Goblin Slayer

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*Warning : May contain some minor spoilers...
Who am I kidding, this manga is awesome, just read it*

Story : 8
While the manga is fairly new and fresh, the story is progressively getting better with new side-characters with believable motives , relatable personality and overall looking very promising. To be fair, the first few chapters so far wasn't much for advancing the plot, but take it with a grain of salt since I consider these chapters a Prologue for grand up-coming story waiting to be told. While the manga may appear edgy at first glance , the author did a good job portraying how difficult ... and unforgiving the world can be, especially a world with magic and monsters. The gore, the unfortunate things that happened are explained properly with details. Hell , I will even go so far as to say that I would probably be like the MC or even worse if that happened to me, and I think that many people would agree with me. There are some moments of levity , and the show doesn't take itself too seriously that it leaves a disdainful taste in your mouth. I'm pretty excited for the incoming arc and the story is looking very promising.
Art : 10
The art is absolutely gorgeous. I myself believe that art and artstyle are subjective depending on the people perceiving them , so you may think that I'm being biased, and I do agree. But holy hell is this freaking beautiful. Check them out for yourself and see how you like it.
Characters : 9
As I mentioned before in the Story section of this review, this aspect of the manga is very well-done . The MC is a total badass in of himself , but the things that make him interesting is that fact that he doesn't kill for glory or money or anything artificial like that. I don't want to go too deep into the spoiler territories but the way he views himself , his actions and the world around him is definitely very refreshing and unique. I'm sure the author put a lot of thoughts into the MC ( I also find him to be somewhat relatable in this aspect but this is irrelevant) .
Enjoyment : 10
What can I say ? The gorgeous artstyle combine with intense, detailed and highly gory fights along with beautiful background scenery makes this manga a blast to read. It is so enjoyable that I found myself rereading the few chapters available for numerous times now , and I have not gotten bored of it (and probably won't). The story is coming along very nicely , and is getting hyped up so badly that you just can't wait for the new chapters. This is such a feel-good show (Different from the healing show) that you just want to enjoy yourself and your life while being on this one ride of massive fun.
Overall : 9
I've had fun a lot with this manga and I certainly can say for sure that this is gonna be big in the fantasy sub-genre. It's not too edgy that you cringe to sleep, but it is dark enough to keep you interested and invested. The world-building is amazing too, though we don't know much about it, there are hints here and there and it's really fun to try and think about all of the subtle things happening in the background. The characters are fun to watch, somewhat relatable , have reasonable motives and their personalities tend to defer from others, side-characters are also given some backstories and such. The art style is highly-stylized, detailed and the fight scenes are awesome. This is some top-tier manga here.

Goblin Slayer is kinda entertaining. It's not entertaining because it has a compelling plot, or any deep themes, or any multi-faceted characters (dear god no). Characters have such stupendously little depth that most of them don't even have proper names. That is not a joke. The four important main characters outside of the protagonist are referred to as "Elf", "Dwarf", "Guild Girl", and "Lizardman". Check the wiki if you don't believe me.

The setting is.. questionable. The premise is a generic RPG fantasy world except goblins are much more vile and dangerous. They wreak havoc every day by pillaging villages and raping women. Beginner adventurers attempt ... to kill the goblins, but many (most?) of them perish in their attempts due to their inexperience and get raped and plundered and murdered. But there are apparently worse problems in the world (never shown) and goblins are too weak to be thought of as a "real threat" (even though they very clearly are not weak, as high-level adventurers are shown to have trouble with goblin hordes in later chapters), so quests to slay goblins grant very little reward. This remains the case even with important quests that involve the protection of enefenseless villages from goblin attacks. Because of the disproportionately small pay, no one actually competent bothers to help out, and as a result normal citizens, beginner adventurers, and entire villages get destroyed by goblins practically on a daily basis. But apparently it's no big deal, so goblin extermination quests still have low rewards. Nothing makes sense, but whatever, fuck it.

Insert our badass protagonist, the fabled Goblin Slayer, whom bards sing of (literally) and people fear. He is a genocidal maniac who wants to exterminate all goblins from existence. He flat-out refuses to accept any quest unrelated to murdering goblins - he lives for it and knows everything about the goblin hunt, from how they eat to how they move. He has plenty of experience destroying goblin nests and doesn't flinch in killing even the youngest. He reasons that baby goblins that are spared by adventurers become truly strong when they grow up. So he kills them too.

That's it. This dude kills hoards of goblins because of his "tragic past" involving them (a past he suddenly elaborated about without ever being asked early on in the manga.. talk about subtlety). And women love him. Nearly every female character he meets lusts for him. How could women not love him? He's the best goblin slayer around.

How about the other characters? Well, as I had mentioned earlier, most of them don't even have proper names. Pretty much all of the women only exist to fall in love with the protagonist to make him look cool. I don't really remember any characters aside from the nameless generic dwarf dude and the lizard whose sole personality trait is eating cheese.

So why is it entertaining? Well... it's honestly pretty fun, despite it all. The goblin slaying is often done in creative ways, and the protagonist comes up with half-way interesting plans in destroying the things. It's also enjoyable in just how brutal he is at times. At some point, I genuinely wondered why the author was so fixated on vilifying and destroying goblins. Did a goblin murder his family? Did he read a doujin with them and his favorite female character? Does he just not like the way they look?

In all, I give Goblin Slayer a 6/10, which is pretty damn generous given the many negative aspects of it. A more objective and fair rating would be a 2/10 or something, but I don't really care. Sure, it may not be very intellectually stimulating, but it's far more enjoyable than other "turn your brain off to enjoy" manga like most battle shonen because the author of Goblin Slayer realizes the only entertaining aspect of these things is the ridiculous fighting scenes. It's actually genuinely inspiring how little the author gives a shit when it comes to world-building, character development, thought-provoking themes, or anything that would normally be prevalent in such a tragic, character-driven story. It doesn't feign a stupid facade of depth. There's no protagonist I want to strangle, there's no stupid "friendship is power" monologues and no real coherent plot whatsoever. It's a manga about a badass and his genocide against goblins and I like it


edit: This review only captures the first 30 or so chapters, I do not keep up with the series anymore

Goblins.

The basic mob 99% of fantasy writers/game publishers brush over.
Being able to write an engaging plot about that is a plus in itself.

But what sets it apart, is being able to provide multiple perspectives and consistent pacing to the world of the goblin slayer.

If you are afraid of gore and dark sexualised depiction of the fantasy genre then this manga isn't for it.

What is it is a semi-realistic story of what life would be like if the average person like you and I were to live in the popular generic fantasy RPG world, as we watch various protagonists share their harsh realities of living in ... such a world.

We would be scared shitless of basic mobs like goblins.

Mark my words, this manga is going to be big in due time. Unfortunately, as a monthly manga, that may take a while. For now enjoy this mostly spoiler-free review and decide for yourself whether this is worthy of your time. The spoilers you find in my review are from chapter 1 and 2 to give examples of the setting.

Story: 7
As the synopsis said, the story unfolds with a shy young girl - a priestess - who wants to become an adventurer, deciding she should help those in need. Applying in a lobby of sorts between all kinds of typical rpg characters (witches, shamans, berserkers, ... paladins etc), you are invited into a joyful setting in a fantasy world where many people can become an adventurer if they wish to do so. She gets invited by a party to hunt goblins and follows the group who thinks killing goblins is no big deal because they are the weakest character in most games. Overconfident and zealous, they enter the dungeon marked as the goblin nest and at that point, you are pulled out of the jolly RPG setting of cheerful characters and welcoming parties and thrown straight into a berserk-esque hell. Goblins may still be relatively weak, but they attack weak groups or lone villages and farms to set the buildings on fire and take their women for their own lust and mostly getting away with it. (This includes rape to a certain extent! This can put off some readers, but don't let it cloud your judgement) If it wasn't for one man: Goblin Slayer. He is hell-bend to kill the goblins due to some childhood trauma and only takes on goblin quests. Being a high ranked adventurer, some others scorn him for only taking on those weak monsters. Nevertheless, he accepts all goblin quests and continues to do his job, ignoring the others who despise him. Think of this as edgy, arrogant, selfish or anything you want, he doesn't do it for the glory or fame. His attitude is not the "Fuck all goblins, they should cease to exist" kind, but more the "I don't want others to experience the same thing I did" kind. If it wasn't for that, this manga would have a severely lower rating for me.
As this has an RPG setting, there should be other monsters, demons and dragons to defeat. However, those battles are fought elsewhere, as the main focus here is how much of a treat goblins can be to new adventurers, while the experienced and higher ranking ones scorn the goblin quests.

That is why the first couple of chapters show the merciless world out there and the tactics to use. Simply being powerful doesn't mean anything against a horde of goblins, accompanied by shamans, hobgoblins or higher ranked enemies. One needs tactics and that is one of the reasons why I like it. The MC, Goblin Slayer, is rational and thinks of the best solutions regardless what others may think. The most spoiler-free example I can give is that in the first couple chapters, he shows that even the gobin children must not be left alone, for they will harbour hate toward the humans that killed their family and will strike back when grown up.

Art: 10
A monthly manga usually has the advantage of having more time for artwork and that is definitely the case here. We can enjoy detailed goblin faces being smashed and spot-on character outfits fitting with the characters, flowing with emotion and amazing scenery. The surroundings are never left out, most empty spaces are filled with a simple item, such as a hay-car on a farm and tables with chattering people in buildings. There are a wide range of manga out here, but only a handful (literally) have received full marks for art from me, Goblin Slayer included. Dynamic fights, detailed, ugly goblins, interesting outfits and beautiful female characters (this doesn't mean all points go to boobs of course). This ideal world depicted is only set off by the contrast of the dark reality that is facing the goblins and their malevolence. Truly stunning to see, nothing to add.

Character: 5
Goblin Slayer is a man among men, let that be clear. His objective is killing goblins and that's what he does. If that means harming some others, so be it. He is clear, calm, just and for me, relatable. This is how one should act in a world such as this.
The priestess - Onno Shinkan - is a typical shy priestess. like Asia Argento from Highschool DxD and her decision to go with Goblin Slayer feels forced purely to continue the story. After that, she has more character development than Goblin Slayer or any other character here. She tries hard for the sake of others, but is not always able to due to her beginner rank. She displays a wide range of emotins, even including sadness for the goblins, even though they are the ones who put her in her misery.

The supporting characters however, all contain a certain archetype (elven archer, dwarf shaman, etc) and retain that type. During a journey, you come to know some of them, but my phone has had more development in the last year than they have had. They never break the archetype, yet some of them show more concern than they used to do. The most interesting supporting character is the receptionist who likes Goblin Slayer for helping people with goblins where most others would not even look at the quest as they are not rewarding or challenging enough.

Enjoyment: 9
Despite some flaws I mentioned, the enjoyment rating of Goblin Slayer is high for me. The chapters are usually over 30 pages yet felt like I was reading the short chapters of Dolly Kill Kill or the later Naruto ones. Every month waiting for a new chapter is slowly killing me as I want to continue reading, but there are only so few chapters out. Sometimes I even read it again for the sake of enjoyment of seeing those goblins being smashed most outrageously and brutally with melee weapons and amazingly drawn magic spells.

Overall: 8
Goblin Slayer is rated as seinen and with reason. Gory deaths and captured/victimized females play a part of it, but that didn't cloud my judgement as it added to the seriousness of the settings. There is occasional humour with simply drawn faces later on, but the cold blooded seriousness and zeal of the MC is mostly what kept me reading, combined with amazing artwork which eases the reading and is a feast for one's eyes. I never get bored of a fantasy setting like this with tactical fights, bloody kills and a festive return.
As said at the start of my review: this is going to be big over time and I can only eagerly await each new chapter until that time has come.

I can be good manga, with interesing story. But .... rape, rape and more rape. This manga will be much better without rape. I can't read this, becouse it is too brutal because of this. I don't have problem with blood and brutal fight. Some people like this manga and think it must be brutal in this way to show how brutal goblins are, but not me. Characters are good, plot also. But I am disappointed. I thought it will be like Hai to Gensou no Grimgar but more brutal. It is more like berserk. If someone like reading about beautyful women with are rape ... by ugly goblins it is perfect manga for him.

Honestly, Goblin Slayer does not impress me one bit into what it is looking to achieve, and I understand that a lot of people would buy it and praise Goblin Slayer, but I'm not one of those people.


Story: 1/10.

The story is not complicated, and the characters get as much depth as their names, which is none. Like many reviews have said before mine, this story will just follow the revenge story of one dude that "specializes" in killing goblins. His revenge path is justified, but what it isn't is the fact that he is the only one out of all the villagers to react ... in this way to the goblin menace.

In fact, the whole setting can't stand on its own when you stop to think even just a little about it. Just to stick with the villagers, it makes no sense that they wouldn't try to defend themselves on their own when the goblins have been there for more than a generation.

This threat is not new to them and out of all the villagers, the story wants to make the readers believe that only one person was brave enough to defend them against a constant threat. This would be a treated as a nitpick if the tension caused by the battles of the story was actually a good focus to follow instead of boring me to the point I can't even enjoy seeing the Goblin Slayer be a badass. And why is there no tension whatsoever in the story?

The answer is quite simple: the combats will go about the same way over and over again. The Goblin Slayer will always get to a place, he will order people around and then take all the glory. Rinse and repeat. Now, if this repeating sequence was played in a comical fashion like the combats of Saitama in One Punch Man, I might find it quite comical as long as it is used sparingly.

But the series wants to be serious and dark all the time, trying to "light up" by using cheap gags that simply don't work for me instead of creating a lighthearted tone.Therefore, I have to judge it for the kind of dark fantasy it wants to be. When my interest was worn off by the absence of tension, I tried to focus on something else that might be interesting only to find myself further disappointed by the series.

I’ve heard some people praise the world-building of the series, but it honestly is nothing even worth mentioning. As I stated before, the setting is nonsensically dark and there is no progression worthy to be mentioned and here's why.

The things we know for certain in chapter twenty-seven are more or less the same we know in the first four chapters: goblins are bad, Goblin Slayer is a certified badass, the rest of the adventurers are either greedy and corrupt or useless. The only thing that changes about the adventurers is that some are only doing something praiseworthy when the Goblin Slayer is around to tell them exactly what to do.

This brings into question their worth as individual adventurers and their personal motivations to put up with the Goblin Slayer's plans. It's like they are unable to have any critical judgement of their own. The only "progression" on a character level that is visible is Goblin Slayer's increasingly greater status among the rest of the adventurers even when he’s paired up with characters of his level of combat.

Which brings me to my next point: The Goblin Slayer is not that different from other self-insert power fantasies found in other LN protagonists. He will always win, he will always be one step ahead of the pack no matter how unlikely it is and he will always be the boss.

Hell, even gods can’t possibly control this character because he has to be a special because of his tragic backstory. We can’t have themes such as predetermination or destiny to ever go against the protagonist, can we?

There can’t be anyone else to rise up like the goblin slayer because that would make him less special and show that his motivation doesn’t differentiate him from other villagers that would most certainly train to become become goblin slayers themselves after surviving a goblin raid.

And of course, no characters can ever show more intellect nor combat abilities than the Goblin Slayer because then he wouldn't have a reason to order them around, right? He would be the one who would perhaps be asked to stay on the sidelines because he’s too reckless.

We can’t have our protagonist ever be in the wrong, can we? After all, what kind of badass faces the disapproval of his actions other than to dismiss it as cheap and recurring gag? I can’t think of a single black swordsman that decided to do something that had real and permanent consequences for everyone involved and marked the turning point of a major arc of any manga.



Art: 4/10.

Nothing impressive about the art. It looks like your run-of-the-mill LN inspired kind of character design. If anything, they make the style work for the monsters, the battles and the shocking scenes which is a use for that kind of style I have not often seen.

However, good battle scene fluidity and good monster design won’t make up for the tedious repetition of the flow of the battles. Nor it will make up for the shock factor the series shamelessly rubs on the reader’s face.

I have read gore manga before, I have seen rape portrayed in fiction before and Goblin Slayer uses both of these things with the tact and understanding of angsty fourteen-year-old trying to make his story interesting by any means.


Enjoyment: 1/10.

I’ve tried to give this manga the chance to prove that it could be enjoyable even if it was just for mindless action.

But it can’t even make that work out and, to compensate, it relies on spamming the shock factor, but that technique is in itself a poor tactic to keep a shallow interest in the story.

I tried to grab onto the world-building, just to find a ridiculous setting and a static world knowledge that reveals the poor thought and care the author put in this story.


Overall rating: 3/10.

I can’t say that Goblin Slayer didn’t try to make its battles somewhat interesting and make its main character different from other fantasy protagonists.

However, it tried to do so by setting up an unnecessarily dark story without even taking the time to make the action varied and interesting nor making the characters more than nameless tropes. This is not the right way to make a story stand out for the right reasons.

If anything, it just highlights the story’s shortcomings when the magic of the badass protagonist and the shocking gore wears off.

I tried to find something to justify the time I put into reading the all the chapters available to me, but I honestly found none.

It was a waste of my time and I don’t plan on continuing losing my time when I can read something a bit more entertaining with its mindless action or its world-building/characters/plot.

This is simply a good piece of media.

I have made a whole big video about the manga if you want to check that out go to the link in the profile.

Let's start this off with:

Story - 7
It's very basic. Standard dnd low fantasy setting that I have seen many times but I can still recognize it's executed in a great way. Now to focus on the main shtick of the narrative - goblins. They bring some diversity I guess but overall it's not enough to compensate and make the whole thing original. However what does exactly that is the tone, which is very ... dark, gritty, and realistic.

Art - 8
While generic for most of the manga when things go down and panic and chaos overthrow the narrative the art does an excellent job of reflecting that. So when the manga needs to make an impact it goes overboard with the art but in a very good way.

Characters - 10
Now again most of them are basic and some are even so badly written it's laughable. But man Goblin Slayer and the party carry the whole thing. The party, less so but still just by getting screen time their personalities are explored pretty well along with their cultures. But the Goblin Slayer is so reasonable and so charming in his responses it's unreal. Yeah, most of his answers are short but that's because there is no need for a long answer, and when there is a need - he provides one... and a very charming and realistic at that.

Enjoyment - 10
This will vary from person to person but I wasn't bothered by the dark theming and horrific scenes,,, I mean I was but in a way that engages me in the whole experience. In my opinion, that is the only reason most people will be a bit thrown off but I was all in and I really enjoined the journey.

Overall - 9
If I'm being honest this is probably an 8 or so but man I enjoyed this way too much for an 8 so here we are.

Go read this it's pretty good length to be consumed in a week or two,

"Robert Neville looked out over the new people of the earth. He knew he did not belong to them; he knew that, like the vampires, he was anathema and black terror to be destroyed. And, abruptly, the concept came, amusing to him even in his pain. ... Full circle. A new terror born in death, a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever." - I am legend, Richard Matheson

Demon Lords are taking over the world. His generals spread across the lands. Countless heroes are being summoned to fight against the ruthless demon horde. Who can defeat those epic monsters? Who will slay the ... demon lords and save the entire world?

Not our protagonist, that's for sure. The only thing he ever wants to do is kill goblins. It's his hobby, his job, and his sole purpose of existence. The Demon Lords are not his concern. Gold is only his secondary objective. Goblins. Must kill more goblins.

Never have I seen a character so passionate about something, so dedicated to improving his craft it brings a tear to my eyes when I read about his quest to erase the entire goblin race from existence.

The setting is cliche. The side characters are paper thin. Hell, they don't even have names.

None of that matters.

This manga simply delivers exactly what is said in the title. Expect goblins getting killed. Expect lots of goblins getting killed. Expect lots and lots of goblins getting killed. Oh, there is also some rape and dismemberment, but these are minor stuff. Don't read them. Or just skip them. Who cares.

When a manga has a premise, and it executes that premise so perfectly, it doesn't need complex characters or intriguing plot. The art is just a bonus. Every chapter you are treated to another day in the life of Goblin Slayer. It's like reading about an artist who continuously polishes his skills, breaking new grounds. It's like watching DeadMau5 works on his latest remix on Twitch. It's like watching bob ross showing you how to paint some happy little trees.

There are no stories to be had, no life lessons to be learned, but you can't stop yourself from wanting more. That's Goblin Slayer in a nutshell.

*WARNING - this review may contain some spoilers*
"Goblins aren't smart creatures, but they aren't dumb creatures either. This is a common mistake to beginners, since they think too lowly of this creature, and soon enough they all got killed by the creature they think lowly off."
- The Goblin Slayer

Story : 9
The story is very promising since it's just been 16 chapters, it basically a really F-cked up manga that makes goblins as this really F-cked up creatures. Different then any manga or game we used to play, goblins used to be minor preys that beginners could took out easily. However in this manga, goblins ... aren't that typical easy to kill creatures for beginners, but a very lustful and all around F-cked up creature. And that’s where The Goblin Slayer comes in to play. A guy who hated the goblins for what they did in his backstory and want to slay every goblins in the entire land. At the beginning of this manga, it wasn't much of an impact, but as the story progress it turned out to be a great badass story waiting to be told.

Art : 9
The art is great in it's own right and probably one of the best art I’ve seen as of yet. Art style is quite edgy in a way where, it makes the story looks like a group of adventures having fun in the world. But soon enough it took a dark turn. This kind of in-depth art and gradient makes it more impactful to me, you may not agree. But, I assure you the fact of the matter is, it's a manga that you will probably look back and read it with enjoyment.

Characters : 8
The MC is a total badass in his own ways, he’s not your typical main character, because the fact is he is so interesting. He isn't your typical naive MC or an OP MC for no reason, he built his path to becoming a badass Goblin Slayer, and sure enough he succeeded in his own accord.
The rest of the characters are also loveable, you can get quite attach to some characters and the funny thing is, this manga is so unpredictable. I can't quite know which character might die, since to be honest everything went so fast that you look back and think to yourself "Wait did that just happened?".

Enjoyment : 10
This manga a fun manga, and it’s ironic that it's really intense some times. It's uncommon for a manga to make you at the edge of your seat for some scenes, and I’m ashamed that i haven't found out about this manga sooner. The story is getting fuller and the cast of characters keeps on growing. The manga, currently is updated every month but the scenes and tense situation that it produced, always makes you remember it back and can't be easily removed from your memory.

Overall : 9
In conclusion it's a F-cked up manga that have a lot of dark and thrilling atmosphere. It makes you more open in my opinion, it makes you realizes that the world is not a safe space and the fact of the matter is we could act out like the goblins too. Humans and goblins aren't that different to an extent in this manga. However, I’m not going to spoil most of the story now will I? It's executed very well and the scenes link up so well that sometimes you think that "is it too good to be true?" The Author really put a lot of thought in making this manga and i give props to him, i surely hope the story progresses nicely in the upcoming releases. And maybe, just maybe we could finally see the MC's face.

“Goblin Slayer is a masterpiece!”. “It’s a good alternative to other dark fantasy manga like Berserk and gets too much hate for being ‘edgy’ or the rape scenes”.

I kid you not, these are the type of comments that were circling around anytime someone mentioned GS.
I have to say, as someone who’s not like the ‘snowflakes’ who write off GS because of the rape scene, once I read the manga I found it to be underwhelming, and there to be more glaring problems to focus my attention on.

Story (5/10):
Goblin Slayer is about a adventurer who witnessed Goblins kill everyone in his village as a boy ... and rape his dear older sister. Filled with feelings of powerlessness, rage and anger, he swore to kill all the goblins.

With a limiting premise of slaying goblins, the manga was doomed to fail from the beginning. The writer either has to recycle storylines with GS killing goblins, or will be forced to expand from his initial premise showing GS’s party take on new enemies and quests. The writer has gone with the former so far and has done a decent job in trying to make the story interesting by introducing different types of goblins like: goblin shaman, goblin lords, goblin champions etc. and has GS use different methods in order to deal with the situation. That being said, it didn’t prevent the story from becoming boring and stale.

The plot follows the same formula half the time of “x number of goblins have shown up in a village or cave. There’s a 70% chance they're raping some girls, but don’t worry Goblin slayer is here to slay them!” That’s pretty much it. Mindless entertainment filled with murder, rape and gore to make the audience hate the goblins more, which is why people label GS as edgy, shock value trash.

The world building is poor. The world is your generic fantasy setting, where everything comes across as a copy of a D&D campaign. It has your traditional Japanese guild with: quests, ranks, items and a character sheet straight out of D&D. The cities, towns and the capital aren’t given names. The locations lack depth and have nothing distinguishing themselves apart. The world feels shallow.

Characters (6/10):
The characters are poorly written and lack any depth. They’re generic, cookie cutter troupes based off their character classes. The writer was so lazy he didn’t even bother making up names for them! How can I be emotionally invested in these characters when I have to refer to them as “spear guy”, “cow girl” or “priestess”?!

Goblin Slayer is a bland, emotionless human who acts like a robot with a one track mind only focused on killing goblins. All his dialogue is about goblins. There’s not much to him besides that. He does get some development once the party joins and we see him opening up and learning there’s more to life than slaying goblins. The problem with this is they join after a couple of chapters and it comes across as forced, with them seemingly joining his crusade to kill goblins despite being representatives of their clans to thwart the Demon lord.

What I do like the is thematic representation GS stands for and how pragmatic he is. GS isn’t the most powerful or smartest fighter, but because he’s spent years learning about goblins he’s an expert in his craft. His character is influenced off Batman and it shows, with his fights revolving around him prepping before hand with items or setting up traps to win. GS is supposed to represent the ‘common man’ fighting the weakest enemy- goblins, whilst there’s supposed to be a “hero” out there fighting the Demon lord and his army.

GS is probably the only well developed character in the show. The priestess has some depth to her. The rest of the party are as one dimensional as the rest of the characters and haven’t been fleshed out well. The elf and dwarf spend way too much my time making stupid comments about each other, while all the lizard can talk about is his love for cheese.

There’s no compelling villain in this story. The overreaching enemy are goblins... one dimensional, cunning, little green shits that raid villages, slaughter adventurers and rape girls.

Art (8/10):
The art is one of the saving graces. It looks amazing and is very well detailed. The fights look dynamic and are easy to follow. I love GS’s design, despite everyone else’s armour looking like they came straight out of a generic fantasy setting. However, my criticism is I don’t think the art fits the tone of the story well.

Overall (6/10):
Goblin Slayer is a overrated, dark fantasy manga lacking in substance. I shouldn’t compare series, but it’s embarrassing when fans try compare this average manga to Berserk because Berserk is more than just gore, violence and murder. Miura uses these dark, mature themes to enrich his story and explore the ‘darker parts’ of humanity. Rape is a heavy subject topic that plays a integral part in the story of some of our main characters e.g. Guts and Casca. We see how the trauma affects them and how they deal with it. It shows how dark and unforgiving the world is in a Medieval setting. In Goblin Slayer, rape is thrown in to show us the brutality of the goblins. However, the way it’s executed is done poorly. In the first chapter, a girl is raped to demonstrate how vile and animalistic these goblins are. The reader by this point is not invested in this throwaway character. When the girl is raped, she’s sent away and never mentioned again in the story. This is where it comes off as cheap, edgy, shock value ignoring the ramifications of it.

Despite my criticisms of GS, I do think the series had potential, but it suffers from some major flaws:
1) Lack of names for characters or the towns and cities. I can’t feel emotionally connected to the characters or immersed in the world without it.
2) World building could be better: Instead of having GS travel to the same guild all the time to pick up quests, have him roam around the world slaying goblins.
3) Give more depth to the party. This may change in the future, but as of yet the characters are lacking.
4) Depicition of rape. Don’t throw it in so casually just to show “how gruesome goblins are”. Don’t fetishise it as if it’s some hentai continuously focusing on angles of beautiful girls breasts, legs or them moaning as they’re getting plowed.
5) Inherent lack of long term storytelling. The writer shot himself in the foot focusing only on goblins. He has nothing else to go on after that.

If the manga improved on some of these aspects i would have rated it higher.
At the moment it’s entertaining watching Goblin Slayer come up with new ways to kill goblins, but beyond that there’s not much to be invested in the story.

Minor spoiler:
Amazing Manga for the moment! I just finished reading the 6th volume, It was pretty good. I
think it's a really outstanding manga not because it has some kind of crazy plot, no Our Hero kill goblin because they killed his sister. But a good manga doesn't need to have a great plot to be enjoyable.
I think the greatest strenght of this manga is the fact that it' really like a "Berserk cousin"
I mean it's very different from berserk, But it has got all the stuff that I personally liked of That masterpiece. Gore, blood everywhere, epic fight a really enjoyable MC. ...
I mean I simly love this manga, He resurrected my favourite manga genre The Dark Fantasy.
I understand the controversy of the rape scene.
But if you read Dungeon and Dragons, It cleary says that the only way goblin have to reproduce is by kidnap and rape women from small village without defense.

OH MY GOD!!!
This manga is a Masterpiece believe me!!!
it's second only to berserk for me!!!
I Was pretty skeptical when I started to read this, because I really apreciated the anime, but there was some lack in the animation and art.
This is perfect, the fight are really incredible and well designed.
I love this manga, because it's really simple in terms of plot.
The boy who sees all his loved ones dies because of the goblin swear to destroy them.
Yeah it's pretty simple but a good manga doesn't need to have a crazy plot to be good.
This anime is perfect not only for dark fantasy fan in general,
but ... even for those who love to play RPG dungeon game,
It really feels like playing darkest dungeon(one of my favourite game)
Can't wait for the next volume to be released, start read this anime, you won't be disappointed.
(sorry for my english)

“Before the Demon King destroys the world, the goblins will destroy the villages. The appearance of a powerful enemy is no excuse to neglect the weakest ” - [Goblin Slayer]

⪻- Review | Comment and Reflection -⪼

The first arc is decent, it presents you well to the protagonist, who already shows that he has a cold attitude and that he takes care of him (killing goblins). The story then introduces you to things like the adventurer's guild, the rank system, and the priestess (who after being saved, wants to return the favor to the Goblin Slayer). The good thing about this story is to see how ... the perspectives of characters like the priestess or the High Elves change, who before did not understand the Goblin Slayer, but now they do.

The story then introduces you to the dwarf, the high elf, and the naga who ask you for help stopping an army or something like that (this is when they introduce the "Demon King" demon realm burned down). The goblin killer refuses and makes it clear to us that his only target is the goblins, and that's what the story is about. The group of the dwarf and the high elf ask permission to go with him on one of his missions to see how it unfolds, and the Assassin agrees. In the end, the story shows you the cruelty of the Goblins, as the characters change their points of view. So the story takes an interesting turn, as they put a theme of "gods and a chessboard", which opens the doors for the manga to become somewhat complex.

In short, the story of Goblin Slayer consists of a protagonist who is immersed in revenge and focuses on a single objective, to kill the Goblins. But he's in a society where the Goblin missions are underrated and there is a lot of discrimination and capitalism, which is why the society of the Goblin Slayer world sucks, and that's what makes Goblin Slayer in terms of world building and politics, good.

In how many good moments, there are many. One of the best would be the Goblin attack on the farm, in which the Goblin Slayer asks for help to stop them, puts his pride aside and finally asks for help. In this same there is another very good moment in the final chapter, when the Goblin Slayer is about to kill the Goblin leader, the author gives us a flashback telling how the Goblin became strong, and it was after the mistake of a beginner after forgiving one, and then the author links you to one of the opening phrases that the Goblin Slayer said at the beginning; "You never forgive a goblin"

Finally, I want to touch on a more than interesting subject, and this would be art, specifically. In this case it would be the "illustrative language" (which I have been mentioning for a century)

Illustrative language is one that through an illustration (artistic, design, typographic or photographic) can transmit a message, an emotion, a tragic situation, even a symbolism or parallelism, etc. Everything will depend on the context and the illustration obviously. Let's take the following example, in the Goblin Paladin Arc, the "fighting princess" is caught by the Goblins and then luckily rescued, and after waking up from her faint, she is traumatized and simply says "Goblins" with a subtlety that it conveys to you the tragedy of the environment (on the other hand, in the film adaptation, the attitude he has is that of someone relieved, that is, it makes no sense after all he suffered).

For these reasons, illustrative language is a very important factor, and that together with politics and worldbuilding, makes Goblin Slayer a good manga.

My first review and i'm not native speaker, so i apologize in advance.

Goblin Slayer is another fantasy manga with adventureres, monsters and world-wide threat... except the latter almost does not appear. We follow the story titular hero, who has more than enough of reason to dedicate himself to slaying goblins.

Story: 7/10

As far story goes, it is rather standard one - MC goes on adventures and slays monsters. However, the way everything is presented (more on that in Enjoyment part) sets it from many similar titles. Still, the story is only starting to get serious, which i think is a good think, but it may disappoint ... those who want something major to happen instantly. Even the biggest of events so far is rather local affair. If we ever get to something bigger, you can easily treat this as 8/10 or higher depending on what we get.

Art: 8

Again, nothing truly unique, but everything is very detailed and pretty-looking. The only problem are characters other than MC and - surprise, surprise - goblins, who on the most part are your typical fantasy guys (more on that in the next part). Still, fights are a pure joy to look if you don't mind some gore, and at every point the manga looks very good. Also, it might be just me, but i think background is lacking in a little to many panels, but that might be me overthinking it.

Character: 6

I really, really want to give it more, i like MC and none of other characters is annoying when they weren't meant to. However, it is impossible not to notice that practically every person not called "Goblin Slayer" doesn't have much going for them. The author rarely doesn't trie to give them some deeper personality so far, so it is difficult to care for anyone other than MC. "6" means "fair" and this is the word i have to use for characters.

Enjoyment: 9

Now here is something that truly makes my time with first 17 chapters great - the manga never goes overboard. Yes, we see drastic scenes, even some typical "i won't leave you alone" moments (SPOILER, but not really) or some nudity (censored, of course - this isn't hentai or Berserk). However, none of this is overexaggerated. Take fights, for example - even if we get someone boasting and their spirit (and body) is later crushed, it isn't prolonged to make it more dramatic. The same goes for more romantic scenes (very short and - if i can say so - surprisingly realistic), and even if there is some nudity, it doesn't like forced fanservice - they are shown, but mostly due to "it's happening, so we have to show it" rule. Same with MC - no artifically prolonged dialogues about how he hates goblin. Yes, he talks about that, but gets it straight to the point.

In short, lack of artifically prolonged scenes and overdramatic tone definetely makes this title stand out.

Overall: 8

Definetely my favourite pure fantasy manga for now, along with Overlord and far above things like Shield Hero and The New Gate (both of which i enjoy a lot). It isn't and most likely won't be masterpiece, but if you like the genre, this is definetely the title to follow. I doubt the note will go higher, but at least i hope it remains at this level.

Disclaimer: I want you to enjoy Goblin Slayer without any influence from any outside source, but also keep in mind that the series isn't immune to criticism and despite the grandiose complaints which many quickly shrug off, those complaints are there for a reason.

STORY: 4/10
Goblin Slayer's strengths are held back by its tendency to leave holes, the so-and-so fight scenes and characters which don't really garner much interest aside from occasional good writing hiccups. It gets a lot of praise for being "realistic" and "gritty" but it doesn't really function well as anything other than a Tabletop RPG session. Adding in snuff and rape doesn't ... make something "realistic" and "mature" and while i understand why someone would enjoy a manga that's darker in tone and more violent than your typical fantasy anime, we need to be able to distinguish between "dark" and "mature".

Goblin Slayer, Akame Ga Kill and Elfen Lied all hinge from the same praise that the show is much darker than your average series, but that's not indicative of quality. The inclusion of goblin rape scenes sets the tone of the series as a violent and sexually horrifying portrayal of a fantasy world, but it doesn't make it any more interesting, especially when those scenes happen to characters we don't have much interest about. The majority of characters who are victims of horrible sexual violence all exist in order to fulfill that quota of sexual violence instead of being written as characters. This leads to a lot of audience apathy towards the brutality being shown on screen and it makes it all less engaging. Another thing about the rape scenes is that they happen at such a high frequency to characters we have no interest in and it quickly becomes dull and accustomed to. When rape scenes are the least interesting part of your manga, oh buddy, you got some stuff to fix.

The world of Goblin Slayer does not become realistic through its usage of rape and violence, it feels like a tacked on feature by an author who doesn't understand how to make the audience feel grim and despair and relies on harsh violence to give the illusion that these cardboard cutouts are being violated, despite the lack of any actual character. Attack On Titan did a good job presenting a world that was grim and despair-inducing without even the slightest mention of rape and even if it doesn't have well written, a lot of authors can still take a lesson or two about presenting world building from that series.

CHARACTER: 6/10
That being said, i did enjoy a lot of the main character interactions, particularly the cute moments between the titular character and his party, but that adds another layer of issues. The light tone of the character interactions really undermine the violence that the story attempts to have. Instead of providing a contrast or a refuge from the harsh violence, it creates a dissonant whiplash that serves the story poorly. (Also, does this show really need a harem? Doesn't that give a conflicting demographic?)

The tone has a conflicting identity which is apparent when you go back-to-back from playful character banter to meaningless goblin violence. It doesn't fit well and it makes the it all the more frustrating when the tone flip-flops between dreary and cheery. I can't take the violence seriously because i don't care, and i can't enjoy the banter between characters because that's not what i read Goblin Slayer for.

ART: 6/10
The art is very pretty and charming and you can make the argument that it becomes disheartening when horrible things happen in this cutesy anime art style, but i can't help but feel like the art style undermines a lot of the grimness the setting tries to have. The art style would work much better in something more akin to Konosuba, because it really does shine during more comedic and expressive moments.

ENJOYMENT: 6/10
Look, there's no other way to put this, goblins are boring. That's personal preference, of course, because when the villains are written to be an inherently ugly and evil race, there's not much enjoyment or character variety. I'm more of a technical fight kinda guy, and there's not much enjoyment i can make when all that's happening in a fight scene is swinging swords and casting spells which function according to video game logic i've seen done better in other Isekai anime instead of being a realistic portrayal of a clashing of swords. That wouldn't be an issue for me, but there's a lot of praise coming from the "realism" of this manga's world, but it really does feel just like a video game.

OVERALL: 5/10
I didn't make this review because i hated Goblin Slayer, i made it because it gets a lot of undeserved praise for what is essentially just another generic fantasy series. It doesn't know if it wants to be realistic, ridiculous, fun, dark, humorous or well written. The action gets dull quick, the characters don't mix, the series is boring. It doesn't deserve praise as "the best thing ever made" and it doesn't deserve praise as "the worst thing ever made". It's just a mediocre show that's going to be forgotten.

And if you enjoyed this manga BECAUSE of the rape scenes, don't hide it by excusing it as "mature" or "realistic". I won't judge you. We're all degenerates.

It was a fantasy manga series. Main character The Goblin Slayer had no interest in this world other than killing goblins. It was a result of an attack by some goblins to his town when he was little, his whole family murdered by goblins in the attack so he killed all the goblins, he could find in the manga. The series is originaly a light novel.

As you could see it was a pretty simple revenge story but it had a controversy around it and that was goblins not only killed humans but they kidnaped human women and raped them to produce offsprings. There were some ... panels... This kind of reminded me Berserk and Trolls... same thing happened in Berserk at some point.

I usually don't like safe series that doesn't make me feel like an adult, and spit on the face of the conservatives by making them uneasy... So here we are, at goblin slayer. I liked it even if it was pretty much a simple revenge story, it was controversial enough to pull me in.

Goblin Slayer whose name was also Orcblog was a loner at the begining but later on a priestess who was saved by him, joined him. Others followed her. A magician dwarf, A shaman Naga and an archer elf girl. They became an inseperable party and it was fun to follow them in the dangerous goblin infested caves, and ruins.

26 chapters have been released since this review.

Story 7/10 -
The narrative mostly progresses like a game. Goblin Slayer gets a quest to kill goblins, saves people, and the cycle repeats. There's plenty of action, plenty of gore, and plenty of other characters that join the main protagonist. The story does get kind of repetitive since there isn't much variety. It's pretty much the quests get harder and harder and newer types of goblins are revealed. A bit of rape is also included, not for anyone's fetishes, but to indicate the cruel and merciless actions of goblins. I hope the story gets more interesting or ... takes an odd turn because, as of now, it seems too predictable and straightforward. I'm still enjoying it for the most part, though.

Character 8/10 -
Goblin Slayer is a badass. If you like these types of characters, then prepare to love this one. He has earned the respect (and maybe affection) of Guild Girl, one of the receptionists working at the guild, and has saved the main heroine, a young priestess, who has joined his adventure on hunting goblins. Keep in mind, Goblin Slayer is not overpowered since it's been shown countless times that a strong foe might overpower him, but his wits and smarts have always prevailed in the end with his unique ways of killing his greatest foe.

The other characters aren't really that special besides Goblin Slayer of course, but they all maintain their role perfectly. None of them get annoying, and it's nice seeing Goblin Slayer interact with all of them. He's been changing since the beginning for the better but still retaining that man-of-few-words badassery. All of the characters compliment each other and are entertaining to watch as the series continues on.

Art 7/10 -
The gore, the combat, the slices, all of that is very well drawn. Props to the illustrator. The action can get messy (as in blood, blood, blood) which might make the panels a bit hard to read, but you can pretty much tell the gist of what's happening. Doesn't really get in the way. And the character designs are not bad either. I didn't really like the rape though, but I understand that it's supposed to be a realistic depiction of the main enemy.

Overall 7/10 -
It's a fun manga to read. Never once has it annoyed or infuriated me. All the characters are, at least, not troublesome or obnoxious. The story could be more interesting but it will do for now. And the comedy is nice, too. If you like a badass protagonist, pretty female characters and some goblin slaying then start this manga right away.

other than the mc being baddass, the story is quiet meh.

I haven't read the novel yet but I assume the goblin thing will get old after a while. If there was a website that provided character templates for isekai stories I assume the author would have used it. All in all everything was average to below average except the priestess. Her being a beginner and utterly useless in combat makes you wonder why she is hanging out with a pragmatic veteran specialist who would clearly be better off without having to protect her. I think shes only there to soften the mc ... and bring his human side out a little. so in the end he would stops killing goblins and get married. "oh priestess, up until now my life has been blur with only sounds of metal clashing and the smell of blood. You saved me! now come give me a kiss muah muah muha lets make a kid muah muah"..... yeah you get the idea.

I really wanted to love this manga, honestly, as D&D player I thought this was not going to be another generic medieval manga, but... it is, sadly, it is.

This manga is basically a D&D realistic and sadistic campaing made by a fan of Doom and Berserk. And... that´s about it.

There´s rape, LOTS OF RAPE. I can understand that since is set in medieval times, people were quite barbaric back then plus the fact that the goblins in this story are completely unhinged, disgusting, dangerous and act as pests. So yeah, inside the context of the story, rape is justified but not the sexualization ... of it. The poses and faces of women suffering it makes me wanna vomit.

The characters are... generic, they do not even have names. Like the ones that you can create in a rol campaing.
The main characters is just... Guts and Doom guy but flat, nothing to see, nothing to appreciate.

The art style is ok, not very good but not bad either, just, average.

I dropped it because the plot was going nowhere. It is the same formula over and over. A new mission, rape, kill goblins, rest in an inn or village, repeat.
I give it a 5 because I actually enjoyed the first 8 chapters, after that it becomes repetitive and goes nowhere.

This started off with a lot of potential, in that it seemed to be a standard D&D manga that subverted expectations right off the bat. The first dungeon crawl goes sideways, which is immediately engaging. However, this turns out to be the peak of the manga, and everything goes downhill from there.

The world-building seems expansive at first, but we quickly discover that it's limited to this one town and a handful of characters. The main characters we follow are completely one-dimensional. The goblin slayer himself literally never removes his helmet, even when out experiencing a festival, or even when eating and drinking (does he shove ... food through the slits in his face plate?).

There's zero development of either characters or story, and without the halfway decent art (that unfortunately tends to get a bit muddled during fight scenes) and somewhat creative fighting, this would be completely without merit.

Give this one a miss.