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Goblin Slayer
Brutally Fun
Series in a Sentence
In a world of dragons and demon lords, the Goblin Slayer has resigned himself to take on the small quests from which he gets his name: Goblin slaying.
What I liked
From the very first episode, this series set a tone that it wasn’t going to mess around and man it did not. Fights, and their aftermaths and results, were brutal with some truly shocking imagery; Goblins, as a naturally dehumanized fantasy creature, really leaned into their animalistic sides; Adventurers of different levels were not guaranteed to survive. The world that this show established was not, and is not, like the modern fantasy series and is instead more in line with the more realistic and dark series of old. Thanks to all of that, this series’ retreading of tried and true fantasy tropes and dark fantasy anime formulas actually felt more fresh than anything else. Essentially, it was nice to see a series so unafraid in its mature themes and images. Beyond that, though, lie interesting characters. Although each character is unnamed, being referred to by their role instead (like Goblin Slayer, Priestess, Spearman, Guild Girl, etc.), the fact that each character has a defined role actually helps outline their character traits that the story fills in. Yes, there isn’t any crazy character growth or changes but thanks to easily identifiable characters and well defined roles the world almost feels more alive. Maybe the things that I liked about this show sound simple: It's fearlessly bold in violence and action while having defined characters to like. Sometimes, though, this focus on simplicity is really refreshing.
What I Didn’t Like
Here I’m going to talk about three critiques of the show, two that bothered me and one that could bother someone else. For the first thing that bothered me, it boils down to one thing: Fanservice. Yes, this is a more mature show and I understand that, especially during combat scenes, there might be some nudity. However, especially concerning the more adult female characters, designs are pretty much skewed towards the anime girl proportion stereotype. Coupled with some obviously anatomy-highlighting shot compositions, the female designs kind of knock the show’s serious and realistic vibe down. Concerning the second thing that bugged me I’ll keep it short: Bad CG, particularly when it comes to Goblin Slayer himself. Maybe it will be fixed in a Blu Ray release, but the show’s switching between CG and traditional animation concerning Goblin Slayer was a little jarring. As to the thing that could bother other people, that topic is simple: Brutality. This show deals with slaying goblins, dehumanized creatures in-universe, so one would be correct in assuming that battles would be particularly violent. However, this shows goes even further beyond regular violence by bringing in torture, sexual conduct, and other more mature tactics. Make no mistake, this show is purposefully shocking. In a world of easily marketable monsters and low-risk fantasy battles, though, grotesque monsters and inhumane tactics are not for those expecting the more normalized isekai setting.
Overall Feelings
Goblin Slayer is, and will probably continue to be, a very polarizing series. I’ve watched a plethora of large YouTube channels react to the series and I’ve seen a plethora responses ranging from love to hate. From where I stand, this series was great. The world was interesting despite being a retread of a bunch of older fantasy tropes, the battels were intense and shocking, and the fearlessness of the show made it a spectacle to behold. At the same time, though, I can see where people might not like the show. The show is brutal, at times unexpectedly so, and is so against the norm now that it could be seen as being extreme just for attention. Nevertheless, to throw my hat into the debate, this show was well worth the watch as long as shocking content is a non-issue to you. Even things that are old can feel fresh with enough polish.