Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru?

During a regular after-school grub crawl, gluttonous high schooler Hibiki Sakura is confronted about her ever-expanding waistline by her best friend, Ayaka Uehara. With her attempts at solitary exercise failing miserably, Hibiki decides to join the newly opened Silverman Gym. At her orientation, Hibiki runs into student council president and school idol Akemi Souryuuin.

However, it soon turns out that Hibiki is in for a lot more than she bargained for. Not only is Silverman Gym full of world-renowned bodybuilders and athletes, but to make matters worse, Akemi turns out to be a total muscle fetishist! Grossed out by the scene unfolding before her eyes, Hibiki begins to leave, only to be stopped by trainer Naruzou Machio. Completely enthralled with her newfound Prince Charming, Hibiki signs up as a gym member. Now, as a result of her spur-of-the-moment decision, Hibiki must adapt to her new lifestyle.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sakura, Hibiki Main

Fairouz Ai Japanese

Souryuuin, Akemi Main

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Machio, Naruzou Supporting

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Sekibayashi, Jun Supporting

Inada, Tetsu Japanese

Boyd, Gina Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Tachibana, Satomi Supporting

Horie, Yui Japanese

Uehara, Ayaka Supporting

Ishigami, Shizuka Japanese

Shortsinator, Barnold Supporting

Genda, Tesshou Japanese

Garson, Kristal Supporting

Uchida, Shuu Japanese

Aina, Rumika Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Kikushima, Kazufumi Producer

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro Producer

Reviews

Sep 18, 2019

HellLyter

Recommended

Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru is probably the most fun anime I’ve watched this season. Its got a colorful cast of characters who each add their own flair to the show and showcases some really solid comedy. It also provides some actually useful knowledge about the human body and working out. But you know what sets it apart from practically all other anime I’ve watched?

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!

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 18, 2019

Optigisa

Mixed Feelings

There are Anime that try to be the jack of all trades, and they very much succeed in doing so. Then there are the Anime that try to do the same, only to fail miserably and fall flat on their faces. This Anime is not exactly the latter, but it comes close to being so, and why is that you ask? Because it tries to do so many things, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark with what it does, and it becomes obvious to the audience that it is trying it’s hardest to stand out, rather than just be a silly ecchi disguised as ... a sports Anime. First of all, it tries to be an infomercial about sports, yet it doesn’t quite succeed in doing so since it’s busy trying to be a comedy as well. The comedy is not that funny or bone tickling anyways, since it is the same redundant gag repeated many times during each episode, and the whole gist of this Anime overall is being an ecchi that isn’t really an echhi, and that it is disguised as a gym infomercial or a slice of life about girls training.

The comedy lands solidly due to the good production values and the decent delivery, but other than that there really isn’t any other merit to said comedy, since it gets repeated many times over until it turns trite. The production values are decent, from the decent animation, to the welcoming color palette, to the fine soundtrack, and there aren’t any complaints towards them. They are fine as they are and serve the show well enough.

As for the characters, they are the typical, run-of-the-mill slice of life characters. They aren’t really anything to write home about, yet they aren’t really one dimensional per say. Hibiki is not really a poorly developed character, she is nice as she is. However, Akemi is the basic rich girl who lacks anything that would make her stand out. Think of any typical and plain rich character you could find elsewhere and you will get her. Characters aren’t really bad, but they border on tame for most of the time, and they feel like they are epitome of slice of life characters.

This Anime is a good Anime for the ecchi fans out there. Panty shots, thigh shots, gigantic tatas and everything else an ecchi lover wants, they can find it here. It is hot and it most certainly delivers regarding that aspect. The characters are good looking enough as they are, and that alone will attract ecchi lovers, and the fanservice most certainly delivers as well. The unfunny faces could turn out to be a problem though, and they ruin from the immersion of enjoying the sexiness that this Anime gives off.

Overall, this is a fine Anime. What really hinders it from being good is the fact that it tries so hard to be the jack of all trades, yet it only succeeds in one thing, and that is being sexy. It wasn’t a bad watch at the end of the day, it was a fine watch as it is, though I think that ecchi lovers will enjoy this one far more than I did, even when some unfunny bits are to be expected here and there.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 19, 2019

JiangHaoyi1979

Not Recommended

Onegai muscle meccha motetaaaai
Onegai muscle meccha yasetaai yes!
Onegai muscle meccha motetaaai kara
Uuu! (Kireteruyo!) Haa! (Kireteruyo!)
Kin niku ni onegai

Ok, so another Josei theme anime has just ended, but unlike the usual josei genre anime which was always set in a school setting, this one was set in a gym where it involves a quartet of girls whom decide to become gym members in some gym called "Silvermans" which btw was a parody of "Golds Gym" in Japan which btw has 38 branches in Japan. So, lets get down to business:

Story-Very Good 8:

Because it was informative, thought the plot was more on the fitness and working out ... side, now , I don't about you guys out there when it come to your level of gym and workout IQ, but one thing I can tell you was that the information about the kinds of workout routine was just based on the original creator's knowledge about the kinds of workout programs that he or she has......but, that is of course if this Original Creator who calls him or herself "MAAM" is also a fitness buff him or herself. But then again, in reality each fitness trainer has his or her program, so what this certain "MAAM" has was probably his or her program. Cu'z for one thing, not every info in this anime or manga were correct, in fact some of the workouts being featured around here were simply too far fetch or were just made out, one example was working out the calf muscle in order to incense stamina and speed in running was just all wrong, and just relying on protein alone just to have the kind of body that Machio has was also an understatement, cu'z realistically speaking bodybuilders pump themselves up with a lotta supplements and steroids. Now what make me rate this an 8 cu'z it was probably the only info anime that doesn't require a plot, cu'z basically that wasn't the original creator's plan , his or her intention was to promote fitness and that's that.

Art-Pathetic 1:

Ok, so this anime does have an ecchi genre, but most of it was more like an ecchi for gays and girls with a muscle fetish and yes I'm referring to Machio Naruzou's illustration, were he was illustrated as a stereotypical gym rat, that otaku's and geeks would really love to hate. Also, his head was ridiculously a mismatch for his head were it can also be a metaphor that he's all brawn but no brains

Sound- Very Good :

And that's for the opening theme, also, it was a good move for studio Doga Kobo to cast Yui Horie to voice a matured character like Tachibana Satome the girls teacher, since Yui is already in her mid 30's and that for her to voice a younger character who happens to be a joshkausei would be pathetic.

Character- Dreadful 2:

Ok, so we have Hibiki whom at first want's to lose weight but ends up being a fitness freak, we have Souryuuin, Akemi who was the quintessential rich girl with a muscle fetish, we have Uehara, Ayaka, whom at first unknown to Hibiki was already a fitness buff and we have Gina Boyd a Russian expat who simply went to Japan to compete in arm wrestling but decide to stay after being beaten by Hibiki and let's not forget the Tachibana Satomi who also at first wants to lose weight and just like Hibiki she to becomes a fitness freak, now just there girls would have been fine , but what's annoying was Machio Naruzou, who always flaunts his huge muscle in fact there wasn't an episode where you won't see him ripping his track suit in order to show off the results of his so called hard work Basically, he's a metaphor for a school jock that bullies the weak. Also, his stereotype basically give a wrong impression were he symbolizes a healthy person who practices a healthy lifestyle , but realistically Bodybuilders weren't exactly healthy and their lifestyle were far from healthy, also girls in reality weren't very much a fan of guys with huge muscles and there were studies and surveys that shows it, in fact girls were more attracted to ripped guys with six packs and I'm referring to the abs, So generally speaking the ecchi part here was more like gay ecchi where Machio would serve as every gay's sexual fantasy.

Enjoyment -Poor 3:

Basically, I just see this as more like a chore than something to be enjoyed.


Overall-Poor 3.

Thought this maybe informative and helpful, IMAO, this anime was just like selling a cooler to an Eskimo, cu'z in reality, Gyms in Japans like that of Golds Gym were really expensive and also gyms in Japan tend to have a lotta wired house rules and were under equip and let's not forget that most Japanese in general don't have anytime for such extra curricular activity and they don't have to, cu'z they already were practicing a healthy lifestyle so for them to even give such anime/manga like this any attention was just a waste of time, in fact only those in the 0.05 percent would have the time to engage in such activity. Even if Japanese would have the time to get themselves in such activity, they would go a public gym where prices would be affordable. So Overall, this anime/manga was just a PWT where otakus would rather go bananas with them eye-candies like Hibiki, Gina , Akemi and Ayaka, than to take their tips seriously......Machio on that other hand basically was someone whom them Otakus would love to hate, so basically this anime or it's manga really have no place around here.

The end.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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