Monday 1 June 2020

ANIME REVIEW: GOBLIN SLAYER SEASON 1


GOBLIN SLAYER: Season One
Goblin Slayer Season 1
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 15
Running Time: 600 mins
Release Date: 17/2/2020
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

There is always something enigmatic about a man with no name and this man known only as Goblin Slayer is a lone wolf for the most part who goes about killing goblins. As we see his story progress, he starts to gather his own goblin slaying band; High Elf Archer, Guild Girl and Cow Girl.

Goblin Slayer is the sort of man who doesn't protect others for the glory, he does it for the people and though he might look like a hard man, he does have a softer side we find out as we keep watching.

Goblin Slayer might sound like a lot of fun at first, but even from the first episode, the story gets more serious than most. It starts so upbeat with the Priestess who is very enthusiastic about starting out on a quest to slay goblins and meet new allies on the way. She like the others who ask her to come on their adventure with her are all at the porcelain level, or lowest level as a Slayer. The levels go right up to platinum and gold being the highest.

Their enthusiasm is good, yet what they don't realise is how savvy their enemy are. Goblins can lie in wait and bide their time, knowing there are humans who try to hunt them, and something else they don't know when they do hunt them in the cave is the catacombs the goblins have made to give them an added advantage.

The Priestess is the observer here watching the other newbie warriors talk about how easy they have heard they can kill goblins, though as she sees her allies get picked off one by one is they have been naive. The priestesses fear us what keeps her alive, even if she knows early on that her prayers for healing fall on deaf ears.

There is a good sense of build-up to the series where the Goblin Slayer makes his entrance to save the only remaining survivor, the Priestess. Then the other slayers are introduced gradually so we get used to how their personalities differ.

One thing about the series I hadn't taken into account was it's rating. I've watched older teen anime like Death Note and Berserk, they deal with the darker side of life, but I felt unprepared for Goblin Slayer. It is violent from the start with scenes of stabbing, hacking Gore and rape, and this is from the goblins once they discover they are under attack.

Goblin Slayer is a character-driven series with a lot of interesting story to get through, one lead character who is nicer than he appears, so if you can look beyond the violence in the series you can enjoy this more adult take on fantasy and adventure.

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