An understated gem among slice-of-life anime, Kino's Journey (2003) follows the travels of the titular protagonist through various bizarre and unique lands. If you haven't seen it, you should see it. Even if you aren't concerned with androgyny, you should see it.
But while we're here, let's talk about androgyny.
Aboard a sentient motorcycle named
Hermes, Kino rides with no particular destination. The fearless, gun-toting
traveler has only one rule: Stay in each country for exactly three days and two
nights, just long enough to experience its customs but not long enough to get
too attached. From a traditional country that imposes cruel coming-of-age
rituals on its children, to a mechanical country that found a way for people to read each other's thoughts, the themes explored are outlandishly exaggerated yet hauntingly
familiar, and they often raise strikingly philosophical questions about real human nature.
One more such philosophical question might
be implicitly raised through the main character's own identity. Until the fourth
episode, there is no indication whatsoever – not through clothing, not through mannerisms, nor through discussion – of Kino's gender as either male or female. That's because there's no need for it. Kino doesn't particularly identify with either label. Kino's singularly well-affirmed identity is that as a traveler, as nothing more than an (allegedly) impartial observer of the surrounding world....
