Summary
While the past few years have been particularly rough for the trans and gender-fluid communities, there’s been a rise in trans and gender-fluid media, and media on the nature of gender as a whole. As varying as their quality can be, it shows audiences are willing to keep their eyes, ears, and minds open towards the T & Q in LGBTQ.
It also coincides with a rise in Korean media, particularly their manhwa comics, as they’re now more readily available than ever thanks to Webtoons, Tapas, and other websites. Even here, readers can find some ofthe best gender bender manhwaaround. Whether they’re deep, introspective stories about gender or simple, lighthearted tales about the subject, there’s something for everyone.
Updated Aug 02, 2025, by David Heath:Manhwa is only getting bigger as new strips reach worldwide audiences. They cover a broad range of topics, too, where even seemingly niche topics like gender bender tales branch out into isekai, workplace drama, romcoms, historicals, fantasy, and more.
As such, alongside the usual tweaks and rearrangements, this list has been updated with some more rising stars in gender bender manhwa, like goddesses gaining revenge via a male form, martial arts masters seeking retribution in a female form, and guys getting their lives turned around and upside down by getting a sudden sex shift.
26Girl Reborn
Anime-Planet Score: 3.24/5 Stars
Imagine waking up one day as the opposite sex all of a sudden. It’s pretty much as basic as a gender-bender story can get, andGirl Rebornuses it right from the beginning, as Eunsung recovers froma Truck-kun encounterthat turned him into a girl. Eunsung isn’t exactly thrilled at this change and does his best to hide it so he can live as ordinarily as he can. For the most part, it works out for him, as his friends and family are left none the wiser.
But then his secret gets discovered by the one person he wanted to keep his new status hidden from most of all: his high school crush. All on his first day as a woman, too. However, instead of being repulsed, embarrassed, or weirded out, she seems intrigued. In fact, she’s so intrigued she wants Eunsung to be her new life model for her artwork, clothed or otherwise. However long it lasts, Eunsung’s time as a girl is going to be stranger than he thought.
25When I Woke Up, I Became a Bagel Girl
Anime-Planet Score: 3.28/5 Stars
Readers might be familiar withWhen I Woke Up, I Became a Bagel Girlas it was adapted into an anime series. It follows Jeong Bong-Gi, a bitter, overweight guy who doesn’t like others, and others don’t like him. He had big dreams in the past but would now prefer to play online games all day. So, when he wakes up after one late-night gaming session in the form of a pretty young girl (or ‘bagel’ in Korean), he’s understandably confused. He seeks help online and finds it in Han Sae-Mi.
She advises him on what to do as a woman, from maintaining his looks to watching out for getting the wrong kind of attention. But Bong-Gi seeks to use his new ‘gifts’ for revenge on everyone who looked down on him. Particularly Han Sang-Woo, an old friend who left him behind when he needed him most. Though as time goes on, he learns more about the supernatural phenomena that changed him — and how he can use it for more constructive means than petty revenge.
24The Lady I Served Became A Master
MyAnimeList Score: 6.76
Most of the stories on this list stray across gender lines through less drastic measures like dress and mannerisms. It fits the bill, though some readers might prefer something stronger, like a full transition. Which is what happens inThe Lady I Served Became a Master. It sees Sua getting isekai’d into her favorite novel as Blair, the maid to Chloe, the illegitimate daughter of a noble family and Sua’s favorite character in the book.
As Blair, Sua stands by Chloe’s side throughout her darkest moments, where the two form a special bond. One that gets too special, as Chloe loses interest in her male suitors in favor of black magic. It all culminates in one day when Sua comes across a man called Claude who heavily resembles Chloe. What seems obvious to others forms a comedy of errors as Sua slowly realizesClaude used to be Chloeand wants to take their friendship to the next level.
23It Wasn’t There, But Now It Is
Anime-Planet Score: 3.39/5 Stars
The Lady I Served Became a Mastermight stick in some people’s craw, as it essentially turns a potential lesbian pairing into a straight one. So, what if the tables were turned?It Wasn’t There, But Now It Issees Hong Ryu fall for Dowon Yoon, the most handsome boy in school. Though she’s something of a wallflower, she manages to confess her feelings for him, only to be turned down because Dowon is gay.
She thinks all hope is lost until a mysterious woman gives her a way to become Dowon’s ideal partner through some magic pills. If she takes them regularly, she’ll become Dowon’s dream man. It works surprisingly well, as she becomes more dynamic, confident, and in control as Dowon falls for them. But the meds only last for so long per dose. What will happen if she runs out? And who was that mystery woman? Readers will have to seek it out to find out.
22Prince Cinderella
Anime-Planet Score: 3.45/5 Stars
Instead of using alchemy or magic medicine,Prince Cinderellasees its lead change sex naturally, albeit inexplicably. Darim just changes into a man every day at noon, then switches back to a woman at midnight. It’s made her social life a little tricky, as she’s one of the most popular kids in high school. She owes this to Taehoo, her middle school friend, who helped her come out of her shell. He was the ‘Prince Charming’ to her ‘Cinderella’.
However, once they entered high school, they started drifting apart until he didn’t seem to care about her anymore. Her attempts to close the gap as a woman often failed due to her nerves, or fate making things worse for the two. However, if she can’t get close to him as a girl, maybe she could fix the rift as a guy. The result is a quirky comedy of errors as Darim tries to regain her ‘Prince Charming’.
21His Majesty’s Secret Heroine
MyAnimeList Score: 7.03
Lok Heun’s life takes a tragic turn when her mother is murdered, and her father is made into a fugitive after exacting revenge. To help clear his name, she places herself in the care of Emperor Garyun, who aims to atone for the reign of his more brutal father. But he’s prone to mistakes, as he thinks Lok Heun is a boy. As such, he does all he can to help her become the ultimate fighter. Or as the English title says,His Majesty’s Secret Heroine.
He goes as far assending her to hellto fight demons. Needless to say, this strains their relationship a bit. But tensions ease as Garyun gives Lok Heun the one thing she lost: a shot at a happy life once again. The manhwa did get an official English translation via Tapas. However, it suffers from typos, mistranslations, and other mistakes, leading keener readers to go back to its unofficial but more accurate fan translations.
20After Midnight
Anime-Planet Score: 3.53/5 Stars
Not to be confused with the supernatural werewolf comedy strip of the same name on Webtoon,After Midnightsees its protagonist transform into a different kind of hairy monster: an ordinary man. By day, Jina is an ordinary young woman who works at a law firm. But she suffers from a condition where she turns into a man at the stroke of midnight. It’s a condition she inherited from her late father, who transformed into a woman around the same time.
Usually, she’s back at home by the time the change takes place, where she changes back at sunrise. Until one day, when her new job sees her working overtime. Through an unfortunate chain of events, she ends up changing in front of her boss, Seung Hyun-Kang. He plays nice in front of the cameras but is a notorious homophobe and womanizer when he’s off-camera. With Jina and her condition under his wing, she’s bound to either get a pink slip or show him the error of his ways.
19Click
MyAnimeList Score: 7.14
After those magical stories,Clicktakes things in a more scientific direction, albeit still rather fantastical. For the first 16 years of his life, Joonha was an ordinary if arrogant boy who went through life with few problems, but then he fainted in shock when he lost a certain part of himself. It’s only when he wakes up that he discovers the truth about his family - they have a genetic mutation where they switch sexes following puberty.
His father was actually born a woman and became a man, and now Joonha will go the opposite direction and become a girl. So, after years of bullying girls, he’s got to eat crow as he adjusts to his new life. It’s funny enough, as Joonha’s sexism gets turned on its head. But not everyone clicked with his path to becoming a better person, most notably Yuricon founder Erica Friedman via her Okazu blog (“I will never understand straight women’s attraction to men who are loathsome”).
18Queen’s
MyAnimeList Score: 7.20
Readers will have to keep a sharp eye, as Ha Sung-Hyun also created the similarly-named historical time-traveling romanceQueen’s Man. It’s good, but not a gender-bending story like their earlier work,Queen’s. Briefly published in the West in 2004 by Tokyopop, it’s about Pil-Hyun ‘Teddy Boy’ Jung, a pretty boy who likes tomake teddy bearsin his spare time.
But when his crush opts for his more masculine classmate Gyung-Ju, Pil-Hyun tries to shed his delicate nature by asking the manhwa artist Bok-Nam for help. They made their name with their strip ‘How to Escape Being a Pretty Boy’, so surely they and their friends can help. But they have their own plans. As a result, Pil-Hyun goes on a journey of laughs and tears as he learns to accept himself for who he is.
17Normal City
MyAnimeList Score: 7.22
Normal Citymight be a hard one to track down, as it’s a fairly old strip that ran from 1993 to 2001. It’s set in the far future where humanity has managed to spread to other planets, and they’ve begun to accept people with extra-sensory powers, or ESPs, in society. Kind of. They’re largely used as military tools. One in particular, Kitty 101, was genetically engineered with the ability to shift from male to female among other abilities.
But one of the scientists, Jason Haven, didn’t want her to be turned into a weapon of war. He stole her away and raised her as his child in place of his late daughter. Jason tries to give her a normal upbringing, complete with a new identity as Mars Haven. But with her abilities, and with other ESPs under experimentation, it’s unlikely things will remain normal for Mars.
