English Dub Review: How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? “Have You Seen God Before?”

Overview:

A man from Machio’s past appears in Japan and confronts him head on.

Our Take:

I knew from the last episode that Machio would have a rival, but I didn’t expect it to be his former teacher. I definitely didn’t expect it to be Arnold Schwarzenegger of all people. Sorry, Barnold Shortsinator.

We finally find out a little about Machio– that he used to be Barnold’s student when he travelled overseas in America, and that he used to study sports training. In working as Barnold’s pupil, he began his steps towards perfecting his body. Barnold returns once again to see his former pupil’s progression, and how much stronger he’s become. Once Machio is able to complete the challenge his teacher set up for him, Barnold reveals his true motive: a bodybuilding tournament in Japan.

I personally don’t know much about bodybuilding tournaments, so all the explanations were very helpful. I imagine that if you know the nuance of bodybuilding, it’s easy to spot the differences, but for someone who doesn’t, everything sort of blends together. Having someone to describe the poses, differences in body types, and how the judges compile a score for something that’s seemingly subjective was all extremely helpful.

Hilariously enough, Machio declines Barnold’s offer to participate in another bodybuilding tournament. There’s some things you can’t look away from even if you have the potential– like paying your bills. Machio’s job still pays him, and he isn’t famous at this point. He can’t just leave his job, even if he does have extremely good muscles. The sad reality of competitions…

I didn’t think we needed a Machio episode, but I guess it’s good that we got one. We don’t really know anything about Machio, after all. To be fair, it’s not like we really needed to know about his backstory: he’s just there to be the coach and tell us about what muscles do what.

I really do like how wild the humor is in this show. It’s equal parts informative and ridiculous, but that really adds to its charm. It expanding into things beyond the gym but still have to do with muscles is a good call as well, since it gives the show more variety. I don’t think many viewers will end up trying out for a bodybuilding tournament, but it’s interesting trivia. Also, Machio blowing everyone’s minds being viewed as divine was hilarious.

Also that his pecs can sense things. Wild.