AnimeRecommendations

Looking for anime with non-binary / gender non-conforming characters

386

My coworker's child has recently come out as non-binary and she was asking me for anime suggestions to show them. For some reason, I really can't think of anything. I've already suggested Ouran High School Host Club, as although Haruhi is female there's a lot of content about her not caring about what gender people see her as and how she doesn't care about dressing feminine. My coworker found this a good suggestion.

Their child is 12 years old, so it would need to be age-appropriate (no heavy violence or sex-related stuff). Any suggestions I can pass on would be appreciated ^^ Also please no negative examples where said character is only there to be made fun of.

They don't particularly have to be non-binary, but any shows where there's a character that clearly doesn't care about gender norms or how they're addressed would be great.

hamifihekrix 3y
najimi from komi can't communicate is explicitly non-binary.

other than that, i don't have any shows to recommend, unfortunately. non-binary and gnc individuals are sorely underrepresented in anime and manga

i would like to say though: as a trans woman, it makes me really happy to hear the support your coworker has for their child. a proper support network is crucial for any child, but this is especially true for trans children, so thank you to both of you!
- Gaige 3y
  She's an absolutely incredible mother and supports her child in everything, it's really lovely to see how hard she's trying to show her child her support. I think if her child can also see characters they relate to in media that would be a massive thing for them.
  
  I'd forgotten about Najimi! Komi-san would probably be a good show to recommend to them even regardless of Najimi since it's so good, but that's a really good suggestion, thank you!
liliphobic 3y
najimi in komi is non binary
Komi Cant Communicate

there's also hanji in attack on titan and ougi in monogatari but those are unfortunately in the "heavy violence or sex-related stuff" category
- Gaige 3y
  I did think of those, but I agree that they're a bit too young for them just yet. (Not that 12 year olds don't watch those shows, but this 12yo struggles with watching that kind of stuff).
  
  Someone else also recommended Komi-san which I think is a great recommendation ^^
  liliphobic 3y
  oh, there's also yuka in blue period. there is some nudity but it's just for art purposes, it's not sexualized at all iirc
  Blue Period
Gummyfail 3y
Gonna go ahead and say this is a BAD option if you want to show a nb character being treated with any respect
Komi Cant Communicate

If you're okay with making the child cry then this is probably the gender tv show
Wandering Son
- Gaige 3y
  Never heard of Hourou Musuko before! Very quickly read the summary and looked at the rating and it actually looks like exactly the kind of thing I was looking for (yet thought I wouldn't find in anime). Thank you so much, I'll suggest it! I think they're okay with emotional / heavy stuff, as long as there's no graphic on-screen content.
  
  And I know what you mean about Komi. I'm going to mention it to my friend, but also explain how some of the characters still insist Najimi is male. I think I'm going to let them make the decision on that one.
Jamii 3y
Land of the Lustrous
haven't seen it myself but all the characters are Agender

i'm not sure if it's age appropriate tho so better ask someone who's seen it
- Gaige 3y
  I have seen this show and completely forgot about it! It isn't a light show but definitely should be appropriate for younger audiences. Thank you so much for reminding me of its existence!
lkyt 3y
Opera is canonically nonbinary as the author herself has said that they aren't explicitly male or female. The show itself is very family-friendly
Mairimashita Irumakun

Akira is a GNC female character but I haven't watched it yet so I don't have anything to say about it
KIRA KIRAPRETTY CURE A LA MODE
Nachfuge 3y
Stars Align
Taiyou is confirmed to be non-binary. I believe there was a whole episode about their struggles finished with a great scene where they discuss their name. It's a great anime in general, deals with some serious familly issues but should be age-appropriate. Highly recommend!

Blue Period
Ryuuji/Yuka is a bit more complicated person but definitely belongs to the lgbt+ community.

Kinos Journey the Beautiful World the Animated Series
Kino's gender is hard to guess. This series may be not so age-appropriate tho. Some episodes are about really heavy, philosophical topics and include a bit of violence.
- randomgayname 3y
  If they want to watch Kino then they should start with the older show. That one was better
  Gaige 3y
  Apparently they tend to prefer newer animation, is it necessary to watch the old show to watch the new one?
  Nachfuge 3y
  I actually only watched the newer version and I don't think I missed anything important. It's an episodic series with no main plotline.
  Rew 3y
  They're mostly unrelated aside from being adapted from the same work. The first one is much, much better though. That said, for a younger child I'd probably say they'd get more out of the second, since it's much simpler in themes and took more "fun" plotlines from the original novel.
  randomgayname 3y
  The older one has p good animation too. And overall is just better.
randomgayname 3y
Obvious pick could be Boogiepop, but that is not very uh pg13.
Vadeus 3y
Princess Jellyfish
this should be a good pick, the guy always walks in women clothes and loves fashion
his family sees him as a guy, but he himself don't care about other people thinking he is a girl
He isn't non-binary, but u said its fine with just breaking gender norms
Paradise Kiss
this had a trans woman, they don't really talk about it a lot and many ppl don't even know about it
but ig its still nice

both are mostly about fashion, maybe the child would like it
TheLordOfNoodles 3y
I was thinking That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime but it has ecchi aspects, so nope.
- Gaige 3y
  Yeah, unfortunately a nope :")
Rew 3y
Other than Houseki no Kuni and Hourou Musuko, the latter of which is the single best show one could recommend, I'd also just look around for generally LGBTQ+ themed shows, as the issues are often interlocked and relevant even if not exactly the same. The only downside is that most of the great anime with LGBTQ+ themes are extremely dark and probably not suited for someone so young.

Revolutionary Girl Utena
is one I'm surprised I haven't seen recommended yet, the lead and a lot of supporting cast are GNC-incarnate, and pretty much every episode is about either gender identity or sexual orientation.

OH! EDIT: Also, in case they haven't already watched them, The Owl House and She-ra and the Princesses of Power are both extremely good Western cartoons with lots of GNC and non-binary characters. Not anime, but still worth mentioning!
sauruchi 3y
The first one is basically Once upon a time... life , but newer and Japanese. There's violence in a sense that as small body part they have to fight against germ and viruses, can't say if it's too much, probably checking it out first is best
Hataraku Saibou

Girl (15-16yo) on adventure for Antartica; it's a great show, they manage to reach their objective
Sora yori mo Tooi Basho

This is the only Yuri I watched that would suggest, it's brief, really cute, but I don't remember if there are or not scenes of kiss or something little more, which I don't know if are ok
Asagao to Kasesan

Then some Ghibli classic, in rising order of violence, from none 1), to slightly 2), to a bit more explosion 3) to fight and blood around the screen 4).
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi
Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa
Kaze no Tani no Nausica
Mononokehime

Edit:
While she has interest in one man, there are a few scenes here and there where Oscar does the strong one of the couple, eg when scorting around the princess. There's quite a lot of violence, you know, french revolution
Versailles no Bara

Edit 2:
Similar to the previous one, this feature a nice isekai, she jump into this new world and become the queen, but she has to fight her way to the throne
Juuni Kokuki
bleachdrinker 3y
shoujo kakimei utena and paradise kiss got u covered.