2023 — Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
In this world, countless cruel, inhumane, and indescribable things are happening all the time. Most of us live our daily lives in happy, stable pinky bubbles, and our biggest stress might just be — I really don’t feel like going to work today.
Frieren is such an elf. After all, her lifetime is endless. Humans don’t die out, demons aren’t finished off, so she takes it slow. Silently, accumulating energy, waiting for the day… the day a hero comes to invite her.But why start now?
Surely she has missed so many opportunities already. Surely she has endured in silence for a long time, accumulating countless thoughts. Does everything really have to come out now? If you never try, you’ll never fail. If you don’t give hope to others, you won’t be blamed. When disasters strike, doing only what’s within your capacity—what’s best for everyone—can mean not holding anyone back, following the natural course of destiny…
Yet, there are always people who defy fate. They step forward. Even if they cannot pull the sword out of the stone, they still try to accomplish what a hero is supposed to do.
They don’t let reality break them. They keep moving bravely, step by step, pursuing the life they want. And while aiming for long-term, noble goals for humanity, they also pause to help others, bringing hope to everyone they encounter, accumulating small moments of happiness.
I believe only those who are rough yet attentive, who dare to pause, who trust that others can also create a better future, and don’t claim all the credit for themselves, can truly be called "heroes". Because even if they cannot physically defeat the demon king, the spirit they leave behind clears the shadows from people’s hearts. Victims can return to normal lives, no longer becoming seeds for the next tragedy.
Especially when people face inexplicable, unpredictable disasters, they instinctively want to “find a reason” to prevent it from happening again. Because it’s hard for humans to live calmly amid impermanence. So even if the “single reason” they find is irrational, it clings like a ghost in their minds, bringing distrust, discrimination, division, and blame to the world.
So, before we focus on the “demon king”—aka Zhang Wen, the criminal of the stabbing attack with smoke bombing at Taipei metro, for his identity, background, and motives — we should be more grateful for the brave and look for the traits of righteous heroism. That way, the next time another demon king rises, we can have more hero teams ready to cooperate, resolve, neutralize, and stop its impact more efficiently and effectively.
