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, 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.
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 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.
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.
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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