Best Anime With Great Trans Representation
Descriptions
Representation of minority groups within media is incredibly important and has been on the rise in recent years. Introducing consumers to those from different walks of life through different forms of media is incredibly important because it highlights the diversity of our world and helps with understanding and acceptance. It's also necessary to showcase a diverse cast of characters so fans can feel represented and see characters they can relate to.
One group that receives little representation is the transgender community. While media representation is small, it is thankfully on the rise. Some anime creators have included transgender characters in their works, which has been happening more and more as the years go by.
10 Grell Sutcliff (Black Butler)
Black Butler by Yana Toboso is one of the best-selling manga series of all time. In 2008, an anime was adapted by A-1 Pictures, which eventually was given the rights to continue adapting throughout 2014. CloverWorks will soon be releasing a new anime in 2024. As an extremely popular work, the inclusion of a transgender character is impressive and motivational for other creators to do the same.
One of the main antagonists, Grell Sutcliff, is a fan-favorite character. While it's never been explicitly stated that she is transgender, she uses a form of speech referred to as "older sister speech" which is stereotypically used by gay men and transgender women in Japan. She also refers to herself as a woman and has always used she/her pronouns.
9 Lily Hoshikawa (Zombie Land Saga)
Zombie Land Saga is an anime original production by MAPPA, Avex Pictures, and Cygames. The series follows a group of six girls who were raised from the dead to form an idol group in order to bring life back to Saga Prefecture.
One of the girls, Lily Hoshikawa, knew many things from a young age. She knew she wanted to be an actress because her father loved television. Lily also knew that — despite being born a male — she was a girl. When she started puberty, she passed away from a heart attack which was caused by stress and gender dysphoria.
8 Najimi Osana (Komi Can't Communicate)
Tomohito Oda's Komi Can't Communicate has been in serialization since 2016. The series was picked up by OLM and Netflix in 2021 to create an anime adaptation. Oda's series won the 67th Shogakuken Manga Award for the shonen category in 2022. While the series focuses on the main character's struggle with her communication disorder, a variety of characters are introduced.
One of Komi Shouko's friends, Najimi Osana, is an extreme extrovert who is excellent at making friends. Najimi dresses androgynously and wears a mixture of male and female uniforms. While Najimi wants others to use the feminine suffix "-chan" for them, they're okay with being referred to as a male when necessary. No one knows Najimi's gender and male and female pronouns are used by everyone for them.
7 Yawara Chatora (My Hero Academia)
My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi has been in serialization since 2014 and is one of the best-selling manga of all time. The series has made the New York Times bestseller list numerous times and has received success worldwide. With its popularity and a vast cast of characters, Horikoshi has included multiple transgender characters in the story.
The Wild, Wild Pussycats is a group of former Pro Heroes in the world of MHA. This group consists of three women and one man, Yawara Chatora. It is revealed in Yawara's character biography that he is a transgender man who began his transition in Thailand.
6 Hana (Tokyo Godfathers)
Tokyo Godfathers is a 2003 film written and directed by Satoshi Kon. While Kon's films usually contain fantastical elements, this film focuses on realism, which proved to be a hit as it has won multiple awards. The story focuses on three homeless individuals who discover a baby. They set out on a quest to find the baby's parents and learn a lot about themselves and each other on the way.
One of the main characters, Hana, is a trans woman who has dealt with difficulties for the majority of her life. She had to leave her job as a singer in a drag bar after attacking a customer and has been living on the streets ever since. While her story is heartbreaking, it's important to see this representation as many trans people suffer the same fate.
5 Shuichi Nitori (Wandering Son)
Takako Shimura's Wandering Son is a manga series that ran from 2002 to 2013. The story was picked up by AIC Classic and adapted into a 12-episode anime in 2011. Shimura is known for her manga works that tell stories of different members of the LGBTQ+ community. Wandering Son focuses on the struggles of transgender youth coming to terms with their gender identity.
The main character, Shuichi Nitori, is a young kid who wishes to be a girl. The story follows her struggle as she discovers the depths of her gender identity and the harsh world that she is up against. Shuichi's story is told from elementary school all the way to her college career, revealing how she grows to be comfortable in her skin by presenting as the woman she was always meant to be.
4 Yamato (One Piece)
Eiichiro Oda's One Piece is an iconic story in the anime and manga community. The series has been in serialization since 1997, with an anime adaptation releasing episodes since 1999. One Piece is the best-selling comic worldwide and has won many awards and broken several records. Oda's inclusion of a transgender character is important due to the vast audience that is captivated by his work.
Yamato is the son of Kaidou — an antagonist of the series — and desires to join the Straw Hat Pirates someday. While Yamato doesn't present as a typically masculine person, he still earns respect and is treated as the gender he identifies with. Even though his father is an antagonist, he still respects Yamato's pronouns.
3 Seiko Kotobuki (Lovely Complex)
Love Com, which is also known as Lovely Complex, is by Aya Nakahara and ran from 2001 to 2006. The story was adapted into a 24-episode anime by Toei Animation in 2007. It tells the love story of an unlikely couple; a girl who is 5'8 and a boy who is 5'1.
During the story of Love Com, one of the main characters, Risa Koizumi, is rivals with Seiko Kotobuki, but the two eventually become friends. Seiko is a transgender girl who loves everything to do with feminine fashion. She may appear happy and bubbly often but deals with her fair share of problems, including transphobia from her peers and dysphoria as she starts puberty.
2 Alluka Zoldyck (Hunter X Hunter)
Yoshihiro Togashi is known for his wonderful work, such as Yu Yu Hakusho. Another brilliant work is Hunter x Hunter, which began serialization in 1998 and is still in the works. There have been multiple anime adaptations of this series by Nippon Animation and Madhouse.
One of the main characters, Killua Zoldyck, breaks into his family's mansion during the Election Arc of the series. Here is where fans meet an iconic character and one who comes to mind when fans think about transgender anime characters. Alluka Zoldyck is the second youngest in the Zoldyck family of assassins and has presented as her gender identity for a long time. Despite this, everyone in her family — except for Killua — misgenders her.
1 Asuka Yuu (Stars Align)
Stars Align is an anime-original production by Eight Bit studio. The story follows the members of a middle school boys' soft tennis club. Each member that the story focuses on is struggling differently.
Asuka Yuu is the manager of the soft tennis club, who became highly talked about on social media in 2019 when the anime was released. Many believed that Asuka Yuu's story was told beautifully and were grateful for the representation as they struggled with their identity. Asuka Yuu has landed on the term non-binary for their gender, as they don't feel like a boy or a girl.
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