{"id":400,"date":"2006-03-23T21:31:17","date_gmt":"2006-03-24T05:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/?p=400"},"modified":"2006-03-28T06:35:37","modified_gmt":"2006-03-28T14:35:37","slug":"rescue-wings-%e2%80%93-episode-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/?p=400","title":{"rendered":"Rescue Wings \u00e2\u20ac\u201c episode 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Precious One”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

An excellent episode that creates a real sense of community for those on Komatsu Air Base and absolutely sells Rescue Wings<\/i>.
\n
\nIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Golden Week, and people all over Japan are on holiday. “Emergencies don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take a holiday\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, however, and a standby team remains in Komatsu at all times. Not so for Uchida, who tells all of his co-workers that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going back to Okayama but decides instead to languish at home in his self pity.
\nThis misanthropic plan is thrown for a loop when Megumi comes to visit, but Uchida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not quite in his right mind.<\/p>\n

The earliest scenes of this episode feature two of the people remaining at the Komatsu Air Base talking about all of their co-workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 holidays. It was an enjoyable scene in that it emphasised the fact that people who work together like little more than talking about each other: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of their most common grounds, after all, and it promotes solidarity. <\/p>\n

We cut, then, to Uchida, who can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to get over Sakura. You really can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame him as the first loss is always the worst (although I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be cynical and say the fact that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a child is an artificial way to heighten that particular drama), but a series based around a sad-sack pilot who lashes out would be no fun at all.
\nEnter Megumi, the publisher with a heart of gold. I was initially very disappointed with the way that Uchida was treating Megumi, as anyone might expect when he yells at her all the time, and takes her on a fake tour of an allegedly more interesting town than his own. The facial animations in Rescue Wings<\/I> are truly spot on as you can easily get a very real sense of Megumi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boredom and Uchida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s faking enjoyment.<\/p>\n

Whenever someone tells another person, angrily, “you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve changed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d you know that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in for trouble. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s normally a hypocritical statement uttered by the person who has changed more, although in this case Uchida hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t changed so much as had his perceptions of the rescue squad have been utterly defeated.
\nThrough this \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and this is one of the best parts of the episode \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you learn that Megumi and Uchida aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so different: they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve both made it into their chosen fields but have landed jobs in those fields that they were not aiming for. Megumi takes it in stride and sees it as an experience, but Uchida takes his helicopter as a curse. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the same situation but a difference in attitude that sets them apart.<\/p>\n

I think that the true triumph of the episode is the references made to The Catcher in the Rye<\/i>. I hated that book so much, yet I can appreciate the analogy of a catcher in the rye and a rescue squad member. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a watershed moment that truly reconciles Megumi and Uchida (their forced kiss on the bridge hardly counts).<\/p>\n

The real fun begins when Uchida takes Megumi on a legitimate tour of Komatsu, as if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finally come to accept the place. Here they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like a real couple, and the warmth shines right through. The scenes are even capped off with an insert song with just about equals perfection.
\nThese scenes lead to an unexpected dose of hilarity: Uchida has become a subject of fun on the base, which is a sign that they have truly accepted him. It may be a Rescue Squadron that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working for, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also an office; I love that vibe.<\/p>\n

By making Uchida more than simply an angry young man, this episode has done Rescue Wings<\/I> a great service. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a rescue of a different sort, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the power of the human bond that truly makes this episode, and makes the series.
\nIf I gave grades, this would be pure A.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Precious One” An excellent episode that creates a real sense of community for those on Komatsu Air Base and absolutely sells Rescue Wings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rescue-wings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/anime\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}