Yomigaeru Sora ~ Rescue Wings Ep 02: Konnan na Shigoto (A Difficult Job)

The earthquake strikes the coastal region and Hongo watches the news closely for reports on the situation. His wife, Midori mentions that their daughter Atsuko will be entering primary school tomorrow. Seeing his concerned look while watching the TV, she asks if the Komatsu rescue team will be called for duty but Hongo says that it will happen if the earthquake affects the Uryuujima area and casualties arise.

Meanwhile, Nishida is on a date with her boyfriend who remarks that she gets a pretty good pay for her job. Just then, she is recalled to work which leads him to comment that she's going on a date with the aeroplanes again. Nishida apologises and says that this is part of her job before rushing back to the Komatsu base.

Midori comments that she's relieved that he's not on duty today but the phone call from Murakami means that he has to report to work. As Hongo prepares to return to the base, Atsuko comes to ask if he has to go out at this hour. Although Hongo's wife assures Atsuko that she will be back soon after sending Hongo to the base, Atsuko starts to cry as she's scared of being alone at home. Having no choice, Hongo has to let Atsuko tag along during the ride back to Komatsu. As such, this leads Midori to complain that he has been spoiling Atsuko too much and she becomes the disciplinarian in the family instead.

On the way, Hongo meets Uchida who is riding his bicycle back to Komatsu. Hongo points out bluntly that Uchida is simply wasting his energy before a mission by cycling and reminds him to keep this as a hobby rather than a means of transport. Uchida retorts that he's grateful for the advice but Hongo can see that he doesn't feel this way. Midori teases him for bullying newbies but he stresses that he's just training Uchida.

Actually, Hongo is recalled to work because the two pilots on duty, Sato and Tanaka were travelling in the same car where Sato ended up with a fractured arm. That is also why Uchida has been recalled as a backup. Murakami reminds Uchida not to wander around since the team may be activated at any moment.

The briefing begins in the operation room where they find out that Uryuujima is badly affected by the earthquake with fires breaking out at several spots. As aftershocks are likely to happen and there is a heavy downpour in the area, this increases the complexity of the rescue operation coupled with steep terrain on the island. When Hongo sees Tanaka holding his hand gingerly, he senses that the latter should have sustained some injuries during the accident even though he claimed otherwise.

After the meeting, Hongo asks Tanaka about the extent of his injuries and realises that he has injured his wrist. However, Tanaka insists that he's able to take part in the rescue operation. Hongo and Murakami judge that Tanaka is just putting on a brave front thus decide to take Uchida along for the mission too in case the need arises.

As they make preparations, Hongo reminds Uchida not to be a nuisance to others since he's just a reserve. Uchida replies unhappily that he will stick to the rules in response to Hongo's remarks.

Soon after takeoff, the team receive instructions to save someone trapped along the coastline as her car has been thrown off the collapsed road due to the earthquake. Uchida is amazed at how the rescue team works seamlessly. As the victim's condition is rather serious, the first-aid team suggests returning to base so that she can receive treatment.

Before they can do so, the team receive instructions to transport some injured people who had gathered at a school. As such, Hongo makes the decision to help those people after consulting his team on the first victim's condition and the amount of fuel they have.

Upon landing, the team finds out that there are as many as 16 injured people in the school thus the first-aid staff have to decide who gets priority according to the severity of the injuries so as to avoid controversies over preferential treatment. Hongo orders Uchida to help the first-aid team instead of treating the mission like a mere excursion.

At the same time, Megumi is at work and asks her superior for permission to switch on the TV as she's worried about Uchida. While she is engrossed about watching the news, her superior asks if she knows about Uryuujima since he remembers that Megumi's hometown is in Okayama. Megumi can only manage a weak smile as she keeps an eye on the situation.

Hongo orders Uchida to stay behind with a member of the first-aid team to look after the remaining injured people as the helicopter returns to base for the treatment of 8 victims. The situation looks set to worsen due to the bad weather and the aftershocks.

An old man in the school has an asthma attack but his medicine is left at home. Uchida offers to return to the old man's house for the medicine despite the place being a state of ruins and aftershocks making it difficult for him to move around. Luckily, he manages to find the medicine and even brings the pet of the family along back to the school. Unknown to him, a little girl looks at what has happened as she draws a picture of her pet...

Upon reaching the base, Hongo tells Tanaka to receive treatment for his wrist as the mechanists fight against time to get the helicopter ready for the next mission. At the same time, more reinforcements arrive to take part in the rescue operation for other areas. A Niigata helicopter has also taken some of the injured to their base thus the remaining will be transported by the Komatsu team.

Just when Uchida thinks that he can heave a sigh of relief, a couple tells them that their daughter Sakura could have slipped back to their home so as to save their pet dog which was left behind when they evacuated to the school. Apparently, Uchida's action of saving the pet for the old man's family caused Sakura to think that she could do the same which makes him regret doing this. When an aftershock causes another landslide in the area where Sakura lives in, Uchida runs towards her house, hoping to save the 3-year-old girl while his teammate asks for more details about Sakura and her address. Uchida is filled with regret as his well-meaning action could have caused another person to be hurt...

With regards to the story, I have nothing to pick on since I find the pace quite acceptable and the rescue operation very intriguing to watch. I believe the reality factor of the series will be an important reason for me to stay on till the end.

However, there are two issues which I think should be looked into. First of all, the character design of the Komatsu team seem to be so similar that I have problems distinguishing them from one another. Imagine having to refer to the official website to confirm and it was quite a hassle to do that while writing this review. Maybe it's just my own problem of being bad at remembering faces but I must say this is the first series where I have the issue of not being able to identify characters based on appearance.

Secondly, it's obvious to see that the animation for the planes are done in a very realistic manner. However, comparing it to the surroundings exposes the problem of the same amount of effort not being applied to the scenery and characters. As such, it feels weird to see a realistic object within an animated setting.

Talking about the issue in this episode, Uchida meant well by saving the pet since he was at the house to retrieve the old man's medicine. However, he would never have dreamt that a harmless action like this resulted in a little girl trying to do the same. On hindsight, everyone can say what they should not have done in the first place but when things happen at that moment, it's hard to imagine that something of dire consequences would arise as a result. Thus, I don't really think Uchida was at fault here but of course, I don't think he can get over this especially if anything happens to that little girl.