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Body swapping has appeared in all kinds of anime whether it be high fantasy or modern-day, but usually only as a short escapade that doesn’t last long. However, there are a few anime that focus entirely on the concept itself. Here are the best anime that feature body-swapping as a central part of their story.
Updated September 26, 2022 by Danny Guan: With the Summer 2022 season coming to an end, people are looking for the next anime to watch before the next season starts. Fans who enjoy body swap anime luckily have several excellent choices from which to choose. This article has been updated with some more information to make the shows easier for anime fans to find. Specifically, fans will know where they can stream these fun body swap adventures.
8 Punch Line
After a bus hijacking incident, Yuta Iridatsu realizes that he has been ejected from his body. Among learning that he has various powers like possession and gaining strength whenever he sees a girl’s underwear, he also finds out that he must find a sacred tome in order to get his body back.
Punch Line is a wild supernatural series with a bizarre setting and increasingly strange circumstances. The various strange situations that Yuta must deal with are a sight to behold, and the ridiculousness of the series tells viewers not to take everything too seriously. The series was written by Kotaro Uchikoshi of the Zero Escape series, and a visual novel based on the anime was later created.
7 Murder Princess
After a rebellion in the Forland Kingdom, the dying king sends his daughter Alita to find her brother Kaito. While fleeing through the forest, she falls off a cliff and onto the bounty hunter Falis. The two manage to survive, but they wake up to find that their bodies have been swapped. Now Falis must pretend to be Princess Alita and defend her kingdom against any threats.
Murder Princess is a short, comedic series that plays with the conventions of the high fantasy genre. The image of a prim and proper princess acting like a rough warrior is a sight to behold. While it is nothing high-concept, fantasy fans will definitely get a bit of a kick out of this.
6 Charlotte
Every 75 years, a strange comet named Charlotte passes over Earth, and its dust causes children who inhale it to manifest supernatural powers during puberty. Yuu Otosaka, upon becoming a high schooler, obtains the ability to possess others, and when his power is revealed, he is forced to transfer to Hoshinoumi Academy by Nao Tomori in order to protect such ability users.
Charlotte is a supernatural anime that will definitely appeal to fans of shows with supernatural powers, and while body swapping isn’t the main core of the story, it is the signature power of the main character. This series has plenty of drama and fast-paced action, and it is considerably more serious than most anime concerning body swaps.
5 Birdy The Mighty: Decode
One day, while walking outside at night, Tsutomu Senkawa is mortally wounded in a fight between Birdy Cephon Altera and an intergalactic criminal. In order to save his life, Birdy decides to fuse with him in order to keep him alive. Until Tsutomu’s body can be rebuilt, the two of them are forced to share a body.
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Birdy the Mighty: Decode is a classic body swap series in which a normal high school boy shares bodies with a powerful, superhero-like fighter. While the series is mostly based on action and intrigue, the dynamic has a lot of comedic moments, and the interaction between the two characters is fun to watch.
4 Kokoro Connect
Five high school students, all members of the Student Cultural Research Club, suddenly find themselves swapping bodies. After trying to figure out what is happening to them, they learn that they are the subject of an experiment by an unknown entity called Heartseed. As they try to adapt to their changing circumstances, their bonds as friends will be tested.
Kokoro Connect is a very dramatic series that focuses on the bonds of friendship and the emotional bonds that people have. By undergoing these challenges together and coming out on top, the group slowly comes to understand each other in new ways. While body-swapping does not remain at the core of the series’ main issue, it still plays a big role for a large part of the series.
3 Kaiba
In a world where memories can be stored on memory chips, transferring one’s mind to another’s body and memory stealing becomes increasingly common. A man named Kaiba awakens in a room with no memories and a locket containing a picture of a girl inside. Kaiba goes out to explore the world, recover his memories, and meet the girl in the locket.
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Kaiba is a very unique series, with a classic art style that is very reminiscent of the 60s and 70s anime aesthetic, despite coming out in the 21st century. While it may not necessarily appeal to modern anime fans, cyberpunk and science fiction fans may enjoy this rather irregular series.
2 Yamada-kun And The Seven Witches
Delinquent Ryu Yamada accidentally falls down the steps onto top student Urara Shiraishi and finds that somehow the two have switched bodies. After spending the school day trying to pass themselves off as the other, they eventually figure out the problem; when the two of them kiss, they swap bodies with each other.
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches starts off with a fantastical premise, and it only gets stranger when more characters and powers are involved. While body swap is only a part of the craziness this series gets up to, it still manages to play a prominent role. This series is a hilarious romantic comedy with loads of supernatural hijinks.
1 Your Name
Bored of her life in the country, Mitsuha Miyamizu wishes she could be a Tokyo boy in her next life. Suddenly, she begins to randomly swap bodies with a boy named Taki Tachibana. Unsure of how to handle these new circumstances, the two must learn to live in each other’s bodies while slowly getting to know about each other.
Your Name is a dramatic romance movie directed by Makoto Shinkai with a few elements of fantasy, and it is a massively popular one at that. It remains one of the most well-known anime movies of all time and Makoto Shinkai’s best work, and anime fans still rave about the movie to this day.
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