Interest
Anisong Fitness Gets Anime Fans Exercising to Their Favorite Songs
posted on by Eric Stimson
Like many countries gearing up for the Olympic Games, Japan is trying to promote sports and fitness more actively. But what could get anime fans, with their sedentary habits and introverted tendencies, up and moving? King Records thinks it has the answer: anime songs!
Anison Fitness, a venture by King Records along with web production company kayac, combines catchy and popular anime songs with dance-inspired calisthenic routines. The musician and songwriter Gō Takahashi will teach us how to do them in an outfit you're not likely to find in the gym. He has two real-life backup exercisers ("A-fit Girls"), voice actress Yūki Takada (Rin in Aikatsu!, Aoba in New Game!, Eruma in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid) and dancer/idol Yakko of the rock band Q'ulle. He also has an anime backup exerciser, Sakura Asahina (voiced by Takada), an energetic high school student drawn by NOB-C.
The full song and exercise routine roster has not yet been determined; the project officially launches in 2017. The first song, however, will be "Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis," the mega-popular theme song to Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Anison Fitness routines are meant to be catchy and fun, but they also incorporate calorie-burning exercise moves researched by Waseda University Assistant Professor Nobuhiko Eda. The program will also involve merchandise (apparel, drinks, health care goods and tools, and training accessories) and hopes to expand overseas to places where anime songs are popular like China and the West.
This is not the first initiative combining cute anime characters with fitness. Burn your fat with me!! is an app that encourages the player to exercise with a cute childhood friend. Women's magazine chouchouAliis induced readers to get up and moving with sword-based exercises capitalizing on the popularity of Tōken Ranbu. And Yōkai Watch cajoles kids into working out with its calisthenics-based ending theme.
Sources: Animate Times and Anison Fitness official website
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