
6. Yomigaeru Sora - Rescue Wings
Believe it or not, following high school, I was looking forward to a career as an officer in the United States Air Force. It’s not that I had a burning desire to serve my country or anything. Rather, the Air Force was offering me a full scholarship for college and an officer’s commission upon graduation. There was no way in hell I was passing up a full ride and a guaranteed job.
But, various things happened that year, and before I knew it, my scholarship was no more. A month from starting classes at an expensive university and with no way to pay for it, I scrambled to find an alternative. In the end, I landed at a university close to home, where the tuition was cheaper and I could bide my time until another scholarship became available.
Except, as is often the case in life, things worked out a bit differently than planned. I fell in love with my new school, found new interests, made new friends… might as well stay put, eh? And so I did. Ten years on, and I don’t regret that decision, for things worked out in their own weird way. But, in all honesty, I sometimes wonder: what if I hadn’t lost that scholarship? Would everything have worked out? Would I have been happy in the military?
Probably.
Perhaps that’s why I find Yomigaeru Sora - Rescue Wings such a compelling show. In some ways, I envy Kazuhiro, the protagonist, for the challenges he faces. I envy him for the responsibility that rests on his shoulders. I envy him for being in a position to help people when they most need it. I envy him for having such a damn cool job, I guess. It’s the sort of job I would have been good at, I think. An environment in which I would have thrived. I have to admit: when watching Rescue Wings, I wanted to be Kazuhiro so much it hurt.
And you know what? I think that was the point.




