Tragic Backstory Origins

Author's Note: All copyrights for the images in this comic go to their respective owners.

Today marks the 40th Anniversary of the Japan Airlines Flight 123 tragedy that has left enormous scars to this very day. With 520 fatalities, it still remains the worst single-plane crash in aviation history.

It may have been possible that Sailor Moon author Naoko Takeuchi drew inspiration from the Japan Airlines Flight 123 crash for the tragic backstory revolving around the death of Makoto Kino's parents in a plane crash. This may not be true, but we still do not know yet.

Overshadowed by Bloodbaths

Author's Note: While 17 July 2024 marks 25 years since the official debut of Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants as well as the 125th anniversary of the establishment of iconic Japanese company NEC, there is very little to celebrate because the 10th anniversary of the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 has overshadowed both of these events. Not to mention that Paramount, the owner of Nickelodeon, is in financial turmoil...

There is such a thing as a "Medal of Dishonor". It is an award no one wants to be proud of. The shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, however, is a war crime so bad that it is not even worthy of a Medal of Dishonor. To be fair, though, for some people, being awarded with a Medal of Dishonor is a fate worse than death. Killing 298 people by shooting down a passenger jet with an anti-air missile, however, is a terrible war crime, and is therefore, not worthy of even a Medal of Dishonor. Committing such a heinous war crime is definitely far more disgraceful than receiving a Medal of Dishonor for stupid actions by a massive distance.

Remembering China Airlines Flight 611

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the midair break-up of China Airlines Flight 611 that killed 225 people, making it the worst air disaster to occur in Taiwanese territory. The crash happened over a month after South Korea's worst air disaster, where a Boeing 767 belonging to Mainland China's national carrier, Air China, crashed on a hill near Busan, killing 129 people. Keep in mind that China Airlines comes from Taiwan, which is where the original Republic of China was exiled to after losing the battle for the Chinese Mainland during the Chinese Civil War, hence the name China Airlines.

End of the Jumbo Jet Era

Let's face it. Bigger is not always better. Four-engined passenger jets are going out of fashion because efficiency is now the new king of commercial aviation, especially when the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 are almost as prestigious as the Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380, but with better fuel efficiency than the quad-engined behemoths. And this was already happening even before the current pandemic...

Rediverted

Author's Note: The idea for this comic was conceived when I used to work for an aircraft maintenance company before they had to let me go due to not getting a security pass permit. Also, this comic was partly inspired by my trip to Taiwan in November 2018, and it was conceived before Hong Kong's current crisis.

If you wanted to know why the flight in this comic was rediverted from Hong Kong to Taipei, it was not really because of Hong Kong's atmosphere becoming less friendly, which had been happening since 2002, but rather the pilot did mention a manga magical girl as the possible reason. Sakura Kinomoto actually did go to Hong Kong, and her magical girl escapades also went there too. So it would make sense for any flight to get rediverted due to the escapades of prominent anime and manga protagonists if it meant keeping the flight safe from any unexpected dangers.