ANIME REVIEW: GOBLIN SLAYER SEASON ONE

Goblin Slayer Season One
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 18
Running Time: 300 mins
Release Date: 4/11/2019
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

When it's your first time, it never goes right, or at least that's how the priestess feels when she signs up to be a goblin slayer, along with her first adventuring party, and though her whole party gets killed off, someone is around to save her life; the Goblin Slayer, a silver ranked adventurer who has killed more goblins than she's had hot dinners!

In this fantasy world, adventurers, or what I would call mercenaries will come from far away to join the Guild and kill goblins or whatever threatens their land for cold hard coin, yet Goblin Slayer will only take the jobs where he gets to kill goblins; as he has killed so many, he has developed a perfected way of taking them down along with a knowledge of their species which makes him a very bankable mercenary.

The priestess decides to team up with Goblin Slayer, and even though she failed in her last job, she vows to be a better adventurer than before, showing she has guts and resolve and along with the others in their party form quite an interesting team; High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman, Lizard Priest and Cow Girl.

This it seems is the year for fantasy-style anime series, ones based on RPG and D&D board games from the 70s and 80s. And from the dice rolling of our past came these type of games becoming more commonplace online for your computer or console. Goblin Slayer Season One at first seems what teens or younger kids will be watching as it has a cute girl priestess character who as a newbie goblin slayer explores the perilous side of her new life. Yet with its 18 ratings, it has violence from the outset that is certainly not for younger viewers.

Goblin Slayer is mainly about the main character who is as the title suggests a Guts type character from Berserk who thinks nothing of killing off loads of goblins, so when the priestess teams up with him she knows he can protect her. What I didn't expect from this type of anime was the simple yet good plot it had, the well-rounded characters and convincing setting that had me rooting for them.

The episodes are designed to keep our interest in how the characters progress in their monster-slaying, but as the anime is more about its central character of Goblin Slayer we get to find out he is a quiet loner who is unused to being around other people, so being around this new team opens him up to socialising with others during their slaying adventures. What will be interesting to notice with the first series is that there is more to it than the usual 18 rated anime; if you look beyond the endless violence and blood and guts action, the plot, characters and setting have plenty to offer.

Bonus Material:
Disc 1 - Goblin Slayer Season One:

Goblin Slayer: Tabletop Talk
Episode 11 Commentary
Textless Songs

Summary: There is more to this anime than first meets the eye,  get ready for adventure, mayhem and fun - enjoy!