When a friend cruelly calls Hibiki fat it’s like a knife stabbed into her heart. The high school girl loves to eat but decides to go on a diet to be absolutely thin by summer vacation, but she doesn’t know how to exercise properly on her own. Hibiki finds herself in front of a training gym and joins. Once there, she meets her beautiful and charismatic student council president Akemi Sōryūin and steps into the intense yet enjoyable world of weight-training. – ANN
Streaming: Funimation
Episodes: 12
Source: Manga
Episode Summary: Hibiki is a growing girl with a healthy appetite, but when a friend of hers comments on her expanding midsection and overall plumpness, she decides that it’s time to slim down. She joins the Silverman Gym, and discovers that a classmate of hers, Akemi, is planning to join as well. As it turns out, Akemi has a bit of a muscle fetish, and this gym is packed to the gills with bodybuilders and their bulging muscles. Hibiki feels out of place, but decides to try to get her money’s worth anyway.
Akemi is old hat at strength training, but Machio, their personal trainer, is encouraging and helps Hibiki push herself to complete more reps than she might on her own. She learns how to do bench presses and squats during her first week. When Akemi asks how many times a day Hibiki eats, Hibiki gets ready for another scolding, but Akemi is simply impressed; with such a strong appetite, Hibiki has almost infinite potential to bulk up her muscles.
Impressions: This series is a strong front runner for “most awkward English title of the season.” Beyond that, its focus on strength training specifically as a form of exercise is certainly unique, especially since its cast is mostly female. Passing judgment on someone based on their body type is unfortunate in and of itself, and beyond that men and women are still held to very different standards when it comes to these kinds of judgments. While men are “allowed” to be muscular, women are often expected to be slim and toned, but never “ripped.” The fact that some of the imagery from this series features young women with visible muscles is a sort of small victory, I suppose.
While I appreciate the fact that this series introduces a mild amount of body-type diversity into the mix, some of the ways in which it does so are definitely counter-intuitive to inclusivity or body-positive ideals. I went into this series operating under the assumption that one of its focuses would be on fanservice, because almost every anime I’ve ever heard of that focuses exclusively on exercising has done so in the service of voyeuristic intent. While it’s definitely not the most extreme in that regard, the truth is that there are a lot of scenes that use the characters to slyly offer-up some eye-candy (primarily of butts and thighs). Akemi is made into a sort of “fanservice character” due to her love of muscles. When she sees someone with an appealing, muscular physique, or feels her own muscles burning, she gets visibly hot-and-bothered (there’s even a moment where she says she might “come”). There’s a visibly censored scene with Hibiki on a scale, weighing herself with no clothes on. There are several examples where the camera focuses-in on certain body parts while the girls are doing specific exercises. While some segments of the episode are actually fairly educational (I didn’t realize the bench presses were meant to work so many different muscle groups), it’s also clear that the show is made to appeal primarily to a certain narrow audience.
I suspect that a lot of the language and imagery used throughout the episode would be a minefield for those who have issues with body dysmorphia or other body-image struggles. Hibiki’s “friend” (which I put in quotes because I don’t think it’s very friendly to comment on another person’s body) judges her for eating a lot and gaining weight, and even tells her at one point that she won’t be able to attract a boyfriend with her expanding waistline. Hibiki’s exercise goals are in service of her “getting thin” and fitting into a cute swimsuit, rather than for her general health. When Akemi is introduced, there’s a full run-down of her weight and measurements using on-screen text. And every time Hibiki eats some kind of food, there’s on-screen text that lists the calorie amount as she pops it into her mouth. In this sense, Akemi’s horniness for muscles is appealing in a way, as she sees the benefit of Hibiki’s appetite. But in every other sense these things play into a culture that judges others on body size and the things that they eat to fuel those bodies.
Aside from these missteps, there are some funnier and less loaded moments throughout the episode. It’s kind of spoiled during the OP animation, but Machio, the personal trainer, manages to keep his bulked-up physique under wraps unless inspired to flex – it’s then that his very average-looking head sits perched atop a massive body-builder physique. The contrast between his mellow personality and his (somehow?) hidden beefiness is pretty funny, as is the fact that his head then looks like it’s been Photoshopped onto the rest of his body.
I do feel some sympathy toward Hibiki as well. I’ve tried to start a weight-training routine, and as light-weight and rudimentary as it was, I ended up only lasting about week. I had no one but myself to motivate me, and since I’m not particularly self-motivated in other areas of my life, I don’t know what made me think that lifting weights alone in my bedroom was going to turn out any differently. That’s where I think this series gets things right; with Akemi around to serve as a kind of “teammate” in exercise, and with Machio’s extremely kind and encouraging demeanor, I think this series is capable of at least demonstrating the positive benefits of achieving physical goals with others at your side.
There’s a segment at the end of the episode during which the characters teach and reinforce the proper form for doing squats. When I was watching this, I started to think of the greater good a series like this could be capable of if it managed to avoid limiting its audience through offhand negative remarks. I think there are good things to take away from this episode, but I’m frustrated by the story’s lack of care toward others.
Pros: It demonstrates the proper form for some exercises. Machio and Akemi do a good job of encouraging Hibiki.
Cons: Falls victim to body shaming and other body dysmorphia triggers. Limits its audience through use of certain types of fanservice.
Content Warnings: Body negativity (calorie counting, ascribing value to certain body types, fat shaming), fanservice/sexualization of teenage girls.
Grade: C-