Where is the dark world of goblin slaying that was promised? If you were hooked from the first episode on a show that promised to be more than just another fantasy romp, then that's really a shame because you're probably not getting what you signed on for. At some point the shock of the initial episode fades away, and we're left with...not a whole lot. We have in our party: a flat main character with a generic backstory albeit in very cool armor, the couple of girls that will stick by his side no matter what, and a trio that embodies all the classic adventuring anime stereotypes you could ever ask for.
All this would be completely fine if Goblin Slayer stuck with its premise of an intense and brutal world killing goblins, but as the episodes drag on that's not at all what we get. The shock and surprise that the series starts out with never really come back in later episodes, and that's what makes this feel a bit cheap. Goblin Slayer promised to be different with a gruesome first episode, and then quickly backtracked, making sure that every bit of the show seems as generic as possible.
The one interesting point is that unlike many isekai or fantasy anime, Goblin Slayer seems to draw much more of its inspiration from western fantasy culture, with a lot of elements from games like Dungeons and Dragons being added in. It's cool, but just not enough to distinguish the show from anything else you could watch.
Goblin Slayer is disappointing, not because it has violence and rape, but because it uses these as the anime equivalent of clickbait. It draws you in promising to be different, a dark take on fantasy, but ends up giving you the exact opposite, pandering with every generic trope there is. For a show and premise that started off so unique and daring, its degraded down to none of that, and that's a real shame.
