Goblin Slayer

Goblins are known for their ferocity, cunning, and rapid reproduction, but their reputation as the lowliest of monsters causes their threat to be overlooked. Raiding rural civilizations to kidnap females of other species for breeding, these vile creatures are free to continue their onslaught as adventurers turn a blind eye in favor of more rewarding assignments with larger bounties.

To commemorate her first day as a Porcelain-ranked adventurer, the 15-year-old Priestess joins a band of young, enthusiastic rookies to investigate a tribe of goblins responsible for the disappearance of several village women. Unprepared and inexperienced, the group soon faces its inevitable demise from an ambush while exploring a cave. With no one else left standing, the terrified Priestess accepts her fate—until the Goblin Slayer unexpectedly appears to not only rescue her with little effort, but destroy the entire goblin nest.

As a holder of the prestigious Silver rank, the Goblin Slayer allows her to accompany him as he assists the Adventurer's Guild in all goblin-related matters. Together with the Priestess, High Elf, Dwarf, and Lizardman, the armored warrior will not rest until every single goblin in the frontier lands has been eradicated for good.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Based on the light novel series written by Kumo Kagyu, published by SoftBank Creative since February 15, 2016. The series has been adapted to a manga written by Kosuke Kurose, published by Square Enix since May 25, 2016. Both the light novels and manga have been published in English by Yen Press.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Goblin Slayer
Summary:	Goblin Slayer: Bouken Kiroku Youshi - Adventure Sheet
Sequel:	Goblin Slayer: Goblin's Crown

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Goblin Slayer

Main

Umehara, Yuuichirou
Japanese

Onna Shinkan

Main

Ogura, Yui
Japanese

Ushikai Musume

Supporting

Iguchi, Yuka
Japanese

Elf

Supporting

Touyama, Nao
Japanese

Uketsuke-jou

Supporting

Uchida, Maaya
Japanese

Tsurugi no Otome

Supporting

Endou, Aya
Japanese

Majo

Supporting

Hikasa, Youko
Japanese

Lizard Priest

Supporting

Sugita, Tomokazu
Japanese

Dwarf Shaman

Supporting

Nakamura, Yuuichi
Japanese

Yaritsukai

Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Ogura, Mitsutoshi

Producer

Isogai, Noritomo

Producer

Akita, Tadayuki

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Rightfully" by Mili (eps 2-12)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Gin no Kisei (銀の祈誓)" by Soraru (eps 2-6, 8-11)
	2: "Though Our Paths May Diverge" by Mili (eps 7)
	3: "Within" by Mili (eps 12)

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Reviews

Dec 29, 2018

Krunchyman

Recommended

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

<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.

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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Dec 29, 2018

Veronin

Mixed Feelings

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 ...

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Dec 29, 2018

BayraktarTB2

Recommended

"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 factually wrong, uninformed opinions that slander a good work of fiction. Here is a shortlist of the popular statement about this show that are simply not true:
“It’s a generic isekai” - no, it’s this thing called “fantasy” that actually existed even before SAO. What makes it silier is that Goblin Slayer doesn’t even feature any of the staple isekai tropes like some other “fantasy confused for isekai” series, e. g. Danmachi. In reality, Goblin ... Slayer is an anime adaptation of a boilerplate D&D campaign, and is written as such.
“It’s a bad adaptation” - no, it’s a good adaptation, as long as you know what is the actual source material. Goblin Slayer is a light novel series that has a non-faithful manga adaptation and a faithful anime adaptation. Some people read the manga first, compare the anime to it, find out that it’s different and arrive to the “bad adaptation” conclusion. Which is silly in itself, faithfulness is not what decides how good an adaptation is, but it’s not even the point.
“It’s edge-fest/fetishistic porn/literally neo-nazi propaganda” - that’s just silly. Goblin Slayer is a run-of-the-mill R-rated show, its darkness level is miles below dark fantasy series like Berserk and light years below dedicated misery porn shows that are actually trying to be dark on purpose. The expectation for Goblin Slayer to be a generic isekai apparently lead to many people accidentally being exposed to the first R-rated series in their life.
“It baits you with the gory first episode and then becomes generic SoL” - that’s simply a lie. Many things throughout the show are darker than what happens in the first episode. Also a complaint that the show is not edgy enough is just silly in the context of the previous paragraph. As a D&D campaign, Goblin Slayer alternates between sorties into the wild and recuperating at the base. And (surprise, surprise) bad things tend to happen in the middle of the monster-infested dungeons, not in the middle of a peaceful town. It’s called realism.

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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Goblin Slayer

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Information

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Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

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Ending Theme

Reviews

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