In episode 7 of the anime Undead Unluck, there’s a powerful scene where a teacher, about to turn into a zombie, gives her students a final message:
“If you have dreams, you won’t rot.”
She knows she’s about to lose her humanity, but she wants her students to understand this important idea—that dreams can keep our hearts alive, even when life gets hard.
After she turns into a zombie, something amazing happens. Though her body is undead, her spirit—the part of her that loved, cared, and hoped—remains strong.
The hero, Andy, who is also undead, can still see her dream shining within her. He knows her greatest wish was to wear a wedding dress and marry someone wonderful.
Although she can’t fulfill this dream on her own, Andy honors her by dressing her as a bride, giving her a moment that makes her spirit feel alive again.
This scene shows us that dreams can keep us from “rotting” inside, even when things seem hopeless. But in real life, dreaming isn’t enough on its own.
Dreams need action to come alive. Without action, even the best dream can start to feel like an unreachable fantasy.
Holding onto a dream without working toward it can leave us feeling stuck—like we’re alive but not really living.
The teacher held onto her dream, but she couldn’t make it come true alone.
Not all of us will have someone like Andy to help us reach our dreams. That’s why, in real life, we need to balance dreaming with doing.
A dream without action is like a map with no journey—it shows us where we want to go, but it won’t get us there.
To keep our hearts from “rotting,” we need to take steps, even small ones, to bring our dreams to life. Each action gives us energy, hope, and keeps us moving forward.
This is what it means to live fully. Dreams give us something to hope for, but actions make those dreams real.
To be truly alive, we need to dream and act.
So let’s remember the teacher’s message. Let’s hold onto our dreams, but let’s also be brave enough to work toward them. Dreaming can keep our hearts warm, but acting on those dreams is what makes us feel truly alive.
Just as the teacher’s spirit stayed alive, even after her body changed, our dreams can keep us moving forward.
But to truly bring those dreams to life, we have to act on them, creating lives that aren’t just imagined but fully lived.
Keep dreaming.
Keep going.