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Review: Love Handle

10/9/2024

Author:

Iwaki Soyogo

Original Release:

Winter Comiket 2011

Format: Doujinshi (Hetalia)

Official Languages:

Japanese Only

Explicit? No

Warnings:

Light fat-shaming,

public embarrassment


Synopsis: A 35 page collection of short comics about America putting on weight and his interactions with other characters. They are not exactly linear as it switches between ships, but he does get bigger as the stories go on. The version I am reading is from Iwaki Soyogo’s Debumeri Collection. Any guest or collaborating artists from Soyogo’s works are not included in this version.




I originally came across this comic as an unofficial translation on tumblr years ago and I was really thrilled to see it. I was never a Hetalia fan, having only seen maybe two episodes at its peak of popularity. But the art in this doujin is cute, reminiscent of the anime’s style while a little different, and Debumeri (デブメリ/でぶめり、a portmanteau of デブ and アメリカ to mean Chubby America) is portrayed especially endearingly. I personally dislike when a character becomes fat in manga and switches artstyles entirely to become a round little creature with no believable anatomy left. All mochi, no body structure. The comic has a lot of cute half-chibi artwork but strikes a nice balance between fully detailed depictions of Debumeri and cute exaggerated versions.



This doujinshi is entirely SFW with a couple of fanservicey moments but mostly is a comedy. Most of the humor comes at America’s expense. The jokes are either being physical comedy from his increasing size or America’s clueless personality bouncing off the other characters. We love a big, cute himbo. The Incident in the Conference Room is my favorite out of this collection with a little of everything; America being clueless, a cute cultural reference to a Russian fairytale, cute art of America stuck in his chair, and his mood immediately lifting once he’s out without lingering the embarrassing moment before. Overall, it’s all light-hearted and fun. It's more focused on jokes but is full of so many kink tropes that I find it difficult to imagine it's not intentional (stuckage, clothes ripping, clueless weight gain, weighing, and belly squeezing).


I haven't seen the original version of this around but the DebuMeri Collection is still kicking around on various secondhand sites and seems to be relatively easily obtained.



Cute and enjoyable, but it's not all that body positive and stories vary a bit in quality. I’ll list them all below.



Fact & Fiction | あることないこと - America notices he has gained weight and compares himself to Russia at a meeting.


Super Size Shopping Life | スーパーサイズ通販生活 - America visits Japan to go shopping and confuses Japan by relating convenience and health products to how helpful they would be for him at a much higher weight.


Longing for My Boyfriend’s Shirt | あこがれの彼シャツ - America is dating France and loans him his jacket on a cold day. France is endeared, until America gets excited by the idea of wearing some of his clothes as well.


Canada’s Good Fortune | カナダさんのしあわせ - America has been avoiding his agreement to go out and play catch with Canada to stay inside and play video games. When Canada finds American has outgrown his clothes and is wearing only a robe, he insists it’s not a good enough reason to flake on him again.


The Gentlemanly Thing |紳士たるもの - England is dating America and examines his change in weight while he’s sleeping next to him.


The Incident in the Conference Room |事件は会議室で - America gets stuck in his desk chair in the meeting room and needs the other countries’ help to get out.


The Gentlemanly Thing 2 | 紳士たるもの ② - England finally decides to bring America’s weight gain to his attention and insists he get on the scale so they can check his weight.


フィオレフワフワ

©repth