Goblin Slayer

“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!!!!!

"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.

[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.

"Slice of life really just tends to write itself."
- Gen Urobuchi

These were the words I found myself saying when watching this newest iyeshikai (=healing anime) by White Fox. After the dark and edgy filled last season where a nameless series contained a traumatizing hand-twist scenes, I was blessed with a series that values the comfy and cozy side of every day life. These type of 2pure4this world narratives may to be very well-written or plot heavy series in generally, but they offer something most other series can only dream of: beauty.

Our story centers around the daily life of a man who we simply refer ... as the Goblin Slayer. His favorite past time includes slaying goblins, hence the name. Just like in many other healing centric series, Goblin Slayer himself is a very likable and strong person who essentially is offering the viewers a certain feeling of "safety" and "comfort" and overall a welcoming atmosphere that could be compared to the safe-space level of ASMR videos. This feeling is presented so well and in such a powerful manner that even other characters are feeling the healing and safety effect of Goblin Slayer by simply being close to him. This is the type of stuff that relieves my stress and gives me hope for better tomorrow, and also works as the main motivator for character development seen in the series. The character development for other character, I mean, as Goblin Slayer himself is already flawless.

The biggest difference between Goblin Slayer and typical comfy stuff are the existence of "villains" in the series, who are -of course- essential part of the series, after all, how can man slay goblins if there are none? The "green little shits" side of this story is where the real good stuff is at. Essentially, these characters are what us humans would be if we didn't have someone as awesome by our side as Goblin Slayer. The acts of goblins are something us modern humans couldn't even comprehend. They do not follow such human-made concepts as moral compass or right or wrong. However, this is not to be mixed with one-dimensional characterization. Oh, no. What we, once again are seeing here, is what us humans would be if we didn't limit ourselves with self-invented moral codes. When the first goblin incident occurred, I didn't see any evil doing, but the natural act of uncensored person who is enjoying the good things life. These including the intimate acts inspired by our natural need to reproduce.

This might raise the question: what else exactly happens in the series? And that's the smartest decision that was made here: Absolutely nothing. That's right. The entire series is about slaying goblins and unwilling acts of mating. As a person who appreciates the simple things in life, the content where quantity is not prioritized but the quality of it -- anti-jack of all trades, master of none -- I truly appreciate what Goblin Slayer does with its overall story. It doesn't extend its art forms: it masters them. To get back to my original "this is beauty" claim, Andre Gide, a famous French writer and poet, has been rewarded for the quote "Only those things are beautiful that were inspired by madness and written for a reason." And I find myself thinking these words whenever a goblin gets its head smashed in or the distant screams of unwilling sexual intercourse are echoing in the walls of any dungeon. This is what the rough, natural reality of life is all about, and life is ugly yet beautiful.

The art in the series is completely flawless because the scenes where goblins are slayered are great and the rapey scenes are also neat and nothing else happens. Therefore, no flaws. In all honesty, the art is the best part of the series and the single biggest upscaling from the manga. The highest maturity level, the cold and brutal atmosphere, the feel of a dark fantasy series and overall the badass characterization all have been changed to match what this series truly is about. For one, the color pallet is just ridiculously happy bright rainbows and unicorns -tier stuff that really brings alive the aesthetics and the all-positive look on things, serving the series and making it soothing to watch.

Sounds-wise, only smart decisions have been made. Whenever the characters mention Goblin Slayer, I find myself repeating out loud after them "Gobulin Shleiyaa". The foot-step sounds alone are already creating an awe-inspiring feel as this is the most badass walking sequence since the reappearance of The Mountain. I unplugged my bass, but the water surface on my glass was still making waves like in Jurassic Park. This is the type of stuff I like. The OST is also uplifting when it has to be and beyond calming and has a real home-feel to it especially in the tavern scenes and the sexual intercourse scenes. Every part serves to warm its viewer's heart.

While the content may occasionally be "dark" the series itself is radiating positivity and spirit, showing us how amazing humans can be even in situations that are less amazing and not preferred. By humans, I mean the ideal humans -- such as Goblin Slayer. Seeing how the weaklings, baka-boats and other people in the series who do not know how the world really works -- all are getting what is coming to them, is nothing less than a form of honesty. Only the strong, smart and most fit survive, and while many will not like it, this is what the ideal world looks like. There is no way to rig this game, and that's precisely why this series has a powerful healing effect. Equality in its purest sense. After just 4 episodes, I already feel like my very soul has been cleansed from everything that is evil, from all the injustice and acts in our very own world that make no sense and should not be. These things never occur in Goblin Slayer because it is a genuine work written based to how the world works and not how society wants it to work. 10/10

Goblin Slayer is an anime that everyone can enjoy.

Following a badass computer-generized protagonist slaying mobs of goblins like the pests they are, it encourages every person watching to take arms, get active and do something with your life. Our man got cucked in his backstory by a dozen goblins and now he doesn’t give a flying f*** no more. Now he slays goblins and women on the daily. What other guy do you know in this show that got healed through taking a virgin’s purity? I’ll wait…

The priestess first joins a group of no-hope losers with no understanding of what a potion is, and as ... expected, they are beaten, bloodied and booted from the show, but the Priestess ends up saved by Lord Slayer-kun and just like real life attraction, the girl is taken for her hero and follows him everywhere. She would follow the MC to the ends of the Earth if only to prove her worth to him. Now that’s something every man on the planet can learn from, instead of wasting hard earned money on false prophets like PrankInvasion teaching you how to kiss women on the streets by practicing on a pillow.

The animation is subtly brilliant with depicting Lord Slayer-kun in a completely different animation style, further showing how much more advanced of a person he is compared to every other character in the show. The red eye symbol is kind of dumb as he has two eyes but I’m being nitpicky here.

The sound, well I’ll be honest, it sucks but you have the option to mute every episode so that renders this part of the review proof.
I’m amazed how in a year that completely disappointed with trash after trash after trash after trash after trash, finally there is a show that can inspire everyone to be a better person. Maybe I’m just optimistic, but everyone has at least the chance to watch how an alpha male goes about his business

“The only good [losers] are the ones who never come out of their [mothers basement]”

Goblin Slayer makes me upset.

Not because of its content, mind you. But because THIS is what the community decided to make a whole brouhaha for, rassling endlessly about how “DAE RAPE IS BAD???”

Now, I apologize, we’ll talk about the show itself in a hot minute or two. But the community discussion of Goblin Slayer really is integral to the series itself. Like an album cycle from Kanye West, public reaction is all part of the seasonal anime paradigm, after all. Even if this anime is lost to the weight of time (read: four months), it should be noted that this anime ... caused quite the stir for its first few weeks of airtime, until everyone finally realized that SSSS.Gridman and Zombieland Saga were the actually worthwhile shows.

It was hilarious.

Apparently, no one’s seen Berserk. Devilman: Crybaby wasn’t a thing. But this little ditty had an ape beginning with the letter ‘r’, so the community became a monkey house about it. Many parts praising the anime, with a loudmouthed bunch absolutely horrified over it, causing the latter half to be even more vocal. And that’s why, at the time of this writing, Goblin Slayer is the most popular anime of Fall 2018, ahead of the new Sword Art Online, and the much more beloved adventures of Slimeboi and Bunny Girl. Nevermind the fact that, two seasons ago, Mahou Shoujo Site literally did everything in its own first episode that Goblin Slayer did, plus change, and was outright buried by the community for it, the general seasonal community doesn’t like to dwell on things too much. Not that I’m implying anything~

All this, for what? Is Goblin Slayer REALLY that daring of a show? Is it showing a brutal, grimdark reality? Is it making a scathing social commentary?! Is there an intellectual masterpiece lying underneath all of this terror?!?!

Ha ha ha!

No. Like the Elf’s chest, the answer is a flat, uninspiring no.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Goblin Slayer a lot. I think this show is a blast to watch. But I don’t consider this anything more than what I mentioned earlier. “Cheap entertainment.” It’s not gonna mentally challenge you, unless you’re a literal retard. In fact, as far as graphic violence goes, I’d say there isn’t really enough to recommend the anime based on that single element. It’s there and it’s nice, but it’s something that’s lurking around the corner, rather than a relentless bombardment.

But, it’s true. Goblin Slayer--the character--has no personality. The goblins themselves act as a mindless force who do bad things so the audience will root for their defeat. The supporting cast is gimmicky; the setting, mild; the story, basic; and an artstyle uninspired.

And to what end? Well, the thing about Goblin Slayer is that it never really tries to offer a fully immersive adventure series. The show doesn’t ask you to think. It doesn’t ask to be questioned. As dumb as it is, Goblin Slayer is exactly what the label says. It’s about Goblin Slayer. His name is Goblin Slayer. His occupation is being a Goblin Slayer.

What Goblin Slayer--the show--does, is strip everything down to its very basic elements and present something simple and blunt, and that’s what makes it a hilariously amusing show. Goblin Slayer--the character--this is getting out of hand--has a brutal honesty and charisma more dull than his armor. See, this guy is not just A goblin slayer--he is THE Goblin Slayer, and the lengths of which his dedication go to are quite fascinating, and, honestly, really goddamn funny. His entire brain is geared to destroy every goblin on the face of the Earth. He constantly wears his armor “just in case”, he only ever accepts quests that involve killing goblins, and he even mutters “Goburin…” every now and then when he’s about to embark on a quest. It’s like Ash Ketchum on the Genocide Route; it’s a simple, childhood-like dream that’s continued into adolescence and consumed everything about you. He’s a man on a goddamn mission.

And when I say this anime is funny, I don’t just mean “ha ha, graphic violence, what a spectacle!” like I normally do. Although, that is pretty funny tbh. But I truly, genuinely think that Goblin Slayer presents itself as a comedic show many times throughout its run. With things like Goblin Slayer’s--goddammit it, this is hard to express--MC-kun’s blunt personality will create some funny back-and-forths with the characters he regularly parties with later into the show.

“What is that?” says the Elf, gazing upon the birdcage which this Undyne-looking motherfucker is holding.
“You don’t know what a bird is?” he replies.

It’s that Sheldon Cooper, possibly autistic mentality that makes him enjoyable. His inability to properly communicate with other people lead him to say things so sharply honest that it has a witty sensation, and as you’d expect, it has an effect on the people he interacts with. In a scene where Goblin Slayer’s party--he forms a party, by the way--gives their own noble speeches about why they became adventurers and what it means to them, they circle around to Goblin Slayer, who begins to say the usual “to slay Goblins”, he gets cut-off mid-sentence by the Elf, essentially saying “yeah, we fucking know.” And that one scene with the Sword Maiden. . . do I even need to explain why that’s funny?

And when I say--shit I already said that. Oh well.

And when I say this anime is stripped down to its basics, that’s not me being reductive. That’s not a 0IQ comment of “lol turn ur brain of cuz its dum!!1”, I really mean that it’s basic. Every character in the show has a name that is exactly what they are. The priestess is called Priestess. The elf is called Elf. The hot receptionist waifu is Guild Girl. The girl with big titties is Cow Girl. The setting has room for full exploration, but chooses to focus on this one little story instead. You know the template isekai plotline of “I’m the main character and I need to defeat the Demon King God Emperor Overlord!!” Well, that happens in the world of Goblin Slayer. The big boss is actually defeated. Not by the Goblin Slayer himself, mind you, but by a completely unrelated character known as The Hero. Imagine that. The world has more areas to explore. Adventuring is a given; ranks are awarded to those who succeed, and many other characters do as such. But, among all that, this anime is about one thing and one thing only: a guy who just really likes to kill goblins.

I commend this story for sticking to such basics. Say what you will about it, but it doesn’t ever stray off its path. It’s delivered just as advertised, no refunds allowed. If you want a more expansive fantasy, that’s fine. But Goblin Slayer never, ever promised to deliver that, and it really doesn’t have to. Not every fantasy needs to have the long, thorough exploration of One Piece. Not every conflict has to have the moral greyness of Shinsekai yori. If you don’t like that, well, you should probably just watch another show instead of bitching about this one. It din’du nuffin’.

For what it’s worth, Gobby Gobby Kill-Time has a surprisingly believable world. Mr. Slayer isn’t a character who is worshipped and respected. He’s not a self-insert made to look badass. He’s a fucking weirdo and is treated as such. Other adventurers look down on him, gossiping about his disgusting habits: not ever cleaning his armor, never talking to anyone and only taking the most redundant of quests despite his Silver ranking being quite high up the board. His job is not admirable.

Despite that, there are people who believe in him. There’s his cow-titted sister or what the fuck ever who appreciates his work. Priestess was initially saved by him, and follows him around to not only learn various things as an adventurer, but to also normalize him as a person. Elf and the others--actually, I forgot why they’re there. Oops. And then the receptionist waifu commends him for his dedication in one of the anime’s most underrated moments, where she expresses her appreciation for doing the things he does. Because, at the end of the day, it’s a job that needs to be done, even if it sucks, even if no one wants to do it, something that many people can likely relate to.

There’s no bullshit. No real asspulls or crazy powers. The anime has a good sense of rules, balance and logic for its battles. Different weapons are used depending on the environment; magic has very limited usage, items are consumed in very specific circumstances with preservation in mind, and many different approaches are used to killing goblins. Do they storm into a nest and rampage through them all, or do they lay traps and smoke them out? How do they deal with an ambush, or a boss? And better yet, what happens when shit really hits the fan? This party isn’t perfect, and there’s a threat of very not good things constantly lurking. While I wouldn’t say Goblin Slayer has any real strokes of genius with its combat, it certainly gets the job done well enough to make it a believable and interesting enough action series.

Goblin Slayer is a fun show. It’s as simple-minded as the title implies and plays the role it signed up for. It’s a very simple action/adventure series with an edgy streak to it, but please note that it’s really not the edgiest thing in the world or even really this season like holy fuck watch Golden Kamuy you fucking cotton-humpers. Anyway, at the end of the day, it might seem strange; I’m giving this a positive review but also saying it’s not that big of a deal.

That’s because it isn’t. Y’all just need to calm down.

Story: 7/10
Art: 4/10
Sound: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Goblins: Dead/10
Overall: 7.5/10 (Range: 6.0-8.0)

These are bonus sections because they don’t really add anything to what I was saying, but some people might still care for some reason.

The art is mud. Rapist Slayer Guy is CG in some scenes and not CG in others. It doesn’t look good when he is, and the fact that he isn’t all the time makes it very weirdly inconsistent. The director sometimes does good things, but also tries a little too hard to make some shots look cool; it’s very hit-or miss. There's also a countless number of horribly tacked-on blood splatters that makes every kill look hilarious. The backgrounds are nothing to write home about and the setting itself is pretty generic, but the character designs are actually quite good. Mr. Slayer has a cool red eye for when he gets cereal and Priestess-chan can get the dick; I’d go as far as to say they look iconic for how strong their designs are. Elf has some cool, sharp features and Lizardman looks pretty rad.

The OP has one of the most interesting songs that I’ve heard in anime this year, to the point where White Fox seemed pretty clueless as to how to animate it. Some of the shots feel very strangely timed and there’s little consistency to its visual themes. Still, the song alone makes it a great OP with its somber introduction going into mysterious vocal melodies, crescendoing into an action-packed verse until it lets out a long vocal stream, layered over another melody about wanting to kill goblins and shit. It’s actually really well-written, but the percussion sounds like someone farted on the audio waves somehow because it sounds like shit. The ED sucks.

Watch SSSS.Gridman.

Goblin Slayer is one of the few anime which raised my hype from '0' to 'maximum'. Only Nozoki-Ana (ok there was only an OVA & a 130+ chapters manga) and Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo managed (12 episodes anime + 2x30 min OVA & 240+ chapters manga) to do the same. Indeed, when I started watching GS, I immediatly switched to the manga (both original & prequel) right after latest episode finished airing. Time to read the Light novel now that I received my GS wall poster.

Talking more seriously : Goblin Slayer first shows itself as a dark / violent / horrific anime (everyone ... who watched episode 1 only would answer that). However, it quickly turns out to become softer, to please a bigger audience I guess. For anyone interested in a more cruel, darker & disgusting version of the story, you should take a look at the manga or the light novel : they might give you chills thinking about how bestial are the goblins. Not as dumb or weak as showed in the anime.

The plot isn't complicated and the major points of the anime are : its characters & its fights. Even though I have to add that you shouldn't expect a deep developpment of the characters... they don't even have names (people usually using words like High Elf Archer (HEA) or Anvil ; Priestest, GS, Guild Girl (GG), SpearMan (SM) etc... to design them). Nevertheless it won't impeach you to find a catch for them, considering they are more normal & close to you than you think, despite the environment, magic and universe. As I read, the author intended to not give names because he saw his creation as a game of Dungeon & Dragons, so every players (in our case, viewers) could incarnate any character.

Basically, it was a beasts / monsters VS Humanity story, and you will take the second one's side for sure. The anime gives you a hatred towards those filthy creatures and makes you enjoying every new massacre ! Especially the last arc, that was critized at first because it shouldn't be taking place at the end but more like at the beginning. Anyway, it was a really nice idea to swap arcs, in order to provide the viewers an amazing ending. It also officially announces a second season, even if the manga content can't afford it... YET !

Finally, a great show with a taste of violence in a darker universe. Definitely the one you should have watched during Fall 2018 if you like this genre. I placed it within my Top 3 favorite Fall 2018 anime, alongside with Zombieland Saga & SSSS.Gridman. I highly encourage everyone to watch the show then read the manga (if you are hardcore fan, even read the light novel !).

Minor first episode spoiler warning:
I gotta admit, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I was going to watch this anime. At first I thought it would just be some gory and edgy anime about a guy who kills goblins (My assumption wasnt that far from what it is), but it turns out there is way more to it than just that!
Before watching the anime, I thought the story would just be something stupid and ridiculous, but it turns out there is a real motive to all of it.
There was quite a controvery with the first episode of Goblin Slayer, ... due to the amount of gore and especially that one rape scene. But this was indeed all necesarry to understand the situation thats going on. It aint all fun and games in a fantasy world.
As a Manga reader, the story itself is really interesting and really enjoyable, but at the same time its pretty gory (Not on the level of "Berserk" though), so if you aint into gore or violence then this anime isnt for you.
I also love the art style, the only thing I dont like about it is the CG for the main character every now and then, but other than that, its all pretty cool. The soundtrack is also great! The OP is actually in English which is nice to see in animes everynow and then.
In the end, I rate this anime a solid 9/10. Really enjoyable! Great story! Awesome characters! Go ahead and give it a watch, unless you aint into gore. <3

Goblin Slayer is a unique fantasy story about paranoid mentally broken wierdo who wants to commit genocide on a green raping barbarians. In a Dungeon&Dragons setting using homerules.

Is it Dark Fantasy? Yeah, sort of, BUT NO BECAUSE OF "MUH RAPE", you goddamn millennials, but because in the world of GS you are a pawn in the hands of Gods, you will die when certainGod roll D20=1 and you can do nothing about it. You cannot win because Gods, eventually, will create another scenario where demon lord resurrected or necromancers destroy your hometown or goblins destroy your village. But you also cannot loose, because ... Gods will also spawn heroes on your side who will keep balance and endless war going.


Story - Anime is retelling events of first 2 volumes of ranobe (or light novel, who cares), cutting worldbuilng, character thoughts and 70% of details. Thats pretty sad but without full season necessary.
Its always very simple on surface - GS on a quest to kill some goblins (you dont get to see his routine, only the epic quests shown), but its always a different place, different threat level, different boss. And its not just "goblins sitting in dungeon waiting to be slaughtered", they are planning some bad things. So while it looks like a simple goblin slaying there is always something more, but I dont wanna spoil things.


Art - meh, from pretty good to "ahaha oh wow". Better use your imagination (your strongest weapon) while reading source material, or AT LEAST manga.

Sound - every theme fits the situation and place, from peaceful town/guild music to intense "overcoming the odds" battle themes. I am just waiting full OST release, cant fully judge it now.


Characters

GS - your main character. People's hero, defender of frontier villages from green shits, a silver ranked (third rank) adventurer who is actually obsidian (9 rank) in terms of strength, paranoid, autistic and simple man. Fighter+Ranger+Scout multiclass. Normalfags (both in his world and IRL viewers) dont understand him, but he doesnt care. Obsessed with guess what, and has a good reasons for it.
Priestess - second MC. Shy and kind girl in the beginning who will change A LOT in future. Idealistic, pretty strong magic caster for her level, one of the best female characters I've seen in like 10 years or so, with her own mind, motivations, strengths, weaknesses, without forced "muh stronk independent wamen" or being "token appendix to MC (ahem, Asuna, ahem)". True support who can carry whole party.
Dwarf Shaman - typical dwarf, I would say, if typical dwarfs were magic casters. But they usually dont. In any case, if you love fantasy you probably love dwarfs - these short, sometimes drunk, sometimes grumpy, but loyal and honest folk are a great battle-bros, so nothing wrong with being "typical dwarf".
Lizard Priest - one of the most serious (and probably strongest) party members. Lizardman is not a common species in a fantasy settings (usually they are just one of neutral secondary races who no one cares about), so seeing one is pretty refreshing. Wants to PURGE HERESY and become a Dragon. Isnt that a noble and relatable goal?
High Elf Archer - flat tsundere and normie, very young and optimistic (but you dont want to make her angry). Despite what animeonly thinks not a part of the harem (more on that later).
Guild Girl - older sister type character, competeting in GS-bowl with Cow Girl. Pretty cute in source material, but only a side-character in anime (I think Witch got more screentime than a Guild Girl).
Cow Girl - choldhood friend (childhood friends never win, remember that). Yet again another victim of anime adaptation with no screen time or personality. Guess you have to read the fucking book if you care!


Enjoyment

Here comes the most important. Why do people (and me) enjoy Goblin Slayer?
1. Classic tropes done right - your typical fantasy setting, but without bullshit isekai OP characters, without subverting expectations (except for the "goblin are stupid as kids" part) and without trying to be more than it is.
2. Rooting for underdogs. You see GS is weak as fuck compared to for example Lancer. So even if he fights the weakest monsters in the world he has to be careful and come up with new tactics and ideas. And if it wasnt enough there is always some greater threat that can smash and disintegrate our MC in 1x1 match. So even if you expect Goblin Slayer to prevail from the beginning you never know how this battle will end.
3. References. I fucking love references and there are A LOT OF THEM. Ignoring D&D part since its a part of the setting -
Lord of the Rings (Orcrist-Orcbolg, master Bilbo, lembas)
Warhammer FB
Doom
Batman
Punisher
Mini-Guts
Mini-Lancer aka Cú Chulainn
Platinum hero Haruhi
And so on, its too hard to remember them all.
4. Tonal shifts. What I heard many people complain about and getting it wrong. If you go full "tea and cake party" you get boring slice of life. If you go full "blood and gore" you get boring bloodbath. GS is about adventurers. Life of adventurer is about having fun while you can between the quests. Tomorrow you can die, but today you will laugh, drink and spend time with your party. What is the point of worrying about absolutely random dice rolls? Thats why tonal shifts are great and fit here. If you want 100% grimdark - watch some News channel or think about routine work you will have to do until you become old and sick. Pretty dark huh? Already want to forget about it using good old "tea and cakes" method? So dont blame adventurers for distracting from routine stress.
5. Compenent characters. At least most of them, but dont blame fucking noobs. You would also never expect that a level 1 giant rat can kill you when you start playing game.
And I am not even talking about Goblin Slayer, thats obvious part. The rest of his squad and even side characters (specially Lancer and Guts) has their own views and solutions to the problems. And most important that they respect each other views. So many stories show how MC knows everything better than anyone else, how he is perfect and others (mostly girls from harem) praise him. But here MC is experienced only when it comes to goblin slaying. Others use his knowledge and provide theirs.
6. Romance. "Oh look every girl like GS, bullshit stupid slice of life harem dropped". Aaaaand you are wrong. A common mistake for a beginner. Its all about love triangle between Cow Girl and Guild Girl (and potentially Priestess). Why do they love him? Skip the childhood friend part since its obvious. Guild Girl knows him for 5 years. Thats a lot of time to become attached to someone. And Priestess can become more than apprentice, but thats not the point. Also there is a Sword Maiden but no one cares about her. 2(3) girls love one stoic, reliable and good-looking guy, do you still think its so unrealistic and stupid? I think it totally makes sense. Specially if you think about some abomination like SAO where girls fall in love with MC after 1 day of meeting him instead of 5+ years of knowing each other.
7. The way Main party interacts with each other. Its hard to describe but you know what I mean if you played at least one game from Bioware, or any MMO with friendly guild.

Overall - most of my enjoyment comes from ranobe or manga, I've been reading GS for 2 years now, its just impossible to forget about it and judge only the anime.
But think of this - my friend could not enjoy Overlord S2 and S3 after reading source material. He said that anime just ruined entire arc and I trust him. With Goblin Slayer I read the source material and I still could enjoy the anime adaptation even if it has a lot of flaws and cut content. That means that adaptation is good, while the source material is great.

THE CRIME IS YOUR FOUL EXISTENSE, GOBLIN, THE SENTECE IS DEATH!

Review on the first 4 episodes.

The very first episode set a very strong impression. I feel that a lot of people forgot all about how we recently survived an era of very uninspired and generic isekai / fantasy anime, then when Goblin Slayer emphasized the presence of these tropes viewers didn't see it as the intended bait and switch - they only saw the bait. So many shows, including large amounts of battle-magic-highschool anime from eras passed had main characters who were very one note just like Priestess appeared to be for our first impression before actually digging into what a blindly optimistic and faithful ... healer would think during these adventures. What resulted in the first episode's premier was a lot of lazy criticism.

What also followed were several debates about how the goblins are just a plot device (or shallow), whether or not it's fine for an antagonist to be just a device or if it's good story structure to have the antagonist(s) vilified first. To anyone who argues either of these points, do keep in mind that man vs nature is a very popular trope found in several stories - and very many fun action movies have villains serve as bowling pins for the main character to defeat. One other popular arguing point was the "throw-away" characters presented in the show also being shallow and not well introduced, but many people forget about several shows that are praised doing something very similar to Attack on Titan.

Now to critique the show instead of critiquing the critique;

What I find the most exciting is the presentation of our main character, Goblin Slayer. The common fantasy main-character is usually plucky, well spirited, and adventurous, usually getting out of situations with his sheer force of will or special talent against an unknown enemy after we're grown to "love" him from a sad, characterizing flashback. Goblin Slayer is the exact antithesis to this. He is practical, calculated, imaginative, and knows his enemy very well while his origins are unknown. On top of that, rather than being a charismatic character the people around him are drawn to, Goblin Slayer is shown to be less capable of socializing and is someone who needs to heal overtime - a more believable character to put it simply. The main character alone was enough to intrigue me to invest in this show.

There's no denying that Goblin Slayer isn't what most people would call a high art, the next Gurren Lagann or Berserk, but the show very much serves its purpose as a fun adventure series or a fun subversion of generic fantasy anime. You wouldn't grade a fish on how it climbs a tree so to speak.

Scores

Story (7): A simple but functional story that's been painted out from the first couple of episodes, and seems to be a slow-cook to a satisfying character-driven ending. However the second episode prompted debates about how Goblin Slayer's flashback served the story. On one hand the lack of episode one characterization was what many critics disliked of the show, but on the other hand it served extremely well to have our main character seem ambiguous and ominous.

Art (7): Functional. The many sets feel very lived in with a great sense of space, along with thought-out details that goes into even dank caves, ruins, or meeting rooms. But the sets do lack textures in some portions and it doesn't live up to many contemporaries. The character designs on the other hand are very distinct and the action in the very first episode is very satisfying.

Sound (6): Once again, functional. Nothing about the soundtrack stands out one bit and the sound effects for the action scenes are appropriate at best. Nothing feels inventive or experimental and the action could gain more weight with better sound design.

Characters (10): As I mentioned above, it is fantastic to have a main character who's the exact antithesis of plain, generic, insulting, isekai shows we've had to suffer through. The side characters have plenty of small moments too which characterizes them very well.

Enjoyment (10): Should be plain to see through my praise from before. I've actually found myself jumping in my chair the moment a new episode is posted, and it's fantastic to see the niche of fans from the Manga / Light novel coming out of the woodwork. I've also loved the many conversations and discussion after every episode.

Overall 40/50 (8): A very satisfying show for people who like character-driven shows with moments of intrigue and seeing someone prevail with wit over strength. Goblin Slayer is a very firm suggestion should someone be okay with the graphic nature.

Goblin Slayer. Everyone has heard of it, everyone talked about it.
But truly what is in it when we get rid of all the bs, hate and controversy?

An enjoyable experience.

Goblin Slayer comes with a very unique concept and for a big chunk of the PTW audience the idea of a guy doing nothing but stomping rats all day, every day was pretty interesting.
"This guy does nothing but kill goblins" sign me in.
I definitely not expected something that mixed PTSD, literally a DND world, comedy and a hentai protagonist.

Story: It has been shown to death the "isekaish" world of swords, dragons and magic. But GS world ... while similar is actually a dungeons and dragons world.
References to monsters, DnD skill system, etc.
The whole plot revolves around: Let's go kill goblins, oh no "x" happened, shit we somehow did it.
"X" most of the times is our MacGyver protagonist finding a way to abuse the DnD system and honestly those moments are really cool and pretty reminiscent of Jojo.
The other half of the show is our party banter and interactions with each other while trying to integrate our hentai protagonist to do stuff with them.
It's a pretty comfy show. It's not a gritty horror story about goblins raping women or a heavy monologue about fear and moving on and thats something a lot of people critizicing Goblin Slayer seem to think.
Goblin Slayer is not Berserk. Goblin Slayer is a fun, action packed show with a few serious moments and a ton of extra enjoyement can be extracted from it with said mentality.

Art: When i heard "White Fox" it was like stars aligning to give me an awesome show but honestly when i saw the episodes the last thing going trough my mind was "Wow it looks so beatifully animated".
White Fox has completely dropped the ball on GS and a lot of times the show feels lifeless, cheap and boring.
There are times where GS san is shown in 3D CGI but while they definitely break the inmersion they arent the second coming of the antichrist and are definitely endurable (endurable key word right there).

Sound: Nothing to complain. Rightfully by Mili fits the GS anime completely.
I never found any of the VA's being really off character or doing a poor work.
If you are really stingy with this you might find stuff to criticize but wasnt able to find anything particularly annoying.

Characters: GS is definitely the appeal of the show. If you are sick of these beta otaku MC's or these all mighty heroes whose power is directly linked to the strenght of their vocal cords then you'll love Goblin Slayer.
Like ep 12 tells us straight up "Goblin Slayer is just a guy"
He is not all mighty so he plans ahead, a lot. He always thinks on his future confrontations and sets up skills, items or tactics to overpower any foe that crosses his path.
He is like a 10 damage card that can multiply his damage when facing goblins or when using his brain and damn if the damage he receives when he is not in control is clear.
His whole persona and his attitude towards his life (details like the fact that he doesnt carry strong weaponry to avoid the possibility of goblins stealing it from his dead body really are a cool addition) makes you feel on edge whenever a fight is on and the fact that you never feel that he is in anyway special or powerful add to this as well.
The rest are all charming on his own way. I'm not a waifu kind of guy and i would like to see female characters doing more than just having massive tits, making cute faces, etc.
While the other male characters arent completely forgettable the show (just like me) has a love boner for Goblin Slayer so he is practically the only dude you will have eyes for on more than one way.

Enjoyment: The holy grail of anime or actually any form of entertainment.
Who cares if something is preciously animated with jaw dropping scenarios if the enjoyment you can get from it is the same as watching the paint dry.
Perfect.
There are not many words for it. I loved Goblin Slayer and that's all there is to it.
The show doesnt try to bullshit you or tries to pretend to be something mature.
And to be honest that's something that while a lot of shows do, there are many that go overboard with it and you almost feel that you are being made fun of while watching it.
If you wanna have some damn fun and watch religiously everything that a dude that never shows his face and respondes to everything using as few words as possible then Goblin Slayer is definitely the show for you.

Well to tell the truth the main plot is pretty straightforward there is a guy named Goblin slayer who kills Goblins as his name suggests. And that's basically it! But don't just give up on this yet because what it lacks in plotline it makes up for it by its visually pleasing art and fight scenes. I think plotwise it can be compared to one punch man.

Goblin Slayer has a very typical fantasy world setting with magic, swords, adventurers and monsters. Goblins are the lowest class monsters thus normally people underestimates as small fries. But ... they cause a lot of problems to the villages by stealing foods and cattles, destroying farms and even kidnapping young women. The Goblin Slayer has made it his life goal to exterminate each and every one of this pests due to past event in his childhood.

A pretty unique thing about this anime is that it doesn't have any name for the characters. I actually didn't realized it until episode 2. The opening song is my new favorite. Overall I'd say it is worth watching this.

Before I start I’d like to mention that this anime isn’t for everyone. If you’re not good with disturbing themes then I’d recommend another anime. Unlike most light novel adaptations this anime isn’t a happy go lucky isekai. This show will have graphic scenes and will have lots of goblin slaying(duh).

Relevance to the source material: 9/10
So far this anime has been faithful with the light novel. Only issue is the fact that the anime skipped through the back stories of some of the minor characters in the first episode.

Animations:8.5/10
Great animations. Very smooth though one thing I found odd was the fact that the goblin slayer ... was animated with cgi while the goblins were not. Though I didn’t dislike it in general I feel that the goblins should have also been made with cgi rather than being hand drawn. As for the cgi used with goblin slayer I think it fits his character well since his character does seem a bit mechanical.

Characters 9.5/10
All the characters in the story are quite diverse and every single one seems to have a story of their own. Though the series doesn’t touch too much on the past of the other characters the mc, goblin slayer, at least gets a clear explanation as to why he does what he does and what caused him to become the goblin slayer. The comical “I want more goblins” thing that he does every time he goes to the reception desk (spoiler? nahhhh...)has a reason and the reason isn’t “cause I feel like it” or because of an obtuse sense of justice that a lot of characters tend to have in modern shows.

Setting 9/10
The world of goblin slayer is similar to dungeons and dragons. The gods throw the die and thus the fates of the heros of the series are determined. The author made it quite obvious that he is a big fan of d and d. Even the naming system in the show gives this away. Every character in the show is named by either their titles or occupations just like the pieces of d and d. The way the author built the setting is quite interesting. When watching the show I feel like I’m watching what a dungeons and dragons game would look like if it was completely and honestly animated.
Story telling devices:9/10
Goblin slayer has an interesting way of telling the story. Even though the main character is obviously goblin slayer the perspectives we view goblin slayer from are from his companions. Instead of analyzing goblin slayer from his perspective we analyze him from the perspectives of his companions. This helps keep goblin slayer mysterious and keeps the viewers on your toes. Just like his companions even the viewer can be left wondering about what could possibly be going on in his head.

Overall: 9/10

Finally an unapologetic hard core anime that is not aimed at retarded 8 year old kids.
Throw away your retarded politically correct toughts and get ready !
This anime since ep.1 shows you that reality is tough and cruel and if you don't kill your enemies because you want to forgive them (Batman alike) you won't live another day to see your family and loved ones.

I was getting absolutely annoyed and frustrated by the politically correct cartoons for kids where the evil enemy is always always alwasy forgiven, where the main charachters or heroes never die or if they die they somehow always come back to life ... (because they are kids cartoons) and since after Berserk (1997 ver.) I couldn't find anything non-retarded.
This is the closest thing to Berserk (1997ver), Ninja Scrool, Elfen lied or Fist of the north star.

If you hate kids cartoons, this is a MUST WATCH !

Heh, Goblin Slayer? More like Rapist Slayer.

According to an interview with the author on youtube, the one on theanimeman's channel, the "story" that so many haters seem to think that it was nonexistent are basically just ignorant and blinded to their bias. There were even some people, one of the review with low rating below, seem to think that it's wrong for a show as dark as Goblin Slayer to have a cute character design, and as well as having a cheerful moment from time to time. Like dude, welcome to anime. This is nothing new. And yeah, this world is basically based ... on a tabletop game. Which is probably why no characters in this show really do have a name. What you would mostly hear is their class name, or their race name. Which make sense since this is based on tabletop game concept. I find this part of the show is be very refreshing to see in an anime.

Incidentally, those "cheerful" moments also serve as a way to teach us about the culture of different races, rather than just having an episode where they just explicitly spent 5 mins explaining the setting and culture of the elf, dwarf, and the lizardmen. They studio literally accomplish 2 things at the same time: party introduction, establishing their personalities and ethnicity and culture. It wasn't really a meaningless, and a one dimensional story telling at all where they are trying to only have us familiarize with the characters before they get fucking rekt in the future, that was not the goal of this show at all. That being said, "don't judge a book by its cover". Goblin Slayer is one of those kind of show.

Some people may think that this show is going to be heavy, heavy, heavy, and heavy throughout episode 1 to the very end of season 1, but the anime has already proven us wrong. Episode 1 may serves as an episode that has invested the highest level of the shock factor, however, you gotta remember that much like in ep 3, episode 1 is basically world building and teaching us the culture of the Goblins.

I could name at least 6 things here that were hinted there in episode 1: Goblins use poison dagger to make up for their weaknesses, Goblins are led by Shamans, Goblins would always use raped victims as a bait to catch the adventurer off guard (that's why Goblin Slayer waited instead of going in), Goblins use Totems to ambush adventurers, Goblin uses women for reproduction (as said by the Goblin Slayer in ep 1), Goblins blood are thick (thus dulling the blade) so Goblin Slayer had to keep changing his weapon, and so on. So yes, episode 1 isn't all about the shock factor, its world building.

Now some may say that it was unnecessary for there to be rape in episode 1, but hey, the goal of this episode was to have us hate the Goblins, not really to have us sympathize or get horny with the raped victims. That was why the anime decided to cut the portion of the 3 fodder character's backstory (which is in the manga and the light novel) and proceeded to show how fucked up the Goblins are, but most importantly, the anime cut out like 80% of the rape scenes in the manga. Meaning that this anime is way lighter than the manga and you shouldn't be needlessly getting trigger for no reason.

And now, which would be more impactful do you guys think? Simply talking about the fact that Goblins "eat and rape" women, or actually showing the scene for us audience to know what the victims had to go through. I would say the latter if you are trying to have us hate someone. It's the same thing when you see ISIS chopping a baby's head or a head of a nude women on liveleak, instead of hearing some news about it on articles. You would hate them even more if you had seen the former.

As far as the MC goes, I love the guy. This is probably one of the most unique MC out there in anime. His personality is not only realistic, but it has alot of depth to it that was mostly easy to understand and predictable. That said, him being monotone, is that a bad thing? No. This is actually a good thing since I could imagine a guy who had to hide and watch his sister and the entire villagers being tormented and raped being this socially awkward. This is what isolation do to you. You lost nearly all the ability to communicate like a normal human being, especially when you're seeing raped victims every single day, being raped and killed by Goblins, eventually your emotions would become so deaden to the point where you wouldn't become expressive at all no matter how hard you tried.

And unlike those OP characters in a fantasy world, Goblin Slayer is not some lv 100 player or some shit, he's an average joe who uses his brain to make up for his lack of power. Which typically not something we would see nowadays. Additionally, from my understanding, it felt like the way spells works in this world is actually quite similar to Pokemon games. Where there are limited uses for a certain spell that you cast instead of using the MP system...

Though, that aside, if you didn't enjoy the first episode because you didn't understand the purpose of it aside from assuming that it's just shock factor for the sake of shock factor with no context, or story; you should definitely check out at least 4 episodes before making your final judgement on a show that's only been aired recently. You can't judge the whole show if you didn't see the entirety of it yet. And this is a very good show. I would highly recommended it to alot of people, but ofc, there are personal preferences for everything so if you're a snowflakes, then don't watch this anime lol.

Goblin Slayer is about a man who wants to kill all goblins because of what happened in his past it's a classic a revenge story because if he doesn't do it who will. As the story goes along we will see as he starts to change and why he hates goblins and why he's the only high class adventurer going after them.

The Story
The story is very simple at the start as shown in the in the anime it's about killing goblins and how weak but dangerous they are they will kill, steal and rape for survivor cause like titans in AOT there just ... like that it's in their nature. Later on in the manga we find out just how strong and clever some goblins can be which is terrifying they can learn and get stronger so as goblin slayer does it's best to kill them off before they get strong. So as the story will go on it will get more interesting as it goes along so i'm looking forward to more of the anime

The Art
The animation in the show was well done the only compliant is the cgi sometimes times is noticeable but they only used it from far shots on goblin slayer or when he's standing still which is clever to do since we never see his face it's not noticeable at parts. The action was well made making every hit, stab and burn look painful which is the point this is a dark show it's not for the faint of heart.

The Sound
The music and the sound affects much the show when something needs to be epic it's epic when something has to be chilling it's chilling. The voice actors do a great job as well from new hopeful adventures to terrified people who where not ready for a mission so ya overall sound was good.

The Characters
The characters in Goblin Slayer are simple but in a good way cause we get to know them as the story goes along we only know a little bit about Goblin Slayer but as the manga goes on they hint on who trained him. But aside from that we only learn bits and pieces so right now there's not to much to say about them.

Enjoyment
I had a blast watching the first ep they followed the first chapter and have only changed a little from each ep so i'm looking forward to the other 9 ep to come.

Overall
While Goblin Slayer isn't for everyone because of its dark tones the show and manga are a great read and watch learning about different Goblins and how this world works for me it's a solid but for others maybe a 8 or 9 if you give it a chance instead of judging it on the first ep.

Have you ever wanted to watch a MANIME that got your blood boiling, erection throbbing, your bicep muscles pulsating and gain the power of a gorilla with the power of ten men and the swag of Carlos Santana? Then this is the show for you! Fuck Madoka Magica and Tatami Galaxy, you arrogant, annoying, pretentious ass wipes!

The amount of manliness contained in this one MANIME is astounding! You'll be max bench pressing 100 lbs and your chest will grow hair instantly! My large, hairy, sweaty testicles grew a flawless majestic beard! Just ONE EPISODE of Goblin Slayer will cause penis growth, adding 2 feet ... to your overall height and possibly cancer. The music is fucking VIP AS FUCK and you're a degenerate to think otherwise.

This MANIME is not for Children or people with high blood pressure. Your erection will throb once you see our main protagonist curb-stomping goblin teeth against rough, sharp rocks, splattering their brains across cave walls, burning them alive, shooting arrows through their eyes and performing a mass genocide of all the goblins, including the children.

~ BigBoyAlex

1/30/24 Update: Jesus fucking christ my username use to be "BigBoyAlex" and I also hate this review. It's inspired and kind of copyed from a really great and funny Fist of the North Star review that got removed because a mod on a power trip didn't like to see "throbbing cock" typed out and annihilated it. The other two reviews I kind of copyed were from Krunchyman's Goblin Slayer review and therustbelt's Dragon Ball Z review. I thought I was being funny, but it was actually unfunny and edgy.

I understand why there is a certain group of people not accustomed to the reality Goblin Slayer sets in the first episode, yes its bad, and yes its gritty however this is done in order to make the viewer understand the world the characters are put into. Often times in media goblins are portrayed as easy monsters to be killed by the dozens, however Goblin Slayer is not other media. Goblins are evil, vile, and must be killed at all costs.

Through out the anime Goblin Slayer's character is expressed through his actions rather than his words, allowing for the viewer to have to put ... themselves in his shoes to understand him. Through the violence and gore, the viewer gets a better idea of the reason behind Goblin Slayers actions and then start to form a connection with him. He is also surrounded by a cast of characters who try to bring out the human side in him, making the few moments of personality he exhibits rewarding.

The overall plot helps move character development for the cast and bring out the best in the characters provided. Over time the viewer becomes more invested in the cast and wants to follow them on their journey.

I recommend this if you enjoy a gritty action anime with character development from the journey.

If you are worried about the scenes in the first episode please push on and make up your own mind instead of only looking at the surface level or listening to a negative opinion.

Sorry for any grammar issues.

The show is alright. It's nothing ground breaking but definitely better than most of the "fantasy" stuff that comes out nowadays. Lots of people seem to not like the lack of a proper plot, but me personally i appreciate this kind of no-nonsense just bare-bones action show every now and then.

I don't really get why so many people are butt hurt about this one. I guess a lot of folks didn't like the scene where he kills the goblin kids or whatever. Maybe they jumped into this one thinking it was going to be another one of those super creative tales about a school boy ... who somehow travels to another world and discovers he has strange powers and he's going to use them to fight for justice and righteousness. Well, this ain't that, this is more like Berserk and a pretty average light novel had a baby.

Goblin Slayer caused a lot of discussion due to its realistic depiction of blood, violence, and gore. Few anime dare to portray "heavy" scenes in such a graphic manner, and I found this to be a point in the anime's favor. The crudeness of the story, juxtaposed with more serene moments, makes it enjoyable, even if some scenes may be too much for some viewers.

The setting is not the most original, as we are already used to seeing anime set in a fantasy world with guilds that fight monsters and collect rewards. However, Goblin Slayer distinguishes itself by featuring a more Western fantasy style, where ... characters are dressed in practical clothing rather than maid outfits or strange costumes.

Unfortunately, most of the characters remain nameless until the end of the anime, and we can only identify them by their job or race, such as the Girl Priestess, the Elf, the Dwarf Magician, and the Lizard Priest. This makes it feel as if everyone is just a background character, and all the characters are secondary. We don't learn much about the protagonist's true face or the other characters' motivations, apart from a bit of Goblin Slayer's past.

The animation is well-done, with drawings that never become sketchy. CGI is used in some scenes, especially on the protagonist, but it is not unpleasant, even though it is immediately noticeable when there is a transition from animated scenes. The character design is also very enjoyable, and the colors are used equally well.

One negative point is the length of some shots, which are immediately noticeable within the anime. They are too long and pointless. For example, at the end of an episode, we see the characters standing still, reflected in the eyes of a canary. This shot lasts for more than a minute.

Goblin Slayer doesn't have a traditional plot, or rather it doesn't develop in the traditional way. We know that our protagonist fights and massacres goblins for revenge, but beyond that, there is no overarching goal to achieve. Despite this, the episodes are never boring. They continue in complete tranquility, perhaps due to the pathos that the scenes create.

Conclusion

Goblin Slayer is a unique and enjoyable anime, especially for those who are looking for something different from the usual fare. It is not without its flaws, but its dark and gritty atmosphere, well-done animation, and interesting characters make it worth watching.

Personal rating: 7/10.