Uplifting Aviation - Blue Thermal

 

Gliding is a form of flight that doesn’t require an engine, just the natural power of the wind. Blue Thermal offers a glimpse into the seemingly peaceful world of gliding. Without the roar of an engine, it’s a silent journey through the clouds as you soar toward the sprawling horizon before you. I imagine it would be a peaceful moment, soaring above the earth with your troubles far below. However, gliding isn’t just about relaxation. If you join a club, you're bound to encounter romance, drama, and racing!

Blue Thermal follows our spunky protagonist, Tsuru Tamaki, as she starts her college life. She pictures herself playing a sport, having a robust social life, and maybe even getting a boyfriend. However, when she tries out for tennis, her dreams seem shattered as she accidentally damages the wing of the aviation club’s glider. Tsuru offers to pay for the repairs and learns it will cost thousands of dollars. In a very Ouran High School Host Club fashion, Tsuru joins the aviation club.

Gliding is a hobby I didn’t realize existed before watching this film. It can even become a job if you take the right tests! Small planes are lifted into the air by long tow ropes before being released. The pilots need to find gusts of wind to stay aloft or slowly descend back to earth. The flights can be surprisingly long, sometimes lasting for hours with the right winds. They can also cover great distances, again depending on the conditions. I feel like I walked away with a valuable lesson. Blue Thermal wasn’t afraid to get technical. I believe the writer was genuinely interested in the niche subject matter and was excited to share it with the world. I appreciate that.

Tsuru is presented to viewers as authentic; she’s not one-dimensional. People are drawn to her, and although she may stumble, she remains confident. She lights up any room she’s in and carries a strong sense of responsibility. Even when faced with Hatori, a rival aviation club member who tries to be cruel to her, Tsuru manages to turn his attitude around. By beating him in the first round of races, she shakes his confidence. Tsuru doesn’t want to see Hatori give up after experiencing defeat for the first time, but she becomes a target for him to strive against. She won’t let him fail, and they’ll push each other to be better.

There is a distinct lack of real problems in this movie. When dark storm clouds roll in for the first time while Tsuru is flying, I thought, “Here we go, she’s going to crash.” I held my breath, waiting for a crash that never came. There is a crash later, but it happens off-screen, and I wasn’t convinced anyone was hurt—spoiler alert: they weren’t. I found myself a bit disappointed that everything went so smoothly. However, the movie provides a surprising reason for why things unfold so easily for Tsuru. This revelation comes through Yano, Tsuru’s half-sister, and then the lukewarm drama begins. Yano is cold towards her half-sister and is the only person who can make Tsuru doubt her abilities.

Early in the film, Tsuru has a flashback of a young girl in her father’s study while he tells her he barely noticed her presence. That’s not the Tsuru we see, so I assumed the movie was setting up breadcrumbs. I expected Tsuru to reveal that she was a shy child who grew into her confident personality, which seemed like a fitting theme for the film. Tsuru picks up a new skill without much hesitation, and flying a glider seems intimidating. However, we learn from Yano that she was the girl standing in her father’s study, and Tsuru was the bright apple of her parents’ eye. This revelation caught me off guard, even though the clues were somewhat apparent. Tsuru picks up gliding almost effortlessly, being able to read the wind with no training. Usually, in media, we follow the underdog—the character we can connect with. In this case, we follow the golden child, who is often the adversary we hope to see slip up. When she does have a significant slip-up, she thinks of her older half-sibling, who seems to have had a challenging childhood and was pushed to the side. I wonder if Tsuru goes quiet around Yano because she feels responsible for Yano’s chilly reception from their parents. This is Tsuru taking her punishment for hurting Yano. Tsuru is the character we love to hate, and we fall under her charming spell just like every other character.

Speaking of characters under Tsuru’s charming spell, there is a love triangle! Too bad the chosen love interest is the guy with whom she has almost zero chemistry. It’s disappointing because Daisuke is right there, and they are set up like enemies-to-lovers! He’s even her fake boyfriend! Instead, we get a needlessly dramatic ending that is a little too on-the-nose. Kuramochi even calls her out for sounding like she was proposing to him. Unfortunately, the payoff didn’t work for me, and I didn’t feel the strong emotions they were trying to evoke.

Blue Thermal was cute, fun, and an easy watch on a Saturday afternoon when you have no power—that’s when I watched it. It’s a feel-good movie from beginning to end that I can guarantee will bring at least a smile to your face. It was refreshing to see a topic I don’t think I’ve seen covered before. I would recommend Blue Thermal for an easy viewing movie night with snacks.