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This series is very unappreciated. So much so, that this is my first review, as I want people to know how great it is.

It focuses on a young man, Uchida Kazuhiro, who failed to become a fighter pilot, and is assigned to a rescue squadron to fly helicopters... which he strongly dislikes the idea of. Without spoiling it, it's pretty simple to say his character develops significantly over the course of the story. It's well paced, very realistic (set in modern, current day totally real world, no sci-fi elements) and some episodes are truly moving. Very well written dialogue and events. This is pretty much ... a pure drama, and that may not appeal to everybody, but there is a degree of action, romance and even some comedy that may keep in some who usually avoid drama.

Art wise, it's also superb. Fitting character design, beautiful background art, and the flight scenes are excellent. Some CG is used, but it never feels out of place or inappropriate. It does a great job of capturing the action, and in some events (a rescue in a blizzard on a mountain, for example) shows how poor visibility can be in such situations. It really can make you feel like you're there in the action at times.

Sound, well the voices were all excellent, while Miyazaki Issei is pretty much an unknown name, he played Kazuhiro very well. The other major characters, and even the victims in rescue cases were all very well suited and nothing felt out of place. The music was subtle, and never overpowering unlike some series where it can 'get in the way' but it really did help with the impact of some scenes.

Character wise, I believe this is one of the best character development series of all time, especially so for being so short. From being a snotty little transfer not liking his assigned job, Kazuhiro grows significantly over the course of the story. If there were a down side to this story, though, it would be his sadly undeveloped relationship with his girlfriend Megumi, beautifully voiced by Noto Mamiko. She had her own problems over the course of the series, which was a whole sub-plot, and IMO could have used a bit more development, but it wasn't distracting enough to warrant a score less than 10 (maybe a 9.5 at worst).

Overall, it's an incredibly enjoyable series. It's very easy to sit and watch all in one go, being so short, you can easily burn through it all without noticing the time because of it being so well paced and enthralling. Also if you get the releases by Froth-Bite, they're chaptered, so you can effortlessly skip the OP/ED to burn through them all quickly. Though, the OP and ED are decent and may be worth listening to, if you're in to that... ^^;

Really though, give this series a shot. It's still unlicensed as of the writing of this review, so should be easy to find for download around the vastness of the internet. Do yourself a favour; it'll be the best two Gb you can spend on a single series.