Goblin Slayer

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to save it, but let’s kill some Goblins.” — Goblin Slayer

All you f—king assholes need to stop hating on Goblin Slayer — LEAVE BRITNEY (I mean Goblin Slayer) ALONE! Jesus Christ, just stop it. Take your pretentious, Tatami-Galaxy-loving-ass outta here, so us real fans can enjoy the kick-assery that is Goblin Slayer.

………….No. I’m serious, leave. RIGHT NOW! Only true fans will have the pleasure of reading this phenomenal review. Shit, if you gave this series anything less than a “10,” you’d best stop watching anime altogether, you wannabe-otaku.

<ahem> “So, where are the goblins?” — Goblin Slayer

The genius of Goblin Slayer comes from its uninhibited objective to underscore the savagery of the goblins; thereby, forcing the audience to immediately empathize with the lowly adventurers who’s virginities will be forever lost to those disgusting green chodes. The first episode may have been a bit overwhelming, but it was necessary to highlight the evil nature of the goblins. And boy, were they ever evil. But when all hope seemed lost, the vigilante known as Goblin Slayer entered the proverbial arena, to lay-the-smack-down on all their candy asses. And layeth-the-smack-down he did. Essentially, if you think about, he’s the Japanese equivalent of Batman — mother f—king BATMAN, people — set in a medieval world. It’s f—king awesome! But instead of breaking bones and scaring his foes psychologically, the Goblin Slayer just straight up murders those little dick-wads.

Along with his ruthless nature, the Goblin Slayer utilizes a myriad of techniques to kill goblins and keep the viewer entertained, including: curb-stomping goblin teeth against jagged rocks; rearranging goblin face’s with his knuckles; splattering goblin brain matter across cave walls; shooting arrows through goblin eyeballs; and performing a mass genocide of all goblins, including the young-lins (NOT THE YOUNG-lins!). Also, the Goblin Slayer’s battle armor looks amazing, and his sturdy resolve to remain a “goblin-slayer,” despite the ridicule of his fellow (ASSHOLES!) Compatriots was admirable. His heart is filled with a deep hatred for those vile creatures, and people calling him an “edge-lord” simply don’t understand how traumatizing of an experience he went through. If the anime community had any inkling of what empathy was, then they would know what time it is. But the Goblin Slayer knows: it’s f—king goblin-slaying time! Amirite.

The genius of Goblin Slayer comes from the formation of a great coalition of diversified talents and people to accelerate the slaying of even more goblins. Simply put, they paired the Goblin Slayer with a lizard-dude, a flat-chested elf, a geriatric dwarf, and Onna the high “priestess” to go on a super-cool adventure to destroy an enormous goblin nest. When the elf-girl used her magic to guide the single arrow through the two goblins and a wolf, I was straight up marking out. Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!! (Ric Flair style). But the episode wasn’t over quite yet, because just as my erection was at its limit, they started playing epic rock music as the main crew walked towards the Goblin den with bad intentions, enough weapons to terrify the whole country of France, and a whole lot of awesomeness. Schwing!!!!!! Party time, bitches!

But, alas….it’ not all good, dear friends (friends only include people who have Goblin Slayer in their favorites list). Episode five deviated from the norm, omitting the Goblin Slayer’s main objective in lieu of a silly side quest by some arbitrary character’s. EXCUSE ME! Are we watching “Goblin Slayer” or “Pummel a Rat With a Giant Club Because You’re Too Incompetent to Pull Your Sword From a Dead Rat Carcass…Slayer?” The show, obviously, lost its focus, leaving the viewer in a deep pit of despair, wondering if the Goblin Slayer would ever resume his normal duties of goblin slaying (#depressed). This sort of blunder would have been unforgivable, if not for the following episode when the MOTHER F—KING Goblin Slayer lit those goblins up like a Christmas tree…….wi-with his sword (it makes SENSE!).

The genius of Goblin Slayer comes from the application of Sun Tzu’s, “The Art of War,” via the Goblin Slayer’s willingness to think like a goblin (i.e. “To know your enemy, you must become your enemy”); hence, why the Goblin Slayer used goblin blood to conceal his own scent and displayed an indifferent, callousness during his various killing-sprees. In addition, his level of perception to distinguish between goblins and non-goblins was especially on point, rarely finding himself in a situation where he cannot fulfill his goblin killing responsibilities. Developments throughout the series highlight the contemplative side of the Goblin Slayer, as it’s revealed that the internal goblins inside his head haunt him — “Bullshit.” — inspire him to become enraged and go on the greatest goblin slaying spree of all time.

The genius of Goblin Slayer comes from its beautiful blend of “happy,” vibrant colors of the real world, juxtaposed with the dark, bloodcurdling atmosphere of the real-er world. The contrast exemplifies the duality of life itself and how transient bliss can be supplanted by life long despair, due to circumstances that are beyond our control. The Goblin Slayer experienced a fate worse than death, having witnessed the gang rape and eventual death of his sister. Instead of acquiescing to his own fears, the Goblin Slayer hardened his resolve, choosing to never forgive the creatures that robbed him of his remaining family and his innocence. The Goblin Slayer, himself, is not an exceptionally powerful warrior, nor is he blessed with unique gifts/powers that elevate him to the status of being “one of a kind” (perpetuating the Stock Shōnen Hero archetype). What makes the Goblin Slayer “special,” is his devotion — some may call it, insanity — to exterminate every last goblin in existence and make no apologies about it. Just as Michael Jordan etched his name in history as the G.O.A.T with his unmatched competitive fervor, the Goblin Slayer’s inexorable zeal to eradicate his mortal enemy, is an unparalleled intensity that instills fear in his adversaries and certitude in his comrades.

The genius of Goblin Slayer comes from the tactical vision and strategic planning of the Goblin Slayer. His ability to foresee goblin battle plans and construct effective countermeasures, validates his meticulous nature and his profound cognitive capacity. While other adventurers were caught off-guard by the goblin riders and the goblin champions, the Goblin Slayer, in all his clairvoyant glory, ensnared the repulsive creatures with his superior traps and delegation of responsibility; thus, paving the way for his final showdown with the Goblin Lord. A showdown, in which the Goblin Slayer harnessed all his rage and pent-up frustration to fuel his fighting spirit to its absolute maximum.

So why, you may ask, does the community hate the Goblin Slayer? Detractors have argued that the Goblin Slayer’s combative fury embodies the worst aspects of the “Unstoppable Rage” archetype. You know, the same “Unstoppable Rage” every Shōnen hero experiences when they lose their shit and unlock a dormant power they never realized they had, until that very moment when they needed it most. In addition, they claim that the excessive amount of fan-service has been rather excessive. Excessive or not, the fan-service has been a point, with a plethora of great camera angles and side boob action to boot. Lastly, they assert that none of the characters exhibit a genuine personality, or display any growth throughout the series.

Of course, these are just words, with a sprinkling of even bigger words (so many words). And are we really going to accept the words of a bunch of salty bitches who conform to groupthink psychology, to avoid being ostracized by the anime “elitists” for having “shit-tastes?” I think NOT!!! Why is that?…

Because Goblin Slayer is the hero the MAL community deserves, but not the one it needs right now, so we’ll ridicule him. Because he can bear it, because he’s not a hero. He’s a stoic defender, a warrior-savant, an ardent gladiator, a competitive eccentric, an iron-clad inspiration….

a GOBLIN SLAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYEERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

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"Psst, kid, wanna roll some D20s?"

Goblin Slayer is a series that, paradoxically, is underrated because of how popular it is. Popularity means a wide audience, which means a wide array of stupid uninformed opinions that undersell a good work of fiction. Here is a shortlist of wrong statement about this show one might hear, as well as where those statements originate from:
“It’s edge-fest/fetishistic porn/literally neo-nazi propaganda” - originates from sheltered, entitled life without any hardships plus never reading/watching any serious fiction, thus having no context whatsoever for how a dark/whatever show looks like. Goblin Slayer is just an ordinary R-rated show.
“It baits you with gore and then becomes generic SoL” - from sheltered, entitled life without any hardships plus never reading/watching any serious fiction, thus having a warped idea that to be “mature” a story needs a character getting killed/raped/eaten every 30 seconds, “just like it happens in real life”.
“It’s a generic isekai” - from thinking SAO invented fantasy anime and not knowing such words as “tabletop” or “D&D”.
“It’s a bad adaptation” - from not even knowing what medium the source material comes from, and mistakenly believing it’s manga. Between manga and anime, the anime is a better adaptation of the original light novels. Alternatively, from fundamentally not understanding how “adapting” from one medium to another actually works.

Brushing the nonsense aside, I want to emphasize what makes this show good:

Goblin Slayer perfectly captures the spirit of a D&D campaign - that is, the spirit of murder-hoboing, with all the glorious total party kills, rule-lawyering and cheesing of the encounters. You can constantly see deliberately written moments where the players are implied to be rolling the dice, and how good of a roll that was based on the outcome.

It is a well-written dark fantasy in a market where this commodity is in deficit. Many little details show that a lot of thought and research was put into world building. While it’s not quite on the speculative fiction level, it comes pretty close to being a D&D setting written as a real functioning world.

A unique and fascinating main character and his character arc. The premise initially implies that Goblin Slayer is going to be a faceless killing machine. He was born to be a completely unremarkable average person, but then a single event radically changes his life making him fanatically focus on a single goal (of killing goblins) in favor of which he abandons everything else, including growing into a well-adjusted human being. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a human being, or even that he is crazy. The foundations to lead a normal life are there, and the more Goblin Slayer comes in contact with other people, the more he grows, becoming more and more complex and constantly re-evaluating what he is.

Good adaptation. Not slavish adaptation, but actually good adaptation. Things are swapped around and changed to accomodate episode length and season length limitations, thus having a proper story arc in 12-episodes format. Between the things that are the point of anime medium - fight scenes choreography, music, voice acting - the former two are great. And while the latter is nothing to write home about, hearing Priestess say Goburin Sureiya-san is a reason enough for an anime adaptation to exist. Also, main character’s model is CGI and it looks fine unless you hate CGI on religious principle, not based on how it looks. For those who desire faithfulness, the anime is more faithful than the manga, which has an annoying manner of randomly changing characters’ reactions/behavior, therefore changing the characters themselves and making them look inconsistently written.

9/10 because this series succeeds in what it tries to achieve with basically no issues.

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Another fun little romp through fantasy-land, quests to be ventured and gold to be reaped... or maybe not quite.

Welcome to 2018's most controversial anime, Goblin Slayer. Little known by western anime fans, it came much out of nowhere, with a first episode that made viewers aghast and the social medias ablaze. And why, you may ask. I will have to leave that unanswered for a moment, as you should not yet be reading this review if you are unfamiliar with what scene I am referring to. But I will leave a word of caution: you should probably not watch Goblin Slayer if you are easily disturbed.

Spoilers of the first episode, necessarily, will follow.

What transpires in the first episode overshadows everything that comes in the following eleven episodes. And so, this review will be centered primarily on the first episode and its resulting controversy. Though I will also be discussing the artistic merits of the anime as a whole, this will be as much a critical analysis as it is a response, an answer of sorts to whether the controversy Goblin Slayer brewed ever had any meaning in the first place.

And, I will tell you, no, it really did not.

From the second episode onward, a 'viewer discretion' warning appears in the subtitles provided by Crunchy Roll. But nowhere does it appear in the show itself, in Japanese. It is quite clear who was actually offended by this show... and it was not the Japanese audience, for whom this anime was made.

I'm going to be quite blunt, as this perception that westerners' views are always, unquestionably important is bothersome. Japanese anime studios do not care about what English-speaking YouTubers have to say, for they cannot even understand them in the first place. They do not care about Tumblr, nor do they care about anyone except viewers in Japan who could potentially buy BluRay discs of their series. They are companies, not political organisations. They are from Japan, not from the United States. The only thing the west could do to make an anime studio utter more than a flippant 'oops, sorry' is to have a spot on CNN or some other giant television network, in the same vein as the infamous adult game, 'Rapelay'. So, unfortunately, if you think yourself a sort of champion of justice, destined to rid the world of all portrayals and even mentions of rape, in countries you have never even visited and which do not share your beliefs— then, sorry to say, your words have fallen upon deaf ears.

If you have ever played a visual novel, read adult-oriented manga or watched an R-18 anime (and the Japanese audience for Goblin Slayer most certainly has), then sexual assault, as vile and irredeemable an act as it is, is not particularly unusual or shocking. I suppose it may be shocking in the context of Goblin Slayer being a TV anime, in which these sorts of acts are seldom depicted. But you also have to keep in mind that Goblin Slayer airs past midnight on a weekend, well into the usual watershed hours of western television. Kids are not meant to be watching this in the first place. And sexual assault is not rare in late-night anime so much because it is 'going overboard', but because the anime community in Japan is obsessed with the concept of virginity and do not take kindly to their imaginary characters being touched by a man other than them. Hence, the reason for why sex is not so much as mentioned in non-erotic anime, whether it be consensual or not. If sex is not graphically depicted (i.e. genitals showing and thrusting and all), then it is, generally speaking, safe to air past midnight on Japanese television. Goblin Slayer's now infamous scene, unpleasant as it is to watch, was not especially graphic. It did not black-out and fast-forward to the end as most anime do, and so while this scene is not entirely innocent (true, it is difficult to not feel at least a little bit sick in the stomach), it is hardly the traumatic viewing experience that some claim it to be. Say, for example, "13 Reasons Why", a western Netflix series, was far, far more graphic in its depiction of similar subjects and yet it was extremely popular among western teenagers, particularly females. But when an obscure late-night anime aimed at a completely different culture, and with drawings instead of real actors, tries to tread the same waters? Take it down. Take it all down, they say. Right. Good luck with that one.

I suppose the deeper question, then, is whether these scenes were actually necessary. I highly doubt these scenes were meant to be erotic, to arouse its viewers when they were preceded by a brutal stabbing and a brutal massacre. And the attempted rape that follows the first is abominable enough that it defies any and all human logic, clearly meant to invoke deep feelings of hatred for goblins rather than a boner-pop and an "oh yeah, baby, show me more." Goblin Slayer showed these scenes to create a sense of danger and to make you root for the titular character's, uh, titular slaying of said goblins. And fair enough. But equally fair is the question of why they chose rape in particular, rather than some other wretched act that would make you want to see goblin heads hitting the floor. Hatred was necessary for the story to continue, but not so much rape itself. My guess is the author chose that route because other fantasy series such as Re:Zero have already done the same with violence alone. The author wanted to set their series apart, to invoke a sort of hatred that anime-only viewers have rarely or perhaps never experienced before, and, well, the result of that is laid bare for all to see: angry westerners, and Japanese fans who just want to see some dead-ass goblins.

It is not so much from an artistic perspective that I am defending the author's choice, however. Gratuitous and pretentious, it is, when what follows in the later episodes is of little importance and does not in any meaningful way make use of the hatred instilled in the audience. Rather, it returns to the exact same silly and carefree tone of the anime's opening few minutes, as if it what happened in the first episode was just some sort of dream. Heck, the second episode may as well have been the beginning episode— the first completely obliterated from existence— and little would change at all with regards to the story and the characters. Goblin Slayer does not contain much in the way of themes other than 'goblins suck' and 'revenge begets revenge', and the trauma the heroine experienced during her first encounter is hardly touched upon or even acknowledged afterwards. Indeed, after an experience that horrifying, you would expect the heroine to, if nothing else, be apprehensive about another goblin slaying adventure, but by the next day she gives almost zero damns and throws herself to the protagonist's side merely because he is tough and can protect her, I guess? A bit of an idiot, indeed. Other characters will casually talk about their traumatic experiences as the camera pans lustfully over their breasts... almost as if it is a joke, making it pretty well clear the anime has no intention of taking these issues seriously. How are you supposed to care for characters that don't even know how to care about themselves? In the end, the main thing that sets the rest of the anime (everything sans the first episode) apart from any other fantasy series is the level of blood involved. Goblin Slayer is a strong dude, the heroine is cute, and screw goblins— there you go, Goblin Slayer's deep themes interpreted by yours truly.

If a darker fantasy anime in the lieu of Berserk is something you are clamoring for (as, well, there really are not a whole lot of them), then Goblin Slayer is if nothing else a serviceable adventure. The titular protagonist, Goblin Slayer, is essentially a more calm and composed version of Guts from Berserk: taciturn, a dark past, filled with hatred and a desire for vengeance, armor and all... albeit with a sword a size that humans can actually wield. His cold but logical manner of speaking are refreshing in a genre that is largely defined by self-righteous protagonists spouting idealistic nonsense. Goblin Slayer will save whom he can, but he is also capable of recognising the limits of his power and putting those with mortal wounds out of their misery. He knows that fighting requires planning and a clear head just as much as it requires strength. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth is his way of living, but he does not try to moralise his lifestyle, instead believing that his endless lust for revenge makes him just as violent and as brutal as the goblins themselves. He has a sort of awareness and intellect that most anime protagonists lack, which makes the desolate world he lives in feel just a little bit more authentic. But those who are not a fan of darker or more morally ambiguous protagonists will only find the anime more unappealing with his presence. "Edgy", "pretentious", others might say. Considering that one's enjoyment of Goblin Slayer is almost entirely decided by their interest in the protagonist, and consequently his goblin slaying journey, those who do not find these sorts of characters appealing are well within their right to dislike the anime as a whole. But to say he is dark merely for the sake of being dark would be something of a lie. No, he is dark because he grew up in an awful world with rapey, murderous goblins.

Considering the natural path for most fantasy anime is to gradually hunt stronger and stronger monsters, the fact that Goblin Slayer is perpetually chasing weaker monsters— goblins— and even being ostracised for it by his fellow adventurers, is a refreshing change of pace for a genre that is often so predictable that you can already guess the events of the final episode based on the first. Sure, those in search of climactic fights may find themselves bored with an adventure that stays at largely the same difficulty level for its entire duration (with the rare boss battle here and there), but then again, how many times does one need to see a big bad dude or a dragon slain before they are satisfied? While most anime increase the stakes as the opponents get stronger, Goblin Slayer is able to portray weak little creatures as menacing, something few anime do, slimes and goblins brushed aside as if it is a necessity. The issue is that Goblin Slayer, despite it having a clear, singular focus with goblins as the villain, never really does or say a whole lot with them. They are almost entirely identical to one another, existing to rape, kill or be killed and little else. When the antagonist of a story lacks a motive and a personality, it's kinda hard to care much about where things go in the end.

Goblin Slayer is neither horrible nor is it great. And sometimes it is both. Putting aside all the noise surrounding the series, and looking at it as a piece of fiction like any other, what is left is merely a decent dark-fantasy anime. Its artistic merit is hardly comparable to its big brother, Berserk, and while there are very severe issues afflicting the show, in a season where truly abysmal, irredeemable rubbish such as "Ore ga Suki nano wa Imouto dakedo Imouto ja Nai" has aired, Goblin Slayer is not what I could consider a bad anime. There's enough of interest here with the protagonist and the setting that I am at least considering reading the light novels in Japanese, where perhaps things are a bit better explained. Those regarding Goblin Slayer as the worst anime they've seen are more likely than not fishing for attention by exaggerating their opinions as much as possible. Either that, or they have just not watched a whole lot of anime, I would have to guess.

But to say I am a fan of Goblin Slayer, or that I even liked it would to be as dishonest as saying I hated it. My defense of Goblin Slayer is my defense of the author's right to artistic freedom. Being offended by this show is reasonable. Using said offense to try and shut down an author's livelihood, or to generalise an entire country of 130 million people as perverts or as morally bankrupt, is not. Some may even say it is despicable. And, you know, I think there is some truth in that.

So, feel free to watch Goblin Slayer if you enjoy dark-fantasy and have a tolerance for uncomfortable content. Or skip it, because truth told, Goblin Slayer was never really worth caring that much about in the first place.

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[Breaking News: Man Literally too Angry to Die]

[Alternative Title – Goblin Slayer Threat Level at Maximum]

They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and tear, until it is done.
- Intro Dialogue to Doom (2016)

Having watched Goblin Slayer in its entirety, I can’t help, but be reminded of the video game Doom (2016). In fact, the quote above perfectly encapsulates what Goblin Slayer is really about. Killing, slicing, dicing, burning, piercing, bludgeoning, ripping, and tearing goblins apart. The violence is brutal and extremely gory. Our main protagonist, Goblin Slayer, will use any means necessary to kill as many goblins as possible. During the first episode, he kills by himself, while keeping count, exactly 22 goblins. That’s a lotta damage. And also a lotta dead goblins. But, to our main protagonist any dead goblin is a good goblin.

Goblin Slayer is also a very controversial series. It goes without saying that violence and gory isn’t what made this series so controversial rather it’s
the sexual content and rape. Within the same first episode, we have the gang-raping of a female adventurer and the molestation of another one. Future episodes contain implied rape and torture of many female adventurers. And while the series could have minimized these elements, I believe it adds to the setting and enemy characters, i.e., the world is dark and brutal, and goblins do terrible things to female characters.

However, if you’re like me, who only watches to see Goblin Slayer kick ass, then you’re not going to be disappointed. In fact, I would argue that watching Goblin Slayer kick ass alone makes this series really entertaining and worth watching. Everything else be damned.

STORY:

Goblin Slayer is a dark fantasy based on the light novel and manga of the same name. The series sticks to its source material and doesn’t remove any of its ultra-violence and sexual content. It should be noted that this series is not a isekai, where the main character is transported to another world and does whatever shit the main character needs to do. There are no fun adventures in this series, just death and destruction. Mainly the death of many goblins and other creatures, and occasionally some adventurers. But, that’s just the general setting of this world, i.e., it’s dark, cruel, and merciless.

If I had to simplify the story, it would mainly be about Goblin Slayer’s “adventures”, how one man elects to do only goblin quests, in order to satisfy his anger and thirst for revenge. And, of course, based on his adventures you can expect numerous goblins to be killed in the most brutal ways possible. In fact, he would go as far as kill goblin children because to him “the only good goblins are the ones who never come out of their stinking holes”, which unfortunately the goblins never do, so he has to kill them all. And I have to hand it to him to stick to his principles: to kill every single goblin in the world.

Now, one may notice that some episodes feature ‘slice of life” moments, such as Goblin Slayer repairing his equipment, interacting with other adventurers, participating in shopping, checking his surroundings on the farm, etc. These moments are pretty boring, but it does add to the setting and provides some characterization for our main character. Furthermore, there are plenty of scenes where episodes focus on different characters along with their actions, fanservice from the main female characters, and jokes and laughs. However, in Goblin Slayer fashion, our main character doesn’t care about other adventurers beyond his own friends, he doesn’t care about the fanservice from his female companions and friends, and he doesn’t care to have a sense of humor. The only thing he cares about is knowing where the goblins are and killing them.

CHARACTERS:

Our main character, Goblin Slayer, does what his name implies. He slays goblins, and nothing else but goblins. His reasons for killing goblins and only goblins originated from a tragic event that occurred in his childhood, i.e., the death of his older sister, and the destruction of his village. These two awful events changed him and, on that day, he swore vengeance against every goblin in the world. It’s this vengeance that allows him to keep on living, in fact, even in situation where he should have died, he gets back up, and continues to kill as many goblins as possible. He’s literally to angry to die. I have to admire his dedication and devotion to killing these goblins, even when he’s about to die.

And because, Goblin Slayer is our main character, he gets a lot of screen time and thus get some character development, e.g., he changes and becomes friends with other adventurers, he works with other adventurers as oppose to working sole, and we learn about his reasons for vengeance. Our other companions, mainly High Elf Archer, Priestess, Dwarf Shaman, and Lizard Priest, don’t really have much background information and their personalities are somewhat the same, i.e., they are all kind, caring, and concerned towards Goblin Slayer; they are much more cheerful and happier than Goblin Slayer; and their appearance and job description are implied in their name.

Some tidbits that I like about Goblin Slayer include: 1) he speak little to no words, mainly sticking to phrases like, “I see”, “that’s right”, “yes, that’s right”, and is that right?”; 2) he’s not swayed by woman and their advances even when he’s seen them nude, and finally 3) his eye become bright red indicating he is angry and filled with rage, this happens quite frequently.

ART/ANIMATION/SOUND:

Goblin Slayer’s art and animations are hit-and-miss. On one hand, they feature outstanding battle scenes with fasting-moving animations, such as sword-swings, arrows flying though the air, people rolling and dodging attacks, and, of course, brutal executions and various attacks. They also feature a great setting, e.g., dark and narrow caves, wide and spacious fields, and dimly-lit caverns, thus creating an effective atmosphere and ambiance. However, there is the obvious and overused CGI Slayer that somewhat clashes with the cartoonish-look of other characters, especially the female adventurers. I guess the creators deliberately did this to make Goblin Slayer standout, but more importantly to make him appear like a badass. Which, in that case, I could forgive because every time he starts fighting and kicking ass, he does look badass. Another noticeable feature is the number of close-up shots of the female character’s pink and glossy lips, I guess the creators did this to show that the females have wits and charm, or just to make them appear sexier in front of Goblin Slayer.

The sound design is also pretty good. The background music does an excellent job of providing the right mood for the right moments. such as heavy badass music before and during fight scenes. The opening song is dark and eerie which is perfect for a dark and brutal setting. The voice actors and actress do a great job at making the characters feel alive, especially our main character who, thankful, doesn’t sound too “dark and edgy”.

ENJOYMENT:

Having read Goblin Slayer, the manga version, I already knew what I was getting into, in fact, I was looking forward to watching this series. And did it disappoint? Not really. Goblin Slayer stuck to its source material. It doesn’t shy away from implying rape and torture scenes, and the numerous ‘glory kills’ only reinforce the dark and brutal setting. I’ll admit the story and characters are somewhat simple and straightforward, especially the characters, however its entertainment value lies within this simplicity.

What I mean is this: Goblin Slayer, our protagonist, kicks ass and kills goblins, anytime and anywhere. That’s it. And for me that’s what makes it so enjoyable, watching this ‘madman’ or ‘crazy bastard’ kill a bunch of goblins in the most brutal manner possible has never been so entertaining. As, for the story, it’s basically a depiction of Goblin Slayer’s “adventures”. A vehicle that showcases what Goblin Slayer does to the goblins. And we all know what he does to them. And this alone makes this series worth watching.

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