By glossing over the first band of adventures (which ruins the fake out that these characters were more involved with the series) and entirely removing the 2nd group of adventures from ep. 2 as well as glossing over how dire and needed goblin slaying is; Goblin Slayer's overall presence comes off a bit diminished than in the manga. We don't get to see the clear difference in his experience not just compared to novices but even a band of experienced adventurers unfamiliar with Goblin tactics. These simple and understandable changes lead to some awkward pacing. Luckily the brutally of Goblin Slayer is enough to hold a fans attention and the series does its best to reintroduce some of the dialogue and ideas back in other ways but a bit of balance is lost when the skip over some of the dialogue and narrative as it originally was.
Episode 3 is a bit awkward too since it also cuts some world and character building as well as crams in more of the manga into an episode then it probably should have, but the pay off comes in Episode 4. Episode 4 comes out untouched by censoring and the dialogue and narrative are allowed to flow at it's intended pace. We finally get into the more methodical nitty, gritty approach of the series then hinted at or glossed over aspects of it from earlier episodes. We get a much better idea and feel of Goblin Slayer's experience and drive. The things that make him different from an Adventurer.
Luckily at this point, the series will go into more and more in what makes Goblin Slayer who he is rather than showing off more shocking moments that need to be censored out and NOW is when I start to get excited about the series. Now that pretty much the porn is out of the way, we can get into the grit of the series. And honestly, now that the series seems to have found itself, it makes the first 3 episodes a bit more understandable and bearable.
