(L+CR) Goblin Slayer

[Wheeljack83]

Originally Posted by Twi

Recap and review are done

Changes:

Spoiler for Changes:

Like last episode, the episode is about 80% loyal to the source materials but neglects some inner monologue that could be used to flesh out the mindsets:

* The Goblin Lord’s flashback neglected to show how he got his axe by killing a Conan the Barbarian-like Adventurer who came into the nest and slew every other goblin until he used the woman he came for as a meat shield and then killed them both.

* The Goblin Lord initially brushed off GS’ stab as a minor wound since GS was in a worse position, due to having lost a shield and his arm’s use. He was planning on torturing him for a bit since his horde got killed, but since GS wasn’t going to beg there wasn’t going to be any satisfaction in it and so he decided to just get the kill. Cue Priestess.

* After he gets caught, the Goblin Lord also initially tries to threaten Priestess into letting him go, threatening to do things to her that involve amputating her limbs, burning her, violating her, and then shoving a spike… well, you can guess. When she doesn’t cow under his threats, he then resorts to begging her because its happened a number of times and each time the women were left begging and weeping as he basically did what Goblins do afterwards. In other words, he was never going to change his ways, so anyone who thinks otherwise should think again.

* After the Lord is dead, Priestess notes that Goblin Slayer was losing a lot of blood and wishes he didn’t take such risks, but he admits he couldn’t win unless he did so.

* The heroine doesn’t show up in town. It’s too soon for that, we’re talking Volume 3 stuff.

* The manga also adds in a scene at the end where the narration takes place over the gods setting up a D&D campaign and rolling the dice for Goblin Slayer, only for his piece to kick the dice out of the way and show he doesn’t let them roll the dice. I found it hilarious.

My final thoughts:

Spoiler for Final Thoughts:

Okay, I’ve been pretty positive about the Season, despite some grievances. So it goes without saying that I’m obviously going to be singing praises here. Goblin Slayer was one of the best anime that I’ve seen this year, and as a fan I quite enjoyed it.

The plot is simple: a dude and his crew kill Goblins. That’s it. There are occasional curve-balls thrown in, like the Ogre and the Champion, but from start-to-finish it has been a simple story with a grounded plot.

One of the biggest issues I’ve had with a lot of manga and anime over the last few years is that the scale is too huge. Saving the world, being the chosen hero, getting everything going your way and powers oozing out of every orifice. Poor characters that never really have fleshed out personalities became the standard and it has gotten horribly stagnant.

Then this came along. A simple story that only gets as big as saving a town. A hero who only has his wits and whatever he can prepare, who has flaws and is growing into someone who can be happy after losing everything. A party that’s competent and full of quirky people who I really do like.

Is it any wonder this become one of my favorite stories of all times?

Before I heard of this series and found the manga, I never bought a light novel. But after reading the manga, I picked up every volume that has come out and have never looked back. And then the anime was announced and I was ready to watch it, hoping it wouldn’t suffer the same fate as something like Sword Oratoria (I will never forgive this adaptation and the people who made it).

Don’t get me wrong, there were some issues to be found in the series. They cut out a lot of things that spiced up the world-building, they swapped an entire volume’s content (though it makes more sense so I’m good with that), I also hated the opening song because it seems… weird to me. Unfitting. And this studio has a strange fascination with the female face, even though it worked out some times like with Priestess in the last episode.

But it was still good. They showed that this world could be an unpleasant place to live in and didn’t shy away from showing us just how monstrous the weakest of monsters could be. The heroes struggle and fight and take their hits, but they get up and keep fighting with what they have and what they can plan out. They aren’t overpowered like the Heroine and they probably can’t save the world, but what they do is necessary and it was a great tale to be told.

And then there’s the main characters: Goblin Slayer and Priestess.

I really can’t stress just how much of a change the Goblin Slayer from the first episode is from the Goblin Slayer of the final episode. Not only has he become more open and trusting to others, but he was willing to take off his helmet when he never does otherwise, and found that he has people he could trust. Sure, he’s still a little rough around the edges, but did you see that smile on his face at the end?

And Priestess was just an angel from start to finish. She’s seen some of the worst things that can happen to people in her profession, and she knows what will happen to her if she gets captured. Yet, she’s the first one ready to go behind Goblin Slayer and the one who will call him out when it needs to be done. She has her moments of fear and they have cost her greatly, but she learns from it all and keeps moving forward. She’s a wonderful character, a strong female protagonist who may not be able to fight head-on but offers support wherever she can.

Everything being said, I am happy with what we got. I am proud to say this is an adaptation to be watched. This series deserves every praise it gets, controversy or not.

How the Goblin Lord got the battle-ax is only in the manga and not mentioned the light novel. It was an adaptive element. In general, the anime hues closer to the light novels.

Also some of the things you mentioned were basically in the episode.

[Kanon]

The fights were better than last week's. I really liked the ones against the Goblin champions. It shows that there can be quite a gap in strength among silver ranked adventurers. I'm not talking about Goblin Slayer here who we know is a specialist, but the rest of his party. Lizard, Dwarf and Elf would be hard pressed to defeat a Champion on their own.

Priestess was really badass in this ep. I was afraid the lord's pleading was going to get to her (which would have been stupid) but she didn't even bat an eye. She really has grown.

GS has also grown. He actually wants to become a "proper" adventurer now. Elf will be delighted to hear that. Him removing his helmet in front of everyone was a nice moment, it's a shame we didn't get to see his face.

Overall, this was a good series. There were other shows this season I wish had gotten a S2 confirmation over this one, but I'm still looking forward to it.

[Itlandm]

I was mildly surprised to see Cow Girl did not seem jealous of Priestess at all and seemed to go out of her way to leave the two alone together after Priestess woke up. Then again she knows he will always come home to her.

[Eater of All]

Originally Posted by Ultragunner

For example, the show is said to be inspired by DnD and I can see that from the setting to the odd spell system with specific number of uses. But then GS himself defies any “dice” and does his own thing. I understand that is os because he meticulously studies, makes plans & strategies to overcome any obstacles....but can you imagine there is a character that can ignore the dice on a DnD table?

I think the way GS fights is also very characteristic of DnD battles. A good DnD player uses clever tricks and environmental advantage to defeat enemies without engaging in combat, because combat is risky (due to the dice). To "defy" the dice in DnD is to convince the DM that this weird usage of your spell/skill results in an instakill, or failing that, at least creates an overwhelming advantage that minimizes the risk when forced to engage in combat. Assuming the gods (DM) isn't actively trying to sabotage you, they'll let things play out to a reasonably logical conclusion. Rather than seeing GS as a character, I see him more as a crafty player. Meanwhile, a player like the lancer fights by having good equipment and being at a high level with powerful abilities/passives. But roll a few natural 1s and it's KO no matter how "strong" your character is.

I dunno, maybe I’m just rambling nonsense, but hey if anyone is enjoying this series a lot then good for you it’s all but confirmed that there will be a season 2

Well, it's a discussion forum. Any opinion is welcome, as long as you're not trying to shove it down other people's throats.

[Ultragunner]

Well, I'll still watch the 2nd season, it is fun to see GS bash some goblins after all

[Jazzrat]

Interesting to see they announced that it will have another season as the anime have pretty much covered current major arcs in the manga currently, thus it will be loooooong wait if they don't plan to spoil the manga readers on LN content. (The manga main series is a monthly publication).

Overall, the show was ok. The budget isnt high but they kept the story straight from the source with some adds and minus to the details. The major plus point for me to this show was the music, I like most of Mili's song in it. The special end was really good feeling to a fantasy story end.

[grecefar]

to priestress, the adventures won't have accepted the quest if he didn't ask like he did and less without guild girl help, that just idealist thinking from her.

great serie, looking foward to the second season but I think I'll jump to the manga from the beginning. 8/10.

[Top Sergeant]

Excellent conclusion to the season. Nice seed for the next one (The Hero and her retinue are apparently heading to Goblin Slayer's town for the festival). Love the betting pool on what GS actually looked like

Very glad to see Priestess' maturation. There is no way she could have done that, especially driving the sword shard deeper into the Goblin Lord, at the beginning of the Season.


This wrap up was better than if they had stuck with the source material's order of arcs, as this one included everyone but Sword Maiden.

Well done.

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for final thoughts:

8/10

First of all, it is actually a fantasy story. The main character is born in that world and has experienced stuff in that world, making him the way he is.
Wow, isn't that a miracle? The protagonist isn't an idiot that came from the world of the author of the story.

And it was just a good, enjoyable fantasy story. It has been quite a while since I've seen Wolf Riders. So that was pretty nostalgic.
Also, I guess it was interesting to see that the "big" story about that Haruhi-ish hero was going on in the background while the main story focused on just some "side" characters. I also liked the protagonist's character development.

Also, they had a couple of good ryona moments. The process to the event was pretty iffy, but I think the goblin rape scene in the first episode to the conclusion was fairly good. Also, the scream when the priestess got chomped was a good grade-A. Yeah, she kinda got all hopeful and stopped screaming when the protagonist rose up, but well... The scream was still very good.
The elf's clothes being ripped off was kinda bad though. I mean, they didn't show the process! I hear from my friend that it was better in the manga, so I wish they used the time to actually show it happen.
Why it happens -> It -> What happens after
All three steps are needed to make such scenes great, BTW.

However, there were some pointless "poetic" moments like the not-exactly sad special ED over the protagonist's obviously-none-death and the cow girl staying home instead of evacuating.
And quality-wise, somewhat iffy like they having to skip a week of broadcast (the episode before it wasn't exactly pretty either) and the protagonist apparently having the ability to transform into CG randomly.

So I'd give it a 9/10...
But the OP is bad, and the ED is even more unbearably so, and both are important parts of an anime.
So 8/10.

Doushite! Doushite! Doushite~~~~~!

[Guido]

What I enjoyed the most about Goblin Slayer was that to me it subverted the standard trope found common among high fantasy stories that is the MC embarking on a quest or adventure in order to come full circle in his or her character growth to become a proper protagonist as foretold by prophecy to save the world.

Instead, Goblin Slayer delivered a microcosm within a universe focusing on the eponymous MC ridding his known world of nothing short of goblins while carrying a huge vendetta against them for the destruction of his village and the murder of his sister in the past. He cared less for any other worldly matters outside of his personal environment that had nothing to do with Goblins such as the Demon King's invasion.

That's what I liked the most about this show focusing on someone's else trivial story that happened to take place in a bigger universe, yet keeping the plot contained in such a smaller microcosm. It made for the pacing to be tightened and progressing straightforward since Goblin Slayer meant business only against Goblins and nothing more. Nevertheless, a driving force in the anime came from outsiders in the likes of Priestess, Cow Girl, High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman, and Lizard Priest unwittingly getting themselves thrown into the chaos in order to cross paths with Goblin Slayer. From there on, the ride became more interesting as that party of five came to share experiences and stories with each other allowing to stir within the Goblin Slayer the potential to connect with comrades, to value his existence more than just meaning to kill goblins for the rest of his days, and for as well muster up courage and wisdom to ask help from others when realizing oneself own limitations without feeling embarrassed.

I do begin to understand that many of you out there cannot appreciate much this show given that at many times turns formulaic and repetitive, since GS doesn't move outside of his scope hunting goblins when he could at least spare some free time doing adventure side quests as much as High Elf Archer wished from him.

Still, I can vouch for this adaptation moving forward without any pretense and keeping that much invested for Goblin Slayer and his party. By the way, for me the soundtrack is a must in my list to acquire since contain many beautiful songs and tracks.

Can only hope that a future season comes.

[Lukes YGO & WS on YT]

Spoiler for Episode 12 Comments/Feedback & Series Score:

Once again great strategy and thinking by Goblin Slayer to defeat the king.

I was always impressed by his battle wits throughout this series.

Cool how he showed his face to everyone, i like everyone's reaction to it making it feel like a really big deal.

More to come, I am very interested with that ending, I do want to see more, I do like my fix or hacking and slaying anime's like this every now and then.

8/10

[Ragdollomega]

Originally Posted by Jazzrat

Interesting to see they announced that it will have another season as the anime have pretty much covered current major arcs in the manga currently, thus it will be loooooong wait if they don't plan to spoil the manga readers on LN content. (The manga main series is a monthly publication).

Overall, the show was ok. The budget isnt high but they kept the story straight from the source with some adds and minus to the details. The major plus point for me to this show was the music, I like most of Mili's song in it. The special end was really good feeling to a fantasy story end.

This is an adaptation of the LN, not the manga, so they'll just continue adapting more LN volumes. People seem to have an incredibly hard time understanding this for some reason.

[Liddo-kun]

Watched episode 12:

Ah what can I say. Sweet moment when Goblin Slayer slowly slits the throat of the Goblin Lord with a broken sword, a much deserved end for the most misogynist gob.

Spear Man really brave, did he calculate that the gob champion he was facing would narrowly miss with the chain anchor? Witch just smoking, she knows Spear Man can handle it alone.

Priestess really matured throughout their adventures. Looking forward to seeing more of her together with GS.

[RDNexus]

Originally Posted by Ragdollomega

This is an adaptation of the LN, not the manga, so they'll just continue adapting more LN volumes. People seem to have an incredibly hard time understanding this for some reason.

Erm...it seemed to me @Jazzrat was meaning that, to not get Manga Readers behind, they might wait for the Manga to advance enough to cover an Anime Season2.

But I also think that's of little to no consequence, and the staff may get to it whether the Manga went that far or not, since they have the LNs as Prime Source

[Jazzrat]

Originally Posted by xrick

Erm...it seemed to me @Jazzrat was meaning that, to not get Manga Readers behind, they might wait for the Manga to advance enough to cover an Anime Season2.

But I also think that's of little to no consequence, and the staff may get to it whether the Manga went that far or not, since they have the LNs as Prime Source

Yup, while the source and promotion is very much around the Light Novel, i wonder if people would even want to buy the manga if the anime have gone past it (eventhough i personally would especially for the artwork of the main series and prequel spin off).

[Ragdollomega]

Originally Posted by xrick

Erm...it seemed to me @Jazzrat was meaning that, to not get Manga Readers behind, they might wait for the Manga to advance enough to cover an Anime Season2.

But I also think that's of little to no consequence, and the staff may get to it whether the Manga went that far or not, since they have the LNs as Prime Source

Just don't understand the reasoning behind what was said is all. Why wait for a separate adaptation to catch up to more main source when the anime is acting as advertisement for said main source, not the other adaptation.

[RDNexus]

It's true that there's hardly an example of a LN Series with a Manga Adaptation in which the Anime waited for the Manga to advance before a sequel was aired, as far as I know, of course.
But @Jazzrat may have had in mind that there's a lot of Manga-only Readers who might not care about the LNs and feel left out if said Anime were to advance from where they're following the Manga.

[Ragdollomega]

That's still just the same as any LN with a manga adaptation. LN publisher wants LN sales to increase in the end. Manga-only readers that won't transition are a secondary concern by comparison.

[JokerD]

Did that many adventurers die in the fight, I wonder. The equipment for remembrance seem to fill a whole bench. The deaths we see is 2 from the champs and one more that Apprentice Cleric was tending to. Did they take the equipment from the Goblins...

[~Yami~]

I'm not a huge fan of Goblin Slayer... but I really like to read something different from what I have read occasionally
it is a simple story with no complex political stuff... just slay goblins every day
waiting to see what kind of challenges he would face
for myself, Goblin Slayer's rating would always 9/10 simply because I can't really handle the gory, rape stuff

but for the adaptation for the anime, I'll give it 10/10
the reason is... they made some changes from the original source, and those changes are actually stuffs that I could not handle..
for example about Goblin Lord's axe.. for me, it is not something significant because even in manga, we don't see how good that axe is
so removing it from anime, is actually not that bad

I agree that Goblin Slayer's main plot is to see how much he would grow... try to compare him from first episode to 13th episode
He changed a bit... and watching the interaction between all characters are great
In the end, they wrapped it up by showing the scene where Goblin Slayer revealed his face and look at all the responses... He is ridiculed for killing goblins only but he is actually loved by all guild members
That last statement about being an adventurer also hinted that he might be accept some suggestions to face non-goblin enemies in the future

I'll be happy to watch season 2.. I started to be able to predict all Goblin Slayers' answers lately ("yeah", "no problem", "it's ok", "I'll try") and I want to hear Yui Ogura's soft voice every week again

yeah.. I'll give this 10/10 based on how good the anime is