Taiwanese Otaku Stops a Knife Attack Inspired by Frieren

Some of the anime characters are inspiring and incredibly cool. They have inspired many, and it was probably why some of us got into anime in the first place. I mean, don’t you remember deciding not to give up because Naruto said so?

However, these inspirations rarely translate into real life. We usually forget about these momentary bouts of inspiration, or we aren’t brave enough to actually “be cool.”

But this Taiwanese man showed us his anime conviction by stopping a knife attack.

A man from Taiwan helped stop a knife attack on the Taichung metro because his anime hero, Himmel from Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, “would’ve done the same.”

As reported by the China Times and translated by Siliconera, Ruixian Xu was one of 17 civilians who rushed to stop a man who injured three people with a knife on a train in Taichung, Taiwan, on May 21, 2024.

Xu was awarded for his bravery, and upon accepting the award, he referred to himself as an otaku before talking about Frieren as his inspiration.

“If Himmel were there, he would’ve done the same thing,” Xu said. Additionally, as we know, otakus are nerds who tend to be unpopular in society. So, Xu hopes for his actions and pride as an otaku to improve public perception of people who identify as such.

“It’s what Himmel the Hero would have done” also became a mainstream meme in Japan and many other countries. And they are pretty hilarious.