When Media Transcends

Every once in a while we come across a source of media that's transforms the way we think, feel, or navigate our every day lives. For some this could be a movie theme that challenges your personal beliefs, song lyrics that help ease your mind when you're anxious, or a character that's so beautifully written that you feel genuinely attached to them. Vinland Saga has changed my life, as extreme as that sounds, let me explain. Without getting heavy into spoilers, the story opens up with one sentence that becomes the crux of what I'm referring to, "you have no enemies, no one does". This was said to our protagonist, Thorfinn, in the very first episode. There are countless ways you can take that, but in order for us to find out what it means, we have to follow Thorfinn as he is thrown into war in the viking age as a child. We get to experience even in the most extreme conditions what it means to have no enemies, in a world where every person is supposed to be your enemy. Thorfinn goes through it, far more than I think any of us every will.

I challenge everyone, regardless if you like anime, to experience this story. When I tell you he is the best written character in fiction, I don't mean that half heartedly. By the time you see Thorfinn's development come full circle, you too will feel an overwhelming urge to become a better person. The lessons this anime teaches is something all of us could take into our own lives. It challenges you to become a better person, a more kind person, or even as some would say "a true warrior".