The heavy dumbbells that the gym-girls lift: An Exploration of Onegai Muscle

• Author: Gabriel Leão

• Editor: Lydia Rivers

Overcoming insatiable urges to snack. Tracking minute changes in cardiovascular prowess and celebrating muscle development with friends — all these moments and more make Hibiki Sakura and the culture at the Silverman Gym feel like something out of real-life. 

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? (ダンベル何キロ持てる, 2016 -) by Yabako Sandrovich may be classified as a shonen title, but it sets itself apart from other shows of its ilk by following the physical training of neither martial artists, nor men. Although this makes it practically niche, it has earned a devoted fan base. It also speaks to the current, real-world gym culture filled with female influencers who are anime fans and are thriving in their muscular education. The path that has led to it can be found in the history of manga starring female characters or aimed at female audiences. 

For research into this subject, Anime Herald was fortunate enough to interview 2017 Nieman alumnus Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., and prolific anime writer and critic Borealis Capps. 

“The targeting of female audiences in Japan goes all the way back to the late 19th and early 20th century,” said Kelts, “with the shojo and moga demographics being identified, labeled and then targeted by media producers on the heels of Japan’s opening to the West in the Meiji era. Katsuji Matsumoto integrated much of what we now call the kawaii aesthetic into his shojo stories, while modern manga and anime targeting females with ongoing episodic storylines were arguably accelerated by Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight, which also pioneered gender-switching and advanced the bishonen/beautiful boy aesthetic.”

Capps agreed that many women and girls enjoy series designed for boys and men, saying, “Good stories are good regardless of the demographics they aim to have read them.” Still, she feels that she sees a pattern of laziness in an industry that favors focusing on shonen titles instead of hiring and promoting women to places of power, where they can find and market series that the entire readership would desire — namely, stories that don’t focus solely on romance. Capps says that titles marketed solely to female audiences are “excellent,” but far too few receive multimedia adaptations, and the ones that do have led to the stereotype “that all stories for women must be romances, which is annoying beyond belief.” 

For his part, Kelts has observed a gradual shift in demographics over the years that has coincided with changes in the behaviors and aspirations of modern audiences. “The more conventionally effeminate stylings (flowery butterflies and lacy softness) shifted into more modern emphases on girl-power and sisterhood (Sailor Moon), and now women who achieve physical power through strength training. What's more notable,” he goes on to say, “is the broadening appeal of female-targeted anime and manga. Where once it was common knowledge that females would read shonen/male-targeted stories but males would not read female-centered narratives, that has been turned on its head in the 21st century. Male readers are often drawn to female-centered manga and anime, especially if they revolve around the theme of empowerment.”

In this case, there is little doubt as to How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?’s targeted audience. Capps agrees. “Even beyond it being labeled as a shonen, the centerfolds of scantily clad sweaty women post-workout found in most chapters feel very much made for the male gaze. To my knowledge, there has never been a single shojo or josei ecchi [gym-centered] series ever created either, and How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? absolutely qualifies as an ecchi series. I would be fascinated to see what a femme-focused ecchi series would even look like!”

But, Capps goes on to say, the series could certainly have appeal to audiences besides boys and men. Queer women might enjoy it, or “anyone with a taste for risqué comedy,” or, thanks to its properly researched instructions, fitness buffs. Nevertheless, she sees that the recurring fat shaming in the series can be a turn-off for those readers who have dealt with this sort of harassment in their lives. 

Inspiring real-life gym culture around the globe

Yabako Sandrovich’s style calls attention to its grounded muscle and movement depiction, as seen in the fighting-based manga Kengan Ashura, which, like many of its shonen counterparts, can simultaneously suspend reality when narrating the muscle-bound warriors’ matches. Capps sees Sandrovich’s style translating in a similar manner in his gym girls’ stories: “The impressive details found in Sandrovich’s action scenes translates well into over-the-top comedic scenes found within How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? as they add to the hilarity of what is presented.”

Kelts sees a similarity to other works from the past: “The emphasis on self-improvement with real-world advice and instruction align it with so many otherwise quasi-educational series like Oishinbo.” For the uninitiated, Oishinbo is a 1983 series focused on cooking that has taught many to prepare the meals they see on its pages while keeping them entertained.

When asked if manga and anime can influence people to engage in physical exercise, Kelts is emphatic: “Of course! Just look at the influence of sports manga like Tsubasa, Slam Dunk, and Yuri!!! on Ice and what they’ve done to grow participation rates in their respective sports. Manga and anime glamorize these activities like all pop culture media do, but they are also grounded in realistic portrayals of the training and self-discipline necessary to excel.”

Indeed, many of the spokespeople for the modern fitness scene are also manga and anime fans, and they aren’t shy about it, as can be seen in the famous likes of Lean Beef Patty, Natasha Aughey, and Logan Chitwood. The latter is passionate about his ‘Baki’ fandom, especially as the former baseball player cosplays as the legendary Yujiro Hanma. At the same time, Lean Beef Patty can be seen successfully performing some of the workout routines experienced by traditional manga characters. Aughey has always been open about her manga/anime fandom. As they show that this subculture is, in a way, part now of mainstream culture, and by sharing their workout routine and love for anime and manga, this trio, alongside other parties, is helping shed the stereotyped and negative images formed around manga lovers, and in particular even if not on purpose it is not far fetched to see relations between How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?’s Characters with Aughey and Patty. When we asked about portraying the real-life prejudice that many female bodybuilders face, Capps felt that How Heavy are the Dumbbells you Lift? may have done a bit of entrenching. 

“It focused on discussing women afraid of being ‘ripped’ out of fears it would make them less attractive to men,” she said, “and how there are different workout options for those who don’t want that kind of look. If anything, sadly, it may have stamped these prejudices further onto the public consciousness.”

Like any show, How Heavy are the Dumbbells you Lift? has its fascinations and flaws. It stars women who are not shy about working out in what was, and still can be perceived as, a male-oriented space, as happens with weightlifting and combat sports, and the creators know what their target audience expects. Still, Hibiki and her friends are opening the doors for other characters, and us, to evolve from them while also bringing attention to how helpful practicing physical exercises can be to human health. 

“I hope someday we’ll see even better stories with fitness as a focus and less problematic elements,” Capps said. “Until then, it remains the crowning jewel of fitness anime and manga.”