An Anime Review 'How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?'

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? is a twelve-episode summer 2019 anime produced by Doga Kobo. The show is based off of a web manga that is written by Sandrovich Yabako (Kengan Ashura). The series was directed by Yamazaki Mitsue (Episode Director—Bleach, Durarara!), while the series composition and the script were handled by Shimo Fumihiko (Amagi Brilliant Park, Clannad). The music was handled by Hashimoto Yukari (Toradora!, Golden Time). The two leads, Sakura Hibiki and Souryuuin Akemi, are played by Fairouz Ai (Kandagawa Jet Girls) and Amamiya Sora (Akame ga Kill, Aldnoah.Zero) respectively.

As far as the plot goes for this show, it is incredibly simple. Hibiki wants to lose some weight so that she will look attractive and find herself a boyfriend. She has trouble because she has the propensity to gorge herself full of food, while the only way she usually ends up losing weight is by going on a diet and reducing her intake. As a result of a gym opening up close to her school, she decides to go for the trial session. During this period she finds that her schoolmate Akemi is also attending the trial. They end up joining together, Hibiki to look at boys and slim down, and Akemi because she has an odd adoration towards muscle.

Along the way, more and more girls are added to the gym group 'til they total at five, excluding their trainer Machio. During each of the show's episodes, they make sure to explain how to do two different exercises in concise detail, using the girls as the model on how to do and how not to do said exercises. During these segments, there is a lot of fanservice by way of the girls, at times having them pose as they would have in the likes of Sports Illustrated. Personally I could have done without these aspects as often they became a distracting annoyance more than anything else. The characters at these points broke the fourth wall and directly address this, which does not help matters much, primarily because it felt like lazy self-referential humour. That being said, the quality of the information presented during these segments is fantastic. The show also goes so far as to say how these exercises could be done from the comfort of your own home.

Aside from the in-depth nature of the show's approach to exercise and dieting, the show is also quite humorous. In fact, the arm wrestling episode had me laughing so hard I found breathing to be a challenge in itself. Beyond that, the standard of humour stays at a consistent level. Something that adds to the humour is the comical way in which they get around copyright so that they are able to reference certain film stars and anime characters without consequence.

Visually the show has a simple art style to it, which does not help it stand out from the rest of the anime that comes out in a season. Despite this, the animators use this as an advantage as they manage to switch up the style of animation in order to make the segment hilarious. Once more, the arm wrestling episode being a particular highlight when it comes to the timing of the humour in tandem with the timing of the change of animation style. Another benefit that comes from the animation is that the characters are all distinct and stand out from each other, while looking extremely appealing.

As far as the characters of the show go, they have little to no character progression, and what character development there is is quite minimal. There is enough to make us feel as if we are getting to know the characters better, and not much beyond that. The focus of the show really is the workout methods, and the girls and guys present are just tools for the writer to express these methods through.

Beyond this there is not much else to the show or the narrative; to call it wafer-thin would be a compliment. The animation is standard for the most part, the music is serviceable, and the characters do what is expected. In the end it is about cute girls working out with some helpful workout tips, and if that is what you are looking for, check it out. If you are looking for a show with a lot more substance, this would not be it. You can watch the show on Funimation.