Rinkai!, Episode 10: OL-chan Races for Survival!

Kinusa races for the Rookie Finals Race’s last spot. She trains with Kan-onji, whose cycling career is in danger.

Episode 10 — “Renewal”

Hmm.

Do you know what economists call fired employees in a low-unemployment economic environment? Churn. Even when employers are hungry to fill empty slots, they eliminate the deadweight for newer, better-performing workers. Anyone can debate whether ageism factors into decisions for lower wages in hiring practices. But the reality remains: poor performers must make way for the more efficient. Rinkai! tackles this delicate subject in the track cycling league’s dismissal policy. And this week’s episode also added nuance by comparing fighting for rankings at the bottom of the league to keep one’s job to those vying for top spots. Professional cycling, like any other sporting career, is a cruel meritocracy. Kinusa Takamatsu, aiming for the Rookie Finals, sympathized with her Kagawa Prefecture neighbor, Iko Kan-onji.

Rinkai! chose a heavy word for its episode title. 代謝 (たいしゃ, taisha) means “renewal, regeneration, metabolism.” But taisha also has a homophone word in 退社, which means “(1) resignation or leaving office, or (2) leaving work (e.g., at the end of the day).” Its primary definition fits Iko’s situation as she failed in her last race to beat the one rider she should have. The parallels between the Kagawa cyclists were as plain as their separate taisha words. Kinusa, who renewed herself from an office lady to a yoga instructor, and then to a professional track racer, was the opposite side of Iko’s coin, who had to leave office. The racing league had to metabolize its weaker cells to regenerate space for the next generation.

Rinkai! Makes Me Go Heh.

Remi Hiroshima is a manga snob and argues for subsidizing the commercial print industry! No, not really. She prefers reading manga panels on paper when her broken arm is in a sling. So, Remi indeed fell hard in the epilogue of last week’s Rinkai! episode. Ah. Remi has already qualified for one of the seven spots in the Rookie Finals. Unfortunately, her crash, injury, and rehab will keep her out of the event two months from now. There’s always next year! Remi’s misfortune could be Kinusa’s gain. Kinusa has two months to improve her rankings, which are much worse than Miko’s.

The office ladies of track cycling share plane rides together! Aoi Shizuoka is angry about her L13 Term friend, Iko Kan-onji, being near the bottom of their league’s rankings and that she could face dismissal. Uh oh. One of Aoi’s worst enemies, the L14 Term members, is on board! Iko Kan-onji, as her name suggests, is from the same prefecture as Kinusa Takamatsu. And they’re the same age! Too many things in common for tragedy not to happen in this Rinkai! episode.

Aw. Iko asks permission to call Kinusa “Kinu-chan,” as Miko does in her social media posts. They’re the same age, so why not? Hahaha! Iko outed Aoi as an L14 Term superfan. Aoi follows all their social media accounts! Uh oh. Kinusa noticed Iko training on the rollers instead of warming down after their race, which gave her flashbacks of Ai injuring herself. Oh. Iko is desperate. The dismissal protocol in their keirin league says the bottom three must resign, and Iko is on the bubble. Is this tier qualification system similar to what happened to Coach Kasuga? He said he needed to keep training to get back into the S-Class League.

The Top and Bottom Rungs of Rinkai!’s Ranking Ladder

Ack. Rinkai! lays down the schmaltz through Iko’s origin story. The bathos rules state that the more melodrama under the circumstances, the more anti-climactic the results. Iko shared attending keirin tracks with her grandpa, which inspired her to ride professionally for him. Thanks. We know what will happen now. Iko would sacrifice her thicc thighs to race for one more year! No! Not the thighs! Kinusa won’t let her because she saw what happened to her friend, Ai Kumamoto. Both ladies, Iko and Kinusa, were just happy to make it into the pro ranks. However, motivation after that has been scarce due to their peers’ high performance.

What? Izumi and Kinusa haven’t raced yet all season. Let’s see how Kinusa deals with the world champion’s chosen successor. Kinusa has high stamina to maintain an effort, according to the Rinkai! website, but can she sprint above her threshold whenever she needs to? Her fear of a black hole swallowing her career is good enough for motivation. And good enough for second place against Izumi! The fans loved her effort, obviously, because they got something for betting on her.

Rinkai!’s Tale of Two Keirin Races

Ooh. Kinusa took advantage of meeting Izumi again: Ask a world champion to coach her and Iko! Tsutsuji can’t say no to her kouhai. What’s the kendo shinai for? Spartan training, of course! Those world champions are such goofballs. Aha. Racing montage of Kinusa and Iko improving their racing results. The bathos meter says, “Check your hopes and dreams.” Of course! Two riders have already taken two of the three slots for dismissal because they have no more scheduled races for the season. Iko needs to stay ahead of only one other rider. You can predict what happens next in Rinkai!. Iko lost. Now, Kinusa has extra motivation to achieve her goal of getting into the rookies’ top seven.

The other six riders wait for her as they watch Kinusa’s last race. Kinusa’s mind is clear. Narratively, she has already won. Iko says goodbye to keirin cycling, so Kinusa has to say hello to the top tier.

Next time, the track cycling girls prepare for the Rookie Finals.

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Did you like how Kinusa, the eldest of our main characters, spent more time with the L13 Term students? I was not a fan of how Rinkai! had just introduced a character to throw her away by the end of the episode. What did you think? Let us know in the comments below.

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