Anime Review: How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? Episode 1

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? Episode 1

Studio: Doga Kobo

Genre: Comedy

Streaming: Funimation

Summertime is here, and more importantly, so is the summer anime season. After last season’s (in my opinion) pretty disappointing offerings, I was itching for a new set of shows I could start watching. First up on my most anticipated list is How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? While I’m not familiar with the manga it was adapted from, when I read the synopsis and saw the poster my first impression of the anime was one of those pseudo-educational shows with cute girls in ecchi situations. 

Sakura Hibiki, a food-lover by nature, decides to start working out after realizing she’s put on weight. After being unable to motivate herself to work out at home, Hibiki gets a gym membership and becomes gym partners with her muscle-obsessed classmate Akemi Soryuin.

My initial impression of the show was both right and wrong. How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? is a comedy series first and foremost. While the show focuses on two cute girls going to the gym together, the tone remains fun and light-hearted throughout. The show does have ecchi moments like you’d expect, but they’re used entirely for laughs and aren’t nearly as gratuitous as I would have expected. The show is very aware of what it is, but rather than dive head-first into trashy territory (which, don’t get me wrong, isn’t an immediate negative for me) they skim the surface just enough to get the laugh and then leave. It doesn’t try to hide behind an educational motif to show off girls in ecchi scenes. Instead, it uses some educational elements and a dash of ecchi all in the name of creating a light-hearted experience that will make you laugh. You might learn a bit about form when exercising, but that’s not what the show is really about. 

Something that really endeared me to the show was how relatable it felt. Just from my own experience, I’ve definitely been where Hibiki is as a newcomer to the world of fitness. If you’re someone who typically spends their afternoons eating and sitting around at home (like me), then the first time you head to the gym it can feel very intimidating. How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? expresses this feeling well through Hibiki and it’s nice to see her struggle through her first 3 sets of 10 bench presses (where she does 7, 5, and 3) but still get supported Soryuin and their trainer Naruzou Machio. Like I said though, the show is comedy first and it does it well. There’s plenty of ridiculous gags throughout the episode that gave me a good laugh and endeared me even more to the characters, whether it was Soryuin’s over-the-top muscle fetish, Naruzou’s insane flex, or how every time Hibiki eats a graphic pops up showing how many calories she’s intaking. 

Beyond the characters and story, the overall production is pretty good as well. The animation is good, with characters almost constantly in motion and little static shots appearing throughout. The characters are expressive, and the models when they work out are shown in a fairly normalized manner without being overtly lewd. The music in the episode was pretty good as well, which is something I didn’t expect to find here. The opening and ending were fine, but I think they’ll grow on me over the course of the season.

In summary, How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? ended up being a show I enjoyed more than I was expecting. I’m looking forward to seeing our current cast fleshed out more over the course of the season as well as more members joining along the way. I think this will be a fun series worth adding to your watchlist this summer. 

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