Omg, this is my catnip too. You're Beautiful is the one who opened the door for me to kdramaland. It was such an addictive show that it took me a year before I really moved on from the show.

For me gender benders are either a hit or a miss. It irks me SO MUCH when the heroine is clearly female (!!!wearing eye shadows while crossdressing as a guy!!!)
I REAALLYY enjoyed coffee prince though. Yoon Eun Hye did a very good job acting as a tomboy. It's such a classic.
When the cross dressing is done right - it is definitely one of my cat nips :D

Oh like that too! Especially because in kdramas the gender roles are often very formulaic, so this gives a refreshing new perspective.

Also I loved that in Coffee Prince she pretty much dressed the same after the "reveal", because that was just her style.

I see ShaSha and I shipped the same second leads hahaha. Yoo Ah In and that amazing mane of glory is love.

SKKS was my first "period" drama, I remember wondering if I could sit through a whole show with guys in dresses. Oh how I laugh at the old naive me.

I want to thank that show for Yoo Ah In and Song Joong Ki and that epic bromance.

I'm not a good writer, so I won't submit and entry, I feel like I couldn't do it justice, but I'm desperately waiting for the [Dramaland Catnip] Bromance post

The only reason I know this is catnip for me is because this is the reason I got into dramas!

Coffee Prince was my first drama, and I watched it specifically because of the gender bending. It's one of my favorite tropes since my favorite Shakespeare play is As You Like It.

Because of SKKS , Yoo Ah_in and Song Joong_ki are friends up to this day.
While I was watching this show, I was like "who cares if you don't get the girl when there is epic bromance between you ,crazy horse and Gu Yong_ha " .
HA

Eeek, you chose mine! Thanks DB! ?

I knew I wasn't gonna be the only one with this catnip! ❤

Gender Bender is definitely a catnip, even better if the leads get involved in all sorts of antics , because the lifeline of gender bender drama is crackling comedy .

Yes! I love gender bender dramas since it usually shows the leading lady's real personality and not just her outer looks. This view of her is what the leading actor falls for and eventually, it also comes down to the revealing of her true gender. Since I'm a late bloomer, I started with MDBC and then I watched SS and CP.

There's been more dramas where I was meh about it but when it does work, there is so much satisfaction that I keep seeking more like it. Does that mean I am addicted to it?

Coffee Prince remains one of my favorite dramas and it turned me into a huge fan of Yoon Eun-hye. Probably because I related so much to her character at the time I was watching it. There are so few actresses who are willing to look a little less than pretty and that raw cry scene sealed the deal for me. Well I should stop talking about her since this is about catnip. I just wish she can one day return to Korea and make a good drama. sigh Anyways, I loved Moonlight as well. I still have to finish it though. lol

HAH My ultimate catnip. No joke these were what got me hooked on kdramas.

Gender-bending is my catnip although only in Coffee Prince that the ruse is somewhat convincing both in Eun-chan's demeanor and how the writer initially sets up the story. Coffee Prince still remains in Dramaland as one of the most sensitive portrayal of one's internal conflict of grappling with homosexuality and its final acceptance.

I've watched alllll these dramas. Suffice to say this is one of my catnips too. It's ridiculously unrealistic, but I can't seem to tear my eyes away from such plots. Sungkyunkwan Scandal is a personal huge favourite of mine. I see in a recent interview PMY said she feels more comfortable dressing as a guy in Seven Day Queen, and I immediately thought of SKKS.

You're Beautiful is not my first drama by far, but it is one of the first few dramas that made me go crazy and it holds a very special place in my heart. Up til this day I will watch anything JGS and PSH are in, just because!

I do like this trope only sometimes. Loved it in Coffee Prince and Moonlight drawn by Clouds. But sometimes it puts me off in other dramas. Not sure why

Yes, one my favorite catnips of all time. You can't improve on Coffee prince. She was so convincing, without trying, she could have fooled anyone. And the love story was so beautiful and true, everything was perfection.

I want dramaland to return to this trend and make newer more heartwarming gender-bender comedies! Pliss?

Thanks @javabeans for including my submission! ❤️

And High Five to fellow Crossdressing Gender Bender Catnip Beanies!

I loved SKKS but couldn't get on board with the OTP because I had such bad SLS, to a point that I couldnt finish the drama- I'm still stuck somewhere around episode 14 in fact. But I think I will finish it after reading what people said, just so that I can epically soak in the bromance between Jae Shin and Yong-ha, and see what lengths Jae Shin went to protect Yoon Hee.... even if it will break my heart in the process. Jae Shin ah! ❤️

dont kill me.
Nope, nope. This catnip is catastrophe. The reason I cant clickbait what is Moonlight Cloud is bcs of this.
Im thinking in my head, is genderben still a plot in 2017? I try, really with you're beautiful, but it isnt working for me. Perhaps bcs even before you're beautiful, I was fed enough of this plot from JDorama & Taiwan drama. Sowhhrryy :(

Omg. This is totally my catnip! Been waiting to see if they were gonna post about it. My all-time favorite is coffee prince and I binge-watched every drama with a twist of gender-bending, even if nobody really liked them (*cough* to the beautiful you and k-pop ultimate challenge *cough*). I just love seeing the male lead falling for the disguised heroine.

Oh noes! This was my catnip prompt that I was working on for these past few days. I still haven't finished mine (why is it so hard for me to articulate my words? This is something I love!) but now I think I'm just gonna set it aside (maybe I'll post snippets of it here) and read what other Beanies have to say. I'm sure we share the same sentiments about this catnip.

just a recommendation for all gender-bender drama lovers:
do try this Taiwanese drama named BROMANCE (literally).

i avoid gender benders because i will find it ridiculous if a girl lives as a boy in real life. more of illogical to me lol.

BUT, Bromance was reallyyyyyyyy good. Megan Lai, the female actress was TOTALLY convincing as a man, & Baron Chen, the male lead was soooooooo charismatic. I SWEAR. u have to try this drama if u love this genre.

here's a wiki link for more details:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromance_(2015_TV_series)

Coffee Price....*sigh*...... that drama indeed deserves to be the godfather of all cross dressing dramas.
The portrayal was so real and the angst and pain Gong Yoo went through questioning his sexuality and how he could like a guy and yoon eun hye's pain knowing what he might be going through an d her desire to reveal but couldn't and when he found out! The feeling of betrayal
All the emotions were so ripe and real. It was in 2007 (I think) but even in 2017 it'll never get old. Thumbs up to a great drama

How could you forget Empress ki ???

This is my catnip for sure...I watched of all of To the Beautiful You as well just because of this. It's true catnip when you can overlook glaring plot holes, bad acting, and just all out badness.

Twelfth Night is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays so it was inevitable that I would enjoy this kdrama trope. I started with Sunkyunkwan Scandal and then watched both Coffee Prince and You're Beautiful. I've since seen the Japanese drama Hanazakari no kimitachi e and I thought Mulan was one of the better Disney heroines. More recent dramas, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds and Seven Day Queen, have given us further feisty females in disguise. For it to work for me there always has to be a very good reason why the heroine is disguised as a boy. Of course in Shakespeare's day it would have been a male actor playing a female character disguised as a man.

Yes! Having grown up on the Chinese Butterfly Lovers story, Mulan, and Legend of the Condor Heroes (female lead meets male lead when she was pretending to be a beggar boy) so I am a hUGE fan of this drama trope. Dae Jang Geum and Goong were my first kdramas but Coffee Prince is what hooked me on kdramas.

I especially love it when the girl-dressed-as-a-guy has to dress as a girl and pretend to be a guy pretending to be a girl--such hilarious hijinks ensue, and I love how the male lead makes googly eyes when he sees how pretty the girl is for the first time.

Cross dressing is not one of my favorite catnip. So tired of watching it in sageuks but out of so many Moon Geun-young's excellent performance in "Painter of the Wind" won me over.
I must say she totally deserve every single awards and acting acclaim she got for this role.

Boy, is this ever catnip for me! Everything you all said here is exactly how I feel about cross-dressing dramas and I have seen them one and all (and loved them although it was hard to get through the Taiwanese Hana Kimi). I will confess that sometimes I get taken out of the scene when the girl's femininity is way too obvious but for the most part, the girls have been good. I think the best actresses in this gender were Ella Chen and Yoon Eun Hye.

Yes! Definitely one of my catnip as well. Started from Empress Ki or Coffee Prince I guess. <3

I love this trope to death but somehow To the Beautiful You is a strong exception.

I nominate Queen Seon Deok because I didn't find it mentioned.

How can you not love a couple who calls each other punk and stubborn ass lol and a guy who puts his girlfriend in a headlock? All the while looking lovingly at each other like they're the most beautiful thing in the world and that they feel lucky to have you.

My beloved Coffee Prince. Oh the wonderful memories of the first time I watched this. I initially watched it for Yoon Eunhye, but then I came out of the drama being an eternal fan of Gong Yoo as well. Their love story was done beautifully, even the angst. So so good.

This was a catnip of mine, judging from the first dramas I watched: Jumong, Queen Seon Duk, Gu Family Book, Empress Ki, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, You're Beautiful (all time fav!!!). However, I didn't really like Coffee Prince (sorry Gong Yoo), and then To the Beautiful You cured me of this particular catnip - it was so addictively bad. I haven't recovered, seeing I dropped Moonlight early on and was just rolling my eyes in Shine of Go Crazy because everyone except the main guy knew she was a girl for like 13 episodes.

I don't know if this qualifies, but for me Secret Garden has a the ultimate cross-dressing/forced cohabitation hijinks. What else if the girl ends up in a guy's body and he ends up in hers?

It makes sense that more women cross dress as the advantages are obvious especially in historical periods (SKKS)
But, are there any example of men cross dressing in k-drama? I would love to see one

I, too, have this catnip, and have watched some horrible shows because of it.
I think part of it is seeing if someone can actually do it right - make it convincing enough that I'd actually buy it in real life. Bromance and Coffee Prince came really close, but not quite, even though I loved them, so I'm still waiting.

Yaaaaassss my ultimate catnip!!! Coffee Prince will forever hold a special place in my heart as the gateway drama that started the addiction

Okay this is my biggest catnip. Legit though.

My first ever kdrama was "To The Beautiful You" and legit after that I watched every single crossdressing Kdrama there was. Sungkyunkwan Scandal (I bet I spelt that wrong) Coffee Prince, Nail Shop Paris just to name a few~

I have to admit though You're Beautiful is one I have yet to watch but with every single mashed recap mentioning it I will totally go ahead and take a peak at it.

This is the one that interests me the least and the appeal just isn't there. I can always tell the girl is a girl, so it's always just frustrating to watch. I made an exception for Splash Splash Love because he knew she was a girl pretty much the whole time. The part where the lead knows and keeps her secret for her protection is sort of a draw, but other than that, this one just isn't usually my thing.

I wanted to write about this catnip but I was too late (or too lazy) to send it! One of my first drama was Hana Kimi ("To the beautiful you" - the japans and the 1st version). I also remember watching "Ma Boy". A short drama of 3 episodes! If you don't know what to watch!

This is definitely my catnip. I love stories of unconditional love and gender-benders are a great way of showing how two people connect on a deeper level. These relationships don't start because of physical attraction but are about loving the person for who they are, not what they look like. Another reason I like these type of dramas is because the male characters behave the way they would with their male friends with the female in disguise and she gets to see a side of him/them that she wouldn't normally. The relationships are based on friendship.

This is my brand 'o catnip as well. Jeremy on the bus remains one of the most heartbreaking scenes I've ever watched. And this is Taiwanese drama (if I remember correctly) but Bromance with Megan Lai is my favorite gender swapping drama of all. Sorry Coffee Prince. So much skinship! So many intense stares. So many kisses! So many nonsensical plots---that one may be a drawback. I've watched it over 10 times in the almost 2 years I've been a drama watcher.

Hhaha.. this is another catnip for me. I have watched all the dramas mentioned here. I wish there's another gender bender drama.

I do really enjoy this one when it is done well!!!

this is definitely up there in my favorite tropes as well. i've started to notice that many of my favorite tropes are those that really just reflect parts of myself...just like @michykdrama mentions about being a tomboy. yes, it's satisfying to know that in a drama "a guy can see past the superficial and love a girl purely for who she is inside" because just maybe this is also true in reality...although i can't be sure how swoony the guy can be unless it's gong yoo or jo in sung.