is working as a male model. Kiri becomes a male model to be closer to her crush. I like this series in that Kiri and Touya are entirely devoted to each other from the start and Touya along with many others work together to protect Kiri's secret.
Penguin Kakumei - Ryou is a male idol who goes undercover as a girl at school. Yukari discovers his secret and goes undercover as a guy to be his manager. The gender bender part isn't all that central to the story, but it's pretty cute. The conclusion for this series is a bit too open-ended though. I love this series because it's by Tsukuba Sakura. Her art and storytelling is very endearing.
Charisma Doll - I found this series to be the perfect undercover-as-another-gender-in-showbiz series. It's short and to the point and doesn't bombard you with characters with the short series that it is. Sara is talented at hiding her identity and even sings in a different voice. The basic story is that Sara, who's just a normal high school girl, is also the idol SALA, who no one knows the actual identity of.
Cinderella Boy - Riku, who is part of a boyband, is actually a girl. This is way too short and rushed for the story it's trying to tell and quickly derails into "I want to be a girl in front of so-and-so". It's only one volume.
Prince x Princess - Kaguya used to be a famous female idol, but after getting dropped from the group, she tries out as a male idol in a boyband to take revenge on her previous idol group. This could stand to be longer. It's only two volumes.
Shoujo Shounen - a series of stories about young boys crossdressing as girls to be female idols. Each volume focuses on different story. None of them are connected. Some are about acting, some are about singing. I remember one of them where the boy was a replacement for the female idol that he looks like. I found these to be nice stand alones.
Ichigo Channel - Ichigo (or was it Ichiko...?) dresses up as a boy in order to form a boyband with her brother and another guy. I don't like the art too much, but when it comes down to it, this is a romance.
Tenshi Ja Nai - One of my more recent favorites! Izumi crossdresses as a girl, but he gets discovered by his roommate, Hikaru. At first, Izumi blackmails Hikaru and is pretty mean to her, but Hikaru starts helping Izumi keep his secret.
Shounen x Cinderella - A very short manga where a guy crossdresses as a female model and starts liking another model. Cute art.
Teppen! - Kobato goes to Japan to find her brother, but she accidentally gets scouted...as a male idol. The person who shares her room though, might be her long lost brother...
Hush - Kang Un goes undercover as a girl at school to avoid his fans going crazy on him. He meets Gyu Hwa Lee, who he thinks might like him for him.
gender bender with guys dressing up as girls:
Mint na Bokura - Noeru dresses up as a girl to enroll in the school his twin sister, Maria transferred to. Everyone believes he's a girl because his twin was there first. I enjoyed this because of the cute art (it's Yoshimizu Wataru), Noeru's attempts to keep his secret, the funny situations that came up because of his crossdressing, and the budding relationships between the four main characters.
W Juliet - I suppose this could go under showbiz too, since it is about acting. Makoto dresses up as a girl to prove to his father his skill in acting. Ito, the female protagonist, discovers his secret and helps Makoto during their time in the drama club. A solid story with a very cute relationship between the main characters. There's also a short sequel. Makoto is one of those guys who knows how to do practically everything.
Hourou Musuko - I haven't gotten far with this one yet. It's much more serious than the usual guy-dressing-up-as-girl series. Shuichi seems to be fascinated with girls' clothing from what I've read of the series so far. Possibly a series about discovering himself? Not the usual hiding a secret identity kind of series, but he is hiding a part of himself.
Alto - Alto dresses up as a girl to attend the flight academy because only girls are allowed to pilot the planes of his dreams. From what I've read so far, it's a fairly cute and optimistic story. I look forward to Alto's attempts to reach towards his dreams.
Princess Princess - Three guys at an all boys school dress up as princesses because all the guys are girl deprived. The guys bond over their role in the school. Fairly sweet series even though there's nothing secretive about their crossdressing.
Mai Otome - I haven't watched the anime, but I'm under the assumption that the anime is entirely different. In the manga, Mashiro attends an all girls school...but he's actually a guy. He pretends to be Mashiro hime in an attempt to escape from his previous all boys school. I don't remember much of what went on...a bit too ecchi for me.
Usotsuki Lily - Shinohara En, Hinata's new boyfriend, is a crossdresser who hates guys so much that he doesn't even want to see a guy in the mirror (his own reflection). This series does not take itself seriously at all. I find that to be the series' charm point. Hinata also crossdresses frequently in the series and makes a hot guy.
gender bender with girls dressing up as guys:
Ouran High School Host Club - Haruhi attends school in a guy uniform because she doesn't have enough money for a new uniform. People mistakenly think she's a guy. After she accidentally broke a vase that belongs to the host club, she ends up joining the club as a male host to pay off her debt. I would adore this series more if she had to keep her secret from the guys in the club for a longer time, but they already knew her identity from the start. Still, it's a solid series with pretty art. It's not really about gender bender but more about the characters and their backstory. I'm quite behind with it.
Tokyo Crazy Paradise - The previous series from Skip Beat's mangaka, this series is like an older version of Skip Beat because a lot of her characters have the same kind of relationships. Tsukasa is brought up as a boy because it's safer to be a boy in the futuristic Japan they live in. She becomes a bodyguard to Ryuji and man, she can fight. Very strong female character. Long series with lots of twists and fights.
Legend of Basara - After her brother is killed, Sarasa takes on his identity to lead her people as Tatara. This takes secret identities to a whole different level. Sarasa keeps her real identity hidden for a long time because exposing it would hurt her people. She of course, has to fall in love with the enemy. Lots of twists in this one as well. TCP and Basara are both series that show the power difference between men and women.
Hana Kimi - Mizuki dresses up as a guy to attend an all boys school to be closer to her crush, Sano. She manages to keep her identity a secret for quite a long time, though someone does discover her secret but just doesn't tell her. It's a cute shoujo that has also been made into a drama. Several dramas, in fact, Taiwanese and Japanese ones.
Girl Got Game - Kyo's dad enrolls her at a school as a guy to play basketball. She's entirely against it but ends up going along with it. She meets a guy and all that. The series starts out fairly seriously...but derails into over-the-top comedy that doesn't make much sense. It had so much potential in the beginning!
He's Dedicated to Roses - Ida is mistreated by Mimi, who her family is in debt to. Ida dresses up as a guy named Yodah to release her stress by fighting. She has two good male friends, Junah and Shinah, when she's Yodah. Somehow, Gang Naru, who's a super handsome guy, falls in love with her guy form. Ida appears to be a fairly strong female lead at the beginning, but I find the series turning into one where the girl is heads over heals with the handsome guy that sweeps her off her feet. Only snag is that the guy doesn't know she's a girl!
Boku ni Natta Watashi - Momoko's brother, Akira, ran away, but he was already enrolled in an elite school. In order not to waste the tuition, Momoko goes undercover as her brother. She has a lot of trouble with keeping her identity a secret. This is kind of along the lines of Hana Kimi.
The Change! - Kira and her brother Kira are mistaken for the other gender from the start. Kira has always been outgoing, so she likes coming off as a guy, but her brother doesn't like playing the part of a girl. Kira gets called to court to serve the emperor, gets manipulated into a marriage with a girl, has a bunch of people falling for her thinking they're gay, and all that. Kira is a refreshing female lead who isn't crossdressing for secret reasons--she just finds being a guy more true to her personality.
Houou Gakuen Misoragumi - Kei is a girl who is entirely disgusted by boys. Her mom forcefully enrolls her in an all boys school, so she ends up surrounded by a bunch of good-looking guys, but they only make her want to throw up. I haven't gotten far with this...so far, I'm a bit disturbed by how strongly she reacts to the guys. I'm not sure what the series is trying to do. (Okay, so after reading 2 volumes, I have to say this series makes no sense to me...)
Nononono - Nonomiya Nono crossdresses as her brother Yuuta in order to ski jump because there is no women's ski jump in the Olympics. Her dream is to bring back Olympic gold for her father who had failed to win gold during his days in the Olympics. Nono's skill is pretty impressive. She gets into all kinds of troubles because of her secret though. I enjoyed the beginning, but the later chapters are very explicit and twisted, and Nono's background is pretty bad. Definitely not a lighthearted series.
Uwasa no Midori-kun - Too smutty for my tastes especially with this kind of art, but Midori goes undercover as a guy to join the soccer team because she wants to defeat a guy she used to like. He stomped all over her feelings, so she wants revenge by defeating him in what he's good at--soccer.
Magical x Miracle - Merleawe is just a normal girl who's learning to become a mage, but somehow, she resembles the master wizard Merleawe. She gets pulled into imitating him since he disappeared. I found this cute!
Hana no Kishi - This is a fairly new series at the time I'm writing this. Ran crossdresses as a guy to be Sei's knight because Ran's older brother, who was supposed to be Sei's knight, passed away. Ran takes this knight business very seriously.
Kaze Hikaru - After her entire family is killed, Tominaga Sei joins the Mibu Roshi (soon to become Shinsengumi) to avenge her family. She crossdresses as a guy but is discovered by Okita Souji who helps her keep her secret. Lots of deaths in this one.
Legend of Nereid - Okay, maybe I need a historical gender bender section. XD; A lot like Basara and Saver, the girl has to crossdress as a guy in historical times. The prophecy said that the Ocean Warrior, a female, would destroy them. Matia dresses as a guy and actually joins the enemy troops to get closer to the prophet to find out what the heck this prophecy is. The ending is fairly weak and poor Matia goes through so much, but I think this is one of HMR's better works as it's not as formulaic.
Saver - Lena falls into the past (or perhaps some alternate universe) and has to save their world. She's told to hide her identity as a guy (the only thing she does is bind her chest and everyone already thinks she's a guy...) so that she'll be safer. Throughout her journey, all she thinks about is returning to her own time. Somehow, she's very strong in sword fighting, so strong that no one suspects she's a girl.
Seiyuu Ka-! - It doesn't seem like a gender bender at first, but Hime eventually ends up dressing as a guy to debut as a seiyuu because she has an awesome "prince" voice. She keeps this a secret from her friends at her seiyuu school. I find the series charming.
gender bender with mistaken gender
Anata to Scandal - This is an old favorite of mine where Tomoka falls in love with Yuuki, the lead singer of a band. Yuuki, however, turns out to be a girl who only looks like a guy and has a voice like a guy. Tomoka refuses to fall out of love. I suppose this is sort of a reverse harem type of story.
Vanilla Ice - This is listed as gender bender, but it's just that the lead female looks like a guy and the lead male looks like a girl. Yoon Sul likes Taehee, but he's so much shorter and more delicate than she is. This is fairly entertaining if you like fighting and strong females. And guys who want to become stronger.
Ai wo Utau Yori Ore ni Oborero! - Akira is a guy with girlish features attending an all guys school. Mizuki is a girl with guy-like features attending an all girls school. They meet and fall in love. The story is not very substantial, and this isn't the kind of gender bender I enjoy. Not much secret-wise or anything.
Ice Revolution - This is listed as gender bender, it's really...not. Well, Masaki is mistaken as a guy for a good part of the series, but she wants to transform into a beautiful girl, which is why she begins figure skating. Solid sports series with a lot of potential, but I think it ended fairly early.
Kunisaki Izumo no Jijou - Izumo's family does kabuki, and he always lands with the female roles. In the pilot of this series, he can actually transform into a female and battle enemies, but the actual series just has him being mistaken for a girl a lot of the times. So far, this series has been about Izumo coming to accept the fact that kabuki is to be admired.
other gender bender, such as transformations, reincarnation, body-swapping, etc:
1/2 Prince - Feng Lan creates a guy character called Prince in an online game to show her brother that she doesn't need to receive female benefits. Prince turns out to be super handsome and a key player in the game. I highly recommend this manhua. Includes lots of MMORPG references and funny situations with Lan's attempts to keep her identity hidden.
Ryou - This series isn't listed as gender bender, but I think it should be! Ryou is living as a normal girl until Benkei comes through a time warp and identifies her as Ushiwakamura, his master. "Ryou" turns out to be a fake identity that the people in the present implanted into her. She was actually undercover as a guy for her entire life before she fell into the present. It's a very...messed up series, but it reminds me of Basara.
After School Nightmare - Ichijo is half female, half male. He appears with a female uniform in his shared nightmares from his special class. Throughout the series, he has to make a decision between his two selves. I still need to finish this series.
Akane-chan Overdrive - Amamiya dies and is given a second chance in Akane's body. It's a short series that doesn't go anywhere, but it's fairly amusing.
Pretty Face - Randou is completely disfigured in a bus accident. A plastic surgeon gives him the face of his crush because that was the only picture he had on him, so Randou ends up with a girls face. He goes to live with his crush, Rina, as her older sister. Poor Randou has a hard time trying to keep his identity a secret since only his face looks like a girl. It's an...entertaining series. At least, Randou is still very much a guy unlike a lot of other gender bender series out there where the character is turned into a girl.
Boku to Kanojo no xxx - Also known as My Barbaric Girlfriend. Momoi and Akira accidentally switch bodies but both are much more suited to their new body than their old one. Momoi, who is a girl, is brash and powerful. Akira is meek and shy. Their friends end up falling for their new selves and much craziness happens. It's a comedic series.
Cute x Guy - Sumi takes medicine to make her more mature, but she ends up turning into a guy. At least, as a guy, she can get closer to her crush Mitsuru. It's...gender bender that goes way beyond cross dressing, haha.
Kashimashi - Hazumu gets killed by aliens, so they give him a new body. Unfortunately, they make him into a girl. I have a problem with this series because Hazumu doesn't feel like a guy at all.
The Moment When a Fox Becomes a Wolf - There are quite a few gender bender manhwa series, but I don't know much about them. This one, a guy and a girl end up swapping bodies because the guy wishes for a family and the girl wishes to become richer so she wouldn't be bullied all the time. I wish more of this was scanlated, since I can't read Korean.
Global Garden - Ruika has the power to grant other people wishes. Her brother died in a plane crash but her mother refuses to believe it, think that Ruika died instead and that Ruika is Masato. To protect her mother, Ruika's body gradually turns into that of a man. Very weird story with Einstein, near immortals, time traveling, the three goddesses of fate, dreams of the future, and all that mixed in. By the mangaka of Please Save my Earth.
Clear Up After Rain - Five boys get turned into girls whenever it rains. The series just started when I read this, so I don't know much about what happens, but so far, the series feels refreshing because it deals with how they're coping with the situation.
Divine Melody - Cai Sheng is a fox spirit who can choose to either be female or male. She lived 200 years of her life as a female, but her fox clan wants her to be male so that she can continue the line. Reincarnation, heavenly beings, demons, you name it.
NG Life - Keidai's best, male friend from his previous life is reincarnated as a cute female, and his wife from his previous life is reincarnated as a male. Cue confusion when he's the only one who remembers the past.
gender bender but not the focus
Hybrid Berry - This is a fairly cute sports series where they make a girl stand in for them at the baseball club. She loves her garden, so she can bat away any balls that she thinks will harm her garden. I don't really consider this a gender bender.
Oresama Teacher - This isn't much of a gender bender either, just that Mafuyu does dress up as a guy sometimes to conceal the fact that she's awesome at fighting. She used to be a delinquent, but she doesn't want her new friend to find out. This is cute. <3
gender bender in anime
I My Me! Strawberry Eggs - Hibiki disguises himself as a female teacher because the school refuses to hire guys. I found this series pretty touching. Hibiki's always there for the students, and they end up trusting him.
Romeo x Juliet - Juliet disguises as the Crimson Whirlwind to fight against the Montagues. Crossdressing Juliet. What can be better? XD; Her disguise isn't the focus of the series, but I enjoyed a strong, fighting Juliet with another layer to her identity.
I probably missed some that I don't remember. There's this volleyball series with a guy dressed as a girl but I can't remember the name at the moment. I haven't listed series with traps since trap characters are generally not the focus of the series (and I don't want to spoil the series for anyone). XD; But if you have any recommendations or know of any other gender bender series you enjoy, let me know! I'm still trying to look for entertaining gender bender series...a lot are not very well fleshed out. I'm going to be adding to this list in the future.
(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:
Charming Junkie - Umi starts out as a female model for fun, but he gradually wants to keep his identity secret so he can continue working on jobs with Naka, a girl at his school who has a scary face but is actually extremely beautiful. A bunch of people discover his secret along the way, but Naka gives her all to help Umi continue modeling.
Never Give Up - Kiri, who is a girl, looks like a guy. Her crush, Touya, who is a guy, looks like a girl and is working as a male model. Kiri becomes a male model to be closer to her crush. I like this series in that Kiri and Touya are entirely devoted to each other from the start and Touya along with many others work together to protect Kiri's secret.
Penguin Kakumei - Ryou is a male idol who goes undercover as a girl at school. Yukari discovers his secret and goes undercover as a guy to be his manager. The gender bender part isn't all that central to the story, but it's pretty cute. The conclusion for this series is a bit too open-ended though. I love this series because it's by Tsukuba Sakura. Her art and storytelling is very endearing.
Charisma Doll - I found this series to be the perfect undercover-as-another-gender-in-showbiz series. It's short and to the point and doesn't bombard you with characters with the short series that it is. Sara is talented at hiding her identity and even sings in a different voice. The basic story is that Sara, who's just a normal high school girl, is also the idol SALA, who no one knows the actual identity of.
Cinderella Boy - Riku, who is part of a boyband, is actually a girl. This is way too short and rushed for the story it's trying to tell and quickly derails into "I want to be a girl in front of so-and-so". It's only one volume.
Prince x Princess - Kaguya used to be a famous female idol, but after getting dropped from the group, she tries out as a male idol in a boyband to take revenge on her previous idol group. This could stand to be longer. It's only two volumes.
Shoujo Shounen - a series of stories about young boys crossdressing as girls to be female idols. Each volume focuses on different story. None of them are connected. Some are about acting, some are about singing. I remember one of them where the boy was a replacement for the female idol that he looks like. I found these to be nice stand alones.
Ichigo Channel - Ichigo (or was it Ichiko...?) dresses up as a boy in order to form a boyband with her brother and another guy. I don't like the art too much, but when it comes down to it, this is a romance.
Tenshi Ja Nai - One of my more recent favorites! Izumi crossdresses as a girl, but he gets discovered by his roommate, Hikaru. At first, Izumi blackmails Hikaru and is pretty mean to her, but Hikaru starts helping Izumi keep his secret.
Shounen x Cinderella - A very short manga where a guy crossdresses as a female model and starts liking another model. Cute art.
Teppen! - Kobato goes to Japan to find her brother, but she accidentally gets scouted...as a male idol. The person who shares her room though, might be her long lost brother...
Hush - Kang Un goes undercover as a girl at school to avoid his fans going crazy on him. He meets Gyu Hwa Lee, who he thinks might like him for him.
gender bender with guys dressing up as girls:
Mint na Bokura - Noeru dresses up as a girl to enroll in the school his twin sister, Maria transferred to. Everyone believes he's a girl because his twin was there first. I enjoyed this because of the cute art (it's Yoshimizu Wataru), Noeru's attempts to keep his secret, the funny situations that came up because of his crossdressing, and the budding relationships between the four main characters.
W Juliet - I suppose this could go under showbiz too, since it is about acting. Makoto dresses up as a girl to prove to his father his skill in acting. Ito, the female protagonist, discovers his secret and helps Makoto during their time in the drama club. A solid story with a very cute relationship between the main characters. There's also a short sequel. Makoto is one of those guys who knows how to do practically everything.
Hourou Musuko - I haven't gotten far with this one yet. It's much more serious than the usual guy-dressing-up-as-girl series. Shuichi seems to be fascinated with girls' clothing from what I've read of the series so far. Possibly a series about discovering himself? Not the usual hiding a secret identity kind of series, but he is hiding a part of himself.
Alto - Alto dresses up as a girl to attend the flight academy because only girls are allowed to pilot the planes of his dreams. From what I've read so far, it's a fairly cute and optimistic story. I look forward to Alto's attempts to reach towards his dreams.
Princess Princess - Three guys at an all boys school dress up as princesses because all the guys are girl deprived. The guys bond over their role in the school. Fairly sweet series even though there's nothing secretive about their crossdressing.
Mai Otome - I haven't watched the anime, but I'm under the assumption that the anime is entirely different. In the manga, Mashiro attends an all girls school...but he's actually a guy. He pretends to be Mashiro hime in an attempt to escape from his previous all boys school. I don't remember much of what went on...a bit too ecchi for me.
Usotsuki Lily - Shinohara En, Hinata's new boyfriend, is a crossdresser who hates guys so much that he doesn't even want to see a guy in the mirror (his own reflection). This series does not take itself seriously at all. I find that to be the series' charm point. Hinata also crossdresses frequently in the series and makes a hot guy.
gender bender with girls dressing up as guys:
Ouran High School Host Club - Haruhi attends school in a guy uniform because she doesn't have enough money for a new uniform. People mistakenly think she's a guy. After she accidentally broke a vase that belongs to the host club, she ends up joining the club as a male host to pay off her debt. I would adore this series more if she had to keep her secret from the guys in the club for a longer time, but they already knew her identity from the start. Still, it's a solid series with pretty art. It's not really about gender bender but more about the characters and their backstory. I'm quite behind with it.
Tokyo Crazy Paradise - The previous series from Skip Beat's mangaka, this series is like an older version of Skip Beat because a lot of her characters have the same kind of relationships. Tsukasa is brought up as a boy because it's safer to be a boy in the futuristic Japan they live in. She becomes a bodyguard to Ryuji and man, she can fight. Very strong female character. Long series with lots of twists and fights.
Legend of Basara - After her brother is killed, Sarasa takes on his identity to lead her people as Tatara. This takes secret identities to a whole different level. Sarasa keeps her real identity hidden for a long time because exposing it would hurt her people. She of course, has to fall in love with the enemy. Lots of twists in this one as well. TCP and Basara are both series that show the power difference between men and women.
Hana Kimi - Mizuki dresses up as a guy to attend an all boys school to be closer to her crush, Sano. She manages to keep her identity a secret for quite a long time, though someone does discover her secret but just doesn't tell her. It's a cute shoujo that has also been made into a drama. Several dramas, in fact, Taiwanese and Japanese ones.
Girl Got Game - Kyo's dad enrolls her at a school as a guy to play basketball. She's entirely against it but ends up going along with it. She meets a guy and all that. The series starts out fairly seriously...but derails into over-the-top comedy that doesn't make much sense. It had so much potential in the beginning!
He's Dedicated to Roses - Ida is mistreated by Mimi, who her family is in debt to. Ida dresses up as a guy named Yodah to release her stress by fighting. She has two good male friends, Junah and Shinah, when she's Yodah. Somehow, Gang Naru, who's a super handsome guy, falls in love with her guy form. Ida appears to be a fairly strong female lead at the beginning, but I find the series turning into one where the girl is heads over heals with the handsome guy that sweeps her off her feet. Only snag is that the guy doesn't know she's a girl!
Boku ni Natta Watashi - Momoko's brother, Akira, ran away, but he was already enrolled in an elite school. In order not to waste the tuition, Momoko goes undercover as her brother. She has a lot of trouble with keeping her identity a secret. This is kind of along the lines of Hana Kimi.
The Change! - Kira and her brother Kira are mistaken for the other gender from the start. Kira has always been outgoing, so she likes coming off as a guy, but her brother doesn't like playing the part of a girl. Kira gets called to court to serve the emperor, gets manipulated into a marriage with a girl, has a bunch of people falling for her thinking they're gay, and all that. Kira is a refreshing female lead who isn't crossdressing for secret reasons--she just finds being a guy more true to her personality.
Houou Gakuen Misoragumi - Kei is a girl who is entirely disgusted by boys. Her mom forcefully enrolls her in an all boys school, so she ends up surrounded by a bunch of good-looking guys, but they only make her want to throw up. I haven't gotten far with this...so far, I'm a bit disturbed by how strongly she reacts to the guys. I'm not sure what the series is trying to do. (Okay, so after reading 2 volumes, I have to say this series makes no sense to me...)
Nononono - Nonomiya Nono crossdresses as her brother Yuuta in order to ski jump because there is no women's ski jump in the Olympics. Her dream is to bring back Olympic gold for her father who had failed to win gold during his days in the Olympics. Nono's skill is pretty impressive. She gets into all kinds of troubles because of her secret though. I enjoyed the beginning, but the later chapters are very explicit and twisted, and Nono's background is pretty bad. Definitely not a lighthearted series.
Uwasa no Midori-kun - Too smutty for my tastes especially with this kind of art, but Midori goes undercover as a guy to join the soccer team because she wants to defeat a guy she used to like. He stomped all over her feelings, so she wants revenge by defeating him in what he's good at--soccer.
Magical x Miracle - Merleawe is just a normal girl who's learning to become a mage, but somehow, she resembles the master wizard Merleawe. She gets pulled into imitating him since he disappeared. I found this cute!
Hana no Kishi - This is a fairly new series at the time I'm writing this. Ran crossdresses as a guy to be Sei's knight because Ran's older brother, who was supposed to be Sei's knight, passed away. Ran takes this knight business very seriously.
Kaze Hikaru - After her entire family is killed, Tominaga Sei joins the Mibu Roshi (soon to become Shinsengumi) to avenge her family. She crossdresses as a guy but is discovered by Okita Souji who helps her keep her secret. Lots of deaths in this one.
Legend of Nereid - Okay, maybe I need a historical gender bender section. XD; A lot like Basara and Saver, the girl has to crossdress as a guy in historical times. The prophecy said that the Ocean Warrior, a female, would destroy them. Matia dresses as a guy and actually joins the enemy troops to get closer to the prophet to find out what the heck this prophecy is. The ending is fairly weak and poor Matia goes through so much, but I think this is one of HMR's better works as it's not as formulaic.
Saver - Lena falls into the past (or perhaps some alternate universe) and has to save their world. She's told to hide her identity as a guy (the only thing she does is bind her chest and everyone already thinks she's a guy...) so that she'll be safer. Throughout her journey, all she thinks about is returning to her own time. Somehow, she's very strong in sword fighting, so strong that no one suspects she's a girl.
Seiyuu Ka-! - It doesn't seem like a gender bender at first, but Hime eventually ends up dressing as a guy to debut as a seiyuu because she has an awesome "prince" voice. She keeps this a secret from her friends at her seiyuu school. I find the series charming.
gender bender with mistaken gender
Anata to Scandal - This is an old favorite of mine where Tomoka falls in love with Yuuki, the lead singer of a band. Yuuki, however, turns out to be a girl who only looks like a guy and has a voice like a guy. Tomoka refuses to fall out of love. I suppose this is sort of a reverse harem type of story.
Vanilla Ice - This is listed as gender bender, but it's just that the lead female looks like a guy and the lead male looks like a girl. Yoon Sul likes Taehee, but he's so much shorter and more delicate than she is. This is fairly entertaining if you like fighting and strong females. And guys who want to become stronger.
Ai wo Utau Yori Ore ni Oborero! - Akira is a guy with girlish features attending an all guys school. Mizuki is a girl with guy-like features attending an all girls school. They meet and fall in love. The story is not very substantial, and this isn't the kind of gender bender I enjoy. Not much secret-wise or anything.
Ice Revolution - This is listed as gender bender, it's really...not. Well, Masaki is mistaken as a guy for a good part of the series, but she wants to transform into a beautiful girl, which is why she begins figure skating. Solid sports series with a lot of potential, but I think it ended fairly early.
Kunisaki Izumo no Jijou - Izumo's family does kabuki, and he always lands with the female roles. In the pilot of this series, he can actually transform into a female and battle enemies, but the actual series just has him being mistaken for a girl a lot of the times. So far, this series has been about Izumo coming to accept the fact that kabuki is to be admired.
other gender bender, such as transformations, reincarnation, body-swapping, etc:
1/2 Prince - Feng Lan creates a guy character called Prince in an online game to show her brother that she doesn't need to receive female benefits. Prince turns out to be super handsome and a key player in the game. I highly recommend this manhua. Includes lots of MMORPG references and funny situations with Lan's attempts to keep her identity hidden.
Ryou - This series isn't listed as gender bender, but I think it should be! Ryou is living as a normal girl until Benkei comes through a time warp and identifies her as Ushiwakamura, his master. "Ryou" turns out to be a fake identity that the people in the present implanted into her. She was actually undercover as a guy for her entire life before she fell into the present. It's a very...messed up series, but it reminds me of Basara.
After School Nightmare - Ichijo is half female, half male. He appears with a female uniform in his shared nightmares from his special class. Throughout the series, he has to make a decision between his two selves. I still need to finish this series.
Akane-chan Overdrive - Amamiya dies and is given a second chance in Akane's body. It's a short series that doesn't go anywhere, but it's fairly amusing.
Pretty Face - Randou is completely disfigured in a bus accident. A plastic surgeon gives him the face of his crush because that was the only picture he had on him, so Randou ends up with a girls face. He goes to live with his crush, Rina, as her older sister. Poor Randou has a hard time trying to keep his identity a secret since only his face looks like a girl. It's an...entertaining series. At least, Randou is still very much a guy unlike a lot of other gender bender series out there where the character is turned into a girl.
Boku to Kanojo no xxx - Also known as My Barbaric Girlfriend. Momoi and Akira accidentally switch bodies but both are much more suited to their new body than their old one. Momoi, who is a girl, is brash and powerful. Akira is meek and shy. Their friends end up falling for their new selves and much craziness happens. It's a comedic series.
Cute x Guy - Sumi takes medicine to make her more mature, but she ends up turning into a guy. At least, as a guy, she can get closer to her crush Mitsuru. It's...gender bender that goes way beyond cross dressing, haha.
Kashimashi - Hazumu gets killed by aliens, so they give him a new body. Unfortunately, they make him into a girl. I have a problem with this series because Hazumu doesn't feel like a guy at all.
The Moment When a Fox Becomes a Wolf - There are quite a few gender bender manhwa series, but I don't know much about them. This one, a guy and a girl end up swapping bodies because the guy wishes for a family and the girl wishes to become richer so she wouldn't be bullied all the time. I wish more of this was scanlated, since I can't read Korean.
Global Garden - Ruika has the power to grant other people wishes. Her brother died in a plane crash but her mother refuses to believe it, think that Ruika died instead and that Ruika is Masato. To protect her mother, Ruika's body gradually turns into that of a man. Very weird story with Einstein, near immortals, time traveling, the three goddesses of fate, dreams of the future, and all that mixed in. By the mangaka of Please Save my Earth.
Clear Up After Rain - Five boys get turned into girls whenever it rains. The series just started when I read this, so I don't know much about what happens, but so far, the series feels refreshing because it deals with how they're coping with the situation.
Divine Melody - Cai Sheng is a fox spirit who can choose to either be female or male. She lived 200 years of her life as a female, but her fox clan wants her to be male so that she can continue the line. Reincarnation, heavenly beings, demons, you name it.
NG Life - Keidai's best, male friend from his previous life is reincarnated as a cute female, and his wife from his previous life is reincarnated as a male. Cue confusion when he's the only one who remembers the past.
gender bender but not the focus
Hybrid Berry - This is a fairly cute sports series where they make a girl stand in for them at the baseball club. She loves her garden, so she can bat away any balls that she thinks will harm her garden. I don't really consider this a gender bender.
Oresama Teacher - This isn't much of a gender bender either, just that Mafuyu does dress up as a guy sometimes to conceal the fact that she's awesome at fighting. She used to be a delinquent, but she doesn't want her new friend to find out. This is cute. <3
gender bender in anime
I My Me! Strawberry Eggs - Hibiki disguises himself as a female teacher because the school refuses to hire guys. I found this series pretty touching. Hibiki's always there for the students, and they end up trusting him.
Romeo x Juliet - Juliet disguises as the Crimson Whirlwind to fight against the Montagues. Crossdressing Juliet. What can be better? XD; Her disguise isn't the focus of the series, but I enjoyed a strong, fighting Juliet with another layer to her identity.
I probably missed some that I don't remember. There's this volleyball series with a guy dressed as a girl but I can't remember the name at the moment. I haven't listed series with traps since trap characters are generally not the focus of the series (and I don't want to spoil the series for anyone). XD; But if you have any recommendations or know of any other gender bender series you enjoy, let me know! I'm still trying to look for entertaining gender bender series...a lot are not very well fleshed out. I'm going to be adding to this list in the future.