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Season 01: Goblin Slayer (TV)
Movie: Goblin Slayer: Goblin's Crown (discussion starts here)
Season 02: Goblin Slayer (TV 2)

Source: Light Novel (ongoing @ 16 volumes, written by Kumo Kagyu, illustrated by Noboru Kannatsuki)

Demographic: Seinen

Animation Studio:
Season 01: White Fox
Movie: White Fox
Season 02: Liden Films

Genres: action, adventure, drama, fantasy

Themes: anthropomorphs, dark fantasy, demi-humans, demons, dwarves, ecchi, elves, goblins, gore, medieval, monsters, ogres, revenge, sorcery, tragedy

Plot Summary: A young priestess has formed her first adventuring party, but almost immediately they find themselves in distress. It's the Goblin Slayer who comes to their rescue--a man who's dedicated his life to the extermination of all goblins, by any means necessary. And when rumors of his feats begin to circulate, there's no telling who might come calling next.

Air Date & Platform:
Season 01: October 6, 2018 (Saturday)
Available on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation

Movie: February 2, 2020 (Sunday)
Available on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation

Season 02: October 6, 2023 (Friday)
Available on: Crunchyroll

Episode Count / Runtime:
Season 01: 12 episodes
Movie: 85 minutes
Season 02: 12 episodes

Total: 24 episodes
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EPISODE INDEX

(Clicking on the episode will take you to Tony K.'s post that has a summary, comments, and screen-caps)

- Season 1

Episode 01: The Fate of Particular Adventurers
Episode 02: Goblin Slayer
Episode 03: Unexpected Visitors
Episode 04: The Strong

Episode 05: Adventures and Daily Life
Episode 06: Goblin Slayer in the Water Town
Episode 07: Onward Unto Death
Episode 08: Whispers and Prayers and Chants

Episode 09: There and Back Again
Episode 10: Dozing
Episode 10.5 (Recap): Adventure Sheet
Episode 11: The Adventurers Feast
Episode 12: The Fate of an Adventurer

OP1 (w/ Lyrics): "Rightfully" by Mili
ED1 (w/ Lyrics): "Silver's Oath" by Soraru
----------------------------------

- (Movie) Goblin's Crown

(00:00 - 25:00): Part 1
(25:01 - 45:00): Part 2
(45:01 - 65:00): Part 3
(65:01 - 85:00): Part 4

ED (w/ Lyrics): "Static" by Mili
----------------------------------

- Season 2

Episode 13 (S02E01): An Ordinary Spring Day
Episode 14 (S02E02): The Red-Headed Wizard Boy
Episode 15 (S02E03): The Training Grounds on the Outskirts of Town
Episode 16 (S02E04): Onward to Adventure

Episode 17 (S02E05): Beard-cutter, to the Southern River
Episode 18 (S02E06): The Elven King's Forest
Episode 19 (S02E07):
Episode 20 (S02E08):

Episode 21 (S02E09):
Episode 22 (S02E10):
Episode 23 (S02E11):
Episode 24 (S02E12):

Episode 1:

Hmm, well this is a dark series as I had expected and we get introduction of the main cast right away with characters like Onna, Wizard, etc.

The action is on fire with the fighting against the goblins. Poor Wizard girl. It seems the TV version had to tone the violence down somewhat for the episode. But in the meantime, I think it captured the mood of the series for now.

We got Goblin Slayer making his appearance too of course and that's quite an impression he's made.

The AT-X version kept this more uncensored so I hope when BDs comes out, it'll be that way too.

#1

Medieval fantasy with violence and sex thrown in for good measure. Not for the faint of heart or the prudish.

This series is like MaoYuu from a few years back: no one has a unique name and they're all called by their professions. So the priestess is literally "Priestess", the goblin slayer is "Mr. Goblin Slayer" etc.

It's a rough world they live in when 15 year olds are considered adults and capable of taking responsibility for themselves. That's the same bar the samurai of the past used to set as the coming of age.

So goblins in this world are the weakest monsters around, but they are cunning, they can adapt and they like raping human women regardless of their condition. Mr. Goblin Slayer has reached the third-highest adventurer rank there is, apparently just from killing goblins. The way he goes about it, there's no doubt he's THE specialist for goblin extermination. Since they breed so quickly, it looks like he'll never be short of work. I wonder if he has a face underneath that full plate armour he's wearing.

Oh no, they are not in fluffy RPG land, they have gone straight past standard D&D land into the kind where the monsters rape, where the titular warrior seems to have gone into the Dark Souls level.

I like fantasy and RPG, and it is rare that the anime really put in emphasis on how squishy new adventurers can be. Using D&D as an example, simple Goblins are not tough, as part of reputation, but the other part of reputation that they have numbers, and you are screwed if just a few team up. As expected of the priestess, she had a high wisdom score, giving her a good passive perception that she picked things up, at least better than the fighter, monk and wizard.

Wondering if anything will come from the thought of a good goblin. And what Goblin Slayer himself may look like, feels anti-climatic if he does not have anything to hide.

#2

The more I watch the Goblin Slayer in action, the more I'm reminded of the approach taken by artisans of precision instruments (for example mechanical watches) in practising their craft. Although the motive behind the titular Slayer's individual quest of species genocide is not a new one, there's probably never been a protagonist who is so single-minded in his goal to the exclusion of everything else. At least five years of practising his craft in such a single-minded fashion has not only let him survive, he has won himself a niche position in the guild as the executor of the important but non profitable task of goblin extermination. It won't matter what the red-headed cowgirl or the blond guild receptionist think of him, he just goes about his business until he is either killed or he achieves his lifelong ambition (which simultaneously makes him unemployed).

The cowgirl and uncle survived the village massacre because they were away in the city when the goblins struck. The former has probably had a soft spot for Slayer before he developed his genocidal talents, but the latter has every right to be wary of the perpetually armoured butcher. Goblin slaying pays well, so I can see why the Uncle continues to allow the Slayer to stay as a Boarder.

The Goblin Slayer's crew as shown in the OP animation have assembled a lot faster than I thought. I wonder what business they have with him, especially as the Elf says Orcbolg at the end. No surprises if they are the "unexpected guests" mentioned in next week's episode title.

The delicious irony of the Priestess learning the miracle of Protection after levelling up through one month's work with Goblin Slayer and seeing it used in the manner viewers were shown today.

I don't think much about the OP and ED songs debuted this episode, but the accompanying animation is first-class. I especially like the OP animation.

Episode 2

So Cow Girl got introduced this episode. Thew witch lady also made an appearance too!

I'd say that Goblin Slayer is somewhat of an approachable character when he's not fighting/killing goblins. There's some questionable content as usual. I noticed they used some eerie music with narratives from Goblin Slayer to make some scenes feel more impactful.

The opening song has a somewhat dark tune featuring most of the cast. This show continues to show its cruel world.

Seems like we got an explanation of the history of the Goblin Slayer character this time. He was the childhood friend of the girl, who I guess is named Cow Girl, and lived to see the entire village slaughtered, with a front row seat to his sister being raped and killed. So he became obsessed, and hellbent on killing all goblins. The uncle's reactions to him seem a bit extreme, especially considering that Goblin Slayer is doing good work, but I wonder if the deal is that he wants his niece to have something like a normal life with finding a regular husband, and that she is wasting her time with a guy who went off the deep end.

#3

No action this week, instead we get an introduction to more characters. The Goblin Slayer's new party is somewhat stereotypical in its composition with the exception of the lizardman monk who's trying to evolve into a dragon. The elf archer and dwarf priest don't really strike me as too different from their fantasy stereotypes. The elf is a really good shot though.

The well-endowed witch with the revealing clothing has an odd speech pattern which I have heard once before in another context. It's almost as if she toys with her sentences with those frequent pauses in her responses. Unlike the majority of the guild adventurers, one gets the impression she respects the Goblin Slayer for what he does but has trouble dealing with him on an interpersonal level.

By now the audience knows the Goblin Slayer is absolutely dedicated to his calling at the expense of everything else in life, but I was curious to hear him mention "Goblin Heroes" and "Goblin Kings". What's more, he even talked about their power ranking as being equivalent to the highest-rank platinum adventurer rank. Since he's just a Silver rank after years of goblin purging, where'd he get that information from when everyone bar a few individuals gives him a wide berth?

Next week should be fun. That's four silver-ranked adventurers with a porcelain-rank priestess in tow against a ruin infested with goblins beyond counting. Probably get to see what the dwarf and lizardmen are capable of as well.

Episode 4

Rather than just being an Ogre, it seemed more in line with an Ogre Mage, also known as Oni. Just to create a cohesion with what I was saying when Overlord season 3 was playing in that ogres are meant to be dumb, that things like D&D do match up with what happened here. Oni/Ogre Mages have troublesome magic, regeneration abilities, and of course the horns just like this guy did.

@DuskyPredator

If the show said it was an ogre, that is what it was. Every writer dealing with fantasy creatures gets to establish his own definitions. Even traditional creatures are not formally defined and can vary from story to story. This is exacerbated by the differences between European and Japanese folklore. That is why the goblins in this series differ from those in That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime. It is also why when you use the term Oni, my first reference is Lum from Urusei Yatsura.

I am only say that I can point to a monster manual and see something relevant, especially relevant by little bits of the show that include motif of rolling dice. Oni in the game are often directly connected to Ogres that they used to be known as Ogre mages. And it is like a dumb translation thing where English usually just translates "Oni" as "Ogre", despite that Oni usually have traits separate. This incarnation of ogre is just as relevant to the tabletop game as the ones that recently showed up in Overlord.

It is clear that the show is based on table top RPGs. The novels use the same concept of the gods rolling the dice and the author refers to his fellow gamers in his comments. However, is there really only one monster manual in use internationally? Are monster manuals really that consistent from publisher to publisher?

Even if the author is using a manual from the same publisher as yours, he would most likely be using a Japanese language version. As you note, there are translation problems in the written form. In this case you are going from what ever source the author is using to a script writer for the anime in addition there is the question of how much information the person writing the subtitles has. For what it is worth, the Yen Press novels also use the term ogre without any qualification.

What I'm getting at is don't sweat the small stuff. While the show is loosely based on table top gaming, it is not specified to be a specific system and even if it was there is no requirement that it be slavishly tied to it. One of the perks of being an author is you get to make your own world. As long as the show remains internally consistent the characteristics of characters and monsters are as stated by the author.

#6

More characters introduced to this franchise, although three of them only appear in flashbacks and don't interact with the protagonist. The one who does is the nearly blind Sword Maiden who has tasked Goblin Slayer and co. to exterminate the Goblin infestation below Water Town.

A quick setup to get the party to the new Goblin lair and it's lots of action after that as the Goblin Slayer manages to find new and inventive ways of killing Goblins despite the restrictions imposed on him by his own party members. The franchise's equivalent of tear gas is a powerful aid to eventually sinking the Goblin ship. Using the native alligator as a means to the end is another clever move, but it's the Goblin Slayer's final analysis which is striking as it suggests the big honcho at the end is going to be the most difficult challenge facing him and his party to date.

If the Sword Maiden is a Gold-ranked adventurer, why doesn't she assemble her own party and do the job herself? Too much politics (as hinted in earlier episodes about active adventurers capping out at silver) or another reason preventing her from doing the job she's commissioned?

#7

Wow, what an episode.

The big highlight is of course the massive brawl in the second half as the party is lured into an ambush by the Goblin Champion and his lackeys. But there were a few things I picked up in the first half which might be significant going forward:

1. The Sword Maiden has scars all over her body which the Priestess thinks was from old wounds inflicted by goblins. Fanservice aside, it's interesting that the bath style used in this series is the Russian-style one with the use of birch leaves.

2. The local adventurer guild has no contracts on giant rats or goblins in the underground sewer. Not only that, the two adventurers eyeing up the elf even said there was no such thing in the town. If that's the case, what on earth has the Sword Maiden been doing prior to asking the Goblin Slayer to come to town?

3. That's a really elaborate ruse from goblins. Poison gas is one thing, but luring adventurers in with scalped hair and a chained skeleton is well beyond the intellect of goblins, regardless of their low cunning. That Champion is one nasty piece of work if he can teach the local goblins this many things.

As for the second half, the animators certainly splurged on the action budget. The dice motif and the talk in previous episodes about the gods playing games for an eternity before deciding on their current course of action strongly suggests Goblin Slayer got a reprieve from up high. With that cliffhanger ending, what happens next with the party stuck deep inside the ruins and with the possibility of the goblins regrouping to finish them off?

There were some cool moments, the CG 300 like moment in particular for animation. But what felt like a good minute of staring at the repeated image reflected in the eye of a canary, just felt weird, like something was not finished.

No one said "they have a ~~cave troll~~ Goblin Champion.

One thing that was set up earlier in the episode, is that really looks like Priestess had not overcome her fear of the event that started it all, it still haunted her, I guess maybe similar to it seemed Goblin Slayer had his own moment as the boy hiding under the floorboards. Hearing Priestess screams, now that was palpable, as a terrifying moment as she was getting eaten alive. There better be a good reason for having us believe that Goblin Slayer is dead at the end of this level, because it would be so cheap otherwise. if he is just heal him. There better be a giant folk barbarian demand that someone "fix him", or similar level.

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