Sometimes our favorite anime and video games can inspire us to do truly amazing things, and this recently happened to a fan of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and the Monster Hunter saga in Taiwan. When a violent situation took place on a train, several illustrious citizens came to the rescue of the innocent people involved, including a heroic anime fan looking to break stereotypes. And he definitely succeeded. Who is this new “otaku” hero?
How Himmel de Frieren inspired this Monster Hunter fan to do the right thing
This incredible news was reported by several Chinese media outlets, including the China Times. It turns out that last May 21, a violent random stabbing situation took place on the subway train in Taichung Municipality, Taiwan. More than 17 citizens jumped to the aid of the victims and joined forces to stop the attacker and take away his knife. Among them was Xu Ruixian, a young anime fan who later declared that “If Himmel were here, he would have done the same thing,” referring to one of the most important characters in the popular Frieren series.
As if his inspiring words were not enough, Xu Ruixian then went on to receive an award in honor of his bravery and did so wearing a blue haori inspired by those that characters from Capcom’s video game, Monster Hunter, can wear. Xu Ruixian explained that he considers himself an “otaku” but seeks to break stereotypes: “Not all otaku are bad” he clarified in his speech, confirming that he is seeking to reform the public image of all fans of anime, manga and video games, to show that they too can be important and altruistic members of society.
Xu Ruixian’s comments about Frieren went viral on Chinese and Taiwanese social media, where he was nicknamed “the long-haired brother” and “the long-haired otaku” because of his long hair. On sites like YouTube we can see encouraging comments from people, such as “No matter where he got his courage from, the immutable fact is that he saved people and was much better than many people”, “Maybe Himmel will praise him too” and “The long-haired brother said all this without shame, he is a symbol of bravery”, proving that his actions really inspired community members.
In case you forgot, Himmel is one of the first characters to appear in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: He is a classic fantasy hero who never hesitates to help people. So it’s easy to understand why his personality inspired Xu Ruixian to do the right thing. On the other hand, the Monster Hunter game series has a huge theme of camaraderie and teamwork, which inspired him to publicly show his intention to improve the reputation of “otaku” not only in his country, but all over the world. We congratulate this young hero for doing the right thing.
© 山田鐘人・アベツカサ／小学館／「葬送のフリーレン」製作委員会
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