Goblin Slayer Review: Overrated and Underwhelming?

Goblin Slayer is a relatively popular fantasy anime with a simple yet catchy plot. The anime got released back in 2018, and the hype for this series remains alive as the second season has already been confirmed, and we also got a movie sequel that was well-received by fans. As you might’ve already guessed by reading the title, in this Goblin Slayer review, I’ll be talking about how this show is actually overrated and underwhelming. Please note that this review will be based on my personal opinion, and it will only be focusing on the anime adaption of Goblin Slayer.

Synopsis & Story Progression

Firstly, let us take a closer look at the plot of the anime itself, which is actually pretty good. Our protagonist in the series is a very strong silver ranked adventurer, who is simply known as the Goblin Slayer. This man absolutely loathes goblins and wants to slay every last one of them.

The goblins are very ruthless creatures that are not really strong alone, but they can pose a great threat when they band together. These hideous beings attack villages, kill innocents and sexually assault every powerless female.

In the first episode, we see a 15-year-old adventurer band together with a few other rookie adventurers to go and defeat some goblins. Things go south very quickly, and the girl finds herself staring death in the face. Thankfully, she gets saved at the last minute by the Goblin Slayer. Charmed by his fighting prowess, the young adventurer joins the Goblin Slayer and aids him on future quests.

The plot of the series is pretty good, and the first episode of the series blesses us with amazing execution. However, the story progression is something I want to complain about. The story of the show starts to get repetitive very quickly; it’s just goblin slaying, goblin slaying, and more goblin slaying! I know that is literally in the name of the show, but the story still needs to progress in some way.

Art Style & Animation

The art style of the series is nothing special, but it’s not really bad either. The same can be said about the animation quality of the show. However, the use of CGI in some scenes (especially in the new movie) still looks somewhat odd. Overall, the animation quality and art style of the show are both pretty decent.

Characters

Here is the aspect of the show that I hated the most. Apart from the Goblin Slayer himself, the show doesn’t really focus on any of the characters. All the characters seem bland and forgettable because of their cliché personalities and character designs. Of course, the fact that there is no proper character development for any of the side characters doesn’t help either.

Goblin Slayer:

The Goblin Slayer is definitely the best character in the entire series that is also pretty memorable. This man has a burning rage inside his heart that makes him stand tall against hundreds of goblins. He is a socially awkward guy that seems to have a sad backstory. The character of our protagonist also develops with the progression of the story.

Onna Shinkan:

The second main character in the story does get focused on just a little, but she still lacks any kind of major development. She is a timid young girl that aids our protagonist on his missions. We don’t really get any kind of backstory for her either.

Ushikai Musume:

This girl is the childhood friend of our protagonist, but she doesn’t really get much screen-time in the show. Ushikai seems to be in love with the Goblin Slayer and is always worrying about him.

Elf, Dwarf and Lizardman:

These three are some of the major support characters in the series, but their personalities are super cliché. They are very forgettable characters as they get no character development and are only there to aid the Goblin Slayer in battle.

Voice Acting

The voice acting in Goblin slayer is pretty decent. The voice acting of the Goblin Slayer has been handled by Yuuichirou Umehara, who has captured the soft-spoken personality of this man pretty well. Yuuichirou has also voice acted for many other memorable characters like Dai Murase and Gorou.

The voice actress behind Onna Shinkan is Yui Ogura, and her high-pitched voice suits her pretty well. Yui has also played some major roles in many other popular anime like Platinum End and Tsurezure Children.

The English voice actors for the series also do a pretty good job at portraying all the characters in the series. Personally, I prefer the dubbed version of this show more than the original Japanese version.

Soundtracks

The soundtracks in Goblin Slayer are not really anything special, but they serve their purpose well. The soundtracks are played at the right moments, and they greatly enhance the impact of different scenes in the story.

The opening and ending themes are also not too bad.

Conclusion

Overall, I believe that Goblin Slayer is a show that could have become something special, but its poor execution and badly written characters ruin the experience. The world design of Goblin Slayer is also too simple and lacks any kind of complexity or realism. The anime starts off great, but then it destroys the good story by only focusing on the fact that these mindless goblins want to sexually assault women. In my opinion, the series focuses too little on the story itself and just relies on its edginess throughout its entire run.

You can only enjoy Goblin Slayer if you just want to witness some brutal fights with decent animation. I’d call Goblin Slayer an overrated show that isn’t memorable at all.

Final Rating: 6.5/10

At the end of this Goblin Slayer review, I’d like to leave a final rating. The first season of Goblin Slayer deserves a rating of 6.5/10 at best, and it isn’t a very enjoyable watch. Sadly, the new movie sequel is even worst than the first season and doesn’t really add much to the story so far. I’d give the movie a rating of 6/10 because of the bad animation quality.