And now for something completely different.
My habit, until recently, was to run to the gym in the morning before setting off for work. Of course, once Corona-chan appeared, my trips to the gymnasium had to stop, and I had to find alternate ways of getting a daily workout. My gym is open again as of this writing, but it still requires members to wear a mask while exercising. That’s a no-go for me, so I’m still working out at home.
I had trouble at first getting adequate exercise while cooped up in an apartment, but I discovered two phone apps that greatly helped me out: One is the Nike Training Club app (free to all at least for the duration of the pandemic), and the other is Burn Your Fat with Me!!, a combination dating sim and workout app that was briefly a sensation when it first appeared. The former is a wealth of creative aerobic and strength-building workouts that demonstrate it really is possible to reduce yourself to a quivering pool of sweat in the middle of your kitchen with no equipment … but due to the themes of this blog, I’m going to review the latter.
Created by the Japanese company Creative Freaks, Burn Your Fat with Me!!, or Nensho, first appeared in 2013 and was briefly the most downloaded anime-themed app on Google’s app store, an oddly specific achievement. Designed mostly for sedentary otaku and weeaboos in an effort to get them off the couch, it is (barely) a dating sim game that requires the player to complete fitness goals to advance the story. The idea, which the creators call … sigh … “moe-vation,” is that weebs will be inspired to work out if it means continuing in a visual novel and getting simulated encouragement from a waifu.
The Exercises
The exercises are quite basic: Sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and back extensions. For that reason, I think that this, for someone in good shape, is best as a supplement rather than a full workout, which is how I use it. Still, it has two modes, “soft” and “hard,” and while a hardcore gym rat could probably bust rapidly through all the “hard” challenges, they’ve offered an average joe like me a sufficient challenge once they’ve ramped up.
As you play, you have six female characters who count your reps and alternately encourage or mock you. To note a rep, you can tap the screen or use your phone’s proximity sensor. In my experience, the sensor works best for push-ups and tapping works best for everything else. Once you get used to exercising while holding a phone, the rep counting is actually quite handy.
With the necessary disclaimer that I’m no medical doctor and can’t give anyone advice on health, I’m concerned that if someone really out of shape (that is, the target audience) started using this, he could hurt himself, especially since the main story focuses on doing lots of full sit-ups. Some emphasis on stretching and warming up, or maybe a more gradual increase in the goals, might have been in order.
On the exercise side of things, that is probably my biggest complaint: Each chapter of the story asks for a large increase in the number of reps. The game’s instructions indicate that you are supposed to practice, possibly for months, between each chapter (and there’s a training mode for that), but a more gradual increase might have resulted in more of that motivation they’re trying to deliver—as well as more safety for the user.
The Story
Since this game is an exercise app with only the veneer of a dating sim, the gameplay is almost nonexistent. There are no alternate endings or dialogue trees. The storyline is minimal, and though it surrounds you with a harem of beautiful girls who all want your chubby bod for no good reason, only one of them can be your “official” girlfriend; the rest are side characters.
The story, by design, follows the outline of a stereotypical anime rom-com: Your character is a high-schooler who’s become lazy, unmotivated, and fat. You have a run-in with a female childhood friend who forces you to do sit-ups every day, and she explodes with jealousy whenever other girls get anywhere near you, as they inevitably do because your flabby gut is a babe magnet.
Each chapter requires you to complete a certain number of reps of a certain exercise, with a time limit. When you’re not playing the story itself, you can switch to the training mode where you can set the time and number of reps, and choose which girl you want to work out with.
The story is predictable. It’s not much of a game, but that’s for the best: There’s a version of this made for girls, which follows the typical outline of a reverse harem, but it has more involved plot and character development, which means each chapter takes forever to get to the exercises. I convinced my wife to try it out, but she and I agreed that the story was just too damn long. It’s probably better-written than the version for boys, but when you’re down on the floor and ready to crank out some sit-ups, a lengthy plot gets in the way.
The Cost
This app is free, but like a lot of free apps, it’s not really free. When you first download it, you get only the sit-up module and one girl to work out with. The rest of the content has to be unlocked. You can unlock some things by exercising, which gives you points that you can exchange for new content. You can also buy content outright or get points by watching ads.
To the designers’ credit, the ads are less intrusive than in many free apps: There’s a button on the main menu that you can press to watch an ad. What I did was turn the sound on my phone off, set it next to me while I was working, and whenever I thought of it, pressed the button to play an ad and then set my phone facedown and continued my work. By this method, I acquired all of the content without paying a penny (or actually watching an advertisement). Once you have everything, that’s it: You never have to play an ad in the app again.
Much of the extra content is cosmetic, like new outfits for the girls, but some of it is necessary to use the app to do all of the possible exercises.
Final Thoughts
The big question is, Does it work? And the answer, of course, is, That depends. Like any workout, you get out of it what you put in. Also, because the exercises are so basic, it’s not a complete fitness program, but it can be a good way to challenge yourself: I exercise regularly, but I was still surprised to find myself (eventually) able to do 200 full sit-ups thanks to this app.
As for the “moe-vation” concept, it works if you’re the sort of person who cares about the story of a silly visual novel and not otherwise—but I must add that it only works at first. As with anything, the novelty wears off, and then the things that will keep you going are your own willpower and self-discipline. Still, this is a clever way to get people started.
