Genderswapping is an amusing gimmick artists often partake in, the most popular of all being The Genderbending of Haruhi Suzumiya. Asides from the original laughs you get from the images, how often do you stop to think how the dynamics of the show in question would change. We would get a hot and haughty male lead who strips in front of girls and a sarcastic girl who provides constant narration in a downtrodden tone. Suddenly you’re staring at a total change of fan reactions to the show. Gender means a lot more than you might originally think. To prove my point, lets look at a bunch of genderswapped images.
Disclaimer: No, you cannot unsee
Bakemonogatari
This image is what spawned the idea for this post. Swap the genders around and you have a girl who keeps coming back to an abusive boyfriend. A women who’s wounds heal up quickly? Why, it’s a wife-beaters dream! Now toss out the fact that she’s attacked by a jealous homosexual and your staring at something that probably wouldn’t be allowed to air on TV. And yet you could see fangirls fawning over male Senjogahara with the men crying in disbelief over the fact that women have yet again fallen for the worst possible man in existence.
Code Geass
My personal favourite is the Code Geass genderswap. Lelouch never quite gave off that prince vibe that he probably should have done. On the other hand, a stuck-up rejected princess suddenly suits the guy a lot more. The prospect of Luluko (the fan-name given to female Lelouch, this also being a popular show to genderswap) being the new figure to overthrown Britannia while dressed up in that figure-hugging Zero outfit is fantastic, mainly because instead of the stereotypical warrior princess we get a wimpy princess who uses her cunning and charisma to get by. Male C.C is amusing too because he acts like a Knight in Shining Armour on several occasions and you could just imagine the squeels he could produce as he flirts continuously with Luluko, who spends most of her time trying to ignore him in classic tsundere princess style.
Hetalia Axis Powers
Change an all male cast into an all-female cast probably wouldn’t have the slightest bit of change on the actual product itself for something like Hetalia. Some of the characters might change slightly to have girlier personalities but the basic premise and feel of the show wouldn’t change. What would change is the fanbase. Drastically. Men are drawn in my hot women whiel being turned off by a show with hot men, and the reverse happens with women. We are shallow viewers, admit it.
K-ON!
Talking about swapping the fanbase, how about K-ON? Unlike Hetalia, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a big change in the dynamics of the show. A group of guys hanging out is a hell of a lot different from a group of girls. Trying to fit the character archetypes of the K-ON girls onto guys doesn’t fit exactly. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I would actually like the male version of K-ON a hell of a lot more than the female cast. Slice of life about a bunch of guys are so rare that I can’t even think of one off the top of my head.…actually I can. K-ON Genderbent would be like a lighthearted BECK, something I could definitely see myself enjoying.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
For an anime with a reputation as being the manliest of the last decade, Gurren Lagann never explicitly states that it is a manly anime. It’s all about spirit and stuff. Swap the genders around and you get something that starts to look strangely like an advertisement for Girl Power. On the other hand, I couldn’t see it having that much effect on the plot nor the popularity of the show itself. As I said, the anime isn’t about manliness so I don’t really see it having much effect on how the anime would pan out. The only character I can see changing completely would be Nia. He’d be some sort of thrown-away male host who sits around and looks dreamy.
Full Metal Alchemist
ArtistAs insanely hot as this picture of female Edward Elric is, this certainly isn’t how I would’ve pictured him…I mean her. Genderswapped Ed would be short with small breasts, a mighty temper and voiced by Kugi Rie. Yup, a proper angry tsundere in every form. Again though, I don’t see this change of gender to be of that much impact on the story. Ed would have just as much animosity towards his dad and as much open dislike for Mustang. Male Winry would be the standard manly male mechanic who does all his work without a shirt on and desperately wants to be able to protect his little next door neighbour. It all fits in quite well actually.
Azumanga Daoih
Same as I said with K-ON but the very simple idea of an anime about a bunch of dudes mucking about in school seems to be next to non-existent in anime. Now take the pioneer of this genre and swap in entirely. Imagine: If this had been what Azumanga had originally been about we might be staring at a very different anime world today.
Gintama
Gintoki makes a fantastic MILF don’t you agree? Not quite an accurate representation though. One hand should have one digit shoved right up one nostril and the other should be tucked inside her clothes, fondling her own boob (what? Gintoki has his hand there all the time so why shouldn’t the female version).
Neon Genesis Evangelion
You know how Sunrise attract female audiences by having a bunch of hot guys pilot the Gundams? Personally, I’m kinda glad Gainax didn’t go down that route. You can just sense that in another dimension there are piles of yaoi doujins trying to break through.
Gundam 00
On the other hand, I would quite enjoy a Gundam where the main characters are a bunch of hot girls. Setsuna becomes a loli, Allelujah becomes a large-breasted schizophrenic, Lockon becomes a genki girl and Tiera becomes.…errr, I’m not quite sure.
Touhou
OK, now I’m just taking the piss.
30 Comments
Ah, genderswapping~ Bakemonogatari would be odd genderswapped…and K-on! would not be the same show if it was genderswapped. Can you imagine, a bunch of boys staying after school to drink tea and dress each other up?
There comes a point where even the proudest bisexual has seen enough genderswapping…
But a very very good post with a bunch of awesome pictures to boot. Looking at the genderswapped Eva, it doesn’t fit nearly as well.
Out of all of these, the Code Geass one has to my favorite, with K-On following. A lighthearted Beck might be a really interesting premise…
Lies! Code Geass is totally Suzaku x Lelouch (Luluko)!!!
K-on genderswapped would be just as amazingly cute~ well, Yui/Mugi/Mio’s versions would fit, the guy Ritsu would probably be the athletic type and… ehhh— dressup? Oh wait it’ll be like Otomen.
Tiera gets to out-man every male character while attracting girls like Fujioka Haruhi; course she’s a reverse trap.
Touhou ROFLMAO.
I’m actually kind of waiting an official Nyotalia strip. After all, er, Himaruya was the one who started the genderswapping…
Genderbent TTGL would be an excuse for Gainax to gainax more, which is awesome, but girl!Kamina kinda makes me sad.
Great post. Lots to think about, lol. But of the shows you mention that I’ve watched, Bakemonogatari is the only one I would say “no way” about. In fact, I think one whole basis of the humor there is that it’s already a bit gender-role swapped. Personally, I’d love to see Code Geass swapped, since I really don’t have much use for Lelouch as is.
@mefloraine
It all depends on how you phrase it. A bunch of guys stuffing their faces and taunting the wimpy one, now that I would have fun watching
@Janette
The Eva one reeks of yaoi but that’s probably just the artist. Crazed depressed bishies in Eva though that aren’t as wimpy as Shinji would be interesting to see though
@Aorii
I dunno, Tieria was pretty manly originally…*pfft*
@Kiseki
Trust me on this: Girl Kamina doesn’t work. Female Simon, on the other hand, works almost too well
@hashi
You’d think Bakemono was genderswapped roles until you undo the reversing and you see how untrue that is. There isn’t really any anime out there that feels like a true genderswap from the outset
Haha, Gurren Lagann with girls would probably make people call it a Gunbuster ripoff. They both have the aniki/onee-sama characters even.
I think hetalia is kinda unique in that it’s a show about boys being moe doing moe things. If you made most of the cast female, it would just be another girly/servicey slice of life.
Thoughts aside, genderswap fanart is always interesting, lol.
I never dug the idea of genderswapping but I think that the bishounen population in anime has led me to believe that guys looking like girls are A-OK. Pfff, some of them are close enough to the real deal anyway. On the other hand, girls looking like guys.. not so much.
FMA sounds coherent enough that it’s scary.
You know, I proposed the idea of introducing the ever-dreadful possibility of a K-ON! boy band raising its head before, and after seeing that picture, it might not be something too far off
omg I want to unsee…
I would watch genderswapped Code Geass in a heartbeat. And I am not at all ashamed to admit I would go all moe for genderswapped Lelouch. A cunning, ruthless princess is right up my alley.
“@hashi — You’d think Bakemono was genderswapped roles until you undo the reversing and you see how untrue that is. There isn’t really any anime out there that feels like a true genderswap from the outset”
I see what you mean. In fact, that’s why I used the weaselly “a bit genderswapped.” Where would you put my own favorite anime, Simoun? It’s not exactly genderswapped, but the distinctions are blurred for some of the characters.
O.o Mon yeuxs!
Pretty sure the image you used for Gintama is a genderswapped Rinnosuke from Touhou… Oh well, close enough.
Hashi: If I were to term Simoun, it would be “genderblending” — those characters look like girls, physically develop as girls (to a certain age) and many of them “act” like girls, but for all intents and purposes they are blank slates as far as gender is concerned and are making choices as to how they wish to act.
Riza Hawkeye would lose all awesomeness if turned into a guy. Black Lagoon would be worse as well (although it would probably still kick ass). For some reason I can only focus on the bad.
The plot of Hataraki Man would be completely destroyed.
@i.k
To the untrained eye, people might assume Hetalia is just about moe guys but they are missing the real reason why it’s as popular as it is. It’s like all those crappy harems that exploded over the first half of the last decade, they all thought hot girls was what they needed and failed to see the genuine romance that made the earlier shows so great
@Shinmaru
Luluko may not be the sexiest to look at in terms of genderswapped characters but picture teh haughty princess and suddenly it becomes a whole lot better
@hashi
Can’t offer an opinion on Simoun because I haven’t seen it but to offer up a proper genderswapped anime, I think Moribito fits the bill quite well
@Rift
I don’t know my Touhou characters well at all. I never follow what they’re saying, I only love watching the pretty bullet patterns
@Glo
But think of the possibility of the Baccano characters genderswapped. A crazy-ass Lady Russo..wait, I had a Durarara genderswap image I was meant to use but totally forgot about it. For the record, a genderswapped Shizuo is hawt stuff and a violent crazy bitch too
Genderbending is another fun and (usually) harmless fan indulgence. Kyonko (female Kyon) is quite popular and has her own fan following.
Of those pictures you posted, I especially like the Bakemonogatari and K-ON! ones.
And I never thought a male version of C.C. could be quite the bishounen.
I find Genderbent Germany to be absolutly adorable~ Gifted with the Most Common Super Power and she /hates/ it because it interfers with Military work.
Lets see, also, tapping Malesuka and Mananami and Girlon Stratos~
Also: America’s Boobs.
Genderbent Gintoki just doesn’t work no matter how hard i try to imagine it.
Genderbent shinpachi and kagura however is almost a given.
Interesting post! I admit that I’d probably like K-ON a hell of a lot better if it was genderbent, and… I’m not sure whether Azumanga Daioh would be better or worse if it were genderbent. I love it too much to be able to tell.
…Uh, say. Was thinking about this even before I saw your post, actually — how do you think Haibane Renmei would’ve been if it had been genderbent? How much different? Would it have worked…?
@Yumeka
I never quite understood why Kyonko has such a following. She’s a whiny wimp with no boobs. I much prefer female Simon myself
@luffyluffy
America would have to be the character with large boobs. It just fits somehow
@Monsturr
I think Haibane wouldn’t work as well genderbent. I think it’s the whole angel thing but genderbending them would suddenly take on this huge yaoi vibe while the show itself never felt like a yuri show. Goes to show yaoi and yuri are very different beasts
But isnt it just so kyoot how Fem Germany has such big round ones, and being absolutely /embarrased/ about them and hate how big they are? It’s so cuuute~
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs237.snc3/22431_102538149776536_100000610541250_69820_21184_n.jpg
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs217.snc3/22431_102538116443206_100000610541250_69810_7142447_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs237.snc3/22431_102538059776545_100000610541250_69793_1428031_n.jpg
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs172.snc3/19931_102429089787442_100000610541250_66597_2403107_n.jpg
… I’d do stuff to fem westo
my eyes DX
lmao hetalia genderswapped would be interesting to see. and genderswapped FMA is eerily perfect.
genderswapped code geass would just further fuel me secretly shipping lelouch x suzaku lol. holy crap a female lelouch would be amazing. a male nunnally i would want to shoot though D:
a genderswapped FLCL would be…criminal. *erases thought*
I loled so hard with this post xDDDDDDDDDDDD
Some of them I had never considered! I think I could actually like K-on if it were genderbent, and I’d pay for male!Azumanga. Oddly enough, nowadays I find myself more interested in genderbent!Hetalia than the other way around; mainly because fem!America is fucking gorgeous, and the image of a big breasted enthusiastic cowgirl bossing around all the powerful countries in the world with her fucking mosntruous strength and her nonchalant cheerful arrogance makes me lol all the time. And I fap to fem!England’s pigtails *blushes*
(in fact, I find some pairings in Hetalia far hotter genderbent than the usual guy on guy)
I cannot stress how i am so amused at this.
I’d want to watch a K-On and Azumanga Daioh genderswapped versions, btw. Guys + slice of life + comedy is so rare. e__e
I forgot while I didnt comment on this post when I first read it but anyway, based on what you said, the following statement is also true
“And yet you could see fanboys fawning over female Senjogahara with the women crying in disbelief over the fact that men have yet again fallen for the worst possible woman in existence.”
“Ed would have just as much animosity towards his dad”
Hey now, no cheating. Hohenheim would be his mother, who left the girls with just their father and golden haired/eyed woman would be the Xing’s idea of perfection.
Izumi would be their abusive stepfather.
In addition, the big buff female strip-happy Armstrong and ambiotious high level female Alchemist get upstaged by the ruthless unfunny male big brother Armstrong (who doesn’t have even a tenth of Alex’s muscle for some reason) threequarter into the story.
Can you imagine what your reviews would be like?
Sorry,but this is not girl version of Gintoki here but genderbent Rinnosuke Morichika from Touhou Project.
Wow, the inclusion of genderswapped Azumanga with no mention of Cromartie High School. I am surprised, and disappointed.