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.