Aibu Saki reveals her “fat” figure for “Rebound” drama

Actress Aibu Saki showed off her transformation into a “fat” 78 kg version of herself for the new drama, “Rebound”, which will be shown on Wednesdays at 10:00 PM on NTV.

The makeup process to turn Aibu obese takes approximately two hours a day, and reflecting on her experience of being “bigger”, the actress expressed surprise that, “My voice becomes deep, perhaps because my vocal cords are pressed down by the thickness of the flesh around my throat. I was a little shocked myself.”

“Rebound” is a drama about a girl who goes through elementary, middle, and high schools being obese, and revolves around her fight to shed her excess flab while dealing with work and love. Aibu plays the main character in three different weights, with a maximum of 78 kg, and reflected on her trying experience, saying, “It was harder to move my body than I had imagined. I was a little worried. There was also considerable stress on my skin. It was like I was on land in a wet suit and my skin could not breath”.

When Aibu sent her mother a picture of her fat self, “[She] received the reply, ‘If you work a little harder you’ll look a little like mom’. [Her] mom is a little chubby (laughter).”

The drama also features actress Kuriyama Chiaki, who plays Aibu’s close friend from school, Kazuchi Ryo, her college ex-boyfriend, and Hayami Mokomichi, the pastry chef who becomes her new flame. Other members of the cast include Wakamura Mayumi and Nishiyama Maki, who play the editor at Aibu’s workplace and a magazine fashion model, respectively.

“Rebound” will use the subject matter of dieting in order to explore questions such as, “Does thin equal beautiful?”, “Where does fat tend to accumulate?”, and “What is the true meaning of beauty?”, and will definitely highly appeal to female viewers.

Source: Oricon Style


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  • NJ982

    Wow I didn’t recognise her !!

  • Anonymous

    how did they do this!!!

  • MinahMyu

    Well I do hope it stick with those themes ^^ I will watch!

  • MinahMyu

    Well I do hope it stick with those themes ^^ I will watch!

  • MinahMyu

    Well I do hope it stick with those themes ^^ I will watch!

  • Rubyy

    This drama seems like its going to be good… I look forward to watching it :D

  • Rubyy

    This drama seems like its going to be good… I look forward to watching it :D

  • Rubyy

    This drama seems like its going to be good… I look forward to watching it :D

  • Rubyy

    This drama seems like its going to be good… I look forward to watching it :D

  • dudebro

    “Does thin equal beautiful?”

    There’s a simple way to answer that question: is Saki Aibu more attractive as herself or in a fat suit? Almost nobody is going to pick the latter.

  • http://www.6theory.com/forum/index.php/user/93383-fara7/ Fara7

    Lol! Never pictured Aibu Saki FAT! xD The drama sounds interesting. Guess it goes to my plan to watch list :D

  • http://www.6theory.com/forum/index.php/user/93383-fara7/ Fara7

    Lol! Never pictured Aibu Saki FAT! xD The drama sounds interesting. Guess it goes to my plan to watch list :D

  • http://www.6theory.com/forum/index.php/user/93383-fara7/ Fara7

    Lol! Never pictured Aibu Saki FAT! xD The drama sounds interesting. Guess it goes to my plan to watch list :D

  • Super~Nezumi

    Been looking forward to this drama, I’ve liked Aibu since Attention Please. She looks adorable as a Chubby! Doubt any serious answers will come from this drama any more than they did from BusuKoi (after all, they are just tv shows) but if it encourages viewers to work naturally towards a healthy weight and lifestyle, then it’s a start. “Does thin equal beautiful?” – ummm, I’ve seen some really physically ugly thin guys and ladies. Having lived in a South Asian and currently living in a Latino community I’ve seen some gorgeous “chubbies” too. I seem to remember BusuKoi asking “what is the true meaning of beauty” too, hopefully Rebound will do a better job of inspiring women to be beautiful in their own eyes rather than worrying what society perceives. It’s unhealthy to twist yourself (regardless of gender) to anyone’s idea of “perfect” rather than your own!

  • MinahMyu

    But like that saying is beauty is in the eye of the beholder… I think there are a handful of big people who are really cute/beautiful. If someone looks attractive… then they look attractive… To me it’s the same with the whole skin color and stuff. Not all thin people are cute either~

  • Luella_M

    O GOD AIBU!! XDDD She looks hilarious…

    but please never let your self look like that again! XD

  • MinahMyu

    But they say BusuKoi was really based off a true story (and that was pretty much what happened in real life. It’s not physical appearance that attract people) but I do think it will get people thinking though (I really hope so anyway… but the fact she’s in a fat suit might mean by the end of the series she will be thin… and I dunno who that will be… I dunno. I hope it doesn’t prove “being thin is the way to go because of society!” But I will understand if it’s like for health reasons though that she lose weight)

    But I agree with pretty much what you said. But just the fact the leading girl is big usually means it has to do with weight issues… there just can’t be a regular drama with a girl who just so happens to be big. Same with dramas with gay guys. They either have to be so stereotypical flamboyant gay or really depressed that hey like guys (why not just a guy who happens to be gay without the added cliche stuff?) Still have a long way to go for people to just be people on TV shows without the typical stereotypes

  • http://twitter.com/xenyll Isabel Wong

    Wow didn’t recognize her either O_O And her new flame is played by Hayami again x3? (Zettai Kareshi~~)

    I’ll be stalking this drama <3

  • dudebro

    There are always exceptions, and also people with a fat fetish, but virtually everyone would prefer thin Aibu over fat Aibu.

  • dudebro

    “It’s not physical appearance that attract people.”

    This is often true for women, but men consider physical attractiveness extremely important. It’s just biology.

  • Neika

    seem interesting

  • MinahMyu

    It goes both ways too. Just like people keep thinking guys are way hornier than girls (totally not true either) Girls can be just the same with guys when it comes to looks…

    And in BusuKoi it was the girl who was big and the guy who was the “dreamy Johnny dude” and well… it wasn’t the physical beauty that attracted him to her

  • MinahMyu

    Because it’s conditioned in our minds to think that way too

  • dudebro

    I am obviously making (accurate) generalizations here. You are not proving anything by pointing out that a rule has an exception. As for BusuKoi, it’s a television drama. Not reality.

  • dudebro

    It’s biology.

  • MinahMyu

    Ok and I’m just saying that the reason why we think like that is also how we were influenced while growing up. We just don’t automatically know “oh that’s pretty and that’s ugly!” But whatever *shrugs* Though it’s reality still based on the fact a man met a woman who isn’t thought to be beautiful in general and is attracted to her without that. And it’s not a rule (who came up with the rule? For that matter how is a rule? ) But if you feel like going back and forth with it

  • kawaiimiko

    This kinda reminds me of this Columbian drama, Betty la Fea, only it was about an ugly lady who turns beautiful in the end. I can guess that this is how this drama might end, Aibu removing her fat suit and becoming skinny and beautiful in the end.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_P4ZYSQBACT7XBGQXNQHZJ3W3TA Sid Simone

    Omg lol what did they do to Aibu Saki?!!! :))))))))))))) I have to watch this drama btw it s been a while since i ve watch my last jdrama

  • dudebro

    Sexual attraction is primarily rooted in biology.

    Even if BusuKoi is an exact representation of what occured in reality (unlikely), it’s still nothing but an anomaly. It isn’t representative of how most men choose a girlfriend.

    And who came up with the rule? Nature did.

  • MinahMyu

    I never said it was a representation of anything (yeah I know it’s great to twist my words around whoooh!) It’s natural to sexually attracted to someone… but not natural because of what society says is sexually attractive

    (I’m just gonna stop because I feel bad to talk about something that’s pretty much off topic. My view isn’t gonna change though and of course not yours just don’t like how you’re coming at me either. It is online so I don’t know what kinda tone you have here)

  • MinahMyu

    I never said it was a representation of anything (yeah I know it’s great to twist my words around whoooh!) It’s natural to sexually attracted to someone… but not natural because of what society says is sexually attractive

    (I’m just gonna stop because I feel bad to talk about something that’s pretty much off topic. My view isn’t gonna change though and of course not yours just don’t like how you’re coming at me either. It is online so I don’t know what kinda tone you have here)

  • MinahMyu

    I never said it was a representation of anything (yeah I know it’s great to twist my words around whoooh!) It’s natural to sexually attracted to someone… but not natural because of what society says is sexually attractive

    (I’m just gonna stop because I feel bad to talk about something that’s pretty much off topic. My view isn’t gonna change though and of course not yours just don’t like how you’re coming at me either. It is online so I don’t know what kinda tone you have here)

  • MinahMyu

    I never said it was a representation of anything (yeah I know it’s great to twist my words around whoooh!) It’s natural to sexually attracted to someone… but not natural because of what society says is sexually attractive

    (I’m just gonna stop because I feel bad to talk about something that’s pretty much off topic. My view isn’t gonna change though and of course not yours just don’t like how you’re coming at me either. It is online so I don’t know what kinda tone you have here)

  • akuma

    oo interesting

  • akuma

    oo interesting

  • akuma

    oo interesting

  • akuma

    oo interesting

  • dudebro

    Human societies didn’t randomly decide to all have the same beauty standards. It’s biology.

  • Super~Nezumi

    *Love* your last line!! Yup, yup, yup, totally agree with you. On all points (the gay thing irritates me too – so not my reality at all) Rebound is a drama while BusuKoi was based on the real-life variety writer who’d written for SMAPxSMAP and his comedienne wife. I’d mentioned it because I thought at the time they also mentioned the similar questions about beauty, “OMG, can a Busu (ughhh) find love with a good-looking guy???” Yup, thank you for understanding what I was trying to say about weight. If a person (male or female) wants to lose weight naturally (not by quick-fix pills or surgery) for better health then I encourage it whole-heartedly. If they want to lose weight to look good for someone then it’s just a waste. If someone doesn’t like or love you as you are then they’re not worth it. (I think that was kind of the message of BusuKoi too).

    I think (from what I’ve read) Rebound deals with Aibu’s appearance mostly herself rather than wearing the suit most of the drama. And yeah, like BusuKoi it sounds like food and dieting will be an issue (although obviously in BusuKoi she decided to accept herself as-is thankfully but it was still an issue ::sigh). You’re right, we are not to the point where we can have a woman of any size or ‘attractiveness’ level in a show without making a big deal about it. Funny how people can complain about certain aspects of a drama not being ‘realistic’ enough but few complain about that (^o^)
    I guess it makes it easier for (predominantly) men to live in a fantasy that no matter how fat or ugly men are, women should be ___cm high, ____kgs and have a specific face and hair style.

    I keep telling myself it’s a drama (and one I want to see) but I hope the writers and Aibu will take the opportunity to encourage women to be happy with themselves regardless of what society says.

  • Super~Nezumi

    *Love* your last line!! Yup, yup, yup, totally agree with you. On all points (the gay thing irritates me too – so not my reality at all) Rebound is a drama while BusuKoi was based on the real-life variety writer who’d written for SMAPxSMAP and his comedienne wife. I’d mentioned it because I thought at the time they also mentioned the similar questions about beauty, “OMG, can a Busu (ughhh) find love with a good-looking guy???” Yup, thank you for understanding what I was trying to say about weight. If a person (male or female) wants to lose weight naturally (not by quick-fix pills or surgery) for better health then I encourage it whole-heartedly. If they want to lose weight to look good for someone then it’s just a waste. If someone doesn’t like or love you as you are then they’re not worth it. (I think that was kind of the message of BusuKoi too).

    I think (from what I’ve read) Rebound deals with Aibu’s appearance mostly herself rather than wearing the suit most of the drama. And yeah, like BusuKoi it sounds like food and dieting will be an issue (although obviously in BusuKoi she decided to accept herself as-is thankfully but it was still an issue ::sigh). You’re right, we are not to the point where we can have a woman of any size or ‘attractiveness’ level in a show without making a big deal about it. Funny how people can complain about certain aspects of a drama not being ‘realistic’ enough but few complain about that (^o^)
    I guess it makes it easier for (predominantly) men to live in a fantasy that no matter how fat or ugly men are, women should be ___cm high, ____kgs and have a specific face and hair style.

    I keep telling myself it’s a drama (and one I want to see) but I hope the writers and Aibu will take the opportunity to encourage women to be happy with themselves regardless of what society says.

  • Super~Nezumi

    *Love* your last line!! Yup, yup, yup, totally agree with you. On all points (the gay thing irritates me too – so not my reality at all) Rebound is a drama while BusuKoi was based on the real-life variety writer who’d written for SMAPxSMAP and his comedienne wife. I’d mentioned it because I thought at the time they also mentioned the similar questions about beauty, “OMG, can a Busu (ughhh) find love with a good-looking guy???” Yup, thank you for understanding what I was trying to say about weight. If a person (male or female) wants to lose weight naturally (not by quick-fix pills or surgery) for better health then I encourage it whole-heartedly. If they want to lose weight to look good for someone then it’s just a waste. If someone doesn’t like or love you as you are then they’re not worth it. (I think that was kind of the message of BusuKoi too).

    I think (from what I’ve read) Rebound deals with Aibu’s appearance mostly herself rather than wearing the suit most of the drama. And yeah, like BusuKoi it sounds like food and dieting will be an issue (although obviously in BusuKoi she decided to accept herself as-is thankfully but it was still an issue ::sigh). You’re right, we are not to the point where we can have a woman of any size or ‘attractiveness’ level in a show without making a big deal about it. Funny how people can complain about certain aspects of a drama not being ‘realistic’ enough but few complain about that (^o^)
    I guess it makes it easier for (predominantly) men to live in a fantasy that no matter how fat or ugly men are, women should be ___cm high, ____kgs and have a specific face and hair style.

    I keep telling myself it’s a drama (and one I want to see) but I hope the writers and Aibu will take the opportunity to encourage women to be happy with themselves regardless of what society says.

  • Super~Nezumi

    *Love* your last line!! Yup, yup, yup, totally agree with you. On all points (the gay thing irritates me too – so not my reality at all) Rebound is a drama while BusuKoi was based on the real-life variety writer who’d written for SMAPxSMAP and his comedienne wife. I’d mentioned it because I thought at the time they also mentioned the similar questions about beauty, “OMG, can a Busu (ughhh) find love with a good-looking guy???” Yup, thank you for understanding what I was trying to say about weight. If a person (male or female) wants to lose weight naturally (not by quick-fix pills or surgery) for better health then I encourage it whole-heartedly. If they want to lose weight to look good for someone then it’s just a waste. If someone doesn’t like or love you as you are then they’re not worth it. (I think that was kind of the message of BusuKoi too).

    I think (from what I’ve read) Rebound deals with Aibu’s appearance mostly herself rather than wearing the suit most of the drama. And yeah, like BusuKoi it sounds like food and dieting will be an issue (although obviously in BusuKoi she decided to accept herself as-is thankfully but it was still an issue ::sigh). You’re right, we are not to the point where we can have a woman of any size or ‘attractiveness’ level in a show without making a big deal about it. Funny how people can complain about certain aspects of a drama not being ‘realistic’ enough but few complain about that (^o^)
    I guess it makes it easier for (predominantly) men to live in a fantasy that no matter how fat or ugly men are, women should be ___cm high, ____kgs and have a specific face and hair style.

    I keep telling myself it’s a drama (and one I want to see) but I hope the writers and Aibu will take the opportunity to encourage women to be happy with themselves regardless of what society says.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1392894732 Chelsea Feliciano

    Personally since I am a little chubby, I don’t think a role like this should be played by a skinny woman. How do they know how it really feels? It would be far more authentic/believable if the person herself was bigger.

    Love Aibu Saki but yeah…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1392894732 Chelsea Feliciano

    Personally since I am a little chubby, I don’t think a role like this should be played by a skinny woman. How do they know how it really feels? It would be far more authentic/believable if the person herself was bigger.

    Love Aibu Saki but yeah…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1392894732 Chelsea Feliciano

    Personally since I am a little chubby, I don’t think a role like this should be played by a skinny woman. How do they know how it really feels? It would be far more authentic/believable if the person herself was bigger.

    Love Aibu Saki but yeah…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1392894732 Chelsea Feliciano

    Personally since I am a little chubby, I don’t think a role like this should be played by a skinny woman. How do they know how it really feels? It would be far more authentic/believable if the person herself was bigger.

    Love Aibu Saki but yeah…

  • Sunny_bunny18

    look forward to this drama, but I find funny that in Asia been 78kg is obese but compared to USA’s and Australia’s who’s obese people are 100kg and over.
    Man it would suck been a obese person in East Asia.

  • Anonymous

    I think the experience would probably be life changing. A skinny person will learn how it’s like. I used to be a pretty obese guy, now I’m pretty damned skinny. I don’t think it’s a bad call.

  • Anonymous

    Whoops, I accidentally put liked when I meant to reply. Actually, if you study history extensively enough, you’ll find that fat was in during medieval Europe. Not huge women, but one of a certain girth has been biologically proven to be attractive.

    That doesn’t mean that society can’t have biologically changing influences. If you’ll simply study some biological studies of women’s periods in developed countries you’ll see that society does indeed affect biology.

    That being said, skinny Aibu has my vote.

  • Super~Nezumi

    Good point! I was thinking something similar when I read her comments about her skin not being able to breathe from the suit. Why get a skinny chick to play someone who is not supposed to be? Obviously the experience is not going to be the same. Hopefully Aibu got more understanding from being her “fat self” (ugh) and perhaps it would have been good experience for her to go out incognito in public in it to get a feel of how she would be treated at 78kg! If they weren’t going to have an authentic-sized person for the role (or at least part of it) then perhaps she would’ve been able to bring more to her portrayal if she’d lived like the character for a bit.

  • Super~Nezumi

    Lol, I did think of Yo Soy Betty, La Fea and the novela Venezolana Mi Gorda Bella when I first heard of Rebound! I hope Rebound will be more assertive in self-acceptance than those were although I think there were some good messages. In the Betty sequel, Eco-Moda, I think Betty was still insecure despite being seen as pretty, which I thought was a good point. I wonder how much of all that Rebound will be able to deal with in 9-12 episodes…

  • MinahMyu

    It sucks just being average for me anyway… I went to SKorea and Japan a few years ago… bye bye clothes shopping ;_;… (and also I’m quite taller than the average girl ^^;; and have big feet) so yeah…. that went down the drain to dooooo (and soooooo many cute clothes >< ! )

  • MinahMyu

    I thought that too but I came to the conclusion: she will probably get thin by the end of the series… So they will just take the suit off of her instead of getting a 2 people to play the role. But I think this comes with acting though. Actors portray different type of people so I think she can take this role in as way to understand how it is to be bigger and stuff and using Method acting (not sure if many do anyway……….) but just assuming if they do. Like Will Smith portraying Muhammad Ali… he had to prep himself in that mindset and prepare for that role (actually heard he got too into his character and became a big snobby from it)

  • neemy

    hayami mokomichi is gonna be in it!!!! yes!!! the story is interesting, i definitely want to watch. :D

  • Rose2

    Look interesting!

  • blahblahbah

    I must watch this!!!! I like Mokomichi <333

  • Anonymous

    “Sexual attraction is primarily rooted in biology.”
    ^ This, you could argue.

    “Human societies didn’t randomly decide to all have the same beauty standards. It’s biology.”
    ^ This, however, is untrue. Societies that have been westernized also adopted Western ideas of beauty, such as thinness and certain facial features. If you look in other countries that aren’t as heavily influenced by Western culture, beauty standards deviate quite a bit. In Mauritania, for example, it’s considered extremely attractive for a woman to be large.

  • 123PoP

    wow the picture looks like a real overweight person their great with the make up and costume ^.^
    ooh i wanna see it ..

  • CarEAcT

    this is what 78 kg looks like? wow….and here I thought that her character is probably 90kg and above….

  • dudebro

    Mauritania is an outlier that proves absolutely nothing.

  • dudebro

    “If someone doesn’t like or love you as you are then they’re not worth it.”

    And what if you are, for example, overweight, smelly, poorly dressed and boring? Have fun dating the bottom of the barrel. Or you could lose weight, stop smelling, dress better and become more interesting.

    “I guess it makes it easier for (predominantly) men to live in a fantasy that no matter how fat or ugly men are, women should be ___cm high, ____kgs and have a specific face and hair style.”

    That’s not a fantasy. If a man has enough status and/or money, women will flock to him even if he is fat and ugly.

    “I keep telling myself it’s a drama (and one I want to see) but I hope the writers and Aibu will take the opportunity to encourage women to be happy with themselves regardless of what society says.”

    Why is pretending to be happy with obesity preferable to losing weight?

  • Zane Lina

    i’m 75 kg but i’m so far on looking like this… O_O

  • Guest

    You have to consider that she’s not really as tall as western women. Aibu is roughly 165 cm tall, so I would guess her usual weight slightly below 50 kilos. So the character would be almost 30 kilos (roughly 66 pounds) heavier. 30 kilos is a lot, especially on small women like her.

    “Does thin equal beautiful?” No. Look at all those anorexic top models. 180 tall, 50-60 kilos. YUCK!

    “Where does fat tend to accumulate?” Different people have a different pattern. For me it’s accumulating around the waist, and nowhere else. Other people have it spread out across the body.

    “What is the true meaning of beauty?” There is none. Beauty is largely a subjective thing. Different people will consider different things beautiful. And beauty ideals change over time. Plus, I’m one of the people who see a difference between “beautiful” and “attractive”. Beautiful, easily achieved. Attractive, good look with that.

    Looking forward to it. And the bonus is… it has Kuriyama Chiaki.

  • msgaijin

    That’s a pity… somehow I can imagine what you were feeling at that moment :)

  • Lost_inSakura

    “Does thin equal beautiful?”, “Where does fat tend to accumulate?”, and “What is the true meaning of beauty?”

    Because of this I’m definitely watching it.