Dumbbell nan Kiro Moteru – 08

「遭難したらどうする?」 (Sounan Shitara Dou Suru?)
“What If We Get Lost?”

With this week’s episode, we’re given insight on Satomi’s close colleagues, Aina-sensei and Kure-sensei. As they get further invested in heading towards Silverman Gym more often, however, they are also taking proactive measures to immerse themselves into the trials and tribulations the girls face with their upcoming trip to Mount Kuji, also known as the Mountain of the Dead.

Much like the other members of the cast, Aina and Kure make for fun additions to the series, providing the narrative with more opportunities to find humor and productivity in their exercising regimens. Aina synergizes the best with Satomi as they find themselves mutually trying to achieve their body goals and find happiness while teaching at high school. The breakout star of the episode was definitely Kure, a married teacher who embodies the stereotypes behind a Yamato Nadeshiko on the surface. However, you come to learn more about her dark side as the episode progresses when she regularly shifts into a ghastly and demonic presence upon hearing comments that imply that those around her are impressed by her age as the oldest woman in the cast. Additionally, she has room to be funny when she embraces the macabre nature of the mountain and swears to get revenge on Aina. The hike was a great opportunity for the two to shine, and Aina had her fair share of hilarious moments such as when she reached a common wavelength with Hibiki in preparing to die in the mountains by getting their wills and licenses ready for whoever finds them in the forest. Overall, it was a smooth introduction for Aina and Kure, and does a great job at foreshadowing a new, imposing threat who had finally found Macchio.

Because of the circumstances that lead Aina and Kure to track down Satomi at Silverman Gym, the exercises featured in the episodes rely on the two new characters’ involvement in the routines. Considering that Aina wanted to focus on her side muscles, exercises she took part in honed in on utilizing bicycle crunches and side-bending with weights to help tone these parts of her body. Since a majority of this episode is focused on a hiking trip, there are also some nifty tips for how to maintain perfect shape and composure while you’re out in the wilderness. Hiking, in particular, gets a unique spotlight with Kure giving her advice from a traditional Japanese room, complete with sliding door transitions and exercise tidbits that also emphasize practicing in-doors or at home. This one will be a little more situational based on whether you need to climb trees or accidentally get trapped in the Atari game Pitfall, but the climbing tips were also very useful to have on-hand. This episode’s final note at the end is similarly useful for when you want to hike or jog by utilizing lunges to help strengthen the muscles you’d use to maintain endurance and lift your legs up in the perfect posture to prepare yourself for some productive leg-work. While the tips we are given recently have been a little all-over-the-place as far as their central theme within a particular episode, the hiking trip does help reign in the theming issue by honing in on muscle training that improves leg and side muscles. It was also great to see Aina and Kure integrate themselves into the cast easily as well with how well they mesh with the rest of the characters and how fun they are to watch standalone.

Omake: