{"id":1961,"date":"2019-10-07T22:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T13:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/?p=1961"},"modified":"2019-09-19T11:30:55","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T02:30:55","slug":"these-two-anime-are-connected-by-more-than-just-ridiculous-muscles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/07\/these-two-anime-are-connected-by-more-than-just-ridiculous-muscles\/","title":{"rendered":"These Two Anime Are Connected By More than Just Ridiculous Muscles"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?<\/span><\/i> is a slice-of-life comedy. <\/span>Kengan Ashura<\/span><\/i> is a brutal fighting anime. And aside from their fixation on muscles, they couldn\u2019t be more different in terms of tone and style. Yet, these two anime are far more interconnected than you\u2019d think at first glance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: \u300c\u30b1\u30f3\u30ac\u30f3\u30a2\u30b7\u30e5\u30e9\u300d\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?<\/span><\/i> is the story of Hibiki–a high school girl who decides to join a chain gym after realizing she\u2019s getting a bit pudgy. Alongside Akemi–her school\u2019s president–and Machio–her trainer–she learns all about getting fit, dieting, and working out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: \u300c\u30b1\u30f3\u30ac\u30f3\u30a2\u30b7\u30e5\u30e9\u300d\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

Kengan Ashura<\/span><\/i>, on the other hand, is set in a world where megacorporations settle their disputes in single combat–with each company sponsoring their own champion. The series follows Tokita Ohma, a young man employed as one of these modern-day gladiators as he battles his way through ever-tougher opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019d be forgiven for thinking these two shows have nothing in common. However, not only do they share an author (Yabako Sandrovich), they take place in the same fictional world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300c\u30c0\u30f3\u30d9\u30eb\u4f55\u30ad\u30ed\u6301\u3066\u308b\uff1f\u300d\u516c\u5f0f(\u597d\u8a55\u653e\u9001\u4e2d!!)<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most obvious connection is <\/span>Dumbbell<\/span><\/i>\u2019s Akemi herself. Akemi Soryuin is a rich girl who lives in a large mansion and is often taken care of by her older sister when her parents are away. Her older sister is, in fact, Shion Soryuin, the chairwoman of the Koyo Academy Group who first appears in <\/span>Kengan Ashura<\/span><\/i>\u2019s second episode.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the school that Akemi, Hibiki, and their friends all attend is Koyo Women’s Academy, part of that same group of schools. This also gives context as to why Akemi is already the school president despite only being a second-year student–not only is she incredibly responsible and well-educated, her sister literally runs the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300c\u30c0\u30f3\u30d9\u30eb\u4f55\u30ad\u30ed\u6301\u3066\u308b\uff1f\u300d\u516c\u5f0f(\u597d\u8a55\u653e\u9001\u4e2d!!)<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

But Akemi isn\u2019t the only character related to one of the characters in <\/span>Kengan Ashura<\/span><\/i>. Gina Boyd, the Russian exchange student who starts living with Hibiki after losing to her in an arm-wrestling match, is actually the niece of Ivan Karaev: the kickboxer who appears at the end of <\/span>Kengan Ashura<\/span><\/i>\u2019s first episode.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300c\u30c0\u30f3\u30d9\u30eb\u4f55\u30ad\u30ed\u6301\u3066\u308b\uff1f\u300d\u516c\u5f0f(\u597d\u8a55\u653e\u9001\u4e2d!!)<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

Another fun connection comes in <\/span>Dumbbell<\/span><\/i>\u2019s second episode. While visiting her friend Ayaka\u2019s house, Hibiki discovers that Ayaka\u2019s family makes a living by running a boxing gym–and quite a high-quality one at that. In fact, \u201cGlory Gym,\u201d as it is called, boasts several world champions–including Gaolang Wongsawat (who appears in episode seven of <\/span>Kengan Ashura<\/span><\/i>) as you can see by his picture on the gym\u2019s wall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300c\u30c0\u30f3\u30d9\u30eb\u4f55\u30ad\u30ed\u6301\u3066\u308b\uff1f\u300d\u516c\u5f0f(\u597d\u8a55\u653e\u9001\u4e2d!!)<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, these are far from the only connections between the two series–and that\u2019s the fun of watching both together. While each is enjoyable as a stand-alone anime in its own right, watching them together and discovering all the little crossovers adds a whole extra layer to the shows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, all we need is Yabako Sandrovich\u2019s other works, <\/span>Fist of the Seeker<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Kengan Omega<\/span><\/i>, to get anime adaptations so can watch the interconnected universe spread even further.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?<\/span><\/i> can be seen on <\/span>Funimation<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Kengan Ashura<\/span><\/i> can be seen on <\/span>Netflix<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Top image source: \u300c\u30b1\u30f3\u30ac\u30f3\u30a2\u30b7\u30e5\u30e9\u300d\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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