It’s motivational
To me, this is a pretty monumental feat. You’ll be hard pressed to find a show that actually inspires you to do what’s being shown. When I watch sports anime for example, I don’t immediately think to go and become more athletic so I can look like the hot anime dudes playing the sports. Yet strangely enough, watching a ridiculously jacked almost nude dude giving me training lessons while girls drawn to look as seductive as possible are giving the demonstrations made me get up and train with them. And I did this with every single episode. Better yet, I actually started exercising regularly by using the exercises taught in the show. But I'm not here to talk about me, so let's get into what I like about this anime!
The story follows high schooler Sakura Hibiki as she goes on a quest to obtain the ultimate slim sexy body by working out. The girl must be a perfectionist, because she’s already got a super hot bod anyway, but that’s besides the point! The anime doesn’t explore much plot wise outside of the characters working out in different ways in different locations under different circumstances, but that’s absolutely fine for this kind of anime! The best part is that it just never gets boring. Each episode throws the characters into diverse environments ranging from mountain ranges to beaches and has them tackle differing obstacles in life…and in the weight room. As the anime progresses, more girls are added in, and the show just got better and better in terms of content with each girl added. Probably because of how quirky each girl ended up being.
To give a brief break down on each of them, Hibiki is just adorable af and likes to eat, Akemi has awesome heart pupils and has a muscle fetish, Zina is an eccentric Russian otaku, Satomi is a cosplaying teacher, and Ayaka’s got some ABS! Character development? Pfft, who cares! All that matters is that they have great personalities, are all single and look great while working out. Of course, I can’t leave out everyone’s favorite muscle bro Machio, who is just so full of knowledge about muscles…and he’s just pretty full of muscles period. The dude also drops some fantastic one liners.
This anime throws so much random stuff at you from time to time and it’s just brilliant. Just when I was going to take a break from exercising and watch an idol anime, BOOM! The girls audition as muscle idols. When I was beginning to question this anime being an ecchi, BOOM! The girls get their cloths obliterated Shokugeki style after witnessing Machio’s radiant muscles. And just when I was craving an image of a shirtless Comrade Putin posing with a bear in the icy Russian mountains, BOOM! The anime delivers. This show also has frickin' ARNOLD SCHWARZEN- ah, I mean, BARNOLD SHORTSINATOR! And the references he makes are great, such as the famous “hasta la vista, baby” line from Terminator 2. Arnold, er, Barnold’s inclusion in this show is honestly one of the best references that I’ve seen in an anime. There’s also a multitude of fourth-wall breaking, which is always amusing. The comedy in this show is seriously quite good, and it’s been one of the very few anime in recent memory to actually make me laugh out loud while watching.
And honestly, that’s usually enough to make me really appreciate a show. But that aside…sai?…Sai…SAIDO CHESTO!!!!!!!!!!
*Ahem* As I was saying, aside from the animated characters and sound comedy, Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru boasts some solid animation and sound. Visually, muscles are drawn with high precision. Machio just looks super macho! The girls are of course designed to be attractive, and I really like the coloring choices used by studio Doga Kobo, especially with the characters’ eyes. Sakura is the best example of their success in my opinion. She’s tan, blonde, has striking green eyes with a hint of pink, has twintails, has a fang, and has a super sexy bod that is slightly thicker than the other girls but still looks fantastic.
Yeah, A+ character design right there. And while I may sound a little creepy and sad by expressing my attraction to a 2D anime girl, I’m the target audience and I like what I see, so that’s a success by the studio in my eyes!
“HIP RAISE! SIDE BEND! BENT OVER! LAT PULL DOWN!” Wow, just listening to the opening made me discover so many different exercises. Even the damn theme song is educational! The song itself is super catchy and fun. Also, thanks to the motivational shouting of Sakura and Machio, the tune actually becomes a pretty good work out song that weirdly gets me pumped up. Of course, where the sound department truly shines is in the voice acting. The “Uuuuus!” and “Ahhhhhs!” that the girls moan out when they’re exercising in particular are quite nice to listen to. And while they all did an excellent job, the seiyuu that I was most impressed with would be Ai Fairouz, who makes her voice acting debut as leading lady Sakura Hibiki. And boy, does she deliver! She just sounds so passionate in her role. It really feels like she’s having a fun time doing this, and her excellent delivery really heightened the enjoyment of the show for me. Pretty darn good for a newbie. Let’s hope she can make a successful career in the industry!
I don’t like talking about myself in a review, but it’s true that since watching this anime, I’ve improved both physically and socially. Now Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru obviously isn’t the reason why I started going out with people. And it’s clearly not magically making me more fit. But it provided a spark. It motivated me to make some changes in my life. Sure, they were minuscule changes, but they were for the better nonetheless. And because of that, this show has done more for me personally than practically every anime that I’ve seen, including most of my absolute favorites.
Of course that’s just me, and I can’t guarantee that you’ll get anything out of Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru. Regardless, this anime is just super entertaining to watch, and hey, if you end up working out and developing super awesome muscles because of it, then that’s a sweet added bonus! Thanks for reading and NICE BULK!
