The BMI of Anime Girls

Anime fans have been pondering the weight and Body Mass Index of their favourite anime heroines, or put more bluntly: “Why is Mio such a fatty?”

Body Mass Index (weight (kg) divided by height (m) squared) is a simple measure designed to establish whether an individual is unhealthily underweight, overweight or obese.

The WHO considers a value of 25-30 as overweight, and any higher as obese, although the simplistic nature of the formula and arbitrariness of the classifications has resulted in much scientific criticism and doubts over its general validity.

The usual Japanese interpretation of BMI, taking into account the smaller frame of the Japanese:

Normal: from 18.5 to 22.9
Overweight: from 23.0 to 24.9
Obese: 25.0 and above

The BMI of various anime characters, with underweight characters in red and the overweight in orange:

Name	Height (cm)	Weight (kg)	BMI
Ayase	166	44	16.0
Miku	158	42	16.8
Kirino	165	45	16.5
Kuroneko	160	43	16.8
Louise	153	40	17.1
Mikoto	161	45	17.4
Saten	160	46	18.0
Shana	141	36	18.1
Kuroko	144	38	18.3
Uiharu	153	43	18.4
Nagi	138	35	18.4
Taiga	144	38	18.4
Saori	180	61	18.8
Tsukasa	158	49	19.6
Nagato	154	47	19.8
Haruhi	158	50	20.0
Ritsu	154	48	20.2
Azusa	150	46	20.4
Yui	156	50	20.5
Hiro	155	50	20.8
Konata	142	42	20.8
Mio	160	54	21.1
Mikuru	152	49	21.2
Kagami	158	53	21.2
Ranka	156	52	21.4
Tsumugi	157	53	21.5
Sheryl	169	64	22.4
Miyuki	166	62	22.5
Miyako	165	62	22.8
Sae	167	64	22.9
Yuno	144	52	25.1
Ika Musume	135	100	54.9

That such tiny tsundere waifs as Louise and Taiga are amongst the most lightly built should come as no surprise, but that virtually the entire female cast of Ore no Imouto and Railgun are apparently underweight is rather disturbing – a few of them look to be naturally skinny, but the rest seem more likely to be anorexic.

Miku too is rather on the light side, as perhaps befits a hologram.

On the other hand, the girls of K-ON! stand out for having both full figures and healthy bodyweight, even being realistically proportioned – probably something Kyoto Animation intended, and certainly something it deserves credit for.

Ika Musume’s weight is speculated to be as a result of her healthy head of tentacular appendages – as a humanoid cephalopod, the BMI is likely not in any case an appropriate tool for establishing her optimal weight.

2ch ponders the results:

Don’t those Ore no Imouto designers comprehend the sexiness of the chubby legs of K-ON! characters!?

54kg is pretty plump, nice.

Are Mio’s breasts alone 10kg of that?

They carry the weight of our dreams so they are bound to be heavy.

160cm and 54kg – isn’t that a fatty? So says my mother…

I think 46-52kg is normal at that height. At 54kg, perhaps she’s a bit ripped.

K-ON!’s weights are a bit weird.

Maybe Mio’s hair weighs 2-3kg…

What about Kuroneko – she’s nothing but skin and bones!

She’s tall too!

At 160cm and 43kg I’d be worried about whether she’s being neglected by her parents…

If you actually saw her weighing so little it would probably look gross.

Mio’s a fatty, Kuroneko’s anorexic. The ideal at that height is 47-48kg.

Yunocchi’s a little pig.

Yunocchi’s just got a huge head.

Kirino is a 2nd year middle-schooler and she’s 165cm? What a beanpole.

Sheryl’s fatter than me. I still love her though.

All you hobbits under 169cm are banned from liking Sheryl now.

I’m 173cm and 42kg, for a BMI of 14.03… I guess I win!

Go to hospital you freak.

Yuno’s an overweight kid. Weep you moetards.

Sheryl weighs 10kg more than I do, but that’s OK!

Taiga’s just gross. What is she, a dwarf?

Sagat: 226cm, 78kg, BMI 15.27.

If the sales of K-ON! are anything to go by, anime prducers might do well to feature more curvy girls…